I generally like to change up when I buy a new car. Something very different than what I’ve been driving the previous few years. Have a little sports car, then switch up to an SUV. In fact, the last nine years are the first time in the 25 years I’ve owned cars where I went for the same type twice in a row (Honda Passport, now a 1998 Toyota 4Runner). I’ve had the 4Runner over five years now and though it’s still in fine shape with only 45,000 miles on it, I’m getting itchy to move on. TS1 will need her own car eventually and she loves our shiny white steed, so I’ll gladly turn it over for her use. But it’s this damn unemployment business that’s stopping me.
Ever since one of my pals got his Boxster, I’ve known my next car needs to be something fast and convertible. The Porsches are great but even if I could afford it I’m not sure I could pay what usually turns out to be well over $60k for a car. If I won the lottery or something and suddenly had tens of milions in the bank, I’d surely consider a Ferrari.
For a long time, I thought a Mercedes SLK was going to be my choice. Over $40k but not in Boxster territory. Maybe I could find a used AMG32 in good shape at a good price, right? With the MB tag, no doubt about the quality, construction or performance (though not equal to the Porsche’s, doubtful the difference would be noticable to me), and I just love the hard-top convertible. For some reason, maybe just the ability to sleep at night without worrying about some teenager with a knife and too many beers vandalizing it, soft-tops have never quite done it for me.
I think, though, that I just changed my mind. The 2004 350ZRoadster is just too droolicious and, even though I’m disappointed at the lack of a hard-top, the shape and performance per dollar are simply too much to overcome. The regular model is a tasty crumpet but how can I resist putting that top down on a sunny day? So now, dammit, someone hook me up on the jizzob so I can put down the scratch for this dream machine.
Oh yeah, the NY Times has a very flattering article today on the chief designer at Nissan and the work he’s done on the 350, Murano, and Altima.
BillSaysThis 
