It’s been ages since I’ve done a fleet cockpit photo, so I decided to give the good girl Novastar one for the books, considering she’s my daily driver at the moment. She always had this luxury feel; it never felt functional or barebones like Orion. Even Vesuvius, my Jeep Grand Cherokee limited felt more utilitarian than this.

And yes, while I was technically assigned Vesuvius, the vehicle is not suitable for daily 100-mile drives any longer. With no A/C in the heat of August and still stuck in 3rd gear (making it terrible for Interstate driving), I was assigned to use the heavy cruiser for the time being.

But you couldn’t complain with this Mazda 929 for comforts. While I did despise the cassette player and the analog clock, the rest I definitely enjoyed; cruise control at 30mph, volume controls on the steering wheel, heated leather seats and fog lights. And how could I forget about the auto-climate control system? That was an extremely ingenious system. I also loved how the instruments seemed to wrap around me, not just straight-on like the Jeep.

Well, at least it gave me better gas mileage than Vesuvius.