Well, in the last 25 years or so... This morning I was driving into work and thinking about how much I enjoy my X5 sometimes. It has 70k on it and I'm amazed at how there's not a single rattle, squeek, or any other annoying noise. Then I was thinking about how much I've enjoyed it the past few years because how well balanced it is in terms of appearance, performance, safety, prestige, masculine and feminine appeal, timeless design, etc.
That led me to think of the cars I've owned in the past and cars I've driven that have given me a similar sense of satisfaction and ones that rank highly on my personal "best car list". So what cars do you all think are the "best" cars of the modern era? I don't necessarily mean a specific variant of a specific model, but I'm thinking model in general (aka E53 rather than 2005 X5 4.8is, etc.).
I think my personal list includes:
- 993 era Porsche 911 - IMO the truest to form 911, good reliability, good resale, excellent enthusiast drive, gorgeous appearance
- E39 BMW 5 series - revoluntionized the segment, from the 528 to the M5 all were enjoyable, timeless attractiveness, paved way for E53
- 100 series Land Cruiser/Lexus LX 470 - unbeatable reliability (known to easily go 250k+), unbeatable off road, great resale, UN's vehicle of choice!
- UrS4 Audi - set the bar in the early 90's for all wheel drive high performance car that could go to race track and then go skiing in the same day
- Toyota Prius - (I hate this car however...) kick started the modern awareness for unsustainable oil consumption and provided a realistic alternative
I could go on all day and I think a few honorable mentions are the C5 Corvette (performance/value), the Jeep Cherokee (starting SUV era in 1984), all 3 series BMWs (duh), modern Mini Cooper (value/performance/feel) and the Honda Civic (value). Those are far more pedestrian however and "blend" in too much. The vehicles I listed I personally favor because they all have some degree of: timeless design, high degree of owner satisfaction, reliability, resale value, and perhaps most importantly, all execute their intended purpose extremely well. I think all have shaped the design philosophy of the modern cars we enjoy today.
So what do you all think? What's your pick(s) for favorite or best car?
09-12-2008, 01:14 PM
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