A Thrilling Dance (That Goes Nowhere)

And there was this -- Courtroom 1-D in the Fairfax General District Court. I had gone there with Ria Manglapus, my associate in vehicle evaluations, on the matter of a speeding ticket -- Ria's ticket, her first ever in 32 years of driving. She got that one in another sports car, the Infiniti G37, a good runner, but a decidedly lesser being in comparison with the GT-R. It did not matter.

There is something about sitting in traffic court, watching justice dispensed with efficient, brutal impartiality, that takes the joy out of driving a car such as the Nissan GT-R. In stripping it of that joy, the judicial system renders the car a utilitarian thing, turns its hyperbolic road performance into little more than a cipher.

It occurred to me while sitting in Courtroom 1-D that the judge just doesn't care. The police handing out the speeding tickets don't care. The commonwealth attorney prosecuting traffic violations doesn't care.

The Nissan GT-R can move from 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. It can outpace the super-fast Porsche 911/Type 997. It can outrun the Corvette Z06. But if you are driving it on public roads in Fairfax County, District Judge Penney S. Azcarate is unimpressed. Go over the limit. She'll throw the book at you.

"I don't care what car you are driving," she recently told an errant motorist in a court hearing. "Slow down!"

There was something about the way she said that, the frightening, final authority of it, that robbed me of affection for cars such as the Nissan GT-R. They are nice to play with on racetracks. But there's a bit of the last dance about them -- for most of us, little chance of ever developing a meaningful relationship.

ON WHEELS WITH WARREN BROWN Listen from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesdays on WMET World Radio (1160 AM) or http://www.wmet1160.com.