2001 Mazda Millenia:

Hard To Spell, But Easy to Drive

By Anne Fracassa and Hawke Fracassa

Price as tested: $32,505

Engine: 2.3-liter engine

Fuel Efficiency: MPG 20 city / 28 highway

Safety Features: Driver and passenger airbags, standard

It's seems fitting for us to start 2001 in a new car called the Millenia since we're supposedly bringing in a new millennium.

But let's not get off on the wrong foot. People who actually have the time to argue over something as inane and unimportant as whether 2001 is or isn't the first year of the new millennium need more responsibilities in their lives.

Maybe that's too harsh a thing to say. Given more time to think about it, maybe Mazda's 2001 Millenia is aptly named, because it's the type of car that is so trouble-free and easy to use that its owners are freed up to think about anything they choose, no matter how silly it may appear to the rest of us.

That said, here's something to think about: Mazda has given its luxury sedan an easier-on-the-eyes body design and a more striking interior for 2001, and has succeeded in making the car feel sportier while, at the same time, not sacrificing elegance.

Without question, this Japanese carmaker, partly owned by Ford Motor Company, delivers a sophisticated package in the Millenia whose only apparent fault with American buyers is that it's not assembled within shouting distance of Detroit or Ohio, or some other assembly-line haven.

While you might think we're all so grown up now that we've outgrown the old 1970s "Buy American" propaganda, I can assure you we haven't. We are ripe for a recession, and when a recession flicks its Bic at us people typically abandon buying what they want and settle for vehicles that are more politically correct because it seems like the right thing to do.

After all, how politically correct could it possibly be to buy a luxury car made in Hofu, Japan, in a recession? Not very, if you live in these United States. But if value is your motivator and you've got the fortitude to think for yourself instead of letting others do it for you, buying a Millenia is a sound business decision because it delivers outstanding value for the dollar.

The lesson many of us miss that the Millenia illustrates is that it's more important for us to buy something we like than to buy a car somebody else thinks is right for us because we might not know enough about cars.

So, to you, if this is you, let us say this: The Millenia is for someone who is capable of independent thinking, and for someone who demands a finely styled machine that is dependable, roomy, comfortable and good in bad weather. Only you can weigh the important of whether the locale of a car's asembly is American soil.