How Would You Play This Game?
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I need to check in with my car-guy bud, Alex, who introduced me to the great car-guy game of "6-Car Garage." The rules are simple: what cars would you pick, to fill your 6-car garage? I can always find an exotic supercar, a classic, and something nostalgic ('66 Toronado, anyone? -Ed.), but I always get bogged down deciding on one that would be exciting, reliable, and --oh, yes-- affordable in the real world. I keep coming back to the same two cars.
Subaru WRX STI
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this is the only car I could ever drive so hard, that I could make myself car sick. And that's high praise. Subies have always had a cult status among car enthusiasts, and the WRX STI is the very best proof, why. The 2011 model starts at about $34K (actually a couple thousand $$ less than the '10 model!). Drivers choose from a five-door hot hatch, or returning for '11, the 4-door sedan. Either has room to take the kids to school, pack some bags, then dump 'em all out and hit the road to Big Bear. Bystanders love or hate the huge rear wing. I say if you're gonna fly, a wing is a good thing. The manufacturer-listed top speed for the 4-door is 158 mph. It's a purposely taut ride, pushed along by 305 turbocharged ponies.
Mazda MX-5
On those days when I didn't feel like testing my stomach's limits, but just get more smiles per gallon than almost other car I can think of, there's the iconic Mazda MX-5. We're not supposed to call it a Miata anymore; but you know the car. It was perfect when it came out in 1989, and it gets better every time they freshen it up. Light enough that its 167 hp cylinder engine lets you zip around corners, the MX-5 is so well-balanced that you feel more like you're wearing the car, than sitting in it. And then you drop the top. Last summer I drove Mazda's new Mazda 2 through some gorgeous forests in Northern California. All that was missing from that car, was a convertible top. The MX-5 would be a dream car for such a drive (soft-sided luggage would work best), from which you'd never want to return. You can get out the door with a premium package (xenon headlights, Sirius, bluetooth) for less than $30-thousand.
So if you're playing "6-Car Garage," what do you do? there's only one answer: knock out a wall, and make it a 7-car garage. Hey, it's Alex's game, and I'm pretty sure he'd let me do that.
