The car I always choose from lists

007 Cars

This clip made me think that I have seen many lists like this, and I always choose the same car: the newest, most modern, and fastest. Collect up a bunch of Mustangs, from 1964.5 to today and I am damn sure going to pick the 2021 Shelby GT500.  As much as I love the Muira, I'd take a Hurican Performanente in a heartbeat.  Classic Merc Gullwing or a new AMG GT Black? No question, I want lap times and raw power. I love classics and there are many that I would put in my Billionaire's garage (starting with a Muira) but given a choice to take one home and enjoy it in my actual, real life, I'd go new every time. How about you?

For me it's the purest expression of some particular ideal. But usually also modern. But for most cars, not the most modern, because I want that analog car/driver connection (most of the time). But I want it as modern as I can get while still maintaining that raw nature.

It could be that it's the generation of cars I grew up with, but this throws me pretty solidly in the 90's through early '00's.

I want an E39 M5. Don't want the older, lower performance E28. Don't want the newest electronic one either though.

I want the newest Caterham though, because as modern as they get, they're still oldschool, raw, analog.

I dont know, I do love the appeal of the older simpler more direct experience. 

Recently; Pick which car to keep to fill the slot of project/date night car. 1994 Miata (base, no AC) or 1961 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite.   I picked the bugeye. Yeah, the Miata pretty much does everything demonstrably better and more reliably, but the bugeye is so simple and has so much personality. I have 2 other autocrossable cars, one of which would always be faster than the miata, so autocross performance didnt factor at all. 

I'm having a tough time picking just one.  Good thing I'm not a billionaire.  I like raw power cars, scalpel cars and then luxurious grand touring.   Maybe a Ferrari FF for a daily?

There is simply no doubt that the newer cars are better by any metric, but I prefer the old stuff.  New cars are the ones you count on to get you to the job, to transport your family safely.  They are competent, coddling, awesome.   Old cars are the ones that stir your soul, that take you back.  I want to hear the rumble.  I want to smell partially combusted gasoline and the drip of oil burning off an exhaust manifold.  The imperfections are what makes them perfect.

I'm the opposite.  Older is better simply from survival.  Styles from bygone eras are more appealing to my eyes. If I was a billionaire, I'd travel on a Lockheed Electra versus a Citation X. 

(Looks in own actual garage) The most modern version that's still a manual transmission with no driver's aids apparently.

Reality strikes in the original question.  If you a given the cars, the old one are worth so much, you can always sell it and buys a bunch of new ones.  If you have to pay for it, the opposite issue occurs, now the new one is far more affordable/ practical.

In general, I very much appreciate the simplicity and character of old cars, but appreciate the reliability and comfort of new ones.  Depends what I want it for, but I will always go classic if I can.  E.g. doing some sort of well done restomod would be preferred over the car it's stealing parts from.

How about somewhere in the middle?  A Volvo 242GT is a pretty nice car, but its getting hard to find parts, or non-rusted examples.  A new S90 has a little engine that is so highly stressed that its a bit scary, plus OMG electronics and nannies.  A 2001-2007 S60 is a car with most of the features I want, only some of the electronics I don't, and they are just a really nice, sturdy, comfortable, fast enough car.

I think I could apply that metric to a lot of vehicles.  Somewhere between 1995 and 2005 was the high water mark for me.

As I've mentioned in other threads, I like wrenching on cars when I WANT to, not because I HAVE to. So give me reliable and fun in equal measures, and that usually means later model rather than earlier. If we're talking daily all-weather driver, then I want the luxo bits too and we are talking even newer.  My fun car is a 2005 Mustang, my daily is a 2013 high-option F150, so I'm walking the walk.

I've been criticized for this before, but I LOVE driving cars that drive terribly.  If I won a raffle and had my choice of a DB9 or a DB5... I would take the DB5 all day every day and twice on tuesday.

Some of the most fun driving I ever had was in an MCI coach with a terrible 4 speed and a clutch that you had to push straight down.  I once drove an IH Metro down the 405 on a lawn chair screwed to the floor and a 6 gallon boat gas tank using the primer bulb as a fuel pump.  berkeleying epic.

For me the answer to everything is Miura. Nothing else looks like it. Nothing else ever will look like it. The newer cars are faster but I can't tell the Lamborghinis from the McLarens from the Acura NSX's. Nothing else looks like a Miura. 

I LOVE new cars..

but I believe there's a balance to be had if I had a choice..

I love the original NSX but I'd want the new one as a track car.

90's Hondas are what I grew up loving and still adore to this day because I love the sound of VTEC changeover and it's lost on newer cars, but we got turbos and flat torque curves as a result..

After watching too many years of Top Gear / Grand Tour and see what a handful these early Supercars are to handle , the "sweet spot"  may be an early supercar with traction control , antilock brakes  and some adjustable features  from the drivers seat suspension controls, 

Keep out the most of the silly electronics like touch screen  etc

I love my old stuff.  I don't see the reason to avoid new components on them, though.  If I've got enough to buy and DD a Miura I've got enough to buy whatever I want and install more modern bits on it.  AC, ABS, a few other things that could be turned off if I wanted to hoon about in them.

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For me the answer to everything is Miura. Nothing else looks like it. Nothing else ever will look like it. The newer cars are faster but I can't tell the Lamborghinis from the McLarens from the Acura NSX's. Nothing else looks like a Miura. 

Looks like an Italian version of a Ford GT 40 to me.   Smoother lines.

But what do I know?

jharry3 said:

Looks like an Italian version of a Ford GT 40 to me.   Smoother lines.

But what do I know?

Sort of, but the GT40 does not have this sitting behind the driver:

New vs old always requires a definition. 20 years ago a 2000 model cars was "packed full of electronics and hard to work on" Now it's old and easier than today's cars.  New is always tougher because it's new and unfamiliar. Old is comfortable because we've been with it so long and have grown accustomed to it.

Pre OBD2 is a good spot for me. One computer to deal with in most cars and fairly simple repair processes. No programming a bunch of modules or software updates to speak of. Things not related to the engine are largely analog.

Do I DD something like this? No. Why? Good examples are getting expensive fast and body/trim parts harder to find. Don't want to drive it in winter due to the road salt and always have to worry about vandalism, parking damage, and theft everytime I go downtown.

My problem with the latest and greatest isn't, "What happens when it breaks?" It's that the engineers have figured out that, in pursuit of maximum performance, the driver is the weakest link, so they've done their best to take them out of the equation. I don't care if *I* am slower than a new NSX. I want to drive the car even if I slow it down. I want the original NSX.

That and modern capabilities are so great that I can't approach them in my regular life. I can floor my S2000 up an onramp and smile.

I want slow car fast, not fast car slow.

In reply to Beer Baron :

I'm kinda the opposite.  I like a fast car slow.  I will drive a 500 hp V8 like a grandma just because I can.

It would be pretty hard to turn down a Miura, although I suspect they aren't as much fun to drive as they are to look at.  A modern interpretation of a classic car that really does it for me is the Eagle Low Drag GT.

It comes down to what tasks do you need your car(s) to fulfill, and how many cars are you going to have to fill them.

"One car that has to do everything"?  Reliability is key, which points to something modern.

"fun street car for occasional use"?  Classic car is great at this.

I thought about this kind of thing when deciding to buy my FD instead of, say, a Cayman S.  The Porsche is faster, more comfortable, and way more reliable, but it just isn't as sexy as the FD and for the "fun street car" role the other things didn't matter.