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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RS6 (have one) + A6 Allroad (might end up getting one)
No, can’t think of any car I’d do that with.
Up until about 10 years ago, I always kept at least a couple of whatever I was into at the time around. Started with VW Type 2s, then Beetles, then EA81&2 Subarus, and topped all that off with diesel 126 and later 123 chassis.
I have more restraint now—and less room & energy
Any EV. I would leave one in the charger while driving the other.
Currently, the only matching pair (according to this story) of cars I have is a 1967 VW Beetle and a 1969 VW Beetle. The ’67 I have had since 1986, my uncle got it from the original owner sold to me. The ’69 I picked up five years ago from the family of the original owner. I have also had multiple non matching Chrysler products at once.
911 Cabriolet GTS Manual for top down, row your own, runs when the weather cooperates. 911 Dakar for everything else.
Is it cheating if I say a 2002 Pontiac Trans Am WS6 and a 2002 Chevy Camaro SS? WS6 for special occasions and Camaro for everyday stuff. Not the same but the same!
Land Rover or Ferrari, any model. One will always be the shop so you need two that are identical.
For a fair amount of time I thought pretty hard about buying a second Corvette, but a C5 to go along with my C4.
My dad did that for a while. Had a C5, got a C4 as a daily, sold the 5 to get a 6, then sold the 4, then swapped the 6 for a different 6, bought back the 5 as the daily, then sold both 5 and 6 to get a 7. It was an intense year.
The ioniq 5 Limited we have for my wife and an ioniq 5 N for me. I love my ioniq 5 and having the hot rod version would be sweet. Plus the N blue is just an awesome color.
I did consider buying a 240Z shell to turn it into a race car while I’d keep my stock, restored 280Z for weekend drives.
I don’t know if that counts as that would effectively turn the cars into two very different vehicles in the end.
Not quite on the Q, but at one point we had 4 Volvo 850s in the family, as well as a slightly newer S70. My dad had an 850 SE and the S70, my mum an 850 T5, I had an 850R and my sister had an 850 S. Later after I had driven it across the country I sold my Dad the 850R as I wasn’t driving it, then he sold it to my Mum, from whom I borrowed it when I’d come back to visit. The R ended up being the last one standing but they sold it before people started asking silly money for them. Oh well.
Two jeeps. One with a hardtop, the other with a soft top.
I’m getting older, and too damn lazy to change the top. Having one of each solves the problem of what to drive in what weather (it snows here).
Been there done that and am still doing it.
Currently I’ve got 2 Marauders Both 2003 but one is a 300a or early 03 which was only available in black and the other is a 300b in the rarest color Dark Blue Peal. Bought the black first and when I found the DPB at a reasonable price in my area, with a ton of extra parts I couldn’t pass it up.
This one could be argued as different vehciles but 1972 & 1973 Scouts. The reason you could argue they aren’t the same is that the 72 has the Travel Top and the 73 is a Cab Top. But they are both 345 4-sp 3.73 gears.
Just got rid of an 05 P71 on Sunday but still have my 92 LX. Some people will say they are the same, but the 92 is a 1st gen and the 05 is the 3rd gen with essentially no common chassis/suspension parts even if the body mounting locations are the same. However 3 weeks ago we also sold my Daughter’s (early) 03 P71 but that was in her name, but I was the one responsible for it.
I had many Pintos back in the day so more than once I had 2 at a time. At one point I had one set up for running the logging roads on some really tall tires and another that was lowered 2″. Others came and went as I’d find broken ones cheap, fix them often with parts out of my stash, drive them for a few months or until the next fixer came along.
We also had 2 Foxstangs at one point a 4cyl Auto and a 302 with the “4sp” OD.
Almost forgot, technically we also have 2 2013 C-Maxes one a full boat Energi which was bought to “replace” a standard hybrid fleet special which was given to my MIL to drive while the Energi was eventually given to our daughter, though both are still in my wife’s name.
Speaking of my Daughter she currently has 2 2008 Escape Hybrids in her name though her partner is the one that drive/drove them. The first was a full boat but with 200k so it used a little oil. Despite my repeated warnings to check and fill the oil regularly the engine went boom from a lack of oil. The other one is well maintained fleet stripper with only 130k on it. Unfortunately that one clipped a pole in a parking lot and has some quarter damage and a messed up bumper cover that is now held together with duct tape. Come September I’m probably going to be swapping the engine, transaxle, and battery packs.
I read this and all I can think of is office space.
Thomas: “what would you buy if you had a million dollars?”
TheDrunkenWrench: “I’ll tell you what I’d buy, man: two cars at the same time, man.”
Thomas: “that’s it? If you had a million dollars you’d buy two cars at the same time?”
TheDrunkenWrench: “damn straight, I always wanted to do that. And I think if I were a millionaire I could hook that up, too; ’cause dealers dig dudes with money.”
That movie came out when I was in high school and I loved it even though most of the office antics didn’t make sense to me.
Fast forward to today… and well, I’ve had way too many office space moments at work…But it’s still one of my favorites.
Mike Judge for President!
My first big boy job even though it was over a decade after the movie came out was eerily spot on. Even down to having a bunch of Bobs in charge.
I have a very low mileage CRZ that’s never been in the snow and I baby it in case it might hold value better. Also I love it and want it to last a long time. I have contemplated for years buying a second one –since most are over 100k now– just to use as a winter beater. Maybe it could be stick, too, IDK.
Lucid air I’ll take one long range grand touring version 512 mile range in black. and one sapphire for when i’m feeling EXTRA spicy.
realistically …. Honda civic I’ll drive the Type R and the wife could drive the hybrid.
But i’m all about practicality and i would feel like driving two of the same vehicle would be a missed opportunity to have versatility in my ‘fleet’
Honestly I almost bought a second 2010 Town & Country. Same trim, same engine, same color, same everything, other than slightly lower miles. It got bought before I could see it though.
I currently own two white Accord wagons of the same generation, a 91 and a 92. They are outwardly identical apart from wheels, although one is manual and VTEC while the other isn’t.
I used to have two XJ Cherokees and a Comanche all at the same time. Still have one 95 Cherokee and the 89 Comanche, so basically two of the same car. They’re mechanically identical(basically).
I also currently own a 1974 Jeep J10 and a 1986 CJ7, which surprisingly, have a whole lot in common. They are mechanically almost the same car. The Cherokees are not very similar to the J10 and CJ, but all four use basically the same engine.
Mid to late 2000’s Cadillac CTS v. A wagon and sedan
Twin Ariel Atoms for bring a friend to a track day fun. Who’s paying?
I’ll pay for the track day if you buy the atoms!
I say that in hopes that you can’t actually afford 2 atoms, because I can’t actually afford most track days.
Your money is very safe.
Well darn, but also good. The track day is probably not worth the divorce that would follow haha.
For a couple of years, my wife and I each had our own Mercedes B250 4Matics. Fun little MPV/wagon based on the same platform as the GLA and that were available in Canada. That turbo engine combined with a relatively lightweight car made for a fun drive with great acceleration and handling.
I did own 2 of the same car at one time. A blue 2001 Lexus IS300 with automatic bought used clean low miles for my wife, though i ended up commuting with it because she needed the minivan. When our son started using the Dodge minivan to get to school and band my wife used the blue IS300 and i bought a rather beat up silver 2004 IS300 with MT for commuting. It already had highest mileage i ever bought at 156,000 and I flogged it hard for another 120,000. Eventually it just needed too much repair to justify. After the minivan croaked in our son’s care at college i sold the blue IS300 to him cheap and he still uses it daily 5 years later. Both were totally cromulent in their ways.
Volvo XC70 with the D5 and the auto for commuting and family hauling, and a V70R with the AWD and the spaceball manual for fun weekend times.
I realized I overlooked the “no wildly different trim levels” rule of course, but I suppose the ran-when-parked-a-decade-prior Saab 900i convertible I bought to cull for bits for my 900i convertible counted. Alternately referred to by my wife as the “paartscar” or “car-cass”, she stopped having quite so many misgivings about it after I pointed out that selling bits off it to other owners had made me back the purchase price, and it’d saved me that again in terms of the cost of other parts, let alone labour or the time cost to travel to and from parts yards.
Holden Utes.
hell yeah!
Are you Joe Pesci? Two utes?