Comparison Tests
Maybe your ship came in. Or your divorce came through. Or your final house payment went out. Or your last kid finished college. Or your stock portfolio still hasn't slipped beneath the waves. Or, what the heck, maybe you're just embarrassed by those untarnished credit ratings.
May we tempt you with a sports car?
A sports car is a celebratory choice, the auto equivalent of champagne. Nobody needs either one; no vitamins in either and no essential nutrients. You go with them purely because they make you feel good.
As Aristotle once observed, "Fun is fun to have."
Since you're looking to celebrate (play along, we fill these pages for food), how about something in the semiscandalous range? Something that will make your friends arch their eyebrows and say, "How does he afford that?"
In all the neighborhoods we visit, any price over 40 large would get that reaction. So let's have fun in the $40,000-to-$50,000 range. BMW and Porsche play in that class, or you could choose the chic little Audi TT roadster with all the pulse-quickening equipment, including the 225-hp turbo four and Quattro all-wheel drive.
BMW would be represented by the new-this-year Z4, which continues the long-nose, short-tail proportions of the Z3 in a package sculpted like nothing ever seen before under the Bayerische Motoren Werke label. Once you step into the $40,000 class, you leave behind the 2.5-liter, five-speed version and say hello to three liters and six speeds. How about 18-inch wheels, too?
In theory, you can buy a base Porsche Boxster for about $43,000 as well, but in the real world they're always more precious. With 18-inch wheels ($2920) and the stability-control system ($1235), plus a few sundries like paint ($825), our test car weighed in at $50,840.
The spunky-looking Mercedes-Benz SLK would fit right in here, too, except that a replacement is due by autumn. Let's wait for the next generation.
So far, we're talking runabouts in the semiprecious class, but what if we could find the same jaunty sensation and celebration for a little less? Do you mind?
Just in time for this gathering, Nissan turned loose a convertible version of its mail-slot-window 350Z. The coupe earned top marks in our "Hot Tin Roofs" comparison last December. It has a strong 3.5-liter V-6 backed by a refined six-speed gearbox. Such credentials, at a price that ducks under $40,000, certainly raises the stakes for the German brands.
And let's raise them one more time. You're open to the idea of spending even less, right? Honda, when it has chosen to play, has run with the best on the Eurocentric Formula 1 circuit. Let's throw a wild card, the Honda S2000, the most intense open two-seater you can buy south of Ferrari prices. So what if it lists for only $33,060? Its flick-quick reflexes and hummingbird metabolism earn a special place in every enthusiast's dream fleet.
There you have the roster, five wind-in-the-hair sports cars with personalities ranging as widely as the guest list of any Hollywood party. We could go on savoring the possibilities here, but driving is more fun.
As Socrates once said, "Get your motor runnin'."
