I had a fun conversation with a group of car buddies (online) recently. Someone posed this question:
What if you could only have ONE CAR?
Meaning, you, your spouse, your entire household: ONE CAR.
My answer would be something that was fun to drive, had all wheel (or four wheel) drive, space to haul some gear, and if I could get it, a proper stick shift.
I vaguely recall driving a car from my buddy Jan — it was a NYC traffic repo for $1000s in unpaid tickets, supposedly owned by the wife of a BMW executive living in NYC. When they left the U.S., they also left the car behind, and Jan was called upon to appraise it: A rare M5 Diesel stick shift BMW Touring edition wagon I don’t recall if it was E34 or E61, but it was a 5 or 6 speed manual diesel, and when you dropped the hammer, this thing hauled ass.
But those were never sold here in the USA, and so I am forced to go with a different all around driver: The Mercedes-AMG E63 S Wagon.
I want a car that looks good, has gobs of power, can tackle snow covered mountain roads with room for dogs, kids and cargo in back. This beast is fast, courtesy of a beautiful 577 HP V8 bi-turbo. It is E Class comfortable, with lots of room, great seats, a classic MB interior, with room for 5 or 6. It can haul whatever you load into the way back from Home Depot or Target. The 4MATIC drivetrain means it is good in the snow and rain. Visibility is good, even with that C-Pillar al the way int he back. You can load it up and drive to the summer house in style and comfort. And despite that beastly bi-turbo, they have reputations for reliability and drivability. It is a stealthy wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Source: Bring A Trailer
Source: Bring A Trailer
