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The Pontiac Vibe and L.A.'s Mondrian Hotel

 By Denise McCluggage

Whatever the word "Vibe" evokes for you, Pontiac got "with it" in choosing the venue for its press introduction of its new little crossover vehicle of that name with a youthful appeal and an ageless usefulness.

We are staying at the Mondrian Hotel to drive the contours and bends of Mulholland Drive, as intriguing and indirect as David Lynch's film by the same name.

First the hotel, then the car. (Or skip right to the car review - click here.)

M O N D R I A N   H O T E L

I sit in one of Phillipe Starck's unmatched and matchless chairs (kin to the breed found in his Hudson Hotel décor). These are in a cluster of eccentricity in a corner near the gift shop in the lobby of the Mondrian Hotel, the five-year-old Sunset Strip hotel in La-la-land.

As I approach the empty grouping I get the impression I have interrupted a conversation. But we - the seats and I - view the scene in wordless companionability. My eye slides over the pale wood floor which shines as if under a pour of clear plastic.

Dominating the lobby is a large central cube, its glass walls curtained in white filmy drapery (another Starck signature). It glows with an interior white light, rather mysteriously since the elevator doors open into this cube. (Just how do they do that light thing, I wonder.) All in this lobby is blond, light, white and airy. The expanse of filminess hanging at the exterior glass is cut off at the knees, as it were, so you can see enough of what goes on outside without the hardness of glass (or its harsh night reflections.)

Bright lumps of color - orange, yellow - provide seating (of course) near some massive pillars. There are other groupings, some inviting more curiosity than actual use. Still it’s still a lobby for more than passing through.

To the far right as one enters is the desk and to the far left a bar area with a tall, long narrow table slanting through it. That's where our group had breakfast so I assume others do too. For all its exposure that space has a receptive, almost coziness, about it.

As I sit eying the lobby from my estate-sale seat I discover that I'm oddly offended by people entering this space. Actually clumping to the desk or searching for the elevator buttons (on that post to the right, stupid.) The people don't look right in their jeans and sandals or even their trim black dress-for-success suits and high heels that click sharply.

How, I wonder, could a designer design a public place that doesn't look good with people in it? Then I decide it's the people who are at fault. They should dress like Tom Wolfe or maybe in a splash of vintage Pucci prints. The staff proves half the point; they wear suits the color of French vanilla ice cream. I'm placated. As for me I am wearing the usual invisibility cloak of the journalist. Or so I fancy.

Ian Schrager, whose hotel fancy this is (the hotel as apparel, as tech toy, as anti-hotel) is surfing a wave of success. There's a thread of similarities ranging from the edgy style and amusing touches to the dark hallways and no names on the exterior.

Two giant doors, the Stonehenge of doors, mark the place where your car should dive off Sunset to the entrance of the Mondrian. This used to be an apartment building. My room - complete with kitchen - is smallish for an apartment but wonderful for a hotel room. (The bathroom alone is larger than my room at Schrader's Hudson Hotel in New York.) I like the touches -vintage magazines and a mystery novel in white wrappers for setting the scene. A place with thought, I like that.

The outdoor space, poolside, is appealing. A city view framed in window-like arches, floor cushions on wide wooden stairs. And a Starckian touch of gigantism - a double row of shoulder-high flowerpots out of which sprout foliage that forms an arcade. Here the eye gets exercise as well as the body.

Past the pool and up some stairs is the Sky Bar, a large cube of a room with a carefully tended rep as hard to get into. (A perennial ploy carried forward from Schrader's days with Studio 54 in NYC.) The restaurant is certainly worth getting into. A foodie place with an inventive chef doing Cuban French Asian things. However someone has missed the fact that some visual input has a part in experiencing food, particularly when the food is primarily a tasteful and (I'm guessing) colorful mélange. Dim is good, dark is a nuisance.

Speaking of dark, a European guest was heard explaining to another that the murky halls of the Mondrian were a result of the California power shortage. The other nodded as he felt his way out of the elevator into Stygian mystery. Hey, guys, this kind of dark is like tearing holes in the knees of new jeans.

There's little space for cars in this most car-dense section of the globe. We used the parking lot across the street behind the Blues Brothers to learn about the Vibe and to take off on our ride-and-drive, a time honored way for motoring journalist to get an impression of a new car.

T H E   V I B E


They don't want to say "wagon" because wagons are low, not tall, and have a family-vehicle image that might turn off young buyers. They don't want to say "hatchback" because that will blight sales in the US (though it's the most popular shape in Europe.) So call it "crossover" because nobody is sure what that means and it sounds new and hip. Or just call it Vibe, and it is new and hip. And if reason prevails Pontiac has a hit on its hands.

Out last month (January '02) as an '03 model, this cross-cultural cousin of the Toyota Matrix is intended to entice a younger, more style-conscious buyer into the Pontiac pool. The marketing ploys have aimed - even strained - at that. But the proof will be in the vehicle itself.

The Vibe and Matrix are one of those Toyota-GM cooperative deals that get built by NUMMI in Fremont, CA, a facility with a good reputation for quality. The two are virtually the same as far as platform and engine are concerned though exterior styling is unique. Thus it comes to a matter of personal preference. (Check them both out in person because photographs are misleading.)

I happen to like the Vibe better. And this despite of its definite family resemblance to the Aztek. It's like two siblings who look alike but one is appealing and cute and the other ungainly and bumbling.

The base model of the Vibe has a 1.8-liter dual overhead cam four-cylinder engine that develops 130 horsepower. The GT version is good for 180-hp and comes with a six-speed manual transmission. The base model starts at $16,900, the GT at $19,900 and an all-wheel-drive model at $20,100. There are assorted options ranging from anti-lock brakes, side airbags, 17-inch wheels and even a navigational system - rare in cars of this price range.

Interior space, the surprising amount of it and its flexibility in use, may be the strongest feature of the Vibe. The seats fold into any number of configurations and when folded flat provide a hard floor, wonderfully useful for toting the stuff of life. Try awkward-shaped flea market finds, sports equipment and the contents of an entire dorm room - swallowed in an easy gulp.

Another strong point is the agility of the Vibe. Its rigidity and apt steering geometry took to the tight turns and flowing curves of Mulholland Drive with élan. What a pleasure!

For most everyday purposes the 130hp in the basic Vibe will be adequate. The 50 additional ponies in the GT, however, are welcome. But that lovely chassis and suspension system, and the 17-inch wheels, deserve another, say, 50 horses. What would have seemed like an abundance of power a few years ago now seems slight given the entry into the market of the hot rally-bred cars like the Subaru WRX and Ford Focus. Maybe more horses down the line? There were hints of it.

Another difference between the companion Matrix and Vibe is the sound. Not sound as in music from its standard CD player (with an MP3 player coming in a year). No, I speak of the exhaust note. Toyota must have a librarian in its design department. Hush, hush is fine in a Lexus sedan, but in a vehicle like this, crossover or whatever, you need some noise. A little 'tude. Vibe has it. And the designers worked to get it just right.

All in all the Vibe has good vibes. If you are looking for a sharp, useful, well-priced means of transport, stop by a Pontiac dealer. They may have your new set of wheels in the showroom.