NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
One man's dream is another man's "huh?"
That's what Money Magazine autos writer Lawrence Ulrich and I learned when we assembled our list of dream cars. When readers wrote in with their opinions there were a lot of huh's? -- to put it politely -- and we had shrugs of our own at some readers suggestions.
Problem No. 1: we forgot to include a convertible. We certainly weren't going out of our way to avoid including having one on the list. Toppage just wasn't part of the question for us. But for some people, temperature-controlled air just is not part of the dream. So even though our list already included one Ferrari -- the new Enzo -- another might be warranted here.
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Ferrari 360 Spider |
How about the 360 Spider? The 360 Spider offers a 400 horsepower 8-cylinder engine and classic soft and sleek Ferrari lines. The mid-mounted engine is displayed under a clear cover like a working museum piece. Compared to the Enzo, it's a virtual bargain at about half that car's $650,000 price tag.
Among the most frequently mentioned cars we left off our list was the McLaren F1, a rare super-exotic. One problem with that car, though: It's not made anymore. But if an heir-less owner dies in his sleep, you might still have a shot at buying one.
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Porsche Cayenne |
Another other most commonly mentioned car was the Porsche Cayenne. That's right, the Porsche SUV. Admittedly, says Lawrence, a great SUV, but we think maybe there's a lack of imagination here.
I mean, let's say you've got big money. Really big money. You could easily afford a really great SUV and a really great Porsche and a garage big enough to hold them both and a few others to boot. Why are you trying to save garage space by buying a Porsche that's also an SUV? Sorry, but no regrets here on leaving that one off.
Oh, and speaking of SUVs, a lot of people wrote in to carp about our inclusion of a $70,000 Land Rover Ranger Rover SUV. I really felt we needed an SUV on the list and Lawrence felt that, if we had to have one, the Land Rover deserved the spot. There are more expensive ones out there and, certainly, more outrageous ones. But none classier or better.
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Bugatti Veyron |
One other car mentioned by a lot of our readers was the soon-to-come Bugatti Veyron, the new two-tone supercar from Volkswagen Corp. This car has a W-format 16-cylinder, four-turbocharger engine producing 987 horsepower -- or a nicely symmetrical 1,001 horsepower measured by European standards -- and 922 pound-feet of torque. Not wanting to hide all that power, the engine is out there for everyone to see, right behind the 2-seater's passenger compartment. It's not even covered in glass, like the 360 Spider's.
Personally, I go back and forth on that anachronistic horseshoe grill -- Lawrence thinks the car is just plain funny-looking -- but there's no doubt a car that has some pretty outrageous numbers. According to several media reports, sticker price is expected to be an equally outrageous $1,000,000. It will go on sale in early 2004.
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