Greetings, Autopians! It’s your weekend-boy here! One of my favorite car-related hobbies is simply looking for interesting cars, better known as car spotting. There is no better place for that than the great streets of New York City, specifically Manhattan. I recently found an excellent representation of a random car sighting in the city that never sleeps.
Last weekend, I was walking around the picturesque neighborhood of the West Village and came across the two machines you see in the photo above. If you don’t know anything about cars, the vehicle on the left is a Land Rover Discovery 2. The vehicle on the right is a Jaguar S-Type. The Disco is a 2003 and the Jag a 2005. Theoretically, you could have bought the same spec Discovery in 2004 as a 2004 model, and the Jag in 04 as a 2005 model. This would have been my ultimate two-car solution if I had been car shopping in 2004. Instead, I was a mere infant eating Gerber Puffs and watching Sesame Street.
Why, you may ask, is this the perfect two-car solution? Perhaps we should first talk about what a two-car solution is, for those who may be unfamiliar with the term.
A two-car solution is simply that: having two cars that perfectly balance one another. It can be a Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro as the family hauler, partnered by a 911 GT3 RS in the garage patiently awaiting a drive. There’s even an entire Instagram page dedicated to this concept; it’s among my favorite pages. (Followers can send in their two-car submissions. There are a lot of good ones, check them out.)
Color
Anyway, why would these two be my ultimate two-car solution? Well, take a look at the colors for starters. The Disco is painted in my all-time favorite Land Rover color: Icelandic Blue. It’s estimated that only about 200 were made in this color. It’s extremely rare, which is a shame, as I would for sure trade my Disco for one. The Jaguar is painted in the infamous, British Racing Green. I love green cars. In fact, I wrote an article about my favorites on St. Patrick’s Day. I mentioned British Racing Green, of course, giving a brief history of it. Two uncommon colors that complement each other so well. In a sea of white, gray, and black, having sky-blue and deep-green colored cars is just so elegant. I would sit on my apartment balcony sipping my tea, as I stared down and admired these two beauties.
Functionality
A giant 4WD SUV and a sleek 4-door sports sedan. You could use your Discovery to travel out to the Hamptons and take it on the sand, where it will for sure glide over. Be sure to hose it down afterward, those rear-cross chassis frames tend to rot! The Jaguar can be used to pick up an investor client in upper Manhattan and drive them down to a restaurant where you’ll spend $200 each on a steak. Both vehicles serve different, elegant purposes to live the ultimate, wealthy New Yorker experience.
British Cars In Manhattan
Owning two British cars in the city does not have to be difficult. Luckily Jaguar Land Rover of Manhattan is centrally located on the corner of 11th Ave and W 54th Street. When one breaks, you can simply drive the other! It’s bound to happen. Look at the fluid stains underneath the Disco. Ouch.
Tell me, Autopians. Do you have your own two-car solution sitting in your driveway? I’m curious as to what you have. Share with me! I won’t judge, unless it’s a Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain…
My own 2013 Equinox has been an extremely reliable vehicle,
while my wife’s 2014 flex-fuel version(with higher mileage) has been less so.
Admittedly, neither has given us big troubles, other than an episode
which the additional warranty on wife’s vehicle covered.
Sorry to rain on your parade, Rob, but the Equinox has some strong
reasons to like it.
As for my ideal? Make the Lexus LS400 today, and it’ll be my daily.
That damn thing was library-quiet and loaded with power and luxury
seemingly unmatched by the likes of today’s cars when it arrived.
Just imagine if that same car were still in development and production today:
It’d be more quiet than a Mercedes or Rolls-Royce, possibly more powerful
than a Ferrari, more advanced than most of today’s cars, and still as
rock-stable and solid as a piece of machined billet titanium.
Next, a 1967 Pontiac Firebird convertible for casual drives.
Whether a three-on-the-tree or four-on-the-floor, it’s my ultimate.
My actual one.
Pre-merger AMG kitted W124 300E.
Overland Build 2014 G550.
Comfortable, durable ~25 mpg daily in the W124.
Long distance/camping/Tahoe cabin shuttle/tow vehicle in the G550.
So I need a fun car and a practical car, but I refuse to be normal and I’m too much of a masochist to buy something reliable. Two terrible european vehicles it is!
The Mercedes-Benz W123 is probably the closest thing the germans have ever produced to a simple and practical vehicle. For a 40 year old platform, the W123s are still shockingly nice inside, easy to work on, and reasonably reliable. The wagons are also extremely practical because come on, if there’s a wagon option you gotta have it. The 300 TD turbodiesel wagon is quick enough to get out of its own way and reasonably fuel efficient, and in its robin’s-egg blue guise it’s quite pretty. This would probably be the daily, provided I can find the right engine, right body, right colour, and three pedals.
The fun/cool car would more than likely be a McLaren MP4-12C. I’ve always loved McLarens and the 12Cs, for all their flaws, are becoming increasingly accessible little cars. You only pay the cost difference between that and a 720S over the three transmissions it’ll need in the time you own it before you give up! It’s a great deal! But in all seriousness, I’ve always thought those cars were seriously cool and I’d love to drive one even if they’re a headache to own.