Saw Another Test Mule Today

"sonicgabe" (gabeloewenberg) 08/29/2016 at 22:59 • Filed to: test mule

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When I saw the Audi 2018 Q5 last week, I was flabbergasted. In all my years, I had never seen a test mule in Florida. Today, I saw another!

Unfortunately, I was too far away to get a picture (the above is just a crop of the Audi from last week), and I was not in a position to give chase, not that it would have mattered, as you’ll find out.

Lady SonicGabe and I each had business in Tampa today, so over the bridge we go. I dropped her off and was headed to visit with my mom and help her with some stuff in her yard. I was heading north on Dale Mabry, which is Tampa main non-interstate artery. It’s a hateful road full of strip malls, constant traffic, and all manner of dumbassery driving.

Through a light rain, I spotted the tell-tale black and white camo swirls on a sedan. I was close enough to see that it had manufacturer plates. It was in a left turn lane, I was two lanes over and going straight. I watched as it turned on to a side street and then straight in to the Mercedes dealership. What the hell is a Merc test mule doing down here?

My best guess based on it’s shape and tail lights is that it was a 2018 CLS. It could have been a C-Class, but I’m leaning towards CLS.

I guess they wanted to see how it stands up to heat and humidity while sitting in traffic? Why is this thing here? Why was the Audi in St. Petersburg? Why?

I’ll be back near the dealership a few more times in the coming days and weeks. I’ll be doing some snooping around as best I can.

kanadanmajava1 > sonicgabe 08/30/2016 at 05:30

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I visited Florida 10 years ago in December. I was there to ship away a car that my friend had bought from Georgia. While we were coming back to Georgia using some smaller roads I saw a convoy of 3 PT Cruisers. All had very tall aerials on theirs roofs and they had manufacturer plates from Michigan. They looked completely normal PT Cruisers.

I have no idea what they were testing but I guess Florida is useful for something.

sonicgabe > kanadanmajava1 08/30/2016 at 11:02

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Florida, where the PT Cruiser is considered a luxury vehicle!

kanadanmajava1 > sonicgabe 08/30/2016 at 11:04

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At that time they were still very hot things.