Mid-life crisis cage

And she is 12 years younger than I am and owns her own company. In fact, I live in her house and she lets me drive that lotus whenever I want. I never thought about how good I have it, I guess I'll have to let her blow me when she comes home.

Really hard to make a concrete suggestion without knowing what you want from this car. Sports? Something with AC? Looks? Resale? Classic? Modern? Concours? To tinker with? To cruise with?

I suggest a BMW 2002.

You want something comparatively rare. Check.
Comparatively sporty. Check.
Somewhat vintage. Check.
Classic styling. Check.
Tinker-able? Check.
Air Conditioning? Available.
Looks? CHECK. (I might be biased.)
Resale? Check.

You can get good ones for a quarter of your budget.


I wouldn't take a daily driver to the track though.

Agreed on all points. The XKR is a GT car first and foremost. As I grow older, I'm more about thrust and style over brute force and shouty looks. I'd rock the Jag over a base Corvette any day.

That said, my MLC car will likely be one of my two all-time faves, a DS21 or a Pagoda SL. More likely still will be driving whatever I happen to have before said MLC hits.

Clearly, you are a giver. I salute you.

NSX. Street presence of a Ferrari. Reliability of a Honda. Second to none handling and pretty decent straight line acceleration. Prices have bottomed out so any well cared for example will appreciate going forward. Only 2 issues, with them, drivers seat leather cracks. And the amp for the stereo gives up. Both easily fixable.

3.2L ones are preferable but for $40k you will struggle to get a low milage one.

Jon.

When on the prowl for a late model Porsche Carrera I found that the NSX (a car I dream of owning) to be quite overpriced on the used market.

They are about 2-2.5x the price of a Porsche 911 and often in the Ferrari 355 territory.

I've wanted one since I was a young man after hearing several reviewers call it the most "Motorcycle Like" production car ever built.

At a track day school back in the early 90's when NSXs were considered exotic, I took the opportunity to ride shotgun in one for a lapping session at Summit Point Raceway with an instructor. Let's just say we passed lots of 911s... and just about everything else on the track except for a couple of tube framed race cars. This session was in the instructor/expert group at a highly elevated pace. Then the owner drove it 220 miles home. The NSX truly is a do it all exotic that is daily driver capable. Not too many cars fit in that niche without beating your fillings (or wallet) to death.

Love the NSX a hard find up here sorta looking right now

Which 911 are we comparing the NSX to? The 996 series cars are cheap, for a reason; they're probably the shittiest cars Porsche ever built. A 993 is a more appropriate comparison, both in performance and price, and the one thing they share with the NSX is that the values are holding strong, if not rising for really good cars.

355's are cheap for a reason, and if you search the archives here I've posted a laundry list of ways a 355 can cost you cubic amounts of money.

NSX is a great car. I've got a 328GTB, but I would also love to have an NSX.

I thought a midlife crisis car was supposed to be an irrational purchase full of desire, lust and impracticality.

Be design we cannot tell you what to buy. At that point it either becomes a rational investment or an irrational lustful object for us that will not fulfill your desires.

Go buy what turns your head and gets your juices flowing.

Now of course if this is just a thread to talk about 8 different cars, I say go with a Porsche.

I have to admit a built 2002 is pretty freakin cool......

I have a buddy that's got a ton of work into his and it's FAST - legitimately fast and they hardly weigh anything. He's put a modern engine in it as well.

it's something like this.

You wanna real MLC 2002, find a factory tubo.

I like the original Mini with the Honda motor conversion.

My mid-life crisis mobile if I had the funds:

It would surely end up being mothballed.


I say no. Buy someone's project that is closest to what you want (if you don't want to build it) or buy a shell and go wild.

Me, i'd go with 292 cams, side draft carbs, slightly hotter compression, an overdrive 5 speed from an E21, tightened suspension, 14 inch steel wheels from an E30 on a round tail light with upgrades to the alternator and relays added to the horns and lights.

And i'd drive it daily.... Bliss.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I like the 02 suggestion. I already have an original mini :). I am waiting until the import/kit car show in Carlisle before I jump on something. The NSX Just doesn't do it for me. Someone in my town has on and I see it and say, ah... An old Honda. They just don't excite me. I did see an older model Viper the other day, hmmm

I like Panteras

Me, too. But as I've previously posted, I prefer the styling of it's older brother, the Mangusta. But the wheels on the example posted make it more appropriate for the "Cars/Bad Taste" thread.

Allard J2x sweet wild ride!!