You can probably guess with 30-caliber machine guns poking out of the hood that the car I took for a test drive this morning isn't a hybrid. And you know for certain by the look on my face that it was a ton of fun.

I may just make this my new sig photo.

My colleagues Lyra Solochek (who took the photo) and Pete Couture -- the "Daily Drivers" reviewing cars for the Times -- joined me at the Tampa fairgrounds to take the Green Hornet's rip-roaring ride Black Beauty for a too-brief but exhilarating ride. Separately, of course. I don't trust anyone's driving but mine.

This baby has it all for amateur road-ragers (except a heater, which we could've used this cold morning): Striker missiles mounted fore and aft in case the hood blasters don't get the job done, a cannon maw in the shiny grill, with shotgun and machine gun barrels poking from the suicide doors, and hub caps that will play on screen like the modern version of Ben-Hur's chariot wheel rippers.

Make that "megatons of fun."

Black Beauty was in town for the weekend at the Tampa Car Show, so Sony invited media types to take a spin. It's one of the better ways I've encountered to induce hype for a movie. Sony rep Matt Ford provided details that we'll pass along later, with more photos and perhaps the jittery video that my pal Harry Diaz took from the back seat during my second lap. I'm not sure was was louder; the Chevy engine dropped into this customized Chrysler Imperial -- No. 27 of the 29 created for the movie -- or Harry's screaming.

With so many Black Beauties constructed -- from Imperials purchased on eBay for prices ranging from $1,500 to $15,000 -- I asked Ford if the new Green Hornet, Seth Rogen, actually slid his fanny across the seat. "Guaranteed," Ford said.

The Green Hornet starring Rogen and Jay Chou as Kato opens nationwide in 3-D on Jan. 14, 2011.