Yesterday, we asked you all to imagine a world where you were given $300,000 to spend on exactly two cars. Today, if you look under your seats, you’ll find nothing — we don’t have the budget to actually give you all that money. What we can give you, however, is a roundup of the best answers to yesterday’s dream garage question. Let’s see what you all came up with.
2018-ish, as gently used as possible, Rolls Royce Wraith for me:
And then, uh, I don’t know, a 1992 Oldsmobile Silhouette for my wife:
See, you say you don’t know, but you came up with a very specific car for your wife. More specific than you thought up for yourself, in fact. Would you secretly rather have the Silhouette?
Easy question.
This for most types of fun: [photo of Viper]
and this for practicality and other types of fun: [photo of R1S]
I can’t wait to see how Kinja is going to handle this post, btw.
This is far from the last Rivian you’ll see on this list. In fact, the electric automaker may show up here more than any single other OEM — no small feat.
I would get a Rivan R1T fully loaded with the Max battery pack.
And The other 197K would go to buying a Panamara GTS Sport Turismo in brown.
What Jalop could honestly say they wouldn’t want a brown station wagon? Sure, it may not be the diesel manual Miata shooting brake of comment fame, but it’s a good start.
If I have to spend $300k…
1. Rivian R1T. This will be my daily driver. And likely a bit quicker than my planned fun car…
2. Audi R8. V10 please. Ever since I spent some time in one several years ago, I wanted one. Looks amazing, sounds amazing, and it’s actually good for tall drivers. At 6’4”, I was super comfy inside.
I must have been in sixth or seventh grade when I saw my first R8. Black on black on black, someone’s parent in the school parking lot. I took almost an entire roll of Kodak 400 TMAX of that car, only to realize I hadn’t loaded it right. They never got less cool.
GT3 Touring, black with gold wheels for date night and track days.
Black C63 Estate for family duties.
God, I need some alone time from my own post.
DeWayneV8 likes black cars, stealthy and sleek beneath their subtle exteriors. They’re also apparently very into detailing, because keeping two black cars clean would be a nightmare.
A lot of people in the comments not reading the rules.
2023 Raptor R
2020 GT350R Heritage Edition
Someone’s got a type, it seems, and that type comes with a Ford V8 under the hood and not a single blue oval on the exterior. The Heritage Edition Mustang is, of course, the true patrician choice here.
My choice would be a Audi RS6 Avant and a Land Rover Defender Works V8
I like my cars practical yet fast at the same time.
Why settle for practical family haulers, when you could have fast and practical family haulers? Just don’t think too hard about what maintenance will cost, to keep that fleet running.
I think if I have a $300k budget for 2 cars, one of them needs to be a very comfortable cruiser for the everyday running around, and I think that needs to be an S-class.
The other car? Idk, but I see a lot of GT3 suggestions out there. I’m going with a 911GTS to leave a little room in the budget for options on both cars, but getting a 1-2 year old S-class instead of brand new would probably allow for a GT3 in the budget.
Bags doesn’t want to give up an ounce of comfort in either car, and why should they? With this kind of budget, you should be able to have your sporty cake and comfortably eat it too.
This is tough. The battle for the “fun” slot is a steel cage death match between a Ferrari 550/575, 360, and 458. I’d get the best Cadillac CT6 money can buy, and the remaining 250k-ish on any one of those 3. Gun to my, head, its a 458 just for the recency, but goddam if I don’t love how smooth those early 00's models were.
Mosko, I think I can honestly say you’d have the only Ferrari-Cadillac two-car garage that I can possibly imagine. Has anyone ever seen that combo before in real life? In the absence of any other brands?
You can find last gen manual V12 Vantages for ~$150k. Add to that a new G550 with the assumption I could get one for MSRP and an option or two for another ~$150k.
Speaking of expensive maintenance, Goose wants a decade-plus old V12 Aston Martin. Gotta respect the hustle, there, and the commitment to automotive beauty in the face of all reason. Godspeed, you beautiful soul.
300K should get me a nice unmolested FD RX-7 (an early one with the all red interior in silver for 50-60K). Then spend the rest on the nicest 440 4-speed 69 Charger R/T I can find.
As a millennial with a brain too poisoned by anime to want an FD in any color besides Keisuke Takahashi Yellow, silver over red seems like a mature, prudent choice. I still want mine in yellow, though.
Ah - in this hypothetical we get to keep the cars we have. Very good - the alternative would mean I’d need two expensive, but practical cars. But here I get to be silly, so [Fires up Hemmings]:
1. New(ish) Morgan Plus4. It’s my ideal new car. It’s got great, classic lines but modern car reliability and safety (kinda). I don’t think you get more character in anything made after 2000, plus it’s not the kind of car that advertises itself as expensive. The average person on the street is just going to assume you’re some eccentric British Car enthusiast (aren’t they all?) and probably be interested in your car because it’s interesting - not because it’s expensive or loud or flashy. Hemmings has a 2020 for about $130 000 USD. So that’s what I’ll budget here.
2. A vintage 30s era Custom Woody Wagon - sort of the complete opposite of the Morgan. Slow, but damn cool. These cars always get more of my attention at car shows than the hyper-priced muscle cars or sports cars. As if the chill, laid back, So-Cal vibe is being transformed into a car. Plus, I grew up listening to the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean - so there’d be a huge degree of nostalgia here as well. Figure $130 + on a really great version.
I love that TheWalrus’s idea of “modern safety” is a Morgan, a car in which colliding with a stray mosquito will likely turn any and all occupants immediately into a fine paste.
Manual F430 Coupe ($240,000) and a fairly basic 2023 Toyota Sequoia ($60,000) to tow it to the track and repair shop. And my $300,000 garage will be completely impervious to depreciation.
The F430 has aged downright gracefully, with smooth lines that look understated compared to modern exotics. Honesty also gets points for their honesty, in acknowledging that the Ferrari will need a tow vehicle for all its shop visits.
I live in SoCal, so the range of my desires is broad. I want to explore, but I want to be able to cruise, as well. I would love HOV access. I play golf and ice hockey, so need cargo space. So, behold, my $300k 2-car dream garage:
The Rivian R1T fulfills the adventure and cargo needs, while also allowing for daily HOV access. Optioned with the max battery pack, this would get my anywhere I needed to go in a daily trip, and allow for reasonable road tripping/camping. MSRP worked out to $111750, which leaves $188250....JUST enough to squeeze in:
A very slightly used 2018 McLaren 570S Spider found online for $187995. This is for the top-down coastline weekend cruising. (Or rather quick trips to Vegas) I’ve always been a McLaren admirer and while this isn’t THE model I would choose if money were no option, this will definitely get the job done.
Bottom line, no matter which I needed, I would wake up with a smile.
I told you the Rivians are popular, didn’t I? This particular combo is a masterclass in multiclassing — two cars, perfectly optimized for their own use cases, with nearly zero overlap.
Hmm.
My real world two car garage exists, but only has one car, a bunch of bikes and some yard tools.
My ideal real world two car garage right now would basically be a big car and a little car on a teacher budget. When I’m feeling adventurous, this would be, like a Sequoia and a Miata. When I’m feeling economical, this would be a minivan and a Nissan Leaf. Deal hunting all around.
My $300,000 garage is surprisingly tricky, most of what I actually want isn’t expensive enough to fill the $300,000. But, since this is for science, I’ll try. Here are some ideas:
Ultimate comfort:
Lexus LS 500h & Range Rover Long Wheelbase Autobiography
Adventuretime:
Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid & 4x4 Sprinter Spotsmobile Conversion
Eco speed:
Rivian RS1 & Porsche Taycan
Dino Speed:
Raptor R & Ferrari FF GT AWD
Old School Fun:
1956 Chevy Nomad Restomod & 63 Vette Splitback
Hipster Cred:
Mint Brown Manual Volvo Wagon w/ V8 Engine Swap a la Paul Newman & VW Vanagon Westfalia Synchro w/ Subie Swap from an STI.
What I’d likely do:
4x4 Sportsmobile Conversion & Rav4 Prime
In each case, assume that I’m optioning them to the full potential and/or sourcing high quality parts/labor.
Of course, what I’d really want to do, is buy literally whatever I can turn around and immediately sell for $300,000. Then pay off my house, buy a base Sienna Hybrid with roof racks, a titanium mountain bike, a decent used Miata, a hand built lugged steel touring bike, a canoe, probably a bunch of weird/fun cheap bikes, and a nice dinner.
Weirdisgood went a different route: Rather than picking two cars to cover every base, they listed two options for each need. After all, why not double down on your automotive tastes?