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A few things I want to mention. I almost bought a 2017 GSF with about 30K on it back in 2020 or early 2021. Why the GSF over the LC500? The GSF is more "practical". Big trunk, roomier and it actually has back seats you put real humans in . Kind of a sleeper. Down near the bottom is the 450 SEL. In the 1980's my first cousin moved to the US from Germany with his wife and child. They lived with us for about a year, and he was one of those people who could only work for himself, so he tried his hand at importing mid 70's low mileage Mercedes to the US and selling them. He imported a few 450 SEL's with the 6.9L V8, and those vehicles were amazing. They were quiet, but when you put your foot down, they became a missle! The gauge cluster was pretty advanced for it's time, and at 100 mph it felt like you were doing 50! Unfortunately for my cousin, after retrofitting them to meet US safety standards and California emissions, they became too expensive to sell and he ended up losing money on them.
The Porsche 930 Turbo I drove was a 1988, a family member bought one in 1997. It was fun to drive, threw you back in the seat, and by the time you were doing 80 you still had two more gears to go! The problem was it was also a tiring car to drive, especially in traffic. It's one of those cars I could drive on the weekend, but I couldn't do as a daily.
Below are some pics of an LC500 and RCF I drove at the Lexus driving event in September 2021
I want to test drive an RCF "enthusiastically" so bad haha.
But interesting list. No muscle cars?
I've never been into muscle cars. I've driven the Challenger RT and SRT, the Mustang GT, as well as a 64 Pontiac GTO. Never been a fan of American muscle. RCF is an amazing car, if you are a fan of the IS350 you'll love it
I was hoping you wouldn't say yes. Now I have to think long and hard, I'll probably limit the list to Toyota and Lexus.
If my list was longer, I would also include VW GTI, Lotus Evora GT, 1965 Mustang and 64 or 65 Stingray, the only two Americans that would be on my list (besides the Tesla's )
Okay here goes. I probably forgot some but not a bad list.
1969 Toyota Crown Wagon. Coolest wagon you will ever see, about the only chance to see one IRL is in a museum
TE27 Corolla aka Mango. Such a fun car to work on and drive. Family owned one for years it eventually had to be retired due to rust
RA25 Celica. I was lucky enough to own one (moron for getting rid of it) these cars are incredibly fun to drive. Sweet handling, nice soft ride. Great 5-speed transmission.
AE86. Owned a 1987 liftback. Great daily driver and fun as heck on a track
LS400. Love the original one of the best cars ever made from any era
I'll cheat, 2 Supra's. I love these car so much
MR2. This is when Toyota cared about enthusiasts not just money
1987 MX73 Cressida. I've searched for years trying to find a clean example. I gave up
GT2000. A car that proved Toyota could hang with the best
Crown jewel from the best engineers Toyota could find. We'll never see a car like this again
1. Porsche (997.2) 911 GT3 RS 4.0 - the final GT3 with the NA Mezger engine, manual, and hydraulic steering.. just an all round pure driver's car
2. Audi (C8) RS6 Avant - What more needs to be said? Fast as ****, crazy wide and low, immense road presence, and it's a wagon. The ultimate do anything and go anywhere car.
3. Audi (B8.5) RS4 Avant - I already have a B8.5 Allroad, and this is the perfect model for me. NA V8 and a dual-clutch in a compact-ish Wagon, what an awesome experience. And stylish!
4. Toyota (S220) Crown RS 3.5 - closest to a new GS other than the Mirai, perfect daily executive sedan IMO, my #1 dream "import" car. Great aftermarket support too.
5. BMW (E92) M3 Competition - Arguably the final BMW to be an "Ultimate Driving Machine" and truly took the fight to the 911, with a very strong focus on driver experience. Amazing (but unreliable) V8, engaging hydraulic steering, choice of manual or DCT, and timeless styling.
6. Honda (AP1 or AP2) S2000 - my dream track build. The S2K track community is huge here in SoCal, I hope to get one before they increase even more in price. Such an amazing chassis with so much performance/aftermarket support.
7. Nissan (S15) Silvia - much improved on from the S14/S13s with a stronger focus on handling, more modern styling, just a great platform to work with for a street/canyons car, and occasional tracking.
8. Chevy (VF) SS - I love the leftover effects of Bob Lutz on GM and wish they would've stuck to his original plan of Zeta expansion. As a result, I love the Zeta-platform SS, built in Australia, Magneride suspension, 6-speed manual, RWD, and relatively sharp and modern design.
9. Lexus LC 500 - I mean.. just look at it! Nothing else looks like it on the road, and IMO for a GT car, it has the best interior from any other GT including Bentleys and Astons.. such a seductive car, I would love to have one as a touring car.
10. Mazda (FD) RX-7 - bar the awesome sounding but unreliable rotary, I LOVE the FD RX7. Sleek and timeless body, incredibly capable, stiff chassis that still holds records when modified at multiple tracks.. I would love a BMW S54-swapped FD with an OEM+ body.
1. Porsche (997.2) 911 GT3 RS 4.0 - the final GT3 with the NA Mezger engine, manual, and hydraulic steering.. just an all round pure driver's car
2. Audi (C8) RS6 Avant - What more needs to be said? Fast as ****, crazy wide and low, immense road presence, and it's a wagon. The ultimate do anything and go anywhere car.
3. Audi (B8.5) RS4 Avant - I already have a B8.5 Allroad, and this is the perfect model for me. NA V8 and a dual-clutch in a compact-ish Wagon, what an awesome experience. And stylish!
4. Toyota (S220) Crown RS 3.5 - closest to a new GS other than the Mirai, perfect daily executive sedan IMO, my #1 dream "import" car. Great aftermarket support too.
5. BMW (E92) M3 Competition - Arguably the final BMW to be an "Ultimate Driving Machine" and truly took the fight to the 911, with a very strong focus on driver experience. Amazing (but unreliable) V8, engaging hydraulic steering, choice of manual or DCT, and timeless styling.
6. Honda (AP1 or AP2) S2000 - my dream track build. The S2K track community is huge here in SoCal, I hope to get one before they increase even more in price. Such an amazing chassis with so much performance/aftermarket support.
7. Nissan (S15) Silvia - much improved on from the S14/S13s with a stronger focus on handling, more modern styling, just a great platform to work with for a street/canyons car, and occasional tracking.
8. Chevy (VF) SS - I love the leftover effects of Bob Lutz on GM and wish they would've stuck to his original plan of Zeta expansion. As a result, I love the Zeta-platform SS, built in Australia, Magneride suspension, 6-speed manual, RWD, and relatively sharp and modern design.
9. Lexus LC 500 - I mean.. just look at it! Nothing else looks like it on the road, and IMO for a GT car, it has the best interior from any other GT including Bentleys and Astons.. such a seductive car, I would love to have one as a touring car.
10. Mazda (FD) RX-7 - bar the awesome sounding but unreliable rotary, I LOVE the FD RX7. Sleek and timeless body, incredibly capable, stiff chassis that still holds records when modified at multiple tracks.. I would love a BMW S54-swapped FD with an OEM+ body.
Nice, forgot about the SS. That is the ultimate sleeper car IMO
well 1 and 2 would have to be my cars, i really do believe they're the best in their respective categories
#3 is easily the McLaren F1, it was comfortably at #1 for most of my life until it was displaced by the LS and E55 lol
this car is in many ways like the Concorde to me... where all the stars just seemed to align properly, and technology was at a point where it was there purely to achieve the highest performance possible without actively trying to influence your decisions
no particular order for the rest since it's just too difficult to choose
honorary mentions would be the G55 Kompressor, XJ220, 458 italia, 850csi, and 997 turbo
I loved the 85 Supra back in the day. I almost bought a black 85 with the nice spoiler off the hatch at an auction but missed out. I ended up getting a 85 200SX turbo but always regretted not getting the Supra. I also loved the 86 300ZX turbo but never got one of those either. At least I did end up getting a 93 300ZXTT and 94 SupraTT but there was always something about those mid 80’s sports cars that I loved.
02-14-23 | 01:29 PM
My top 10 favorite cars
. Kind of a sleeper. Down near the bottom is the 450 SEL. In the 1980's my first cousin moved to the US from Germany with his wife and child. They lived with us for about a year, and he was one of those people who could only work for himself, so he tried his hand at importing mid 70's low mileage Mercedes to the US and selling them. He imported a few 450 SEL's with the 6.9L V8, and those vehicles were amazing. They were quiet, but when you put your foot down, they became a missle! The gauge cluster was pretty advanced for it's time, and at 100 mph it felt like you were doing 50! Unfortunately for my cousin, after retrofitting them to meet US safety standards and California emissions, they became too expensive to sell and he ended up losing money on them.
