After months (maybe years) of negotiations and whining, a deal has finally been reached with my better half. No weekend classic car will be purchased. However, I can get whatever I want to replace the Acura. No matter how dorky, pricey to maintain, impractical, gas guzzling, unreliable, or just plain weird. So what's it going to be? I'll let you guess. In the meantime, I'll be burning the midnight oil on Craigslist and eBay.
Feel free to ridicule, critique, or applaud the following possibilities. Don't hold back. One of these will be my next ride:
- Pontiac G8 GT
- Mercedes 560SEC
- VW Phaeton V8
- BMW E39 M5
- BMW E60 550i
- Mercedes AMG C63
- Audi A5 3.2 Quattro
- Merkur XR4Ti
15 comments:
E39 M5 all the way. Most fun tied with the G8, and a lot more sophisticated. A bit pricey to maintain relative to the big Holden but nowhere near the same league as the others. W126s are stunning cars but maintenance downtime and old car performance limitations make it a weekend-only car IMO. VW Phaetons are incredible, stealthy and sexy cars but cost Bentley money to drive and keep up. E60s are ugly and kinda stogy to drive, Audis are beautiful but understeering breakdown-prone shit and Merkurs are awesome but strictly fourth car material. A C63 would also be epic. Or just buy an NSX so I can live out a dream vicariously through you.
Well, you really can't go wrong with a list like that (okay maybe with the Merkur).. Although I really like BMW's I would still choose the C63 or the A5. The E39 M5 just feels a bit outdated and the E60 just doesn't do it for me.
I like the G8 GT and a nice side benefit is that they are pretty reasonable in the used market.
Another option is a previous generation CTS. Very good handling dynamics and reasonable in the used market.
Run away from the Phaeton and Audi.
The E39 is a sweet ride.
The Merkur is suitable only if you can find a low mileage car.
congratulations! now the real fun begins.
based on your short list, i'm guessing you have a generous budget?
from that list, i'd say e39 m5. it may not be a classic yet but it's destined to be. very cool ride and i'd love to own one.
i think the c63 AMG is cut from a similar cloth but not nearly as cool -- hey, it's a modern c-class. any bozo with $$$ can plunk down for one.
the a5 is a nice car but ultimately too boring -- especially in CA. and you don't really need AWD.
the phaeton is cool in a VERY understated way (almost *too* understated) but could end up being a real money pit, plus hardly anyone will appreciate it (unlike the m5, where i expect you will get admiring looks all the time).
the e60 is like the a5 (a nice, ultimately slightly boring car) but a bit more obnoxious by sheer virtue of being a modern BMW.
the 560SEC is COOL (http://www.classyauto.com/image_large.php?image_id=438553) but i'd be afraid to have one as my daily driver. plus you may miss having modern amenities, believe it or not.
G8 GT: GXP or go home.
XR4Ti: c'mon... you can do better than that, can't you?
and now one suggestion of my own: based on your selections, i'm guessing you wouldn't be opposed to... an audi s8 (D2):
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_1834-Audi-S8-Typ-4D-1998.html
I think the Pontiac G8 looks the most awesome and the Merkur would be great too but you love Mercedes, so you should get one of those. I say 560SEC!
E39 M5 is a great choice. It was the last of the good-looking M5's (I personally love the E28 M5)and , please correct me if I'm wrong, the last M5 solely with a manual transmission.
Wow! Talk about brutal honesty. Keep the comments coming. Thanks.
@ Motoring:
Love the site and that's sound advice for the most part, but I have to laugh at the reasoning that leads to discouraging against a Phaeton while endorsing an older, and more likely to have been driven hard, S8.
@alan: OK OK, fair enough -- the s8 was not a rational recommendation. but i do have a soft spot for it and think it's much cooler than the phaeton, which i might find borderline soporific were it not for the fact that it was piëch's pet project (makes for an interesting back story to a car geek) and a bit of an engineering marvel. i also had the W12 in mind when i discouraged against the phaeton -- i don't think anyone would dispute that the prospect of W12 ownership is a bit scary.
The most fun I've ever had in a car that wasn't mine was an e39 M5 test drive. I hooned that thing to hell.
What timing - I just drove past the Merkur stash in South Lake Tahoe this past weekend. Still there!
The XR4ti is decidedly underwhelming. Perhaps because I lusted for one for 12 years and it followed a phenominal X1/9, it just did not live up to expectations.
I do approve it's inclusion in the discussion and with time and money can be excellent cars.
Phooey - those cars are all far too practical. What you want is: http://bringatrailer.com/2011/07/13/affordable-icon-1-owner-1972-citroen-sm/
@Lukas/Mr. 6.9: I'm a masochist, but not that much of one!
I vote for Merkur XR4Ti!
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