Now that I have reached my 10th car, it is time to look back, reflect, and rank them!
10th place: Mercedes W205 C300
Purchased mid 2023. If I had owned 100 cars, this would be ranked 101. I can only blame myself for not being thorough enough when I went for a test drive. Mercedes appears to have returned to its corner cutting days of the late 90’/early 2000’s. Anything you touch or even look at creaks like haunted door. There is so much turbo lag that it is often dangerous during scenarios such as roundabouts and overtaking maneuvers. The time it takes to change gears even in sport plus mode is unacceptable. You genuinely have to pre-empt when the engine will respond to the throttle and hope for the best. It may be a petrol but it rattled like a diesel – I have to sound like a liar to every passenger when asked if it is a diesel. It brakes nicely and the ride is good but this is no excuse for the cheap bendy plastics inside and out of this car. I have been trying to sell this for 7 months now at the cheapest price in the state but still can’t get any serious interest. I could go on but you get the picture.
9th place. 90’s VS Commodore Vacationer edition
This was a car which I obtained during a difficult time for $800. The rear view mirror used to fall off, the aircon had to stay on so the cooling fans operated or the car would over heat. 2nd to 3rd was a fingers crossed affair due to its previous life as a skid pig. Acceleration was smooth however, and it had charm.
8th place: 2007 E60 BMW 525i
purchased mid 2017. A car I did not intend on buying however couldn’t pass up. Back during my days of selling cars an elderly Asian couple traded this immaculate example with low kms, the rear seats had hardly been sat in (the rear doors were sticky from rarely being opened). They left the boot full of wombok however, like dozens of the things. They were given an appalling trade in figure by our manager which they accepted and the big boss said it would suit me. I said I was not a sedan guy but he convinced me to take it home for the weekend and see what I thought. This being my first exposure to driving a European car, I was impressed and loved the attention to detail. They sold it to me at the trade in price and the novelty wore off after a few months as the engine while smooth was a bit gutless and the driving experience began to bore me. I later sold it on for a profit.
7th place: 2004 Ford XR6 turbo Ute
Purchased mid 2013. The only reason this didn’t rank higher is because of the condition of the car. While being optioned with a paint matching hard lid, 19 inch relatively tasteful chrome wheels, and the legendary 4.0l Barra turbo motor, I soon learned it has had a hard life. Power would suddenly cut out at 80kmh during acceleration, one of the wheel hubs was about to un-alive. Ford informed me that the head gasket melted, and there was a hole in the turbo actuator causing it to over boost from 6psi to 15psi. Once I had fixed most of the issues it drove beautifully and I got to finally enjoy that turbo motor, especially being the second car I owned after my Z32 300zx…this felt like a big upgrade with working AC and a dash screen. But by that point, I had become disenchanted with the whole experience and as the roof lining started to sag around my cranium whilst driving, I decided to move on.
6th Place: 2009 Lexus IS250
Purchased mid 2018. there really was nothing wrong with this car. It was just a great daily driver! Well made, plenty of go, reliable, smooth, and as efficient as a Swiss engineer’s toolbox. The carpet was an inch thick, and the seats were comfortable as any bed I’ve laid on. It was a good car that did everything you wanted it to. Did I love it? Nope, but it was perfect for what I needed it for at the time and a welcomed upgrade from the aforementioned Holden commodore that was falling apart in front of me.
5th place: 2009 Manual Nissan 370Z
Purchased early 2014. This ranking onwards are cars that I bought to love. Cars that lured me to look back after parking and walking away. Cars with X factor as well as driving prowess and engagement. Purchasing a 370z was something in another league to anything prior. It was car I had wanted since the end of high school and was at one point just a dream. But circumstances permitting, I was able to go see one that had come up at the right location and price. The only problem was I was still on my provisional license for two more weeks..so my partner at the time drove it with me as a passenger and even then I was beside myself. This thing was quick, lovely to sit in, and had a manual transmission! I owned this car for a few years and was the first where I ventured into the modification world. I had high flow cats, a catback exhaust, air intake and tune applied to make it go and sound exactly how it should. I had to be careful as the rear would kick out between first and second gear to the lightness at the back, and in all honesty it was good but not great around corners considering the sporty premise. But I didn’t care, it was a hell of a car for the money and I met some great people in the car community because of it.
4th place: Lexus RCF
Purchased mid 2022. This was not something I had even considered until I received a message from my partner. A photo of it along with “this has just arrived at my work I think it would suit you” intrigued me. I knew a bit about the car but being such a left field choice amongst its more athletic BMW M4/C63 AMG competitors, it slipped my mind. I immediately drove down to see it before i had to rush off to work. Goodness me it was pretty, and I had never owned a V8 before. The interior was nice enough and those seats looked fantastic. So I test drove it and then WOW it had X factor, the Yamaha tuned engine and exhaust provided an exhaust note I couldn’t get enough of. The digital sports dash was theatre to watch as the rpm’s built. I loved every second of that test drive. It is was an easy decision at the time for me. Loved driving it and it was comfortable like a plush SUV to drive. Unfortunately I could feel its SUV like weight around corners and the gearbox felt out of place in a performance car like this. It dictated when it felt like shifting, and the driver had to be patient. While a great overall experience I don’t believe the premise or marketing that this is a track orientated sports car. This was definitely a GT cruiser and perfect at that for those longer journeys. The other frustrating thing was the rate this went through fuel, I was averaging $20-30 per day on just the drive to work and home and felt like I was working half of my life at the fuel station. But I’m glad I got to experience this stunner, probably wouldn’t do it again though.
1990 Nissan Z32 300ZX 2+2 Targa NA Auto
Why is this ranked so highly? Well it’s not the most refined car here, it was by a country mile the most unreliable and hardest to convince a mechanic to work on. The Targa roof leaked when it rained, the driver side window didn’t work, it had no AC at all, it chewed through fuel, and it would spin out on a whim. To this day no one really gets why I loved this car so much and I really do get it. But I’ll explain as best I can to anyone who will listen: back when I was 18 and my parents were finalising their separation, I received a call from my now late aunty in America. She said she had spoken with my uncle and they acknowledged that I would have been struggling to get my license and a car and they were going to help me. I wanted to be able to leave the house when I needed to and the hourly bus that was a 20 min walk away was not cutting it. To cut a long story short, they helped me buy this car. A car I had adored since I was a kid. My dad owned a black Z31 California 300ZX and the Z32s were always such a cool car to me, reminded me of my dream car: the Lamborghini Diablo GT. I had saved the Z badge from when my dad sold his one many years ago when I was young. And could finally put it on my own one. When it arrived it wasn’t in great condition but it sounded fantastic with the extractors it had, steered amazingly well with the coil over suspension, and looked beautiful to me. It was quick enough, and gave me the freedom to see my friends, to have an escape from what was going on at home. The contours cost of issues arising forced me to sell it on as my $11.91 per hour wage wasn’t allowing me to continue to maintain it. One day I saw it being drifted around a corner by someone and felt sad that it was probably going to end up at a scrap yard soon enough. However! 10 years later on an American Nissan Z orientated page on Instagram I saw a gorgeous black Z32 that had been converted into a drag car. For some reason it triggered an emotional response from me and noticed that the tagged profile was in Australia. The continued to check it out and realised that this was my old car! It still gets out to this day and looks unbelievable. I couldn’t be more happy that it has found a great home now.
2nd place: Porsche 718 Cayman S
I probably do not need to preach to anyone about how well this car drives. Since its inception during the late 90’s, the Boxster, and later Cayman, was always a class leading car in terms of its driving experience. With its mid motor position behind the driver’s head, Porsche engineered engines, and light build; it was a favourite amongst the journalism community. It has been tweaked over the years and given various trims and engine variations. This is a car that I currently own and I love it! Although not as sonorous to listen to as the flat 6 motor in the previous 981 series. The 718 S variant with its variable geometry turbo motor provides amazing amounts of torque and low end acceleration. To this day I have not driven a car that steers as precisely yet effortlessly as this car. The nose just wants to keep turning and it feels planted at all times. I’ve had the privilege of driving exotica and I still haven’t not experienced anything quite like this. The PDK gearbox is perfection, providing instant gear changes no matter where you are shifting down from, and the launch control system is more sure footed than a rear wheel drive car should ever be. I have lowered it as it sits quite high from factory, given it a well tested and impressive APR tune, a high flow air filter and a Diverter Valve as the factory ones have a tendency to leak boost. This is a car I almost can not fault, it looks gorgeous, and feels a definite notch up from Audi, which is saying something as a huge Audi fan here. It’s a 9 out of 10 but just lacking something, a bit of X factor, that emotional tie with the driver. It is still just a car, albeit, a near perfect one.
Number 1…. My manual 8J Audi TTRS (Aka King Boo)
Except it is not mine anymore sadly but feels like it always will be. I was having Nando’s with a good friend one evening and discussing my craving for a fast car again. I looked on Carsales at the TTRS range as I knew they were a not so well known about rocket ship with the legendary Audi 5 cylinder engine as a homage to their successful rally days. To my surprise I saw manual ones being listed. I thought it was a mistake as they only came in auto, or so I thought. The photos of a particularly nice example proved me wrong and then along with the influence of the peri peri chilli’s, I got very excited. The next day I made it mine, it got shipped up from Sydney to its owner of the next four years. It is not the precision tool the Porsche is around corners, yet it is still very good with its all wheel drive system. It doesn’t have the lightning fast gear changes of Porsche’s PDK gearbox but the manual box provided so much feedback. It didn’t have the mid engine balance of the Porsche yet the 5 cylinder sound was to die for while driving. And with the Stage 2+ tune and supporting modifications, it could move. I remember one night it was pouring with rain creating a slight pool of water on the empty road. And this thing didn’t even chirp its wheels whilst accelerating hard away from a stop. Along with a boot to rival most wagons, this was a car that could do anything. I met so many more people and created a fantastic network during ownership of this car. It turned out to be so much more than vehicle ownership, it was a way to blow off steam after a tough day, a pathway to meeting new friends, learning from mentors, and reassuring myself that I had come so far from that night many years ago when my bank account was in negatives and one particular night when I went to bed hungry. It is a testament to cars being a motivation to work harder, and to keep standing back up when life throws hell at you all at once. I had to become better. This is the car I wish I never let go of and will always look back and cherish the most.
