Economical Automobiles

I'm most often guided by economics, I guess that's what happens when you have degrees in both economics and finance. This permeates much of my life - most costs are measured not so much by the nominal dollar, but the opportunity cost of that dollar. I guess that's worked OK so far, but it's a bit like having the proverbial devil sitting on one shoulder and the angel on another. Irrationality, passion, desire is often swept aside in decisions for "what makes most sense". Lately I've been trying to alter that balance in favour of a little more "now" such as travel, the house stuff, possibly even a bike (who wudda thunk that?), and...

Take Tori and I's choice of transportation for example (or any of the prior vehicles we've owned). The fact that I refer to it by function (transportation) over the experience of driving foreshadows the rest. A 1999 Mercedes Benz ML320. For its 10 year life, rain, shine or snow, it drives approximately the same. Stable, reliable, goes any speed from 0-200kph (although it's working fairly hard above 100mph), but doesn't change speed particularly rapidly as it's equipped with a small engine given its bulk (which has the side benefit of keeping fuel consumption somewhat inline). It has lots of space for stuff, yet isn't so "new off the lot" that I feel tentative about using it to haul said stuff. Hauling stuff is good, I enjoy driving with friends to bike races, and it does that job adequately. Even the terms under which I purchased it were (in my view) quite practical - split 50/50 with Tori, so I only own half (usually the drivers side, as she prefers being a passenger). We bought it used, with about 30,000 km on it - partially inspired by a friend's dad who owns one approaching 250,000 km and had not relayed many ill reports thus far despite a decade of pretty thorough/intense use. The price paid was humble. It's an awesome vehicle, has treated us well. When lifestyle dictates that mental energy is best spent elsewhere, it consumes very little energy to keep it happy doing its task.

But cars aren't all like that - part of me has always stayed tuned to that "other" paradigm. I liked construction trucks as a kid, then came Herbie the Love Bug, the Autobots series of Transformers, the Dukes of Hazard, Smokey and the Bandit... and yes, that scene from the Blues Brothers that can't ever be undone in my mind:

Elwood - It's a 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, a half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark out and we're wearing sunglasses.

Jake - Hit it.

There's more an automobile accomplishes than mere transportation. There's driving, as in the artful combination of man and machine. I have learned to appreciate the art through a series of taste tests - the g-force fun of Lotus racing in Nevada, local track days in Calgary in a Shelby Cobra replica that'd pin me to the back of the seat with its beautiful growl, and oh yeah baby, repeat doses of Baja buggy racing in a fury of petrol power, suspension travel, and the general unsupervised nature of Mexico.

I admit I've been looking to making that "other" paradigm a permanent fixture, not an intermittent taste test experience. Tori sent me this the other day, not knowing what was coming:

Thus far in this endeavour, fuel economy, cargo space and year-round utility aren't words that have cropped up...