If you’ve been on this earth for more than, oh, a few years, you’ve probably heard the saying ‘variety is the spice of life.’ While that doesn’t mean foster a sort of general impermanence, it means trying new things can keep things interesting. However, what about more of the same? Today we’re asking you which car you’d own two of at the same time, and why?
First, the rules. The two cars must be from the same generation, and they can’t be wildly different versions that effectively only share a shell. For instance, a 525i and an M5, or a V6 Challenger and a Demon 170. However, differences in trim, paint, upholstery, condition, and use case are all fair game, as that still means they’re roughly equivalent to each other.
Now, I’m not the sort of person to own the same car twice, much less concurrently, but lately I’ve been giving the thought of a second Boxster a chance. The one I own is already a lovely low-mileage summer toy, but a winter Boxster in a less precious colorway with more mileage and a somewhat questionable history could be a proper laugh. At the bare minimum, I’d be able to save money on oil filter by buying in bulk.
Likewise, I reckon if I ever own something rare enough that a parts car would be a valuable asset, it would make sense to own both a good example and an automotive organ donor of sorts. Not every classic is a Mustang or a Beetle, and I’d imagine that if you lived in North America, having two Citroën DS19s or two Honda Z600s would come in handy for maximizing uptime.
So, which car would you own two of, and why? Is it a matter of different use cases, having one to keep stock and one to modify, cannibalizing one for spare parts, or fulfilling daily driver duties in a two-car household with one optimal solution? Regardless, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
(Photo credits: Porsche, Citroën)
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2 Miatas.
One for track days, one for cruising. Or one that’s stock and classy and one with a V8 swap.
Both will fit in a typical 2-car garage pretty easily…at least in my 2-car garage that’s actually a 1.7 car garage.
I already do. 2 GMT400s, my daily is a ‘96 GMC K1500 ECSB and my tow pig is a ‘99 Chevy K2500 RCLB. Would love to add either a CCSB K2500 to the mix or a K3500 dually of some sort, but right now I’m more content with my fleet than I’ve been in a long time.
Two Nissan D21 Hardbody pickups, one an EV-converted King Cab runabout, the other a single-cab with helper springs for long drives and heavy loads.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/eTVdp3Tsup9BRaxWA
I suppose the most obvious thing to me would be a manual and an automatic Miata. I’d love to contrast the two, especially having never driven stick before.
Probably ND since they’re presumably safer.
Otherwise, would a passenger conversion and a cargo Chevy Express break the rules? I want to get them both with the 6.6l LS and see what 400 horsepower in a van feels like.
Haul ass with cargo with that one, or just…haul asses.
Care to comment, David Tracy?
I would love to have a pair of XJS Jaguars, one 4.0 Convertible, and one Lynx Eventer.
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Currently I have two 1997 XJ Jaguars, one XJ6, one XJR. I love my XJ6, and when I saw a good deal on a clean low mile XJR I could not say no!
I also have two 2003 Mazda MPVs. They are cheap, friendly, reliable, and useful.
Boxster / Cayman.
End.
I’m not sure what would make up my garage of twins, but in the 1960’s my friend’s parents had two Hillman Minx’s and the two Datsun 510’s. Each pair fit fine in a suburban Bay Area two car garage.
I can see the attraction of two Miatas or 911s because you could have a comfortable tourer and a hard edged track car.
Back in 1987 I did joke to a friend whose family kept kosher that he should buy a red Yugo and a blue Yugo, one for milchig, one for fleishig.
I used to commute 20000 miles a year, my wife at the time was a nurse and did a similar mileage. We both needed something fun and economical with two seats and some room for luggage. I chose a 1989 Honda CRX 16i16, she had a 1989 Honda CRX Si, the JDM version of the same car, same engine. Her one had a moonroof and PAS. Different colours, one silver one black. Plastic headlight lenses on the JDM one too.
Many years later I had two RX7s, one a daily driven standard FC, the other a never ending project FC with a V8.
I love my GT86, I could easily see myself buying a tatty one to turbo and strip out for track work.
Fiat 850 Sport Coupe and Abarth 1000 OTS version of the same.
I currently own one 1st generation Forester and two 2nd generation Foresters. Yes, I’m good at changing head gaskets. And timing belts. And fuel filler necks. Currently learning about replacing rotting control arms LOL.
Another Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited. Don’t care if the engine is blown or the frame is rotted, as long as the parts I need are good!
Mostly interior and misc trim
Any new car I’d buy, I’d buy at least two, drive one, and put the others in those bubbles.
After 2026 I’m out of the market due to legally mandated self driving tech that becomes standard then.
*Shows picture of a Rainforest Green car*
Don’t make me fight you Hundal.
Honestly, there’d quite a few vehicles I’d own two of….
5th Gen Viper GTS & ACR, 5th Gen Ram 1500 Quad Cab/EcoDiesel & TRX, & new Maverick Hybrid/Ecoboost AWD to name some.
A Camaro SS to go with my z28.
You took away the more practical ideas. Like a BMW 528it for daily use / Lowes runs and a M5 for playing around.
Maybe a stock S13 for commuting and a track S13 for drifting and acting a fool.
I’m rich, and I own triples of the Barracuda, Road Runner, and Nova. Triples makes it safe. Triples is best.
https://youtu.be/8Inf1Yz_fgk?feature=shared&t=61
Such a great episode. But my all time-favorite has to be the birthday party; the build is so amazing, and the twist (“okay, I didn’t use the bathroom, so I’ll eat it.”) that brings things to full-blown idiocy is so well done.
On my street, one house has two identical Honda CRVs…
If any neighbors had two Porsches of any type, I’d know their names.
Koenigsegg One:1. One to keep tucked away and bring out for the occasional concours, and one with which to terrorize every track day I could find. That’s its whole purpose, after all.
What? This is a thought exercise. The rules didn’t specify I had to spend less than $10 million.
My family has a history of owning two of the same unfun cars for stupid reasons.
When my younger sister learned to drive, she got grandma’s Dodge Omni with like 5000 miles on it since grandma couldn’t drive any more. Shortly there after, my dad’s car died and he picked up another used Omni.
When I got my first real job, I bought a Saturn SL1 as a reliable commuter car. The next year, my parents bought my other sister a Saturn SL2. When my kids were learning to drive, my dad brought out my sister’s old SL2 since she lived in the city and it just sat on his driveway as an extra car. After my kids learned to drive, their mother bought them nicer/newer cars then the old SL2 so it is just an extra car on my driveway now. The SL2 is a 1997 with just 150,000 miles since most of its existence has been as the spare car. The SL1 recently failed smog due to issues too expensive to bother fixing so I took advantage of the state’s buyback program to scrap it, so I don’t have two of the same car any more, but do have a Saturn Ion in the fleet for other stupid reasons.
For fun cars, my mom owned a 1969 Firebird and then a 1980 Firebird (no screaming chicken though).
I had two gasoline-engined Peugeot 504s for a couple of years. I loved the first one so much (despite it having an “automatique” transmission), that when I saw a manual-transmission equipped one for sale, I bought it. I remember it shifted well but it was in need of an engine rebuild and I realized after tearing into it myself, I was in way over my head and sold it to someone who knew what they were doing.
From a practical perspective, I could see having two prior-gen Mazda3 hatchbacks. The one we had was awesome, and I would have really liked the Mazdaspeed3. That little hatchback could fit a surprising amount of stuff!
From a fun perspective – I can’t really see having two of the same thing.