That crisp television clip featuring silver Mercedes, black Mustang and red Porsche all simply shout “give me a speeding ticket, oh please do!”

A maroon Mazda5 family-hauler special, even with a stick-shift, looks like it could not possibly be going that fast . . . even if it is.

Yes, this is a seven-passenger micro-minivan with a backpack good for the “we spent more than we planned to” run to Costco.

An aero-oriented shape with the now-familiar Mazda smile front-end, the 5 has a solid stance with meaty looking Bridgestone Turanza 205/55-16s mounted on handsome pinwheel alloy wheels.

Since a stop in Hayward, California, was in order, swapping out of a spicy sports car into a minivan would take place at the Specialty Transport Northern California headquarters. It was an opportunity to personalize holiday greetings to David Sanderson, Jake Benson and Marco.

We were giving thanks for one more year of their putting up with yet one more snarky journalist.

But this meant that the escape from Hayward would bring this author into the joyful holiday traffic of the Nimitz Expressway -- otherwise known as the 880. The Nimitz is yet another example of the marvelous California roads that have gone to pot.

Check that -- if we actually legalized that stuff and taxed the living snot out of it -- we could afford decent roads. Well, maybe better pavement.

Maybe wouldn't matter as many oblivious drivers plant their aircraft carrier SUVs and battleships (raised 4X4s) in the fast lane and  refuse to concede the left lane unless at risk for a dive bomber attack (State Police Cruiser, flashing red and blues lights, somewhat noticeable even through ultra-dark tinted glass).

This Mazda5 is a 6-speed, stick-shift, stir-it-yourself type vehicle. YES, a sporty family hauler with a stick exists!

The Mazda5 Sport comes in at 3,417 pounds or roughly the same weight as your average small sedan, making it the welterweight of the minivan class. With two kids and their stuff aboard, the Mazda5 had no trouble merging into traffic.

Dropping two gears to make a passing maneuver to shoot for a hole in the faster traffic was snick-snick easy in terms of steering and vehicle control.

The shift back over to sixth did feel a bit rubbery, and we started to run out of oomph as the speeds got into the definite ticket territory, but she held her own. On the long uphill climb leading to the Caldicott Tunnel, we once again dropped into fourth and then back up to fifth, but it was also obvious that the dressy BMW in front of us had hit the go pedal rather than let a family hauler through. We were grateful for his pace as we cleared one refrigerator white minivan left-lane roadblock that was simply trundling up the hill in the left lane gathering followers like the Pied Piper.

The ride proved to be supple and comfortable and surprisingly pleasant considering the sporting handling on offer. Comfortable cloth seats and nice mix of hard and soft plastics will not impress the  folks who consider their vehicles an extension of their jewelry box. Six-passenger capacity, second- row captain's chairs, second-row under seat storage, second-row fold-out table with storage with split third-row seating -- speak to the thoughtful functionality of the Mazda5.

There' quite a lot of space considering that the 5 rides on a 108.3-inch wheelbase.

The eight-speaker stereo came standard and this author would have sprung for the Sirius Satellite option as the sound system was clear and crisp.

In spite of this author's best efforts to mash the throttle to the floor, the Mazda5 returned 23.5 MPG on regular from the 15.9-gallon tank. That's pretty close to the EPA rating of 21 City and 28 Highway. The Mazda5 probably would have done even better if this author had not been playing sports car driver. On other hand, the Mazda5 has such a nice feel to it that it does tend to encourage bad behavior.

The real shocker was the sticker. Base price came in at $19,975. with $795. for delivery or a total MSRP of $20,770.

We'd have to say that this fun to drive Mazda 5, with its low cost of maintenance, low fuel consumption and excellent reputation for durability combined with superb carrying capacity is one special automobile.