Neal Rubin

Trucks rule on Kauai

Islanders need to haul surfboards, drive over sand

The only Ford and Lincoln-Mercury dealer on Kauai sold every Lincoln MKS sedan he ordered this year: a grand total of one. It was cinnamon-colored.

I know that because I spent most of the last two weeks on the island, something I plan to mention well past the point where everyone is sick of it. And for all the time I devoted to gaping at the scenery, I also looked at the cars, because, well, I'm from Detroit.

Kauai, known in Hawaii as the Garden Isle, is 552 frequently inaccessible square miles of almost absurd gorgeousness. It's home to 63,689 people, tens of thousands of wild chickens, only two Burger Kings and about four times that many surfing schools.

Back on dry land, it has more one-lane bridges than stretches of four-lane roadway. With gasoline going for $3.33 a gallon and no speed limit higher than 50 mph, you'd think the locals would all drive cars the size of tropical fish -- but you'd be wrong.

Real Kauaians prefer trucks

They tend to like trucks, because no matter what might make sense to you, me or Congress, taste and circumstance are highly individual things. As James Hanley puts it, "The buying motivations of an American are the buying motivations of an American. The only thing that changes is geography."

He's the owner of Midpac Auto Center in Lihue, the place to go for all your Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Mazda needs. That basically means Ford and Mazda, because combined, the luxury brands make up maybe 4 1/2 percent of his business.

Mostly, says Hanley, he sells pickups, SUVs and anything else with a similar chassis. Ford Fusions seem nearly as plentiful on the island as the chickens, but they're rentals.

Real Kauaians work in construction or agriculture, or need to haul surfboards and kayaks, or just prefer trucks. So that's what they spend their money on.

Whatever they're driving, they're polite.

Nobody honks. At one-lane bridges, a few cars cross in one direction, and then the next driver stops so a few cars can cross the other way. An old F-150 parked at the beach had a bumper sticker that summed things up nicely: "Slow down. This ain't the mainland."

'Honor customers' passion'

If you want a Cadillac on Kauai, you're a rare bird. I only spotted three. If you want an Acura, Audi, BMW, Buick, Jaguar, Lexus or Volvo, you're out of luck. They're among the brands you'd have to buy on Maui or Oahu and then ship home on a barge.

A few dealerships are open on Sunday, but Hanley, 47, figures six days are enough. He doesn't do any business on Saturday anyway, for the same reason he mows his lawn on weeknights even if he has to finish after dark and misses some spots. Weekends are for water.

Three times a week, minimum, he's in a kayak or on a surfboard. This isn't an original line, he says, but it's absolutely his philosophy: "The cure for everything is salt water -- sweat, tears or the sea."

Business-wise, he says, the simple cure is to provide the answers customers need and the vehicles they want. Ford's end of the deal is to come up with increasingly smart and fuel-efficient products.

Speaking to an environmental group last week, he pointed out that we have a 100-year history with internal combustion engines, and it won't change overnight. When it does, he'll happily sell whatever comes next.

"We honor our customers' passion," he says -- the surfers, the pretenders and even the odd duck who wanted a luxury sedan you can't drive across the sand.

nrubin@detnews.com (313) 222-1874