Buy/Drive/Burn: Three Luxury Coupes to Deplete the Wallet

Last week we introduced a new series to TTAC called Buy/Drive/Burn. A rather comprehensive set of instructions (and an example) was given in order to prepare you for the upcoming entries into our new game. If you haven’t read that primer, go do so now. This week is the first real entry for Buy/Drive/Burn and, like the example post, we’re sticking with luxury.

Your three options to purchase, borrow, and set on fire are all luxury coupes costing over $100,000.

The genesis of today’s topic was Chris Tonn’s review of the new line-topping coupe from Lexus, the LC 500. While it attracted much attention from the locals at the 7-11, there are a couple other competitors in the same price bracket which might rouse your luxury desires — or perhaps send you into a rage of arson. Let’s get going.

Lexus LC 500

The first V8 coupe from Lexus since the long-departed SC400 in the early 2000s, the LC 500 is a love-or-hate proposition in the styling department. For an as-tested price of $100,720, the buyer gets an eye-catching body, a 5.0-liter V8 engine with 471 horsepower, 10-speed automatic, and rear-wheel drive. Though it’s large and in charge, and the right wheels have the power, traditional is one thing the LC isn’t. Does it go too far, to the point where you reach for your Zippo?

Mercedes-Benz S550 Coupe

In a new offering from Mercedes-Benz, the S-Class Coupe comes back into the fold after a considerable departure. Replacing the unpopular CL, the S-Coupe trades on the more familiar and long running premium nameplate from the three-point star. Standard power is provided by a 4.7-liter biturbo V8 pumping out 449 horsepower. All-wheel drive in 4MATIC guise is standard. At nearly 16.5 feet in length, it bests the LC by a couple of inches. It’s also a pillarless coupe, which is something not many (any?) other cars can claim today. Starting price is $123,475, and having Swarovski crystals in the headlamps is an optional extra.

BMW M6

Easily the most sporty option of our large coupe trio, BMW’s M6 model is available as coupe, Gran Coupe, or convertible, and with an automatic or (no-cost) manual transmission. Props to BMW for bringing choices here. At a base price of $113,700, the M6 is motivated by the familiar BMW 4.4-liter V8, and has a whopping 560 horsepower surging to the rear wheels. At just 193 inches long, it’s the smallest coupe of our group, which should lend itself to the aggressive, driver’s car image BMW has traded on for so long. Worth noting, it seems the M6 coupe goes away after 2017, and for 2018 the Gran Coupe and Convertible soldier on alone.

Which of these is your keeper, which one do you just borrow, and which burns to the ground?

[Images: Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Chris Tonn/TTAC]