My 10 Favorite Cars #6: Porsche 356

Specifically, I prefer the 356A 1600 Super Sunroof Coupe, but that's not to say that I don't appreciate all 356's.   I'm sure this car may look familiar, as the modern 911 is just a continued evolution of this proto-production Porsche.  The shape is so alluring and unique, Porsche designers (who have the easiest jobs in the design world) have seen fit to pretty much leave the basics alone, even if the engine is in the wrong place (behind the rear axle). 

A 356 could be had with anywhere from 40hp up to about 127hp depending on year and model.  Obviously, a car that is relatively quick and sporting with 40hp becomes an absolute blast when you triple that number with only very minor weight gain.  Those more powerful engines are quad-cam Carrera's, a name taken from the Carrera Panamericana, a famous road-rally in Italy in which these early Porsche's competed very, very well.  They became well known as tough, reliable, and fast cars. 

A Porsche hallmark from the beginning, these cars are exquisitely built and thoroughly engineered in the German tradition.  The cars were based on VW Beetle mechanicals initially, but as the engineers refined and improved the cars throughout it's run, fewer and fewer parts were shared.  I have no source for this, but I once read that out of all production 356's, almost half still exist.   That's pretty high for a 60+ year old car, and is a testament to both their durability and their owners' love for their cars.   

Unfortunately for me, the collectors market for these cars is steadily increasing their values.  I did purchase a 356C when I was 14 years old.  It was bright red, had perfect chrome, and a tan interior.  And it was 1/18 scale.  And didn't run.  But that 356 still sits proudly displayed on my desk at work 15 years later, and I still take the time to clean it and keep it nice.  Just like the owners of the real thing, apparently.

My 10 Favorite Cars- #7: Ferrari 246 "Dino"

Ah, the 246.  For a long time, this car didn't get any respect.  It wasn't considered a "true" Ferrari, as it lacked Ferrari badging and came with "only" 6-cylinder power.   The engine sits behind the driver in a well balanced and beautiful body, between two elegant flying buttresses.  The car was co-developed with Fiat, who also named their car "Dino", but aside from the shared engine, the cars are quite different.  The Ferrari has it's engine mid-mounted, and the Fiat is front-mounted.  In classic Ferrari nomenclature, the 246 name stands for 2.4 litre 6-cylinder, and the "Dino" refers to Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari, the son of founder Enzo Ferrari, who also consulted the design the engine for the 246.

The Dino brand was conceived by Enzo Ferrari as a way to sell a less expensive 6-cylinder car to compete directly with the Porsche 911, as the larger V12 Ferrari's were much too expensive to compete against the German sports car.   As such, they were seen as "almost Ferraris" to most buyers and collectors throughout the 1970's.   Sometime in the late 80's or so, the car began to be recognized by collectors as a full-heritage Ferrari, and the market reflected this, with prices that now equaled that of more powerful cars bearing the prancing horse.

Ultimately, the most endearing aspect of this machine is reflected in a story about Ferrari, the man.

His son, Alfredo "Dino" was his pride and joy (Enzo is pictured on the left, Alfredo, the right).  Alfredo was groomed by Enzo to be the heir to the Ferrari racing and engineering legacy, and was sent to Switzerland to study engineering.   At the age of 24, Alfredo fell ill and died from complications from muscular dystrophy.  On his death bed, he assisted the engineers designing the six-cylinder engine for a racing car.  Upon Alfredo's death, Enzo, a man who allegedly showed very little of himself to those outside of his family and was known as cold and difficult, was apparently completely crushed by his son's death.  He subsequently named the road going car bearing the six-cylinder after Dino.  An unusual tribute from a man who rarely showed such emotion.

And what a beautiful tribute.

My 10 Favorite Cars #8- Mazda Miata (MX-5)

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"But, Seth", you're saying, "the Miata is a girly car."  And that's where you, and the majority of the general public, are dead wrong.  I guarantee you, there are more of these "girl cars" running around racetracks than any other car in the world on any given weekend.  Their smooth, unadorned bodies aging far, far better than their contemporaries with the fake scoops, swoops, and spoilers everywhere.   Light weight and rear-wheel drive make this car one of the very best sports cars available today, if not ever.

There's an old saying, that it's way more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slowly, which is proven true with cars like this.  Perfectly balanced weight distribution, enough power to be rapid without upsetting the handling mid-corner, and classic roadster proportions with the wheels pushed as far apart as possible all conspire to make a modern-classic.  Or is it modern at all?

In fact, Mazda engineers benchmarked classic 60's era British roadsters, and decided that the car should be no more complicated or heavy than safety and emissions legislation dictated.   Therefore, small, light, and simple became the rules of the day, sharing the philosophy with late, great Colin Chapman (founder of Lotus) of "added lightness", or an attention to extremely efficient design and engineering.   They even styled the body to echo the earlier Series I Lotus Elan

I have had the pleasure of driving a Miata, and I can tell you that the design team's philosophy, which translates from Japanese roughly as "car and driver as one" is pretty much met by this remarkable and fun little car.  The passenger compartment is very snug without being cramped, the car feels about half as big as it is, and you get the impression that it actually anticipates what you are going to do before you do it.

Anyone who dismisses the Miata as a "chick car" is doing the rest of us a favor, keeping demand and prices down so that there will always be plenty of Miata goodness for those of us who know better.

My 10 Favorite Cars- #9- Austin-Healey "Bugeye" Sprite

This little car may look cute, but inside, it's a legitimate bad-ass.   Sure, it could only do 0-60 in about 20 seconds, but it was fun.  It was one of the most popular models in sports car racing in it's day, and must have been an absolute blast to wring out that 0.9 litre engine to it's redline, singing sweetly as it pumped out all of 43 hp.   This was one of the first cars that proved that being fun did not rely so much on outright quickness, but could be created by a combination of very low weight, a very willing and playful chassis, and quirky looks. 

Oddly enough, the "bugeye" or "frogeye" (as they call them in the UK) headlights that have given this car it's nickname were not intended by the designer.  Donald Healey originally intended the car to have retractable lights that pivoted backwards into the body, resting pointing skyward similarly to how a Porsche 928' s lights did in the 1970's.   However, British Motor Corporation (the huge, GM -like conglomerate that bought and ruined the majority of historic English marques) thought the retractible lights too expensive, and they were nixed.  And an icon was born.

I have never had the opportunity to drive a Austin-Healy Sprite, but it is one that I am determined to get to, even if it takes a lifetime.

My 10 Favorite Cars- #10: 1963-65 Buick Riviera

People know that I love cars, but which cars do I love?   Frankly, I find low-end, cheap, and poorly engineered cars lovable to some degree (because they're still cars), but they're not endearing.  They do what they do just fine (as my old State-issued work car, a 1995 Chevy Corsica LS can attribute), which is endearing in its own way, but there's nothing about them that just makes you smile.   The following cars possess that special something (for me, at least), that make them special to me.  

10.  1963-65 Buick Riviera - Conceived as the American answer to the Bentley Continental, Buick touted the Riviera as "personal luxury".   A large, low, and tasteful two-door, it forgoes the common chrome warts common on American cars from the period, and the result is a timeless, a tasteful, classic, and European-styled coupe that still turns heads.   The Riviera was unique, and did not share its platform with any other GM product (also known as badge engineering).  It came with Buick's legendary "Wildcat" V-8 with 325-360  horsepower (depending on year and trim, as 1964 and '65 models got 340hp, and the same years' "Super Wildcat" models had 360) , and was considered quite light in it's day.   This led to quite respectable performance, though the fuel economy was low-teens.

With optional leather trim, four place seating (buckets in the back rather than a bench), and power everything, luxury was certainly part of the equation.

As is the case with most American icons, as the 1970's neared, the car became heavier, larger, uglier, and choked by emissions equipment.  These early models show the finest of the nameplate, and as such, are the most collectible.   That aside, I find the 1963-65 Buick Riviera to be one of the most restrained, classic, and lasting car designs from our country, and the fact that it is mechanically competent is icing on the cake.

We Lubs V-Dubs.

Love.   What is love, anyway?  That magical magnetism that draws us towards things on an emotional level, that makes us miss people, places, or things in their absence.   The thing that makes us tolerate everyday frustrations creates by these things we love.  Love, baby. 

According to a recent study conducted by Strategic Vision and published by Autoweek, love for our automobiles is defined by some combination of perceived quality and specific qualities that attract the owner to the car and endear the car to the owner.

Which car company produces the most love between car and driver?

Volkswagen!  Let's face it, any car company that is closely associated with Hitler in it's early years, but less than two decades later can sell Hitler's vision of the "People's Car" to hippies, must be selling something very, very special.  And they are.   As a Volkswagen owner, I can honesty say I love my car, and will undoubtedly buy another Volkswagen for my next car, hopefully 20 years from now.

I get in my car every morning, and in that moment between the door closing, the ignition coming on, and the satellite radio getting signal, Neil Young's "Long May You Run" by Neil Young resonates:


Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Although these changes
have come
With your chrome heart shining
in the sun
Long may you run.

What does Volkswagen do that no other company does as well?  What gives their cars that extra charisma, that soul, that heart?  As an owner, I definitely notice some things that really endear the car to me, tiny details that the average person may not even notice, but make the car that much better.

Because not all VWs have the 200 hp turbo engine mine has, and they do not all have the lightning quick dual-clutch automated manual transmission, I'll leave those gems off the list.  Good overall performance is a hallmark of all VW vehicles, and this is an important part of love.


Lets's start with the materials.   In my VW, if it looks like a soft material, it is.  The entire dash is soft to the touch.  The leather is soft.  The carpet is plush and soft.  

That metal trim in the door and that door handle:  actual aluminum, not silver-painted plastic.  Such is the entire cabin.  If it looks like metal, it is.   This honesty and quality of materials exudes a much higher level of luxury and sophistication than the price of the car indicates.

Next up: Features.

The headlights on the GTI are bi-xenon, self-leveling HID headlights.  When you turn the car on, they rotate up and down through their range, giving the impression that the car is greeting you.  I know, it sounds corny, but it reallly does help endear the car to you.   It seems friendly, somehow.  Plus, with these headlights, you'll see quite a bit farther and quite a bit more clearly than you will with halogens.  Which builds confidence and adds safety.

Above is my Climatronic.   Most cars have AC and heat, but my VW has automatic AC and heat (just set the desired temp and the car does the rest), dual zone settings (passenger and driver can select different temps, good for when your wife is always fiddling with the temp and fan speeds on road trips.  It also has vents for rear seat passengers, which many larger cars do not have.  Also, by hitting the "econ" button and the "upper vent" button simultaneously and dialing in different codes with the volume and tuning knobs, I can set those little digital displays to display speed (mph or kph), coolant temperatures, exterior temps, and any number of error codes.  Pretty neat.

Another major contributor to how much I love my VW is the engineering of the thing.  There are so many details that stand out, from beefy door hinges, struts to hold the hood up instead of a hood prop, thick insulation throughout, felt-lined wheel arches (rather than the usual plastic), etc.

See how the windshield is recessed from the A-Pillar to the first knuckle on my finger?  The hood lines up with the a-pillar, and the windshield wipers hide under the hood, as do the (heated) windshield washer nozzles.  This recessed area and hidden windshield cleaning hardware creates a low-pressure area along the windshield,  which helps reduce wind noise at speed.

Next up, the door edge:

 Look how nicely finished that thing is.  That black plastic cap enclosing the edge, the thick seals, the recessed latch, the thick door card.  Solid, baby.

Why doesn't everyone include these features? VW is able to offer these advanced features and technology because they own Bugatti, Bentley, Audi, Lamborghini, and Porsche, amongst others.   By developing and engineering these features for their more expensive lines and absorbing the development costs in the high-end market, they are able to offer the same kind of features on the everyman VW models at a similar (though slightly higher) price than a Honda or Toyota competitor.   And that's a beautiful thing, the type of thing that makes you fall in love with a VW.

Let's Discuss Etiquette

We've all seen it.  The mid 90's Cadillac, usually with a Landau roof, double parked in prime spots at Taco Bell during lunch time when there are no other spaces and the drive thru (please, NEVER use drive thru's; I beg of you) is backed up to the street.   It's such a relief to know that Royalty is in town, and that they drive a busted $1500 Cadillac, and that they don't want any more dings and scratches than are already on the faded, rusted POS.   Taking up more than one spot makes you look like a pompous, ridiculous human being.  And it's a sure-fire way to get your car keyed.

There are three exceptions to this rule, and #1 plus at least one of the last two must be present, lest you be a jerk:

1.  You park in the back of the lot where nobody else parks anyway (universal, no exceptions!)
2.  Your car costs more than the average house
3.  Your car is bigger than the average house

Perfect illustration of all three exceptions in one picture:

That's a Rolls Royce Phantom Long Wheel Base.  It has a base price of $450,000, but this one has some options, as evidenced by the chrome RR wheels.  It is 78.3 inches wide.  The average parking spot in a metro area is about 90 inches, leaving only 5 inches or so on each side of the spot with this vast beauty squeezed in.  As you'll note, this (genuinely important rather than self-important) driver courteously parked all the way against the landscaping between the road and the lot, well away from the mall entrance.  Because if there's one thing this champion of commerce has learned over the years, there's a big difference between being rich and being entitled.  If this were a Camaro in the middle of the lot, the opposite would be true.

On to more parking etiquette, if you see a car (say, a silver VW GTI) single-space parked WAY out in the middle of nowhere, and there are TONS of spots in the general vicinity, you should not park your green Saturn right up to the rear bumper every day.   It's just not polite.