Auction Direct Twitter Interviews

The Cadillac of Minivans…

Image via Wikipedia

Introducing Mary S. Butler; Website strategist, Razorfish, NYC; online media professional with more than a decade of experience; personal finance, consumer product and digital automotive.

What was your first car?

• 1969 Chevy Impala SS; a dangerously fast — but fun! — car for a 16-year-old girl on the southwest side of Chicago.

Any significant memories w/that car?

• My last memory is a sad one. My brother was drag racing ol’ Betsy down 95th St. when the engine caught on fire. Before she was towed to the junk yard, we removed the SS badging, which my brother still has.

What’s parked in your driveway now?

• I now live on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and — for the first time since getting my driver’s license — am carless. Prior to working at Razorfish, I used to test drive a different car every week and drove hundreds of different makes and models over a nine-year period.

Does your car reflect your personality?

• I hope not; my primary ride these days is big, slow, noisy and has MTA badging :)

Favorite vehicle(s)?

• All-time favorite: 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Favorite production tuner: Panoz Esperante JRD Favorite production vehicle: 2009 Bentley Continental GTC Speed Favorite concept: Rinspeed iChange.

Favorite vehicle…if money were no object?

• All of the above .

Vanity Plates?

• I never had vanity plates, but was always jealous of the Chicago-area driver who thought to register “NONE” first. Allegedly, he never received any parking tickets.

Must have car gadget?

• I never drive without my iPhone. The GPS obviates the need for a PND and there are dozens of great automotive-related apps already available. However, I am still waiting for a version of Wikitude for the iPhone (it is currently available for Android phones only).

Favorite driving tunes?

• Whenever I drive around a neighborhood or go on a road trip, I try to play whatever I have by bands from that area. I play Pegboy in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood and Wilco when I’m driving through Irving Park. In New York, I like to listen to Public Enemy (Long Island), KRS-One (Bronx), Ramones (Queens), King Missile (East Village) and countless other NYC bands. I only had a week in Paris with a car, but spent the whole time listing to St. Germain as well as the Hotel Costes compilations and everything else that Stéphane Pompougnac has worked on.

Favorite Hollywood movie car?

• There are too many to limit it to one (everything driven in the James Bond films, the Lexus concept in Minority Report, all of the Fast & the Furious cars, the 1968 Mustang GT 390 from Bullitt, etc.). And while I am not a huge minivan fan, I love the scene in Get Shorty when John Travolta demonstrates to Danny DeVito the power sliding door on his rented Oldsmobile Silhouette and pronounces it “the Cadillac of minivans.” It isn’t long before DeVito, who plays a famous actor, has to have one of his own.

http://twitter.com/msbutler

Twitter Interviews driven by the the best New York Used Cars