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If you had $500K to spend on cars, which would you buy?
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Sure. If you help me scare up that 500K car fund, we can be BFF.
A family car such as a '96 BMW 540iM.
A car for the wife to drive in the winter, like an Audi Allroad.
A hunting/fishing rig. '88 Jeep Cherokee 4.0 5-speed with lockers and a and just enough lift to make room for some 12x36 MT's.
A hauling truck. Like a '75 Ford F350 (when frames were didn't have holes to decrease weight, and swing arms were I-beams) exta-cab long bed 2WD, with and '85 cab, utility box with fifth-wheel set-up, a FI 521 Dinosaur and super 10.
A street legal 1/4 miler. Like a '71 Duster with a KB Hemi and a seqential 4-speed. Tubbed and an framed for hook-up.
Something for the "One Lap". A '70 Challenger with a crate FI 360, 6-speed, coil overs, brembo's and other such enhancements.
A sporty back-road burner, like a replica Cobra 427.
Do I have enough left over for a formal sedan, like a '36 Packard 120 Town car? (Its note like it was a Twelve dual-cowl Pheaton by Darrin or anything).
Rocky
07 Mercedes-Benz S550 ($100k), my show-off car
06 Mazda 6S 5-speed hatch ($25k after deals), every day car
06 Honda Odyssey EX ($30k--strange, I know, but vans are handy sometimes)
06 BMW convertible 330i convertible, manual, ~$50k
the nicest 66 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham I could find (would $20k suffice?)
67 Chevrolet Caprice 4-door hardtop, loaded (prolly $15k for a minty example, if I could find one--two-doors are an easy find, the sedans not so much; I don't know why I like these so much, but...)
67 or 68 Camaro RS convertible ($50k? these have become so ridiculous, considering they were <$5k new)
65 or 66 Pontiac Grand Prix or Bonneville ($15k-ish: I guess I like mid-late '60s GM <del>barges cars)
I guess a cliche-for-rich-guys Porsche 911 (what, $90k?), though they're really not my style
06 Toyota Avalon for my mom, if she likes them ($35k?)
Honda Pilot EX ($30k) as a household car, or for my brother
Infiniti G35 6-speed coupe for my S/O ($35k)
maybe an old Miata as a fun knockaround car ($5k)
Wow, my list is boring, no exotics or super-old. Predictable for me, I guess. :confuse:
I could probably do better with more time, but I must sleep now.
Along those lines, I guess I could go down to the local junkyard, that specializes in old Mopars, and start buying up the ones I like as they come in, and before they get dismantled and thrown out in the yard to get picked over.
That's actually how I ended up with my '79 Newport...I just happened to go to the junkyard right after it got delivered. I asked them about it and they let me check it out and start it up. Seemed fine. They sold it to me as a used car, so it never went the "salvage" title route.
On countless times I've gone back and seen other cars they've gotten in, parked off to the side, but not-yet-dismantled. One time there was a fairly decent-looking '81 or so Cordoba I would've snatched up if I could. Awhile ago, I remember them having a 1965 Newport hardtop coupe with a fairly solid body, good 383, but a bum tranny. The would've sold it to me, complete, for $400. A new tranny would've run around $650.
One time I went there, and saw them dismantling what looked to be a perfect example of a '78 or so Granada. Not really my thing, but it was still kinda sad seeing them take what looked like a serviceable car, put it up on the lift, cut the gas tank off, drain out all the oil, antifreeze, etc, pull out the seats and look for change, and then haul it out back with a forklift.
Another time, I saw a good looking '77 or so New Yorker. It had "good motor" and "good trans" written on the windshield so I doubt there had been anything major wrong with it. But it was already dismantled, with the gas tank cut off, and had already been picked on a bit. Oh, and it was a 4-door hardtop with the power windows rolled all the way down, so that still-nice interior probably didn't stay nice for long.
Back when I was married, my wife went down there one day to pick up something that I'd called them about. A Dart windshield or something, I think. Well, they had just gotten in a '67 Bonneville convertible and they knew I had a '67 Catalina 'vert, so they asked me if I was interested. I thought it would be cool, and we could have his & hers convertibles, but this thing was pretty far gone. And considering the way my marriage went, it's for the best!
They also know that I like DeSotos. One day I drove up and the guy said "Have I got a car for you!" It was a '61 DeSoto 2-door hardtop, not running and backyard fresh. It was restorable, but would truly have been a labor of love. It ultimately got saved, by a guy I knew from a DeSoto club I used to belong to. He had something like 30 cars of various makes, but mainly Mopar scattered about, hidden away in various barns, backyards, etc.
I think it would be kinda fun to snatch up some of these still-serviceable beasts and save them from the crusher. Probably wouldn't be a good idea to fix them up TOO much though. Buying a car for $250, putting $10K or more into it to get it really pristine, only to have a car that's worth maybe $3-5K could eat through that $500,000 pretty quickly!
Nice idea Rock, but you'd have a hard time opening a McDonalds, let alone a major new car dealership for $500k.
But I guess if you have $500k laying around for cars, you should have a lot more laying around for investment.
Anyway for $500k worth of cars I'd probably go with the following.
BMW M5 daily driver
Ford GT well, just because
F350 crew cab dually diesel (needed to tow my Outerlimits offshore power boat with the "other" $500k I need to spend
MB SL600 for the wife.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
You can keep enough money to get yourself a pretty new STS and spread the love at the same time.
As for me getting cars for friends and family, a 35-40K x-type ought to prevent my mom from ever mentioning my 30 hour labor ever again. Totally worth it.
dave
The diesel engine with the allison transmission; used to tow the 4 horse trailer, the boat, etc.
Audi S4 Avant ($ 60,000)
AWD, power, luxury, cargo space.
VW Phaeton W12 ($120,000)
Daily driver. Total stealth-luxury mobile. I wouldn't have to worry about the thieves following me home. After all... it's only a VW.
Porsche Carrera 4S ($125,000)
Zoom.
1970 Corvette (T-Top) ($ 30,000)
Sexiest. Car. Ever.
Big-block, 4-speed with side pipes.
I'd have to throw in something convertible too. Maybe an M3 or an S4. Something with enough storage so I can drive to the beach and bring actual beach chairs with me.
1- a restored Alfa Romeo GTV 1974 ($18,000), for those times I want to tool around in some soulful vehicle.
2- a Maserati Quattroporte 2005 ($100,000)....for those formal occasions and touring vacations .
3- a 2006 Porsche 911 twin turbo ($160,000), for personal fun and track fun. :shades:
4- a 2006 Cayenne Turbo ($116,000)...for winter getaways with the family.
5- a 2000 Stillen Suburban ( $50,000)..for touring and vacations with friends and family.
6- finallly, a toyota prius....for commuting and to appeal to the green side of me....
I would not want a ferrari, probably use left over money to rent one when on vacation...just for the kicks...but they are not as practical for daily use.... A Lambo would be nice...but again, not as practical for me....
Maserati vs. Ferrari:
A business associate had a 2001 Ferrari 360 for 3+ years and 25,000+ miles with virtually no problems. He sold it for approximately $10,000 more than he paid (MSRP) for it.
On the other hand, when I was shopping for a sports car last summer/fall I was offered a 2003 Maserati Spyder with 11,000 miles at neary $35k under it's original MSRP.
As such, my ultimate family sedan tourer would be the 2007 BMW M5 that will be properly equiped with a 6 speed manual.
2006 911TT
If I'm not mistaken, there isn't a 2006 911TT. They stopped the 996 model TT in 2005. But if you meant the new 2007 (997) 911 TT, I fully agree. And the good news is that it shouldn't be close to $160k in coupe form. I was told a starting price of $120k+/-. Of course with Porsche, the steering wheel is optional, but I still suspect a well equiped 911TT coupe would be under $140k.
Cayenne Turbo:
I finally got to drive one when I took my car in for service. Spectacular vehicle but, unfortunately, it's people and cargo capacity is closer to our 911S than our MDX. Great SUV for an empty nester that doesn't fall into the Home Depot DIY demographic.
Yes...I think I mean the 2007 Porcshe 911 twin turbo...the one with the variable geometry turbo...first gasoline turbo to have such construction. It is a breakthrough in turbo technology.
Cayenne turbo is still my ride that best combines sportiness with utility...bar none, in my opinion. The G55 and ML55 and BMW x5 are close, but top performance and cache goes to cay, IMO. MDX is nice. I just bought a 2006 Honda Odyssey....more similar to the MDX...but less utility. MDX does have more cargo capacity...but for that we have the stillen suburban...all souped up by previous owner at a price of $120,000 . we traded in the TL
A Chevy Aveo SV.....$10,000.00
A full tank of gas.$489,995.00
One air freashener.......$5.00
-------------
Total..............$500.000.00
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
That is so darn funny. Marilyn Monroe was an American Goddess and I can't really blame JFK and Robert Kennedy.
Rocky
Rocky
Make it a White Ford Crown Victoria. $30,000
White with dark tinted windows. I'll use it for high-speed runs on the highway when I want people to get out of the left lane when I come up behind 'em
Except me. I noticed that it had out-of-state tags.
I'm not trying to impersonate a cop... just trying to make my commute smoother.
I also had a drunk teen get mad at me and almost start something because he saw me driving through the neighborhood slowly one night, and he was out drinking in the front yard. He though he was going to get in trouble with the cops, but then he saw me turn into the neighbor's driveway, and hop out with a pizza. He had the nerve to come over into her yard and get lippy with me because I scared him with that car! :confuse:
Years ago, I had a friend whose mother had a white 1986 Caprice. It was the highest trim level, like a Brougham LS or something like that. But in the rearview mirror it looked just like a copcar. She used to get people mad at her all the time, because they'd move over thinking a cop was coming up, but then see this middle-aged lady passing by in this monster with wire wheels and whitewalls, and a Chrysler-esque padded landau top, and they'd think they'd been tricked!
I must ask:
Did it have "a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks"?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Yeah, but by 1989 all a "cop motor" got you was a 318 with a windage tray, double roller timing chain, tranny and oil cooler, and a GM 4-bbl carb.
It was a great handling car, though. And it was actually a sherriff's car, so it was outfitted pretty nicely with power windows/locks/mirrors, cloth seats, fairly nice carpeting, and an awesome (for the time) stereo. Great brakes too.
I don't really miss it that much, though. If I had it to do over again, I would've just broken down and fixed the water pump in my '79 Newport, instead of thinking that a 10 year newer car with 1/3rd the miles (73K versus 248K+) would be more reliable. While it wasn't a horrible car, it did develop an appetite for starters, needed a fuel pump, front seal, two power window motors, a new radiator, distributor, and that GM carb just never seemed to be right on that car. Maybe it was rejecting it like a body organ of the wrong blood type? :surprise:
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
For some reason the line "Look, the new Oldsmobiles are out" sticks in my mind. :shades:
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Rocky
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Rocky
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Rocky
OR, Bring back a VW camp mo bill or what ever they called it, but wiht a diesel.
Or, a VW Jetta TDI station wagon.
Gallardo Spyder (200K)
SL550 (100K)
S8 (100K)
Not enough money to work with!
M
I think if I were truly that rich, I'd want cars that noone else could have, so they'd be custom, or maybe show cars.
The most beautiful sedan ever: Aston Martin Rapide.
Sure it's just a concept car at this point but I'd bribe whoever I need to bribe.
Then my favorite roadster of all time: the Subaru B9 Scrambler concept. 2.0l Turbo plus hybrid powertrain would be both fast and efficient, and again, noone else owns one in the whole world.
For a van maybe the Renault F1 from a few years back, the minivan with 1000 or so horsepower.
I think the cost of those (and all the bribes I'd have to pay) would cost me the whole half a mil.
-juice
Cadillac XLR-V
Cadillac STS-V
Cadillac CTS-V
Cadillac DTS Sport
Cadillac Escalade
Cadillac SLR
Anywho, the V's are a blast to drive. Its fun knowing that that BMW M class next to you at the light has no chance getting in front of you especially before their lane ends. :shades:
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2) Audi A8 ($80K) stealthmobile..
3) Cayman ($70K) commuter car..
4) '71 Fiat 124 Spider ($6K) missed out on one in '76..
5) 911 C4S Cabrio ($100K) practical.. top down summer.. AWD winter..
6) VW Toureg V-10 diesel ($60K) I just like the look and the idea of it..
7) '65 Vette convertible ($50K) My favorite Vette..
8) '06 MINI Cooper S.. with all the toys.. ($28K).
9) Honda Fit.. ($16K)
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With all those other cars on the list, would you ever drive it?
-juice