When I was younger, cars were mystical machines. They represented the freedom to go where you want, the thrill of racing, and the connection of man and machine. When a boy has no car, he dreams of simply having one - a car to go on road trips, to take to autocross events, to drive every single day. One car to rule them all.
When having a car is a big ambition, having several cars is an impossible dream. The idea of having one Swiss Army Knife car that can do everything is the logical result. Hence, my boyhood dream of having a Subaru WRX - a car notable for being a reasonable daily driver on weekdays and a reasonable canyon carver on weekends.
Now, with my unwieldy fleet of four cars and one motorcycle, I’m starting to see the benefits of having a vehicle for every role and a role for every vehicle. My WRX is a great car, but it mostly sits unused as I prefer to drive something more mundane and disposable in my daily travels. It’s tons of fun when I do get out in it to drive, but for a weekend toy it’s just too practical. There are too many compromises between practicality and outright fun.
Having a fleet of cars means not needing compromises. Have you ever been in a real race car? Ohmygodfast! But… would you want to drive one on the street? No, no you wouldn’t. They’re built to go very, very fast in very, very specific conditions, and outside of those conditions they are terrible. They’re not made with compromises like passenger comfort. I’ve been starting to look at my fleet and I’m seeing compromises.
I’m also seeing overlap. I met someone recently who has a nice collection of Japanese sports cars. A fantastic collection, in fact. However, upon hearing the list, I couldn’t help but wonder if the cars were different enough from one another to justify owning them all. There is no distinctly-defined role for those cars.
To sum up my point: cars are tools. Different tools have different uses. Having a hammer that is also a wrench is just not a good idea - it is not as good at being a hammer as a hammer, and not as good at being a wrench as a wrench.
There is of course an upper limit on this way of thinking about car ownership, and it is of course financial. I would love to have a circuit racer, a rally race car, an autocross race car, etc. As someone who fixes my own cars, I can even get away with buying five beater cars and building them into the vehicles that I want. Still, the costs of insuring, registering, storing and maintaining those cars would become prohibitive. With that in mind, I have defined in my head several roles that I would like filled:
1. Racer. A tube-framed special would be ideal, but I don’t have the time (and perhaps the skill) to build such a thing (yet). In the meantime, the dollars-to-fun/speed ratio can be filled quite nicely by a cheap Miata. This role is currently filled by my Subaru.
2. Commuter. It doesn’t need to be fast. It needs to be economical and relatively comfortable, and something that I don’t mind covering with door dings. My Golf currently fills this role.
3. Tourer. I like road trips. Comfort and economy are again at the top of the requirements list for a road trip car, as well as being big enough to handle some dogs and a week’s worth of gear. My Subaru is currently used for this.
4. Off-roader. A capable truck to explore the mountain trails. Something in between a basic, stock 4x4 and a custom-built tube buggy - not too hard but not too soft. My Samurai works nicely for this role.
5. Lastly, and… unfortunately… a wife-friendly automatic transmission equipped car. This is currently our Metro. Working from home, she doesn’t drive much - but she needs to be able to get around from time to time. She refuses to drive a stick!
The goal is to fill these roles with the fewest compromises and the fewest dollars spent as possible. You might have noticed that some of these roles have the potential to be combined without making too many compromises. For instance, a commuter could also be a tourer, and if it has an automatic transmission then it could be wife-friendly too.
Though I haven’t made any decisions just yet, my realistic fleet of vehicles would look something like this:
-Miata with ridiculously stiff suspension and other cheap-ish but uncompromising modifications: autocross/rallycross/just-feel-like-havin’-fun toy
-VW Jetta TDI with automatic transmission: commuter, tourer, wife-friendly. A fuel miser, and the distinctive character of a diesel-engined automobile.
-Suzuki Samurai: off-road toy. Always needs work, but always fun to drive!
To realize this list would involve purchasing two cars (Miata, Jetta TDI) and selling three (Metro, Golf, and Subaru). I would come out ahead financially, especially considering there would be one less car to register, insure, and maintain. I do really like my Subaru and would be sad to see it go, but I consider that there is potentially much more fun and practicality to be had with more role-specific cars.
What roles do you want your vehicles to fill? What cars can fill those roles? It’s worth thinking about, and it might just change the way you think about what is sitting in your garage.
*apologies for all the blatantly stolen pictures in this post. Thanks, Google Image Search!
When having a car is a big ambition, having several cars is an impossible dream. The idea of having one Swiss Army Knife car that can do everything is the logical result. Hence, my boyhood dream of having a Subaru WRX - a car notable for being a reasonable daily driver on weekdays and a reasonable canyon carver on weekends.
Now, with my unwieldy fleet of four cars and one motorcycle, I’m starting to see the benefits of having a vehicle for every role and a role for every vehicle. My WRX is a great car, but it mostly sits unused as I prefer to drive something more mundane and disposable in my daily travels. It’s tons of fun when I do get out in it to drive, but for a weekend toy it’s just too practical. There are too many compromises between practicality and outright fun.
Having a fleet of cars means not needing compromises. Have you ever been in a real race car? Ohmygodfast! But… would you want to drive one on the street? No, no you wouldn’t. They’re built to go very, very fast in very, very specific conditions, and outside of those conditions they are terrible. They’re not made with compromises like passenger comfort. I’ve been starting to look at my fleet and I’m seeing compromises.
I’m also seeing overlap. I met someone recently who has a nice collection of Japanese sports cars. A fantastic collection, in fact. However, upon hearing the list, I couldn’t help but wonder if the cars were different enough from one another to justify owning them all. There is no distinctly-defined role for those cars.
To sum up my point: cars are tools. Different tools have different uses. Having a hammer that is also a wrench is just not a good idea - it is not as good at being a hammer as a hammer, and not as good at being a wrench as a wrench.
There is of course an upper limit on this way of thinking about car ownership, and it is of course financial. I would love to have a circuit racer, a rally race car, an autocross race car, etc. As someone who fixes my own cars, I can even get away with buying five beater cars and building them into the vehicles that I want. Still, the costs of insuring, registering, storing and maintaining those cars would become prohibitive. With that in mind, I have defined in my head several roles that I would like filled:
1. Racer. A tube-framed special would be ideal, but I don’t have the time (and perhaps the skill) to build such a thing (yet). In the meantime, the dollars-to-fun/speed ratio can be filled quite nicely by a cheap Miata. This role is currently filled by my Subaru.
2. Commuter. It doesn’t need to be fast. It needs to be economical and relatively comfortable, and something that I don’t mind covering with door dings. My Golf currently fills this role.
3. Tourer. I like road trips. Comfort and economy are again at the top of the requirements list for a road trip car, as well as being big enough to handle some dogs and a week’s worth of gear. My Subaru is currently used for this.
4. Off-roader. A capable truck to explore the mountain trails. Something in between a basic, stock 4x4 and a custom-built tube buggy - not too hard but not too soft. My Samurai works nicely for this role.
5. Lastly, and… unfortunately… a wife-friendly automatic transmission equipped car. This is currently our Metro. Working from home, she doesn’t drive much - but she needs to be able to get around from time to time. She refuses to drive a stick!
The goal is to fill these roles with the fewest compromises and the fewest dollars spent as possible. You might have noticed that some of these roles have the potential to be combined without making too many compromises. For instance, a commuter could also be a tourer, and if it has an automatic transmission then it could be wife-friendly too.
Though I haven’t made any decisions just yet, my realistic fleet of vehicles would look something like this:
-Miata with ridiculously stiff suspension and other cheap-ish but uncompromising modifications: autocross/rallycross/just-feel-like-havin’-fun toy
-VW Jetta TDI with automatic transmission: commuter, tourer, wife-friendly. A fuel miser, and the distinctive character of a diesel-engined automobile.
-Suzuki Samurai: off-road toy. Always needs work, but always fun to drive!
To realize this list would involve purchasing two cars (Miata, Jetta TDI) and selling three (Metro, Golf, and Subaru). I would come out ahead financially, especially considering there would be one less car to register, insure, and maintain. I do really like my Subaru and would be sad to see it go, but I consider that there is potentially much more fun and practicality to be had with more role-specific cars.
What roles do you want your vehicles to fill? What cars can fill those roles? It’s worth thinking about, and it might just change the way you think about what is sitting in your garage.
*apologies for all the blatantly stolen pictures in this post. Thanks, Google Image Search!
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