Page 16, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, January 18, 1995 by JiI Mclntosh Island driving I'eneyer been'a big fan of winter; I was bomn in the south and saw my first snowflake at age six. So when my Canadian-born husband said he'd always wanted to try spending Christmas. in a warm climate, I hurried down to my local travel agent and booked a vacation. We Ieft Toronto on Christmas Eve and two airpianes later found ourselves in San. Juan. There we boarded a cruise shiv which Ieft that night for Barbados, stopping at varlous isiands on its way back up te, Puerto Rico. 1When visiting different places, people tend , te notice things they're interested in. For us, our first impressions of each island were the kinds of cars that people were driving. Puerto Rico, as an Ameican territory, used mostly North American vehicles, with some Japanese models thrown ini for good measure. The best description for moet of the vehicles was "road-scarred." No one seemed te spend a lot of money on bodywork; most had dents and duil, faded paint from the suni. Barbados was our first experience with "culture shock," for neither of us had been inaa country where people drive on the left-hand side of the road. It became a bit of a problem for me when I walked through town, because I always forgot which way te look when crossing the road. After a couple of close calîs, I got into the habit of looking both ways, just in case. We found only one Ainerican vehicle' in Barbados; mostly we saw Hyundais, Nissans and Toyotas, al Of them right-hand-drive. The one exception was an extremnely beat-up Ford LTD being used as a. taxi, and its left-hand steering wheel looked decidely out of place. It inakes one wonder if North Aunerican manufacturers might seIl more cars outside our borders if they'd switch the configuration. After a while I did well crossing roads, but old habits die hard, and when Itried to get irto a taxi, the driver asked if I was p lannng* drive. Automatically I'd opened the door te what would beteOur"etpassenger aide. Martinique, proudly French not only in its language but in its tiny roads, also stuck te overseas manufacturers, including Renault. In the capital city of Fort-de-France, gridlock was the naine of the gaine. On the main streets everyone just sat in huge traffic jauns; on the narrw, one-way side streets, with cars parked on both sides, just getting4 the fenders through was work enough. If the jammed sidaewalks becarne impassable, we were able te, walk for quite a distance on the road because the cars were stopped a block behind US. Our next stop was an island containing two countries: the Dutch side of St. Maarten, and French St. Martin. After the crme od of Martinique, it felt almoet strange te be back on wide, relatively traffic-free roads. Almost ail of the cars here were North Ainerican, aiong with somnething we really didn't expect te see: a large number of Harley-Davidsons. The big American bikes are unbelievably popular on this island (helmets SEE PAGE 17 VOLKSWAGEN CANADA received' an award for excellence in exhibit design for its display at the 1994 InternationalF Auto Show. The display featured varlous Volks-; wagen and Audi models in varlous settings that reflect the vehicles' personality, mar- ket positioning and target audience. In one display (above), featuning the Golf Cabrio, thepgas pedal was rigged to activate air fans bocated in the identification wall,' givinq the driver the 'convertible expenence.9 FOR USED CAIR PERFORMANCE Maxima earns ward The Canadian Automobile Association presented the OAA used car performance award for 1995 te Nissan Canada Inc. Nissan earned the award for its Maxima model, years 1991 te 1993. In what CAA believes is the largest Canadian survey of its ind, with over 26,000 respondents, a record 100 per cent of Maima owners reported that if they could go back in time they would buy the same car again. Asked how satisfied they were with their vehicle, 99 per cent of Maxima owners sa.id they were "very satisfied." This year's award is the first earned for the Maxima and the third earned by Nissan. The Nissan Sentra won two previous used car performance awards. The award is based on three main criteria: level of owner satisfaction; mechanical reliability and cost of repairs; and number of owners who would choose the same car again if given the opportunity to go back in time to, when they bought their vehicle. In descending- order, the 10 tep-ranked vehicles of the award qualifiers are: 1. Nisan Maxima 2. Toyota Camry 3. Toyota Tercel 4. Honda Accord 5. Oldantlle Delta 8»'8 Royrale 6. Toyota Corolla 7. Pontiac Trans Sport' Luinina Van 8. Honda Civic 9. Mazda 323/Protege 10. 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