It’s been a while since we’ve done a Friday Fun. Let’s make it a good one, shall we?
Ah, the forbidden fruit. It lingers and teases the mind of every car enthusiast who knows well enough that not all of the best cars in the world make it to their own homeland. But that’s not the case for us ‘Mericans alone; many people drool over vehicles that weren’t, and never will be, sold in their country. Whether you’re into off-road trucks, Autobahn slayers, lightweight Japanese runabouts, or anything else your worldy mind can wrap itself around, there’s a seemingly infinite list of cars that everyone wishes they had access to and yet, don’t.
So let’s throw that away and pretend there’s no anti-import laws. No automakers keeping “the good stuff” to their home country. No nonsense of cars you can’t buy if you have the money. Your house has a three-car garage, your bank account has a cool $150k to spend on three vehicles to fill those voids in your life, your choice of vehicles is only limited to what your imagination is capable of. So have at it; let’s see what forbidden fruit everyone is salivating over.
Be it on Forza Motorsport/Horizon, watching another country’s Top Gear, or even perusing a car forum, everyone has come across a vehicle they find sincerely appealing and would buy in a heartbeat, but can’t do so due to whatever it is preventing that car from being available in their home nation. I know damn well that’s the case for me; there’s a long list of cars that if on sale in ‘Merica, my WRX would be kicked to the curb immediately.
For simplicity’s sake I’m going to stick with new models on sale today for my own choices. Feel free to go older for your own. Obviously I’d have a Defender, 22B, M5 Touring, HiLux, R32/R33/R34, TVR, S660, (catches breath), RS200, Unimog, Juke R, and so on and so on and so on, but prices in the used market vary wildly so I’ll stick to what can be bought off the dealer’s lot.
One-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollars is a lot of coin. What would I fill my theoretical three-car garage with if I had $150k kicking around and access to any vehicle of my liking that’s on sale today? Funny you should ask…
1 – Holden Ute SSV Redline
6-speed stick, dual exhaust, usable bed, oh, and a big honkin’ V8? I’d daily a Ute in a heartbeat. The LS3 is endlessly tune-able, the chassis ready for the modding, the interior comfortable enough to drive daily or cross-country. Many may question the existence of such a weird mish-mash of genres, but I adore it. We should have gotten the Ute in the US as the G8 ST or as an El Camino re-boot, but that’s a moot point. And it’s too bad. The Ute is a great do-it-all tool for those who need to carry something of weight or size that they don’t want in the cabin but still want performance credentials backing their choice of transportation. Anyways, I’d happily plunk down $60k AUD (or $45k USD) on an SSV Ute. Burnouts and powerslides forever.
2 – Audi RS3 Sportback
With hatchback space and RS performance, Audi’s RS3 would be a fantastic daily driver and bad-weather attack weapon. Few cars out there can claim the AWD, fear-no-forecast mix of sportiness, usability, and comfort that can this five-door. I’d happily put one in my garage and even throw winter tires and steelies on it come the cold season. And then I’d send it to APR and make it into a monster. £60,000? $50,000? You’ll find me attacking Lime Rock’s winter autocross and blasting past pickups and SUVs in the snow, all winter long. And then throwing all my gear in the back and driving to work in complete comfort. Man, I want one of these.
3 – Lotus Elise
One of the ultimate examples of lightweight British sports cars (on sale today, at least), the tiny Lotus would be a great weekend toy that’s not just great at hitting the back roads but also at autocross and track days alike. Walk out to the Elise on a comfortable spring/fall morning, pull the roof off, hit the open road and don’t look back. I love Lotus as a brand and want them to succeed, and can think of few better cars to really “experience driving” than an Elise. Gimme.
3-for-1 bonus: Audi RS6
Or I’d just say screw it and use all the money on an RS6 Performance and have change left over for track time and tires.
This took way more thought than it should have. Making choices like these was actually pretty tough, a testament to how much the cars of the foreign markets are desirable. We’ll have to play this one again soon as I’ll inevitably have different answers, likely 4x4s since this time was strictly street cars. And how about you? What forbidden fruit are you lusting after? Let’s hear your picks in the comments.
Friday Fun: Forbidden Fruit edition
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22 responses to “Friday Fun: Forbidden Fruit edition”
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I don’t like the 25-year restriction on noncompliant imports just out of general principles, but in practice it doesn’t affect my personal decisions because I mostly prefer older vehicles anyway. So, of the newer forbidden stuff, there’s just one:
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45595000/jpg/_45595328_tata_car416x274.jpg-
See, I’m going completely theoretical (and definitely non-US-compliant, were it actual). I figure it can’t be that much less of a potential threat to my safety than all the motorcycles, air-cooled VWs, and variety of very rusty vehicles I’ve owned over the last 30+ years.
http://image.trucktrend.com/f/trucks/the-mahindra-pickupwhat-we-know/22497404/mahindra-pickup-side-view.jpg
I’m also ignoring the 3 car limit imposed by this blooger, and spending the balance on weird motorcycles. A 3-bay garage can contain multitudes, and a flimsy pickup will be their support vehicle. My ’87 Volvo 240 should be able to tow the Mahindra when that’s needed.-
Given a choice between a Mahindra and a Ssangyong for the same price, take the Ssangyong
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I saw something about an $800 Corbin Sparrow in Seattle and wondered if it was in your driveway already or you considered it too new.
https://scontent.fhou1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18403751_10158741624545626_1057095141872306534_n.jpg?oh=93c12b232083ca7599d3c89cdd7c2d26&oe=59C04778
https://scontent.fhou1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18446753_10158741617850626_1701660110294975243_n.jpg?oh=6875cee3a319f8b6d8175a9da0f34251&oe=59B5D1E4-
It is on the new side, but at $800 I could almost see myself considering it, were I not currently negotiating the purchase price of a certain 66 GL. Where did this one turn up for sale?
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Like, you, I don’t have much use for Facebook, but someone had forwarded the information they saw on a Facebook post. I just sent it to your school email accounts because I didn’t think the seller would want his email address posted here.
“I could almost see myself considering it” sounds like a done deal to me.
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Won’t that still be a little too modern and refined for your tastes?
Oh wait, I’ve just checked the crash tests, the Nano will fit right in with the rest of your fleet. 🙂
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I would love to partake (funds willing) of some of the great offerings from the rest of the world if available here in the good old UK. There was something about Ford releasing a worldwide offering of vehicles awhile ago – so far we do have the Mustang in RHD and the Ford edge has recently been released here. Must admit to dreaming about an F150 truck being available here, especially the Raptor – would suit my daily driver & towing needs down to a tee. I also took affection to the Holden (Vauxhall here) Monaro when released in Aussie, and that ute above looks superb. But this is where the problems begin. When vehicles could be had from other fine locations, I find I am up against 2 things. 1 is the availability of said vehicle and the cost of importation & modification if you do it yourself. The 2nd is the price people are charging in the UK for already imported vehicles agianst the cost of the vehicle in its country of origin. I have seen countless 2-3yr old 2nd hand F150’s, Dodge Rams etc for sale in the UK, but at quite a few £k more than you would pay for a new one in the US of A. Same applies to Aussie Imports. So I guess for now (on my limited budget) my old faithful Jeep Grand Cherokee is the closet I am gonna get to owning something decent. And I have to say it will probably be my last – Jeep have seriously gone to the dogs since Fiat got involved. FIAT = Fix It Again Tomorrow. Sad days.
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Citroen XM: something to replace my Saab 9000 as a load lugger, plus it’s even more comfortable on these shattered Boston roads.
Renault Sport Spider: because it makes my MR2 look soft and luxurious.
Alfa Romeo GTV 3.2: because unf unf unf.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cars/2015/12/09/1-classic-car-citroen-xm-xlarge_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.jpg
https://www.carthrottle.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/shorey.net_-655×387.jpg
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/images/made/drive/images/remote/https_f2.caranddriving.com/images/used/big/alfagtvandspider03_755_500_70.jpg-
One of those Alfas showed up at our local cars and coffee last year. Not sure how he got it registered,but I believe he’s since sold it.
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Quite a few GTVs are being imported to Canada now.
And I do highly approve of all choices especially the little Renault, always loved those.
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Three cars, eh? I’d go with a 2001 Renault Sport Clio V6, a 2009 Alfa Romeo Bera S, and a 2005 Ford Falcon FPV GT Cobra. For a honorable mention I’d go for a 2017 Suzuki Ignis. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f383357ef41a4fabbaa805a756bf07907e78cc64ead9f138f6c5caea92a9df9c.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/55009c90c716d68ab637ed7891e67208248282c2f54c9195ca652dd5fec8bf4e.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fe1d44e416fc4093d5ca256033444678431a75936ba5185b1c85ba7418374547.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2bde7c90a9de9f7144f1e9a35aed8a8015a2a1c23e2ddc2cec4caaf1423101a7.jpg
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I am lucky to live in a country that does not have communistic import laws to protected domestic production.
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The irony is that the law was driven by Mercedes-Benz.
http://blog.caranddriver.com/how-to-win-the-car-importing-game/-
So strange. Maybe US could just remove this German law? It is very Trump though but not what people expect from the land of free.
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We don’t have import restrictions either, just communistic taxation of keeping anything powerful/large engined on the road, I’m sure where you’re from has motoring downsides too. Swings and Roundabouts (or as I like to call them, state sponsored drift training circles)
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Well we have those taxes too. I paid 17k€ of taxes on used mustang GT. But at leas I can import witch car I want.(Had to change some parts to get it registered here, amber blinkers etc…)
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I’d rather just have cheap cars, without being asked to hand over further €2000 a year if my engines over 3 litres or high CO2, I mean I can still buy a Miata or MK1 MR2 over there yet still run a buick roadmaster or whatever, but the US has other downsides too (depending what state your in), and Ireland has some incredible roads and running classics is cheap. Swings and roundabouts, you just gotta enjoy the good stuff. Serious dedication to go to that effort to bring in a Mustang btw. respect.
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Ok, for stuff not sold in Australia I will say (today):
– Mustang GT350
– Seat Leon Cupra
– Ginetta G50 (or something like that) -
My country has no import restrictions, I guess I’ll have to say Moon Buggy.
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2008 Renault Megane R26.R.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/51622ebb3e34cb55a65acdabe03cda994169961c7dd0fc8eb37a1f38b80e8c9a.jpg -
the liberal revisionist far left government swine that control everything won’t be happy until we are all riding a all electric golf cart with 50 mph crash bumpers wrapped in enough energy absorbing material that it looks like the stapuf marshmellow man on a skate board.
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