Question of the Day: If You Could Afford It, Would You Buy A Lambo?
I just experienced one of the pivotal moments in the life of an auto journalist. That’s right, a PR peep decided that it would be beneficial for Lamborghini to let yours truly spend a few days with a $222k Gallardo LP560-4.You get up every day, you write with your best straight face about latest blurred teaser image, creatively regurgitate press releases and think of something compelling to say about a unibody crossover. All in the hopes that someday, somehow the light at the end of the tunnel will have more than 500 hp and an overdose of Italian leather. Then you learn the wonderful truth that the light is actually in the tunnel (seriously — you need to hear the V10 at full wail in a confined space). But then you climb back into your car (in this case a 2006 WRX Wagon) and you realize, “This is pretty good.” Sure, you had to remove half the intake system to change a headlight and your throw-out bearing is 500 miles from dead. But the car has given me 60,000+ miles of driving satisfaction and only set me back $25K (ignore financing, insurance, gas, body repairs, tires, anal-retentive synthetic oil changes, detailing, clutches, etc). Is that Lambo worth nine times as much as my Subaru? Will it give me nine times the driving satisfaction? “Of course not,” you reassure yourself. “No way, no how.” Then you remember our capacity for self-deception which is not only inherent to all men, but very well be what makes us human. Hell yes I would take the Lamborghini. Hell yes. You?
Cleanup driver for Team Black Metal V8olvo.
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Yes. It'd be my daily driver. Anything that I need that doesn't fit in the car has to go in the parts vehicle following me. And I'd hire someone to take it to the dealer for me. Someone with relatively nice assets who would comfort me when I couldn't drive it. That'd be sweet.
A friend of mine said that ever since he was 10, he wanted a Porsche. He grew up, worked for decades, and finally got to the point where he could walk in and write a check for a 911. And then realized he didn't want it anymore. That being said, I'll repeat this point: if you can really afford one of these, you can afford to wreck it. And if you insist on changing the water pump yourself, you can afford to hire a licensed and insured technician to [s]do it while you watch[/s] help you out, and beautiful women to love you more because you fix your own car. And one more thing. I also drive a Volvo brick (how many of us geeks are on this board anyway?). It's fine, it's great! I'm gonna turn the turbo up to 11 and smoke some ricers down on Main St, with 5 sacks of Quikrete, 2 sheets of plywood, and a stroller in the trunk. I don't even have kids, it's just what you do with a wagon. But I've peered through the wondows of Bentleys, and my car is NOT one. I enjoy a good juicy hamburger; there's a reason filet mignon costs more.
No. I am one of the people who believes the things you surround yourself with say something about you. I don't like what the Lambo would say about me and besides I don't find the car, in of itself, that appealing. Cars that might entice: An Aston (a certain sense of english style plus gorgeous shapes) Ferrari 355 (love the looks, old enough to be seen as an enthusiast rather than a poseur) Maserati (beautiful cars, orgasmic sounds)
If I could afford not only the buy in, but the maintenance, then yes, yes I would. Those cars are monstrosities.