How would you like to be a young, aspiring comedian and have to follow Robin Williams on stage? That happened to more than one luckless comic in Williams' early days playing L.A. comedy clubs.
That's the analogy that occurred to me as I handed over the keys to last week's BMW 740iL, and took possession of this week's Oldsmobile Intrigue GL.Poor little guy, I thought as I climbed into the Olds. What a tough act to follow.
But as I slid the key into the Intrigue's dash-mounted ignition switch - what a joy not to grope blindly around the steering column - and fired up the Olds' 195-horsepower V6, I forgot all about the Big Bimmer.
I guess that means I'm either hopelessly fickle - easily seduced by the latest foxy fender to sashay up my driveway - or it means that the new Olds Intrigue is a really good car that can hold its own with Germany's finest road machines.
Probably a bit of both, I've decided.
If the BMW is the best car I've driven so far, regardless of price, the Intrigue is the best American midsize sedan I've driven so far in a market segment where price is very much an object.
Detroit's Big Three have been telling us for years now that their midsize sedans are just as good as those offered by Japan, specifically the twin juggernauts Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. But my reaction to that has always been, "Yeah, right."
Sure, there have been big improvements in the mass-market cars offered by Detroit, but Honda and Toyota just keep advancing the state of the art, and the homeboys have to keep playing catch-up. Must be very frustrating.
But with the new Intrigue, I believe that GM finally has a car that everyone should check out before automatically trading in their Accord on yet another Accord.
Whether many will, of course, is the challenge for Olds. The Intrigue may be very intriguing, but if no one comes to kick the tires . . . it's like that conundrum where the tree falls in the forest but no one is there to hear it.
Anyway, there aren't that many baby boomers - and certainly not their Generation X kids - visiting Oldsmobile dealerships these days. Olds would like to take the word "old" out of their name, but they can't figure out how to do it. They're trying though. The only place the Oldsmobile name appears on the Intrigue is in tiny letters on the radio.
Oldsmobile celebrated its centennial year in 1997, at the same time that the automotive media were speculating that the marque had just about run its course. But new general manager Darwin Clark says the rumors of Olds' demise are premature: "We are well along the way to pulling ourselves away from our sister divisions (Chevy, Buick, Pontiac and Cadillac) in the customers we target and products we offer," says Clark.
The Intrigue is a good example of that. It shares its platform with the Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Regal and Buick Century, but they all look different, ride different and look different inside. The Intrigue may be the best of the group.
My test car was painted black, which is a nice color for the Intrigue's sleek bodywork and points up the lack of chrome doodads. The only brightwork is around the windows, giving the car a nice, understated European look. Very handsome in a restrained way.
The car is fun to drive as is but will be even more sporty when it gets the DOHC multivalve engine that Olds has promised for the near future.
Ride and handling are excellent, a nice combination of agility and comfort thanks to a European-inspired suspension setup.
The interior is well thought out and much easier to live with than the complex cockpit of the 740iL. I really like having the trunk and fuel lid releases easily accessible on the dash, not down on the floor someplace. And thanks, Olds, for the left-foot dead pedal.
There is really no single area where the Intrigue stands out, but like the Accord and Camry everything works well and conveys a feeling of overall quality. I could live quite nicely with this car.
Base price of the Intrigue GL is $22,100. That includes a lot of standard equipment, such as anti-lock brakes, a traction control system, all the usual power and convenience goodies, 16-inch aluminum wheels, a nice stereo with cassette and in-dash CD player, remote locking, steering wheel mounted cruise control . . . a huge array of stuff that GM once held out as options.
There were only four options on my test car. The leather seats added $995; the "Autobahn package" of H-rated tires and heavy duty brakes was $230 (worth every dollar); steering wheel controls for the sound system were $125 (I could pass on those) for a total of $1,500.
With a $550 destination charge, the bottom line came to $24,200, very competitive with its V6-powered competitors.
Fuel mileage is rated at 19 mpg city and a very good 30 mpg highway.
Intrigued? I thought you might be. Better check it out.