Performance & Luxury Automobiles--A Must !

Just think about how much time we all spend in our vehicles. Next to our homes and offices, the car may be the only other place where a great deal of our life is spent.

Add to this, for a lot of us, driving is a singular pleasure. We certainly spend a great deal of energy considering driving, talking about it and thinking about it.

Isn't driving right up there with many other pleasurable activities?

Therefore, for me, it is very important my vehicle be a place I really want to be!!!

Like it or not, expensive gas as it is, our country and lifestyles are automobile based. This is not going to change anytime soon and has been this way for a very long time.

For my dollar, I want to be in a car that is exciting, handles well and is simply fun to drive. After all, if I am going to have to drive anyway, let's make it one that I will enjoy!!

When I look for a car, I want it to be exactly what I want--no compromises. For me, I don't to be stuck in traffic, burning gas, and in a car that I did not aspire for.

Regardless of the cost, once the car is purchased and paid for, the experience of buying it is a memory but we have to live with the car daily, look at it, drive it, maintain it and repair it.

When I am in a car that I wanted and worked towards getting, it is a continual joy to operate this fine vehicle. The color, options, performance, "feel" when right continually reinforce THIS IS RIGHT!!

After having owned economy cars, I purchased my first luxury car a '85 Toyota Cressida. Bought it with all the options, exact color I wanted and at the price I wanted to pay. Every day i drove it for 5 years and 100K miles, it was a truly enjoyable experience. I always looked forward to driving it. Even when washing, waxing it, I was reminded that this was MY car.

Compare this to my first new car--a '82 Toyota Tercel. I kept this for 3 years and put 90K miles on it. This was a very reliable car, extremely low on maintenance and met my budget--BUT it was a $$ compromise. I had really wanted a Celica but could not come up with the extra $2000 to buy it. First chance I had to sell it, I did.

My first two Mercedes' were exactly what I wanted-color, model, specs--all. Every mile driven was great fun.

Even my first SUV--'92 Range Rover County was purchased after a long ardous search--got the exact one I wanted. Now this was a highly unreliable, very expensive to maintain and drive vehicle. Absolutely impractical, in efficient but what I wanted. Kept it for 10 years--drove it for about 95K miles, spent as much on maintenance and repairs as I paid for the car BUT even today it is the most talked about & fondly remembered car in our family. Both my kids learnt to drive on it, took it on numerous ski vacations and were all sad when we sold it. In thinking back, we never should have sold it.

I truly believe that as we all work hard for our success and getting the car we want is a simple reward.

Today, I make it a point to ONLY buy cars that I get real excited about. Fortunately, most cars made today are very well made and enjoyable to drive so it is hard to buy a bad car.

For me, the important considerations include a great design, performance engine, excellent ergonmics inside, excellent handling and full power options. Gadgets such as navigtaion, power seats, rain sensing wipers, SAT radio are all great pluses. I don't buy cars simply for the make or engine size or what someone else may think of it.

In my opinion, there are cars that are made by engineers and others that are conceived in the marketing departments. Every car manufacturer has certain cars that are their best. The others are added to complete the product line. After all, every co. wants to get their buyers to buy as many of their models as they can.

My focus is to search and acquire the best examples of the "engineered" models. These are the most fun to drive.

Just some of my favorite cars are Mercedes S class sedans, Mercedes AMG models, BMW 3 and M series, Porsche 911 cars, Audi S class cars, Jaguar XK, Range Rovers (of course), GMC full size SUV's, C6 Vette's, mid 60's Cadillac's, Infinit G35/37's, just to name a few. Of course, luxury convertibles are always at the top of the list!!

How about sharing with me some of your favorite cars?