As I sit here in my ultra-modern, exposed-cement ceiling, minimalist, straight-lines hotel room in the ever-popular and uber cool OPUS Hotel in Montreal, I’m trying to make the connection with Chevrolet’s newest compact car, the Sonic.
I’m at this hotel because this is the starting point of our 2-day drive that will take us from downtown Montreal to downtown Quebec City, all behind the wheel of the new Sonic. I’m always curious to see what hotels we end up in, because I think it greatly reflects the message manufacturers want us journos to gather about their cars.
Sitting here on my 1,000-thread count sheets and down pillows staring at the stained stone ceiling above me, and the small package of ear plugs beside me to block out Montreal’s “vibrant” night life as the hotel is on one of the most popular clubbing streets in the city, I think I may have figured it out.
At dinner, with two Sonics as our dinner guests, GM Canada VP Marc Comeau gave us a bit of a pep-talk regarding the drive event and the car itself. Something he said caught my attention. He said that while all the other guys (read: Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, etc.) are reinventing themselves, Chevrolet has 100+ years of history it needs to contend with and integrate into each new vehicle.
And so I think I realized what the relevance is between OPUS and the Sonic. The OPUS hotel is housed in a much older building than its super-modern decor inside would suggest. And so the Sonic is also being built within the long (and sometimes rocky) history of GM, but with all the modern design cues and amenities to keep it relevant.
The Sonic is set to be hip, without being hipster, cool without being obnoxious, just the right amount of modern without being too cold.
My drive from Montreal to Quebec City behind the wheel of the Sonic will let me discover much more about it, but as I ate my spaghetti pomodoro and stared at the race-inspired version of the orange-striped Sonic parked beside my table, I couldn’t help but wonder what this little number really had in store for me.
With Chevy riding high from its Cruze release, will the Sonic be the proverbial icing on the cake? Or will it make me feel stifled in pretentious “coolness” like the stained, exposed cement ceiling in my uber-modern hotel room?
I’m at this hotel because this is the starting point of our 2-day drive that will take us from downtown Montreal to downtown Quebec City, all behind the wheel of the new Sonic. I’m always curious to see what hotels we end up in, because I think it greatly reflects the message manufacturers want us journos to gather about their cars.
Sitting here on my 1,000-thread count sheets and down pillows staring at the stained stone ceiling above me, and the small package of ear plugs beside me to block out Montreal’s “vibrant” night life as the hotel is on one of the most popular clubbing streets in the city, I think I may have figured it out.
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| Photo: Miranda Lightstone/Auto123.com |
At dinner, with two Sonics as our dinner guests, GM Canada VP Marc Comeau gave us a bit of a pep-talk regarding the drive event and the car itself. Something he said caught my attention. He said that while all the other guys (read: Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, etc.) are reinventing themselves, Chevrolet has 100+ years of history it needs to contend with and integrate into each new vehicle.
And so I think I realized what the relevance is between OPUS and the Sonic. The OPUS hotel is housed in a much older building than its super-modern decor inside would suggest. And so the Sonic is also being built within the long (and sometimes rocky) history of GM, but with all the modern design cues and amenities to keep it relevant.
The Sonic is set to be hip, without being hipster, cool without being obnoxious, just the right amount of modern without being too cold.
My drive from Montreal to Quebec City behind the wheel of the Sonic will let me discover much more about it, but as I ate my spaghetti pomodoro and stared at the race-inspired version of the orange-striped Sonic parked beside my table, I couldn’t help but wonder what this little number really had in store for me.
With Chevy riding high from its Cruze release, will the Sonic be the proverbial icing on the cake? Or will it make me feel stifled in pretentious “coolness” like the stained, exposed cement ceiling in my uber-modern hotel room?