When Cate and I were at the State Fair (see State Fair 1) we
visited Conservation World to see the Celebrating the
Environment Tent, which was a new (to me) environmental
displaythat included Springfield Based groups. While
there I was shown a Lexus hybrid car and told a pretty cool
story about how it came to be there. I did not have time to
get the details and forgot to take pictures so I was waiting
until I could get accurate info before I posted it.
First: The CAR
It is a Lexus Hybrid, 4 Door Sedan/Coupe which costs $61 K,
and was provided by Lexus of Peoria. At the high end of its
gasoline performance it gets 28 miles to the gallon, not
bad for a sports car. The car runs on electricity at low
speeds and gas at high speeds. (see www.lexusofpeoria.com)
The car was offered to them courtesy of Wally Miles, Sales
Manager, at Lexus of Peoria, 7301 N. Allen Rd, Peoria, IL 61614.
But then there is the obvious ????. Peoria?
Catherine O'Connor told me that she called every car dealer in
Springfield to see if they would loan her a car. They all said
no!(boo hissssss) So she took a creative leap and called dealers
in other cities. When she got a hold of Wally Miles
(http://wally_miles@lexusofpeoria.com)
whom she had NOT MET before, he said he would get her a car! She
said that what she did not know until later was that Mr. Miles
had to BUY the car because there is a waiting list!! He had the
car delivered to her by courier and again, he had only spoken
to her on the telephone…a $60,000 car. WHOA.
The thank you letter from the Sierra Club in part reads:
"Thank you so much for generously supplying a new Lexus
hybrid vehicle for the 'Celebrating the Environment' display
at the 2008 Illinois State Fair. We are proud that the Sierra
Club has teamed up with a coalition of local environmental
groups and community leaders to help raise awareness of the
biggest single step that American consumers can take to curb
global warming and help reduce their dependence on
non-renewable fuel sources."
Anybody want to buy a car? CALL Wally! Thank you Mr. Miles.
