After contorting my head like a suspect on Cops, I found myself sitting comfortably in the future of American automotive industry.

The above would be the only complaint I have about the Chevrolet Volt, a vehicle that takes off where the California-only EV1 started.

This marks Chevrolet's second fuel saving breakthrough after introducing the Cruze last year.

I like what Chevrolet is doing and I believe they should have done it earlier because, you see, I am not a muscle car person, never have been and never will be. You come barreling up beside me in some Hemi powered whatever or a Mustang Shelby, and, yes, I'll take a glance and then go back to getting mad at ESPN radio for dismissing the Redskins as a joke.

You pull up beside me in a new Camaro or an old one, I'm just going to ask myself why and drool when I see a Porsche 911 pull up on the other side.

The Volt.

I'm about sensibility and economy in autos, not how fast I can go or what I have to do to boost my feeling of manliness.

That's why I was excited to get a chance to try out the Volt as a companion piece for the Northampton East Automotive Team Rally story since the Volt will be there.

What drew me first to the Volt this morning was its roominess. I've driven a Prius before and found it uncomfortable, needing at least another inch of legroom inside to not feel like I'm cramped in an Apollo space capsule.

The Volt had that perfect fit and I immediately felt at home, not even fumbling for keys when I saw the power button that turns this hybrid car on.

Taking it down Old Farm Road I punched it some and it picked as well as any other car I've ever driven, although I know it would never beat a Hemi powered anything on a quarter mile. It will, however, beat it for range and economy.

The instrument panel is ergonomic, everything from AC to radio to indicators laid out for you within easy reach so you can check your energy consumption and even see what kind of driver you are, that is, what kind of fuel efficiency driver you are.

Inside.

In the Volt I was probably the only person wishing for a red light so I could hear nothing but the radio, even asking my passenger, White Motors General Manager Fred Rice, to turn off the radio so I could revel not in the rumble of some V-8 monster, but the quiet interrupted only by the blowing wind , the sounds of birds chirping and other more intrusive sounds of the road. The quiet inside the cabin is one you have to experience for yourself. I even stopped at a green light — no one was behind me — so I could “hear” the quiet.

We took the car to the Fifth Street Boat Landing so I could take some photos. I wanted to romp on the pedal again when I hit Bolling Road but a tractor-trailer was in front of me.

After taking the photos I let Rice drive back.

Unlike me, Rice is a V-8 man, but it has gotten so he loves this car and on business trips requisitions the Volt for a fuel efficient drive.

“This has been here about a month,” he says of the car we are driving, a white model with the word Volt across both doors — the showroom models don't have those stickers. “This is specifically a demo. What this is for is to get awareness, an invitation to come in for a test drive.”

You can go back and forth to Raleigh at 70 miles per hour on this car on a single charge and Rice says overall you will see 97 miles per gallon from this vehicle, a vehicle which produces enough torque, he said, that it makes you feel like you're sitting in a 260 horsepower vehicle.

The mystery question that there's no easy answer for is why Chevy didn't continue the production of the EV1, which after the lease was up its owners, including people like actor Ed Begely Jr., had to turn back in. “The oil companies had some influence in the EV1 not coming to the market. Folks in California were crazy about them.”

One of the many indicators on the display panel.

I would tend to agree with Rice, but wonder how much GM would be ahead if they had thumbed their noses at the big oil companies and carried through with production because perhaps that would have driven down the economies of scale that make the Volt a car not everyone can afford. It carries a $39,000 price tag but with it comes a $7,500 tax credit and a compatible lease policy which lets you drive one away with an amount just slightly over what you would pay for a non-hybrid car.

Perhaps it's in the overall fuel usage where you save, the car kicking into electric in city driving so you're spending 90 cents a day to charge the batteries overnight.

White's has two Volts coming to the showroom. “I think there's a market here,” Rice said, explaining the car can carry four adults, has fold down rear seats for groceries or other items.

The amenities are in place, a walloping sound system, comfortable drive and good handling and there's also the environmental side of this car. “This is all you need to go around town in with minimal increase in fossil fuel use,” Rice says.

I think it makes sense and perhaps when I see those economies of scale slide down, I'll sit comfortably in the future of American automotive industry — Lance Martin