What Car Would You Be Happy With Even If You Could Never Drive It?
I own a 1993 Mazda MX-5.
I've had it for around five years now, and I've driven it around northern Europe
enough to know I really like driving it. Currently, for some unfathomable reason,
it gets neither fuel nor spark, and instead of successfully fixing it I just pushed it to
the garage before winter to wait for more diagnosing time and eventual repair. I've already gotten
two other automotive journalists to look at it, and while we replaced the main
relay and forced the fuel pump on, the correct answer to "How many autowriters
does it take to get a Miata to run" seemingly isn't "three". Anyway, while the NA
Miata is certainly a nice enough car to look at, it's good enough to drive that
it's really a shame it doesn't currently run. I'll fix it, I promise.
Another thing I've been thinking about is a possible future world order where
it's simply not possible to get into your car and go for a drive, or it's not
allowed to do so, or there's no fuel available, or I've listened to Red Barchetta too
often. While I don't really like to entertain these scenarios and at a time of
a certain global pandemic it would actually do me good to go for a drive, snugly
in my cocoon, it did give me a big galactic brain idea.
Which car is simultaneously
entertaining enough just to look at but unspectacular enough to drive that it
would not meaningfully degrade the ownership experience not to be able to drive
it? Or more simply: which car would you rather keep than drive?
Having spent an entire day thinking about this on a long walk around a nearby
river, I'm ready to say that my answer for this is the DeLorean DMC-12. While I'd
happily defend the DMC-12 when it's listed on yet another "World's Worst Cars"
list, I'll readily admit it's underpowered as stock, the build quality isn't stellar
and its design and cultural impact far outweighs its merits as a real,
functioning car. I can also say I've never driven one on the road, but the last time I rode in one the cabin filled with smoke due to some molten wiring and we had to walk back to the garage, so that's a great omen for the future.
Just like that Ferrari 512 BB featured on Petrolicious a few years ago, some cars make fantastic living room sculptures. If I'd have to choose a car to be shut inside my house
just to admire forever, the DMC-12 would be the immovable object for me. I'd probably just keep opening and closing the gullwing doors. And DeLoreans, while not bargain-priced, are still cheaper than most Ferraris.
What's your choice?