A Study Of Opposites At A Stoplight

I pulled up to the 4-way intersection as I headed towards the highway, and I noticed something. A strange sense of something interesting.  I looked over to my left, and realized the silver compact hatchback in the turning lane was actually a Chevy Volt, not a Saturn Astra or a VW Golf like you might think at first glance.

It's the first time I've seen a Volt in person, and I was pleasantly surprised.  In real life, it's a hunkered-down low slung looking thing, without the normal reek of hybrid dullness about it.  Great looking car.  And considering the relative importance of the Volt in the scheme of things, that would be a good enough spotting for me for one day.  But let's zoom the frame out a bit here.

Hmm... A highway on-ramp, a Toyota Minivan for the local Toyota dealer, a stoplight, a... wait.  A Cateram 7?

Now that's not something you see every day!  I don't know if this is a Cateram, Doonkervort, Birkin, Dax, or any of the other 14 million different Lotus 7 clones, but regardless, seeing a Seven on the streets in Raleigh NC (of all places!) is pretty damn strange.  Seeing one at the same light as a Chevy Volt is even stranger.  Really, how different can two cars get?

On the one hand, you've got the Volt, which is so packed full of batteries and computers and electric motors and pistons and seat heaters and computer screens and plugs and gas tanks and probably one of those nefarious "black boxes."  On the other side, you've got a 7.  Which has... an engine!  Some wheels!  Slabs of metal to keep water from the front tires off your face!  A roof you can put up, if you really feel like it!  I feel like two cars can't get much more different than a Volt and a 7.  And to see both of them... at one stoplight... in Raleigh. Unusual to say the least.

Which would I rather have?  The 7, of course.  This is CarThrottle, not Gizmodo. Sevens stand for everything that is righteous and awesome about sports cars, a design so good it's been in production  basically unchanged since the late 50's.  Light is still the easiest way to go fast.  And I'd imagine that by the time the Volt is out of date and out of production, they'll still be making 7's, because people will still want them.

(Ed's note: sorry for the low resolution and general crappiness of these photos.  Still, Camera Phones are getting better!)