[brucepick]

I find it hard to argue the idea of say, two different and complementary cars for a working couple. In our case I drive 60 mi. to work and my wife drives about 10, each way. So she would drive the larger car and I would drive the smaller more FE one.

Is that what we're doing? Nope. Back in '95 we decided we like rear drive Volvo 240's and haven't bought anything else since. Now we're both in '89 wagons. Hers has a roof rack so will haul more stuff. I think we used the rack maybe four times so far. However my car does have all the FE mods, including the adjustments to the nut behind the wheel. So we've done well in that regard.

In many ways we're similar to the folks using two large pickups or SUVs per family because they haul something big occasionally, or take a large group somewhere. Are two big haulers really needed? Nope. But we do love these cars, not too different from the way some love their SUVs and pickups. But of course those don't get 25-30 mpg like ours do.

I do most of the work on our cars. Owning duplicates saves me from having to learn a whole new car. I stock one kind of oil, keep several oil filters and brake pads on hand, etc. We've bought five of these Volvos so far.

And, as tempted as I am to get a Civic or maybe a Paseo for my next car - - - I keep reminding myself that being on the road for 2-3 hours daily the extra protection of a heavier car could count for a lot. Just today I was in a game of 'chicken' with a truly big pickup that wanted to merge into my lane from an entry ramp. I don't think I'd have had the nerve if I were in a smaller car.