Glancing back at my “Maseratisti” post from the other day, I got to wondering what seven cars I would choose to stash away in a warehouse if I had the money and space that Apple’s uncle Preecha does. Since such musings wouldn’t be as interesting without visual aids, here’s where my rambling thoughts led me.
1. 2006 Pontiac GTO
In other words, the goat gets to stay on. The Gen-II GTO hardly made an impact on the automotive community, but that only served to make it just the kind of car I like — unique. This combined with my favorite V8, rear-drive, 6-speed drivetrain formula makes the GTO one of my most desired cars on the road today. How many people can say that about a car that’s already sitting in their garage?
2. 2002 Pontiac Trans Am WS6
If I had the means, I’d bag another fourth-gen WS6 Trans Am. That car was simply hot as the molten sun. And if I were going to start over, I’d pick the most-evolved of the bunch — the 2002 — with its LS6 heads, slightly higher output and overall greater refinements. Oh, and it’d be black, of course — with ebony leather. (Why wasn’t ebony an option in 1998?)
3. 1979 Pontiac Trans Am Special Edition
Another car I need not look far to find — for it’s already in the garage. My grandmother’s garage, perhaps. But it’s still a treasure that’s already in the family, and that’s going to stay a part of it for many years to come. As one of the most iconic Trans Ams in all of history, this black and gold beauty could turn more heads than a dozen new GTOs in a procession.
4. 2007 Corvette Z06
I’ve never really been a Corvette guy, except for when I was a kid and my mom would drive me around in her ’78 Silver Anniversary ‘Vette. The C4s were bland, the C5s didn’t do it for me, but the C6…wow, for some reason I still can’t explain, it just grabs me. And who could argue with the Z06 Corvette’s hand-built LS7 engine and utterly absurd power? It’s the ultimate American car, period.
5. 2007 Shelby GT500
The only Ford product that I would actually own, I once raved on this very site about how the Shelby was gonna be the next car in my garage. Well, the sticker price and the dealer markups conspired to shoot that idea down, but if money were not an object, I’d have one of these. In red. With white stripes. And a huge insurance bill.
6. 2006 Pontiac “Mallett” Solstice
What do you get when you take a Solstice and shoehorn a 6-liter LS2 V8 and a T56 manual gearbox into it? A “Mallett” Solstice. These limited-production, aftermarket Solstice modifications pack a serious punch, both to your wallet and your rear end when the throttle is pinned. It’s all kinds of unsafe, but yet all kinds of wicked fun. Just add this year’s Solstice GXP exterior trim, and I’ll be a happy camper.
7. KITT
Why not, right? Somebody just needs to build it first — I ain’t making that mistake again. Get me a Louisell total conversion based on a frame-off restoration donor car, then stuff an LT1 and a 4L60E into it and we’re done. If I actually had the greenbacks to afford this collection, I’d put a few hundred away in advance to pay the traffic tickets and drive with the damn scanner light on all the time. Hah.
Seriously, when I look at this list, I don’t think seven cars are anywhere near enough. I’m going to need a second warehouse to keep the imports, like the 2008 STi or the Evo X, the BMW M6, and the Porsche 911. And then a third warehouse for the classic muscle cars.
No LeCar? (Or if you want a bad pun, LeKARR?)
LeKARR, ha. I’d like to see how much KARR would bitch if he were stuffed into a ’71 Le Car. “Prototype of the crap of the future,” more like.
Speaking of Renault’s historically awful vehicles, how their Alliance ever got made Car of the Year in 1983 is beyond me.