Is Modesty Really Possible?

I’m 52 so the next car I buy will probably be my last, what some might call The Death Car. I could go luxury with a powerful engine boasting well over 300 horsepower, or I could get something more modest.

via herculodge.typepad.com

Comments

[Angelo]

Geez, when I'm 70, I might think I'm buying my last new car----maybe not even then. 52? I think you have more than one new car ahead of you.

[Michael Brent]

Geez man the Death Car? That's pretty grim.
I'm 65 and just got an Infiniti EX35. 297 HP with a Bose stereo.
It never occurred to me that it would be my last car.

[jonnybardo]

Yeah Jeff, chill out on the moroseness. Jeezus.

But seriously, I wouldn't go for a gas guzzler next - prices of fuel is bound to rise again. I assume you don't need a new vehicle and you're just (morosely) pondering?

[Michael Brent]

What you need is a mid-life crises car.
A red Corvette,a Porsche or even better a great big ass Hummer.

[jonnybardo]

Or a hearse.

[Michael Brent]

No I think Id go for the big ass Hummer. The Hummer would be great for plowing thru
L.A. traffic jams.
Remember the Hill Street Blues TV show?
Remember the goofy SWAT captain with the glasses?
He had a tank with a sign on the front that said
"have a nice day"

[jonnybardo]

I didn't watch Hill Street Blues much as I was a kid in the 80s - Knight Rider was more my thing. The only character I remember was the guy that was always under-cover and looked homeless.

[Ed S.]

Agree with others, Jeff, I think you and a Hummer would be compatible with the image you want to project.

[jonnybardo]

If he gets a Hummer then he either has to get back into big-ass Invictas or save up for a big-ass Hublot. These classy 45mm watches he's been into won't cut it with a Hummer.

[Ed S]

Somewhere I have a picture of Jeff in ( just barely) my old Smart car.

[KI6H]

One word: convertible.

Test drive a few open-top cars, just for grins. As a friend puts it, it's like the difference between being in a sweaty classroom, and having class outside -- every day. It puts one in a great mood.

Driving, you are experiencing being in a neighborhood, not sealed into a private bubble traveling untouched by the environment around you.

Driven one for eighteen months and have put the top up fewer than ten times, usually for wife-related hair requests.

Neighbors call it my "midlife crisis" car and then they ask for a ride in it.

[Angelo]

The convertible I could see Jeff in is a Jeep Wrangler----black----wearing an Invicta the size of a dinner plate and thicker than a 1980s phone book.

[Michael Brent]

I can only assume Jeff's morbid musings on the death car is a thinly veiled cry for help. Therefor we as his faithful followers must take up his cause as our own.
So lets take a vote:
What kind of vehicle should Jeff get?

[Ed S]

I always thought of big.ass Caddies as an old man's last car. To many middle class guys in the previous generation, that was The Statement car that said You Had Made It and fuck you all, I'm going for comfort, not speed anymore!

[Angelo]

Ed: In the 1990s, hen I was in my late 20s/early 30s, I bought a 1969 Cadillac Coupe Deville, San Mateo red with a white vinyl top and white leather interior (Cadillac used Ostrich hide that year). That car was quite the attention getter and hauled ass, with a 375 horsepower, 472 cubic inch engine. I also bought a 1990 Cadillac Brougham as a daily driver----a living room on wheels. Caddies aren't only for the middle aged! Ironically, now that I am middle aged, I don't own a Caddy----I don't really like the design direction GM took Cadillac in. If I were to buy an American luxury car now, I might opt for a Lincoln.