10 Cars to Drive Before You Die? Not really.

Posted by: TimothyT on: 04/11/2010 10:56 AM [ Print | 0 comment(s) ]

Car And Driver has written a new article about 10 cars to drive before you die. Many of these cars are so old and frankly uninteresting that a lot of the list makes no sense, until I realized that it feels like they simply decided to try and cover a wide number of years and parts of the world to please everyone. This was confirmed by their pathetic viewers choice which makes for a few easy jokes in itself. You would think a bucket list would be thrilling cars. All lists are subject to opinion of course, but I really think they missed the mark. Here is why…

1: Ford Model T? Agreed, everyone should get to drive an antique.
2: Duesenberg SJ? No.
3: Citroën DS? No.
4: Ferrari 250GT SWB? Ferrari, sure. I think better choices exist, again more modern cars.
5: Mini Cooper S? Own one, lots of fun. Would I put it on a bucket list? No sooner than an S2000.
6: Plymouth Hemi ’Cuda? Close enough. I would pick a 70 Dodge Daytona or Superbird.
7: Porsche 911 Carrera RS? Debatable, but you could put any Porsche short of the Boxster here.
8: BMW E30 M3? I don’t get it. If you said M1, I would get it.
9: Lotus Elise? Never got the fascination. Drove one and would NEVER put it in this list.
10: Bugatti Veyron? Here is one we agree on. Good job.

Honorable mention: Honda S2000 is the reader’s choice? You make note that some fan forum drove the traffic to the poll essentially telling everyone that the voting was rigged. Always LIKED the car, but bucket list? In that case, add the Mazda Miata as a readers choice too so we can lol twice. The S2000 is what it is, an affordable, well built, nice looking convertible wih decent performance and handling in a small package. I would have picked whatever car your real readers chose, in other words, the second place winner in that poll.

Definition of honorable:
1 : deserving of honor
2 a : of great renown : illustrious b : entitled to honor —used as a title for the children of certain British noblemen and for various government officials
3 : performed or accompanied with marks of honor or respect
4 a : attesting to creditable conduct b : consistent with an untarnished reputation <an honorable withdrawal>
5 : characterized by integrity : guided by a high sense of honor and duty"

Frankly, this list should be top 25 or even top 50 if a real car nut wrote it with good intentions. For example, here are 9 more just off the top of my head:

- Mclaren F1, MP4-12c (pictured). Pure adrenaline.
- Lamborghini anything. ANYTHING. Nothing oozes sex and draws a crowd like Lambo. Period. I guess you felt you covered Italy with Ferrari.
- Shelby Cobra. 2 seats, huge engine, often imitated, never duplicated.
- Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. The new one is simply a killer car in the supercar arena.
- Dodge Viper. Sexy, raw horsepower, killer torgue.
- Acura NSX. Known by many to be underpowered, but still draws a crowd and looks great.
- Delorean. Odd choice, you can pick one up cheap. Sort of odd looking, yet still cool and we all remember "Back To The Future"
- Nissan GT-R. At about 80k, still out of most people's price range, but your talking supercar performance worth 3-4 times that. Also, Japan seems to have been forgotten on this list. (Except the "honorable" mention again)
- Honorable mention: Toyota Supra. Ahead of its time. Twin turbo. Fat wing. Jut cool. See video below.