June 26, 2006 7:35 PM

Dan Neil, on driving a replica of an early car

"This was the life-evoking lightning stroke in the primordial pond, the rudimentary sorting of nucleotides from which a new species would arise. It was only a matter of time before real estate agents driving three-ton Escalades would overrun the Westside."

Story. Following the primordial passage are Mike Mulligan, Williams-Sonoma and "Did pedestrians at that moment bump into each other, mysterious auguries of the fender-benders to come?"

Thoughts?