Chapter 1. Musings

To enjoy driving at legal speeds ... what a novel concept. Is there an even remotely sporty modern car capable of providing a motoring enthusiast the engagement and thrill of driving without tripling or at least doubling the posted legal speed limit? 

Car makers are consumed by silly 0-60 mph times and the horsepower race. Cars with power of 500 or even 1000 horses. Where is this amount of power supposed to be used? Utterly pointless since there aren't any unrestricted speed roads to exploit such capabilities, at least not close to most municipalities. 

And just to be clear, this is not about racing cars intended for track use or point-A to point-B cars i.e. vehicles that are meant for general transportation. This is all about point-A to point-A cars that motoring enthusiasts drive just for the love of driving.

When legendary car designers like Colin Chapman emphasized "Simplify, then add lightness" and Gordon Murray when asked about the next big leap for automobiles said “.. I still think it is weight”, why then we keep seeing every car get bloated in weight and dimensions? While getting to the bottom of this mystery can be a fun activity, it is not the goal of this muser. 

Somewhere in between the time of light and fun but unreliable and decidedly unsafe cars from 60 years ago and the current bloatware of numb heavy but safe vehicles there must have been a sweet spot for the motoring enthusiast. A point where cars became reliable, safe, thrilling and relatively affordable all at the same time. A motoring enthusiast could aspire to walk into a dealership and buy/order an automobile that would give them the thrill of driving and not break the bank, completely. The dealership was happy to have a customer and did not attach ADMs or mandate buying watches or play other games. Buyer was happy to have a car she/he could enjoy. The car's capabilities were appropriate for the thrills on public roads without being completely reckless. 

Unfortunately that feels like history. Now, thrilling and relatively aspirational drivers cars are like unicorns. These characteristics are mutually exclusive. For instance almost everything about a 911ST or 911R or a similarly illusive car is attractive to me, but $800K is beyond my means. And even if I magically had the means, I would not be able to get an allocation. I can't even aspire to have one.

So then ... what to do?


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