C/2’s Ultimate Garage

C/2 and I are friends. My wonderful wife and I ran into him at a car show this past weekend (imagine that!…sarcasm) and I think that spurred him on to submit his Ultimate Garage to me. He worked for Ford at two different dealerships, I believe, for 40+ years and is now retired. Unlike me, he seems to be enjoying his retirement.

Given his history, C/2’s Ultimate Garage should come as no surprise:

#1 1959 Edsel Citation convertible

#2 1967 Shelby GT350

#3 1969 Ford Bronco Wagon V-8

#4 1963 Ford Thunderbird Sports Roadster — M code Engine

#5 1965 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster — 2 Tops, Fuel Injected, 4 Speed

#6 1935 Auburn Boat Tail Speedster

#7 1971 De Tomaso Pantera

and a +1

1976 BMW R90S motorcycle in Daytona Orange. Just because I can.

In the interest of full disclosure, C/2 owns a ’66 T-Bird and a ’99 Corvette. I won’t show pictures of all the vehicles, but here is an interesting one:

See the source image

From The Last Detail a picture of a 1967 Shelby G.T. 350. According to Hagerty the “average” value of one of these is $115,000. For 1967, 1,175 were produced. The car was powered by a “souped-up” 289 cubic-inch V8, which after some modifications like a high-rise intake manifold and free-flowing exhaust system, produced 306 HP/329 LB-FT of torque. They are handsome and desirable automobiles.

From Barrett-Jackson a picture of a 1965 Corvette convertible, because I’ve never shown a picture of such a car on this blog. (Hey, why is my nose growing?!)

See the source image

Sorry, C/2, I don’t think this is a fuelie, but it is the best looking American car ever, in my opinion. OK, maybe I would rather have a ’67. Still, with the auxiliary hardtop in place, the side pipes and the knock-off wheels, I mean WOW! For many Corvette enthusiasts 1965 is the ultimate year for the C2. It was the last year for the original fuel-injection system, it was the first year for a big-block (the 396 cubic-inch V8 producing 425 HP/415 LB-FT) and it was the first year for disc brakes, four-wheel discs as it happened. Maybe C/2 had to have a C2 Corvette in his Ultimate Garage…Hagerty values an “average” ’65 fuelie convertible at about $73,000. That figure actually sounds low to me, but it is true that restomods have taken off in value, perhaps at the expense of original cars. Only 771 ’65 Vettes were equipped with fuel-injection whereas 2,157 had the 396 cubic-inch big block.

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Finding a good photo of one of these cars without a copyright mark on it was not easy. This picture is from myntransportblog.com. Of course, these cars were part of E.L. Cord’s car “empire” consisting of Auburn, Duesenberg and the eponymous Cord. The Great Depression claimed Cord’s car company (alliteration!) as one of its many victims. In calendar year 1935 Auburn produced 6,316 cars in total. How many of these particular cars were built is not known. The number of 851/852 Speedsters built for 1935 and 1936, the last years of Auburn production, has been estimated at between 180 and 600.

See the source image

From topcarrating.com a picture of a 1971 De Tomaso Pantera. Of course, the Pantera is an “original” hybrid meaning it has European styling (in this case, Italian sort of…Tom Tjaarda, an American, designed the exterior while working for the Italian coachbuilder Ghia) and an American engine, the “legendary” Ford 351 Cleveland V-8. These cars were sold by Ford in the US through Lincoln-Mercury dealers until 1975 after which De Tomaso continued to produce them, but in much smaller numbers.

Everyone reading this knows that I LOVE the De Tomaso Longchamp, but I also like the Pantera. As a teenager I remember seeing one around town on occasion; it was driven by the son of a local appliance magnate.

Thanks to C/2, 56packardman, Muscleheaded Blog, L Weaves Words, David Banner, David Burge (unknowingly) and My Wonderful Wife for submitting their Ultimate Garages. Right now, I think I will begin revealing my Ultimate Garage 2.0 on Saturday, May 18th. That will begin with the Cars That Just Missed The Cut.

#UltimateGarage

#somanycarsjustonelife

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56packardman’s Ultimate Garage

First, my condolences to the family of Peggy Lipton. I must admit that I had quite a crush on her when I was young; she was the main reason I watched The Mod Squad.

Image result for peggy lipton

A picture of Peggy Lipton from Pinterest.

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Spring, my ass! I don’t live in the Northern Plains. For someone having enough difficulty with the non-harsh winters where I live (and where I was born and raised), 45° in the middle of May is another kick in the teeth.

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My thanks to 56packardman. Despite having a real life he has been a faithful reader and commenter on this blog. He is the only person with 100+ published comments on Disaffected Musings. Without further ado here is his Ultimate Garage, which to no one’s surprise has a lot of Packards and Studebakers. Different strokes for different folks…

• 1934 Packard Twelve Dietrich
• 1941 Packard LeBaron
• 1941 Packard-Darrin 4 door convertible
• 1947 Packard Clipper Custom Super Eight
• 1949 Studebaker pickup truck
• 1953 (or 1954) Studebaker Commander Starliner
• 1955 Studebaker Speedster
• 1956 Packard Caribbean hardtop (I prefer the hardtop over the convertible)
• 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk
• 1963 Studebaker Avanti R2/4 speed
• 1964 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk
• 1964 Studebaker Daytona hardtop or convertible
• 1969 Porsche 912 5 speed with sunroof
• Any Mazda Miata RF with a manual transmission
• Morgan Aero Coupe

The first car is very familiar; from My Wonderful Wife’s Ultimate Garage:

See the source image

From Pinterest a picture of a 1934 Packard Twelve Convertible Victoria bodied by Dietrich. Like me, my wife did not really have any affinity for pre-war cars until just 3-4 years ago. This is a model 1108 that had a long 147-inch wheelbase. This car weighed over 5,000 pounds, was powered by a V-12 (duh, it’s a Packard Twelve) that produced 160 HP and cost $6,080. The most expensive 1934 Chevrolet cost $675.

I don’t know if 56packardman prefers the convertible over the other Packard Twelves bodied by Dietrich. The Studebaker Commander Starliner is his pick for the most beautiful car ever made. It was also the basis for the subsequent Hawk models all the way through 1964.

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From someone’s YouTube video a picture of a 1953 Studebaker Commander Starliner Coupe. This car was powered by Studebaker’s small-displacement V8, in its third model year, of 233 cubic inches. These cars were supposed to be introduced for the 1952 model year as a celebration of Studebaker’s centennial, but that did not happen.

See the source image

From flickriver.com a picture of a 1956 Packard Caribbean hardtop. I have shown pictures of ’55 Caribbean convertibles before, but I don’t think I’ve shown a hardtop.

The Avanti and Gran Turismo Hawk have been shown on this blog many times. One or both may or may not be in my Ultimate Garage 2.0. Here is a non Packard/non Studebaker:

See the source image

From autoevolution.com a picture of a Mazda Miata RF. I can’t tell from the photo what transmission is in this car.

Once again, thanks to 56packardman. By the way, we have never met nor spoken voice-to-voice. That is an example of the potential “good” of the Internet, but I think the good is swamped by the bad.

#PeggyLipton

#56packardman

#UltimateGarage

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Wednesday Wishes

I wish merit mattered more and political correctness and fiefdoms mattered less.

Notwithstanding wish #1 I wish people were less strident in their views. In the big picture none of us knows very much at all.

I wish the epidemic of narcissism would abate. The world would be a MUCH better place.

I wish my wonderful wife would feel comfortable enough about our finances so that she would retire.

I wish I could have just one year without any physical maladies.

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Speaking of wishes:

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The top picture is from carsaddiction.com (and is shown here, the About page of this blog), the bottom from tradeuniquecars.com.au. Any regular reader knows of my feelings about the De Tomaso Longchamp. If you said I had to pick one car as the best-looking car ever, this would be it. The exterior was designed by Tom Tjaarda of Ghia. That guy could draw some cars! Jalopnik called him “one of the defining automotive designers of the 20th century.”

Since only about 400 Longchamps were produced—despite being made for more than 15 years—and since most of them were sold in Europe, I doubt I will ever own one. The Longchamp was an original hybrid, meaning a foreign body design but an American drive train.

From the Wikipedia article about the Longchamp:

“The Longchamp featured a long and wide hood to accommodate the American power train, i.e. the 351 cubic inch (5,769 cc) Ford Cleveland V8. The 351 Cleveland, a popular and very potent engine in early 1970s Ford “muscle cars,” was the same unit as that used in the Pantera. It produced a minimum of 330 hp and gave the Longchamp an official 240 km/h (149 mph) top speed. After Ford USA stopped manufacturing the 351 Cleveland V8, De Tomaso sourced them from Ford Australia. The standard gearbox was a three-speed Ford C-6 Cruise-o-Matic automatic gearbox, however around 17 cars were equipped with a five-speed ZF manual gearbox. The suspension was independent front and rear with coil spring and wishbone suspension. Steering was power assisted rack and pinion with vented disc brakes all around, the rear discs being positioned inboard.”

So the car was not just a pretty face.

This would be my first lottery car no matter what machinations were required to acquire it. Obviously, this will be in Ultimate Garage 2.0 just as it was in the first Ultimate Garage I posted.

Speaking of Ultimate Garages, I am still hoping some more of you will submit yours. Be advised, though, I may post them here… 🙂

#WednesdayWishes

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Tuesday Bomb

See the source image

Oh, it’s bombe, silly me. From refinery29.com a picture of what looks like a delicious chocolate bombe or bombe glacée.

I love chocolate, which as a diabetic can be a bit of an issue. Since I prefer dark or bittersweet chocolate to milk chocolate and I do have some willpower, I can enjoy myself without feeling too guilty.

Life is too short to be unhappy on purpose.

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I am still hoping that readers other than David Banner will submit their Ultimate Garage. Again, it should be 5-10 cars and you can pick the criteria. My only suggestion is that the cars should be more stock than modified except where modified cars are a significant part of the market for those cars.

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According to HumanProgress.org:

In 1820, 94 percent of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty. (They defined that as earning less than $1.90 a day adjusted for purchasing power.)

In 1990 that number was 34.8 percent.

In 2015 that number was 9.6 percent.

From the same information:

“Put differently, of those who live in extreme poverty, over 40 percent resided in just two nations: India and Nigeria.

Since its economic liberalization reforms in 1991, India’s average income has increased by 7.5 percent per year. That means that average income has more than tripled over the last quarter century. As wealth increased, the poverty rate in India declined by almost 24 percent. But most significantly, for the Dalits – the poorest and lowest caste in Indian society – the poverty rate during this period declined even faster, by 31 percent. That means that in the nation that has by far the largest number of people in extreme poverty, it is the people at the very bottom of the social strata who are getting richer faster.

A similar trend can be seen in Nigeria. Since the new millennium, gross domestic income per capita has increased by over 800 percent, from $270 to over $2,450. There is much work to be done, but this level of progress shows that even in the poorest countries, the speed of economic growth is encouraging.”

Unfortunately in my opinion, people don’t know this information and/or don’t judge themselves by it. People are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, not a comfortable life without working for it. As I have written before, it is also not in the best interest of politicians to admit that conditions are improving. If things are getting better then why do we need more government programs? Please don’t take any politician’s remarks at face value and remember they all have an agenda.

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Back to the Ultimate Garage or does stream of consciousness mean consciousness?! 🙂

In Modern Classics, The Great Cars of the Postwar Era by Rich Taylor this car received the longest write-up of any in the book:

See the source image

From wallpaperup.com a picture of a Shelby 427 Cobra. Taylor was in awe of this car. Read this, please:

“What would possess you to unleash such a wicked bit of savagery on the unsuspecting world, this brutal Frankenstein’s monster of a car? Well, it was pretty easy, really. When Chevrolet decided to stuff their big-block 396 and then the 427 into the Corvette, Ford felt that Shelby had no choice but to match it…The Cobra 427 is a damn brute is what it is and too much car for almost everybody. Of course, that’s the beauty of it, too, and the reason I’d give my eyeteeth to own one.”

One would easily lose count of all the companies all over the world making replicas of these cars. The Cobra design is timeless with all of the proportions just right. The original 427 and 289 Cobras are now extraordinarily valuable. According to Hagerty, a 427 Cobra in good condition, not excellent or concours, is worth $1,850,000. A 289 Cobra in good condition is worth $950,000. This disparity differs from commentary I have recently heard stating the 289 Cobra is now more valuable than the 427. Either way, they are above my pay grade.

If readers start submitting their Ultimate Garages I would be surprised if this car isn’t on a lot of lists.

#Lifeistooshorttobeunhappyonpurpose

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Frugal Friday With A Side Of Ultimate Garage

Not that they are likely to see this, but thanks to the readers from Finland who clicked on this post today after seeing a link in the Cadillac forum. In my previous blog hosted by the Evil Empire (AKA Google) about 15% of readers were from outside the US. For Disaffected Musings that number is just 6-7 percent.

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David Banner recommended the idea that has become Frugal Friday; he is also the first reader to submit an Ultimate Garage. If you read the comments you would know this, but many readers do not. That’s a loss for those who don’t. Here is his Ultimate Garage:

1) Bentley Bentayga: because why not? The Cullinan is just too much, and the Bentley looks just as good in person. The perfect “I have no f**ks to give” vehicle.
2) Landcruiser/LX 450: luxury, durability, ability to carry seven live people or three dead ones. The Swiss Army knife of vehicles.
3) Aston Martin DB 11: because of James Bond, because of how it looks in two tone paint, because of all the other cars I have in my garage.
4) Rolls Royce Ghost: everyone should own a RR at least once in their lives, no?
5) Porsche 9114SC convertible: because my wife wants one…in silver with saddle interior…in manual…ASAP.
6) Ferrari California: because I want a Ferrari, because I want a convertible that’s not a pain in the ass re “rag top”, because it looks like sex on four wheels to me.
7) Chevy Malibu Hybrid: because sometimes you need to go over five hundred miles on a tank of gas in a car with a big trunk that can be fixed anywhere in the country. Trust me.
8) Porsche 928: in memory of a dearly departed friend who got me into cars and who owned one that was beat up but still was the perfect match for him. I tear up now even thinking about the first time I saw him step out of the car.

Of course, regular readers know I am not a fan of SUVs, no matter how luxurious, so none will appear in Ultimate Garage 2.0, but different strokes for different folks. The Ferrari California was included in my original Ultimate Garage and is a strong contender for 2.0.

I would love to post more of these from Disaffected Musings readers so don’t be shy!

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I haven’t written of this in awhile, but I still have an unhealthy obsession with defunct American makes. I mean, look at my garage:

What does that have to do with Frugal Friday? This week, still using Hemmings, I searched for cars being sold by US dealers, but this week the car could be from any year and I lowered the price range to $5,000-$6,000. Look what showed up:

A 1955 Studebaker Champion listed at $5,450. Country Classic Cars has a large percentage of the listings in today’s search. They have suffered quite a bit in recent years being the victim of a large fire AND a tornado.

Anyway, back to the Studebaker…supposedly it has only 46,000-ish miles and is powered by the base 186 cubic-inch inline 6-cylinder engine. Studebaker built about 50,000 Champions in 1955, about 38% of their total output of approximately 134,000. Stude fans would think this a sacrilege, but if I were so inclined to buy it that purchase would be for the purpose of resto-modding. Anyone else with me? Of course, the car would end up costing WAY more than the list price.

Sorry about the small picture…in honor of my wonderful wife who owned one of these, here is a 1990 Nissan 300ZX. The dealer is asking $5,600 and claims that a new transmission was installed a year ago. This is not the Twin-Turbo model, but is powered by a naturally-aspirated V-6 engine of 3.9 liter/181 cubic-inch displacement rated at 222 HP/198 LB-FT of torque. The twin-turbo engine was rated 280 HP/283 LB-FT.

My wonderful wife has owned a lot of cars including a Mach 1 Mustang, a Pontiac Trans Am, a Chevrolet Camaro, and a Jaguar XK-8 convertible. I think her current car, a 2015 Corvette, is her favorite but she speaks highly of some of her previous automobiles.

Any comments from readers on today’s Frugal Friday choices? Anybody there?

#frugalfriday

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Sunday French

A Francophile is not someone who admires Julio Franco or John Franco or Generalissimo Franco. A Francophile is a person who admires France and/or the French.

Why did I start today’s post with Francophile? Well, a lot of views for Disaffected Musings this morning are from France, which is unusual for this blog. In my previous blog that was hosted by the Evil Empire (aka Google) France vied with Poland and Portugal for the most number of views behind the US. For Disaffected Musings, though, Canada is clearly the #2 country for page views. Not that anyone cares except me, but in this blog only about 5% of views are from outside the US whereas for my previous blog that number was about 15%.

My favorite French car of all time is almost certainly this:

See the source image

From automotiveviews.wordpress.com a picture of a Facel Vega. The Facel Vega was produced by the French company Facel (no kidding!). It was an original hybrid meaning that it combined European styling with an American engine, in this case from Chrysler Corporation. The famous French writer/philosopher Albert Camus, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957, died as a passenger in a crash of a Facel Vega in 1960.

In its various iterations the Facel Vega was produced from 1954 to 1961, inclusive. Like many European cars of this idiom despite a fairly lengthy production run not many were actually made, just 886. An additional point of allure for me, as if the car itself isn’t beautiful enough, is that the first engines used in the Facel Vega were DeSoto Firedome hemi V-8s. For the nth time I have an obsession with defunct American makes.

In my opinion the Facel Vega is a no-brainer (if the shoe fits!) for being among the ten best-looking cars ever made. Do you think that the cars in an Ultimate Garage need to be constrained by a budget? From Hemmings comes this picture from a listing of a Facel Vega for sale:

This is the most expensive of the five non-auction Facel Vegas currently listed for sale on Hemmings. What’s the asking price? $345,000…

I would very much like to read your thoughts about your Ultimate Garage, what rules you think should apply (if any) to compiling such a list, etc.

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Well, the Nebraska Cornhuskers finally won a game in 2018. Despite the final score (53-28) it was a game not without its nervous moments. Nebraska took a 28-0 lead late in the first half only to see Minnesota cut the lead to 28-22 in the third quarter. The Huskers responded, though, with some explosive plays on offense to salt away the game. Nebraska had three players rush for 100+ yards including their true freshman quarterback, Adrian Martinez. As I have written before I have been a fan of Nebraska football longer than I have been a fan of any other team in any other sport, since I was 10 years old.

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Last Wednesday the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its annual Global Competitiveness Report that ranks 140 countries. The WEF sponsors the annual Davos economic forum in, of course, Davos, Switzerland. For the report, they base their results on their assessment of 98 different indicators. Here are the ten most competitive economies in the world in 2018 according to the WEF:

1. U.S.

2. Singapore

3. Germany

4. Switzerland

5. Japan

6. Netherlands

7. Hong Kong

8. U.K.

9. Sweden

10. Denmark

This is the first time in ten years that the U.S. ranks at the top of the list. China was ranked 28th.

The WEF warned that many countries are not prepared for what they call the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is the rise of digital technologies.

What do you think of this list and of assessments like this, in general?

Saturday Salmagundi

Anybody want to guess where this picture was taken? Want a hint? Here’s a run-on sentence: I took this photo four years ago in the town square of the oldest town in the only country in Europe where I have seen a Corvette. (Sure, that’s a big help.) Before I reveal the location I will tell you that this picture is a particular favorite of mine. This photo is from Echternach, Luxembourg.

Sorry, but I don’t know the source of this photo that has been on my computer(s) for years. It is a view of sunset in Europe and Africa from space.

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One book I own on automotive history seems to be unreliable in terms of dates. That fact is unfortunate as the book purports to be a compendium of the significant events in automotive history for each day of the year. For example, the book states that on this day in 1893 the Duryea Brothers made the first test of their automobile, which was the first operational personal car in the United States. However, all other sources list that day as September 20 or 21 and not September 22.

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From a Pinterest site [does anyone still use that?, I guess I do :)] an alleged picture of a Duryea Brothers automobile. The Duryea Motor Wagon Company, founded by brothers Charles and Frank Duryea, was the first American company to build gasoline-powered automobiles. The US was relatively late to the party in terms of automobile manufacturing; the first car as we know it today was built in Germany in 1885 by Karl Benz. The first company formed solely for the purpose of manufacturing automobiles was the French company Panhard et Levassor, which was founded in 1889.

The same book mentioned earlier lists today, September 22, as the day when the magnificent BMW 507 was introduced to the public at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Other sources say the car was introduced earlier, in the summer, and in New York. What did Shakespeare write? “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” It really doesn’t matter when this BEAUTIFUL car was first shown to the public, but details do matter.

This is a picture I took of a 1958 BMW 507 at a local auto show. I am a car nut. (Well, maybe I’m just a nut and cars have nothing to do with it.) This car also moved me to tears as it was the first time I had ever seen a 507 in person. Less than a month later I saw the same car while I was returning from running errands.

The irony of the 507 is that, in many ways, it put BMW on the map as an automobile manufacturer and at the same time almost bankrupted the company. That’s another story for another day. Only 252 of these cars were sold and their value today is off the charts. According to NADA Guides the “high” retail value of the 507 is $2.8 million. The “average” retail value is $2.3 million.

As I continue to ponder Ultimate Garage 2.0 I struggle in terms of whether or not each car should be constrained by a budget. What do you think? Should the cars in someone’s Ultimate Garage have any budgetary limitation? I can’t afford a BMW 507 today, but could I still put the car in my Ultimate Garage?

End Of An Era

This probably sounds unnecessarily melodramatic to you, but I am lamenting the fact that this is the last post I will make with this computer. My new one is supposed to arrive today.

I am also lamenting the fact that my new computer will almost certainly be the first one that will not pay for itself many times over. The longest I’ve managed to stay in a non-baseball office job is one year. For much of my work life I have been an independent contractor and, fortunately, had long stretches when I was able to find “gigs.” Unfortunately, those days are almost certainly over.

Bye Bye, Asus.

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The SUV boom is dangerous for pedestrians as noted here. According to the CarBuzz post, an investigation by the Detroit Free Press and USA Today found that pedestrian deaths have increased 46% since 2009 and the boom in SUVs may be the leading cause. I will also chime in that distracted drivers AND distracted pedestrians HAVE to be playing a role in this increase. The article states that, “Federal regulators have known for years that SUVs are at least twice as likely as cars to kill pedestrians due to their higher profile, but have done little to combat the issue.” GET YOUR FACE OUT OF YOUR PHONE AND BUY A CAR!

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What do you think of this car? I took this photo at the 2017 Barrett-Jackson auction at Mohegan Sun. This is a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda (yes, a defunct American make) hardtop coupe as opposed to a fastback coupe or convertible. About 28,000 of the hardtop coupes were produced for the 1967 model year compared to about 30,000 fastbacks and 4,000 convertibles.

I am not really a big fan of Mopar, but I like the styling of the second generation Barracuda. This car is not a contender for my Ultimate Garage, but I wouldn’t turn one down. Once again, I would like to read what cars would make your Ultimate Garage.

Friday Mishmash

OK, no alliterative post title today…

Please check out this post. Look at this picture from the same (from mindovermotor.com):

1939 Lagonda V12 Cabriolet Front 1

A 1939 Lagonda (despite the spelling in the URL) V-12 drophead coupe, a convertible. As recently as five years ago cars like this did little for me. As my car obsession grows so does the universe of cars in which I have interest.

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Three years ago today my wonderful wife purchased this car:

Apart from the fact that the bumper-to-bumper warranty expires today, my wonderful wife and I think this is a happy occasion. If I had to guess what cars she would like in her Ultimate Garage, besides her Corvette, I would start with this:

See the source image

From carmagazine.co.uk a picture of an Aston Martin DB11 Volante. My wonderful wife loves the styling and who can blame her? She also likes convertibles as I have written before.

From Wikipedia a picture of a Jaguar E-Type roadster. This one (as well as the Aston) might have to wait for a winning lottery ticket or some other unforeseen windfall.

Just to end the run of British roadsters/convertibles:

Another Wikipedia photo, this time of a Lamborghini Huracan. My wonderful wife likes these better than the Aventador; she thinks their styling is a little wild. Besides, I think 610 HP and 413 LB-FT of torque is enough for her to drive.

Staying in Italy:

See the source image

From theauto.co a picture of the Ferrari Portofino, which succeeded the California as the GT hardtop convertible Ferrari. The two cars are very similar in appearance, but the Portofino is supposed to have a stiffer chassis, be a little lighter and have about 40 more HP.

Even though she married me, I think my wonderful wife has impeccable taste. What do you think of these cars? What cars would you want to own?