Ultimate-10-car-garage: reply 10

“(Best for last) Ferrari 250 GT Spider Californian: It’s my favourite Ferrari … go on, look at it – no more need be said.”

Well what way to end. Such a beautiful car. But I can’t use it. I’ve already got a 250 series Ferrari in my list. I’m so tempted just to slip the 250 Testa Rossa in here because it’s another 250 series car that really deserves serious attention.

But I’m not going to, because the truth is that I’ve already hit the peak. How can anything top the Bugatti? Well that’s the things you see, inevitably something will. Car design refuses to stand still. I predict within a decade or so someone will build something that will make the Bugatti look tame; just as it made the previous king of the hill, the McLaren F1, look tame. In fifty years we’ll look back on this car with perhaps the same passion and awe as we look at the 250 Californian – but we shouldn’t forget that the Ferrari 250 Californian does 0-100km/hr in 8.0 seconds and tops out at 240 km/hr which puts it right up there with modern cars like the Hyundai I30 diesel as far as performance goes. That’s progress for you. 50 years can turn a supercar humdrum.

So in appreciation of the relentless pace of progress I’m going to give this spot to a brand new car. A car that, despite its high tech shininess, still acknowledges its roots. A new car with the blood of the 250 Californian running in its veins.

The 2009 Ferrari California.

Ultimate-10-car-garage: reply 9

Koenigsegg CCR: Ever since being overtaken by one in the UK while on holiday, I have been fascinated by these cars … now I just want one.

For some reason these just don’t float my boat. Odd really. They’re shockingly fast and have the handling to match. The thing is that it comes across as a car that has sacrificed everything for sheer speed. And if you like that, there’s really only one way to go.

The current king of speed. The Bugatti Veyron.

Oh and BTW if you are a fan of the stupid and probably lethal SSC Ultimate Aero TT and are currently telling your monitor that the Bugatti is not the fastest car in the world Then I suggest you go and Google “Bugatti Veyron GT” and stop bothering me.

It not a car you can drive everyday but it just has to be in my ultimate garage. I can’t put it any better than Jeremy Clarkson who said. “The Bugatti Veyron is a triumph for lunacy over common sense, a triumph for man over nature and a triumph for Volkswagen over absolutely every other car maker in the world”.

Ultimate-10-car-garage: reply 8

“Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale: Sex on four wheels – a truly beautiful car with looks that would not be out of place today. Looks good from every angle, was a street version of a racing car (instead of the other way around) and has a rarity value through the roof!”

Without a doubt the quirkiest choice in the whole list.

Incredibly rare, incredibly desirable. May well be the most beautiful car ever built. Probably the only reason it’s not the most valuable car in the world today is that it’s almost totally unknown by anyone other than hard core Alfa fans.

Truth be told, it would never have made my list, not because it’s unworthy but because I never would have thought of it. I had heard of it but I haven’t seen a photograph of it in twenty years.

Kudos Mr Groyne; a spectacular choice.

Because I would have missed it I’ll replace it with something that absolutely must be on my list and may well be the only car that can match the Alfa in desirability and rarity. Probably the greatest sportcar ever built.

The Ferrari 250 GTO.

Ultimate-10-car-garage: reply 7

Bentley Continental GT: Well I need a round-town car don’t I?

Excellent choice. For my around town car I prefer a 4 door however so I’ll take the Flying Spur instead but otherwise a lovely choice.

I briefly considered a S-class instead just for the radar guided cruise control but unfortunately the current S-class is too ugly for words so I’ll stick with Mr Groynes Bentley idea.

Ultimate-10-car-garage: reply 6

“1989 BMW 635 CSi: Getting the vibe that the 80’s was inspirationall for me? Anyhoo, this was one of those cars that just got things right – great engine, great styling and great presence.”

Again with the eighties.

Anyway, no real argument. I love these cars. One day I might even own one. I’d love one of these more but unless it turns out I’m Rupurt Murdoch’s long forgotten love child I’ll never own one. My ultimate garage will however.

Ultimate-10-car-garage: reply 5

“1989 Porsche 911 (930): Last of the hero 911’s IMHO … big, brash and beautiful in all its full-on, turbo’d whale-tailed glory!”

We seem to be focusing on the 1980’s to an unusual extent. I mean this is a fantasy garage right? Want a turbocharged Porsche? Like the 911 bodyshape. Why the hell not go for the GT2?

Better in every way apart from rear spoiler dimensions – but maybe that’s important?

Ultimate-10-car-garage: reply 4

“A fully configured Landrover Defender 130: I love my photography and I love to get away from the madding crowd … and what better way to get away from things than in one of the most capable 4WDs ever produced. Sure it isn’t the most eco-friendly of vehicles, but in vinyl trim and with a diesel motor it is one of the most robust and rugged go-anywhere vehicles I know of.”

I’m going to give Mr Groyne a little food for thought here. Image you’re parachuted into the centre of the Sahara. You have no water and the nearest supply is 500 miles away. You’re given the choice of two cars. One is the afore mentioned Defender, the other is a base model Hilux with a lift kit and a locking centre diff. Which would you take?

If you said the Landrover, you might want to read this article and have a good long hard think about it (as you’re dying of thirst in your broken down Landy).

The thing about 4×4s is that if you are to use them as intended then you will travel a long way from easy recovery services. Priority one in any serious 4×4 is reliability and, god help them, Landrover just don’t cut it.

My choice. Well I like light 4×4s. I’ll accept the compromised power for the nimbleness that light weight gives you. So for me anything small , diesel powered and Japanese. The Subaru Forester, the new X-trail diesel, pretty much anything that fits those criteria will do the job.

Ultimate-10-car-garage: reply 3

“Aston Martin DB5 Convertible: Best of British 60s convertibles and the sweetest version of one of the most beautifully designed cars.”

Wow, hard to argue with this one (but you know I’m going to), the DB5 drop head is a classic in every sense of the word. However, the phrase that made me smile a bit was ‘the best of the British 60’s convertibles’. That my friend is a very big call indeed.

At first I thought ‘what about the Austin Healy 3000? What about the E-type? Hell, what about the Triumph TR series, the bug-eyes or that perennial classic the MGB?

But then I realised Mr Groyne has given me a chance to talk about one of my favourite cars of all time.

Try to imagine it. It’s 1962 and most cars look like this or worse, like this. The recently released Ford Anglia goes from 0-60mph in 26.9 seconds and tops out at 74mph. Oh sure there’s the Jag and the Aston for those with pots of money but for the working stiff it’s still the Morris Oxford and nought to the ton in half a minute.

Into this world of automotive despair comes a car that looks like it jumped straight from the pages of a science fiction magazine. A car with astonishing specifications like four wheel disc brakes, full independent suspension and a twin cam motor. A car with a steel sub frame but a rust proof and robust fibreglass body shell. A car that will go from 0-60mph in 7.9 seconds (more than a second faster than the Aston) and top out at a very respectable 120mph. A car with one of the greatest engines of all time. And most importantly a car that sells for less than one third of the cost of the Aston.

Ladies and gentlemen I present my pick for position 3, the generation 1 Lotus Elan.

Ultimate-10-car-garage: reply 2

“Aston Martin DB9: The car I covet the most – sleek, purposeful styling matched with performance and driveability (apparently) … and dead sexy to boot.”

A year ago I would have agreed with Mr Groyne without reservations. Boring but true. I also lusted after this car, not for its brains but for it’s almost pornographic body.

Then something happened. I was walking along Oxford Street in Bulimba when I saw a car that was so beautiful it literally made me stop breathing for a moment. Oddly it was a car I was completely familiar with; the Ferrari 430. I had seen it many times in pictures and had been curiously under whelmed by its looks, but now in the flesh it was very different indeed. It is a car that you can’t truly appreciate until you stand next to it. It’s tiny, yet wider than it has any right to be, it almost looks square. It’s so low it looks like you could you could drive under other cars. And its lines, every one is exactly perfect. It’s the most exquisite little creature you could imagine. I spent several minutes looking at it before something horrific dawned on me – parked immediately behind the Ferrari and up till now completely failing to register on my optic nerve was a brand new DB9.

Unlike the Ferrari the DB9 was somehow less than the pictures would tell you. The lines that look so gorgeous in cleverly lighted photographs are just the tiniest bit, well, bland. Astons are alway a bit understated and with this car thay might have gone a little too far. I even, god help me, detected a wee bit of Mondeo from some angles.

The truth is the DB9 is a beautiful car, not doubt, but put a silver/grey one next to a bright red Ferrari 430 and there’s just no contest. The Ferrari is also much faster both in a straight line and around any corner you choose. It uses less fuel (not that that’s important in this context) and sounds fabulous. Oh the Aston sounds good too but the Ferrari is just better. It’s a hundred grand more expensive of course but hey this is a fantasy right, money is irrelevant.

So in position number 2 for me. It’s the Ferrari 430. Might as well make it the Scuderia as well. Why not?

Ultimate-10-car-garage: reply 1

A good friend of mine blogs on the same site and recently he put up this entry on his Ultimate 10 Car Garage. It’s a good list – inspired in places and quirky in others. So given that, I’m now going to spend some time telling him how wrong he is.

Actually I’m not, that would be ridiculous, you can’t be wrong stating a personal preference. But seeing as he’s gone to the trouble of letting us know why he chose each car I’m going to spend a few minutes deciding if I agree or disagree and maybe offering an alternatives.

“Lamborghini Countach: Last of the truly mad supercars that reached their zenith in the late 80’s, in my opinion. The Lambo was my poster child, it represented all that was hot and excessive in the automotive world.”

He’s right here; nobody does mad like Lamborghini. Or at least that was true; lately their masters at Audi have hidden the crack pipe so they aren’t quite as batshit insane as they used to be, so the Countach still remains the maddest and baddest of the Lamborghini line.

The problem with mad in car design is, well, it’s mad. The Countach is hot and heavy to drive which makes it almost impossible to drive well. It has terrible visibility anywhere but straight ahead. That fabulous body produces some of the worst aerodynamics figures this side of an 80’s Cadillac, which means the 5 litre V12 drinks like a fish and never developed the kind of performance Lamborghini boasted of. Lambo claimed 300km/hr but short of driving it off a cliff no road going Countach ever got close to that sort of speed.

So, alternatives? Well if we’re talking about 80’s supercars there’s just no looking past the Porsche 959; a car that rewrote the book on performance. The Countach never came close to the sort of raw acceleration and speed the Porsche was capable of. But there’s a good reason for that. The Lambo isn’t an 80’s supercar. Oh sure it soldiered on to 1990 but it was designed in the very early 70’s. When the very first Countach came out, Porsche were just sticking a turbocharger on their 2.7 litre flat six for the first time. The result was a good car – for about 7 seconds – before it either detonated or oversteered you into a tree or both. A dozen years later the Porsche would develop into a screaming beast with staggering performance but compared to the first turbo, the Lambo was a gem.

So the 959 was better but for most of the 80’s it didn’t exist. So what to choose as my mad 80’s supercar? Well, how about this. The Ferrari 288 GTO. Rarer than the Lambo. Faster and way, way more usable. Everything the Lambo should have been, no argument.

So the result is clear. Put the Lambo next to the Ferrari and tell me to choose and I’ll pick the Ferrari any day?

Ah, well no – actually, like peppergroyne, I’ll have the Countach please.

The thing is, Lamborghini understood – and still understand – that’s it’s not completely about the car’s ability. There’s more presence in one Countach than there is in all 277 GTO’s Ferrari ever built. The GTO is a fast car, the Lamborghini Countach is a supercar. Some might say THE supercar. Watch the first three minutes of the movie ‘The Cannonball Run’ and argue with me. Go on, I dare you.