Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms If You Could Only Own One Car...

Following on from this thread and the point that was made by Randy (mmm) regarding the enviable position of being able to choose between a Morgan and a daily driver, as the mood takes: if you were only able to own one car, and it had to serve all purposes, what would it be?

For me, it would be a 911 4S. The 4-seats makes it practical. The 4WD gives a safety net for the longer trips I do, in all weathers and often venturing into parts of Europe who suffer from more snow than ourselves. It is an attractive car and the look of it appeals to me. On the weekends it would be a willing track car and respond well to spirited driving. Lastly, they are well engineered and reliable; which for me, is probably the key factor in a daily driver.

Over to you guys: only one car and it must suit you daily requirements... what would you choose.

Back to where I was for many years - a single (real) Land Rover, 200 or 300 Tdi, 110, commercial body (i.e. 5/6 seater cabin, 5 door with a van style (hard top) rear body).

There are others, but for 365 day practicality, and all year driveablility, that's it.

Not intending to question the sentiment but this starts with a preposition that the "daily drive" has to be totally reliable. Many die hard Alfisti would indicate this is not fundamental Even big bird (a.k.a. J Clarkson Esq) has a soft spot for them (although one wonders if it is between his ears).

Also does it need to be superquick as a daily drive suggests travel on our congested highways with income generating cameras at random locations. If you are going to put milage on it you will end up loosing a fortune so do you value the costs ?

I guess it is much about the requirements you have as the reasons you bias the compromise.

Prior to the Aero I only ran a single car so it had to address the same issue, what happened in my tiny mind ?

1. VW Phaeton V10
If I cannot have a livewire then I want the ultimate in smooth comfort for high milage (35k/yr) so got an ex-demo luxo-barge with an off-shore powerboat engine strapped into it. Plenty fast enough, mega distance, total comfort, huge boot, invisible to most. I liked it so much I have kept it which is a first for me.

2. 968CS
Small, cheap, built like a brick outhouse, amazing handling making lower speeds just as enjoyable to travel. Very impractical, I used to get out looking like a dripping thing in the hot summer. I had it 12 months and enjoyed every minute but it was not possible to merge it with work requirements. I would arrive like a rabid thing full of energy from the drive with my shirt stuck to my back due to the competition buckets.

3. Nissan Skyline GTR 33 V Spec.
500bhp, four wheel drive for snow and rain, four seats, live chassis, Nissan reliability. Tiny fuel tank, BIG consumption, high speeding risk at any given moment. I did nearly 90,000 miles, mostly business as it was my daily drive and enjoyed every second. Then they became infamous which rather spoiled it.

Given my history I would go for the new GT-R in a flash, it would make the contrast with the Aero all the more exciting. Having been on the GTR day during the purchase process it exceeded my expectations.

Yet I still might keep the Phaeton.....I think it might be faster on long distances due to the supreme comfort and relaxation.

I guess I have learnt one important thing from this. My medication needs review.

My choice would be a 997 Carrera 4, I've been fortunate enough to own three 911 variants over the years and they were all great every day cars, servicing costs we're very reasonable and up until the advent of the 996 water cooled cars, depreciation was very low. There was always a bit of banter between Porsche & Ferrari owners. The Porsche motto was "a Porsche is a supercar for the real world" whereas the Ferrari boys use counter that with " a Ferrari is a supercar to escape the real world".

Nice ( or should that be ) question Simon.

My initial reaction was- no contest, some variant on the 911 theme but I found myself trying to balance 'needs' against 'wants' build quality and reliability and the different issues for weekendfun cars and daily drivers.
I also had a particular problem becuase although at the present moment I don't do a lot of long distance European trips this is about to change in the very near future.

Again on a personal level I had to factor in things such as the very isolated place in which I live ( ground clearance, 4wd etc) and hobbies which require some towing and load carrying capacity.

Being a good lawyer(!) I made a few lists and, a bit to my own surprise I came up with this

Part of me now wishes I'd never started to try and answer the question!

I don't need a daily driver so the Aero is probably the 'one' car I'd need (unless I had enough cash for a Zonda ).

Looks like Porsches are a popular choice! If I needed something on a regular basis, I'd also probably pick a Porsche - a C4S because of the 4 seats plus reliability - or maybe a Land Rover Defender.

Although I havn't had the chance to own one ...I would go for a Porsche too

The 993 C4 S with the optional 3.8L 300HP engine would be my favorite...

One car, no choice for an other one and "daily driving"?

No children or dog?

Bullet train and low cost flights for long journeys to underdevelopped countries?

A 24/7 insurance+assistance?

No need of a four by four on regular roads?

Possibility to rent a boring people carrier to avis/hertz/etc... when you need one?

Large parking slots?




Maybe my Roadster.

Doubtless my Roadster.

Which is the only tool to go to the supermarkeet for the weekly food shopping with a smile.



H3

Only one car you say.......a top spec Range Rover would cover all the bases for me (ie: Kids, Dogs, Towing, oh and hills ).

Bentley Blue Train
sure that when I need another car, everyone will change for a day

more real-world: bmw X6M, ugly but 4*4 and supercar-performance,
very nice on the Northschleiffe too

note: it has to be able to cary mountainbikes and gear/luggage,
so my Maxie is a no-go