"What’s Your Favorite Car These Days?" Where Do We Start?

By Bruce Richter

Bruce Richter

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1,926 views Mar 1, 2010

First off's the big one: "How much do we have to spend?" If this is pure no-holds-barred ultimate dream-machine then the answers, like the cars, come fast and furious. Or I'll get side-tracked with questions like, "If there is a dollar amount limit, can I start with that? For the sake of fun, lets say $100,000?" Which leads to silliness like, "For that, I could get a new M3 AND a three-year old Elise," and so on. 

The second question is, "What's it need to accomplish?" Do we have rules here? Is this THE car in a one-car family, is it a second car, a third car? What's it need to haul? And to where - up to a house on a hilltop in Colorado? Or again, is this practicality-is-no-object?

The third question is, "Instead of favorite, how about favorites - plural". As much as I like what I see in a lot of cars, I consider myself a driver. And I'm afraid I haven't driven everything on my list. So I need some back-ups in case, post-test drive, the future love of my life turns out to be a first-date dud.

And lastly, "Does that favorite car have to be new?" There's a reason Barrett-Jackson is getting over a million - and up to 5.5 mil - for Cobras that originally started out at $5,995. And on the sensible size, even cars five, 10, 15 years old have relatively modern technology and safety features and can be fantasy daily drivers. 

So where does that leave me? With several lists and a few rules:

How about I make these my Top Five Cars with in a category. Then how about we assign price caps to each list. Let's go with 'Favorite Car for $20,000', '$40,000', '$75,000', and over '$75,000'. And then, other than the $20,000 category, how about if we say at least half of the cars need to be new. So here goes:

FAVORITE CAR FOR $20,000

Porsche 911 SE or early 911 Carrera (1980-85)

BMW E30 M3 (1988-1991)

BMW E46 M3 (2002-2003)

Mazda 3 (brand spanking new)

Mini Cooper S (Series 1)

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FAVORITE CAR FOR $40,000

Lotus Elise (2006-2007)

Porsche Boxster S (2007-2008)

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Audi A4 Avant (2010)

BMW 328i (2010)

VW GTI (2010 w/enough left over for 80,000 miles worth of free gas)

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FAVORITE CAR FOR $75,000

Porsche 911 GT3 (2004-06)

Audi S5 Coupe (2010)

Maserati Quattroporte (2008)

BMW M3 (2010)

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Porsche Boxster Spyder (2011)

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FAVORITE CAR OVER $75,000

Porsche GT3 (2010)

Tesla Roadster Sport (2010)

Ferrari 250 GT SWB

Maserati Quattroporte (2010)

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McCLAREN GT (last on my list is actually first on my list my no-holds-barred hands-down favorite)

And there's a good chance some of these will change tomorrow, so ask me again then.

How about you?