I don’t know. I’d like to think if I came into money where I could afford to buy and maintain an exotic vehicle for an extended period of time that I might let others enjoy it as well. I know when I had my old 65 Malibu I’d drive it to just go get groceries just because the weather was nice while others trailered their “prized possession” 67 Chevy Camaro to car shows, roped it off and put do not touch signs all around it.
I wouldn’t own any super/hyper cars because the roads here are trash, but something like a Rolls Royce would handle the roads. Heck, if I could afford the purchase, maintenance and long term care for a Rolls, I might sign up for Uber and make a day or weekend of it- complete with chauffeur’s outfit to make the rider(s) feel extra special as I pick them up and drop them off.
i think manny khoshbin is sort of ok. he has a dozen million dollar cars and seems to drive them. he likes to advertise his brand? being a vlogger is more work then i want to put in.
There is a home/tree farm about 2 miles from my house where a '70s-era RR Silver Shadow is parked–seemingly as a decoration. Apparently it does run because it is moved occasionally to a different part of their property, but it doesn’t seem that it is ever taken out on the road. Surprisingly, RRs of that vintage are only worth ~$20k.
That same guy also has an Olds Cutlass from circa 1980 which also seems to serve as a decoration.
He has a late model Audi and a newish BMW that are driven, but he seems to like just using his old Rolls and Cutlass to decorate the front drive of his home.
They do cost a lot to keep up. I looked up these cars on Hemmings.com. There is one for sale where the retailer touts all maintenance records from 2010 to 2019 and said the total cost was over $20,000, and that would be roughly $25,000 in today’s dollars. Also remember that this was at the nadir of power related to smog control. Thinking power for Rolls Royce and Bentley cars might not make sense to some, but they have historically had powerful engines and today have about the most powerful engines available from their owner companies BMW and VW.
Edit: While on Hemmings I spied a 1959 RR Silver Cloud I estate car for sale. I’ve never seen a Rolls estate car before. This was the days of hand made bodies, and I’m sure it could be had any way you want. @bing, it has a gun rack under the floor in the back. You can take it hunting! Here’s a photo. I think it’s way cool and the gun rack does add cache to me.
I had a cousin who hit it big in the fashion industry in the late 1960’s and rushed out to buy a 1968 silver shadow. I was at his house on Long Island shortly after he got the car and remember it as being nice but nothing special. A well-optioned Cadillac was just as nice to me. The car was $20,000 new.
Absolutely. In fact, my previous employer had a customer who was easily worth several million dollars, and in addition to being a successful doctor, he owned a portfolio of rental properties which we serviced. When I went to his house, to service his home A/C, guess what was in his garage? A Plymouth Sundance and a Ford Aerostar van. I worked for that company from 2014 to 2017, btw.
It is a known fact that people who actually are wealthy often do not see the need to flaunt it. It’s the people who suddenly came upon some money, or who are actually poor but want to appear “successful” who spend the most on luxury goods to show off that they have “made it”.
Buffet is too old and feeble to comprehend a hyper car. Some people covet a hyper car for the visceral and sensory aspect of the tech. Some people prefer the potential financial gain to be made. There is a money side and a performance return side. Then there is the Hilton/kardashian side. Clueless and rich and be seen types.
The museum I volunteer for … Revs Institute… has 112 cars that get exercised regularly. Priceless vintage race cars on race tracks, too. Some worth 10s of millions of dollars. We get to see, hear and smell the history.
The Simeone Museum in Pennsylvania does the same with cars of similar value. Of course there are videos of Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld enjoying their collector cars as well.
Cars are meant to be driven. Letting them just sit is a waste!
the 300 SLR had not much in common with the 300SL The 300SL had an 3.0 liter straight six. I think it was an OHV engine but am not positive. The 300SLR had a straight 8 engine with power taken off the middle of the crankshaft and the engine had desdromonic valves where camshafts open and close them.
It depends on the car how often it gets run… Some get run at least once a year. If there is a Concours event where say, Hispano-Suiza is the marquee, then Revs sends all their Hispano-Suizas. Some may get driven on tour as part of the event.
The Porsches get sent to a lot of those…but there are 22 of them so they tend to send 3-5 cars per event. There are Porsche track events as well as vintage racing events that they send cars to. This event had several Revs cars…
and here at Road Atlanta, a 1967 Porsche 910/6 and a 1966 906 Carrera 6
Each car gets cleaned, fuel drained, battery removed and many get the coolant removed and the engine cooling jackets dried out. Oil stays in (as much as some of these old engines CAN keep the oil in!) Sometimes tires and wheels are swapped back to the display units. It is a significant amount of work to do this.
Nothing I would ever considering doing but to each their own. It’s their money to do with as they please.
Personally I would buy a Porsche 911 of some sort and use it as a daily driver as I am not a fan of trailer queens although in this case the value of the car negates it being driven on the street. Even being hauled in a trailer is a massive risk.
I completely agree with this sentiment.Cars are machines made to be driven, beautiful but not ancient Greek statues, Leonardo paintings or Invetment and it’s extemely disappointing to see a Classic arrive at a show as a “Trailer Baby” who’s tires have never touched the road.
For myself, the reward of all the time and effort in owning a Classic is pulling up to the local gas station/Quicky Mart and the reactions of passersbys. “My granddad had one of those”, “I had one of those when I was in High School/ College”, “Wow, that is the schizzle” and my favorite was “Bunny”, when I knew full well that his lovely wife of 50+ years was never nicknamed “Bunny”.
There’s something about a VW Bug, GTO, 'Cuda, Mach1, Camaro, MG, 240Z, Ford truck or whatever that speaks to all of us beyond the car sitting in a “Jewel Box”.
The thump/roar/whine of the engine, the smell of the gas/oil/leather/age that transports us back to a time that we experienced, hoped we had experienced or hope we can experience. And for myself the surprise was the number of younger and minority folks that actually seeing in action, “fell in love” with these Old Clunkers.
