Recently we established that fun can be found for $4,999 or less. Then we proved that greatness can be yours for less than $9,999.
Well, now it’s time to buy some awesome. And awesome is available for less than $20,000. Awesome as in cars that, just a few years ago, were considered some of the very finest performance machines in the world. Badass automobiles with legendary names like Boxster, Evo, M3, STI and Z06, for less than half the cost of a loaded Ford Taurus.
Because this price point is pretty lofty, we left out any vehicle more than a decade old or anything you’re likely to have rented at an airport. So no 20-year-old 911s here and no surplus Mercury Sables rescued from the Hertz auction. This is undeniably a list of enthusiast cars, real performance machines, but it’s also a list of rides that can be driven every day. Each and every one would make you an acceptable commuter…Â Details
Steve Earle looked like a kid in a candy store Friday as the 36th annual Rolex Monterey Automobile Races kicked off its three-day run at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca under spectacular sunny skies and a large opening-day crowd.
I ran across Steve and his wife Debbie at The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering on the pristine grounds of Quail Lodge. Each year, there is a Historics to Quail run and the Earles were checking out the fabulous display and even better food that make up The Quail.
This year, a combination of classes in the pre-war era made the trek (with California Highway Patrol escort) from the track to Quail Lodge and back. It’s a traffic-stopper.
Steve said he flew back to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in a helicopter, which gives a whole new perspective on what is going on at the fabled race track…Â DetailsÂ
We’ve all want to jump into a car, preferably a car you waved down in the streets and said, “Police emergency, gimme your damn car, goddammit!” and head off down the road crashing into wayward dustbins and fruit stalls. Before embarking on a high speed chase across dust tracks, concrete roads, tarmac’d race tracks, children’s playgrounds. Anything. Smashing up all that gets in your path, including the very old and the very young – especially the very old and the very young – with a flagrant disregard for the rules of the road and the safety of others. Who wouldn’t?
The problem is you’d either be arrested or die. So we live out those fantasies by watching wheel-screeching, metal-grinding, whip-lash inducing, speed-loving car chases…Â Details & the Videos
And you thought the STI-ATV was crazy. Cramming a BMW V12 and a turbocharger into a quad bike wasn’t enough for French bike builder Ludovic Lazareth, he needed more power, so he added ethanol.
Better known as a bio-fuel favored by Iowan farmers; Ethanol, or E85 in this case, has a higher octane rating (typically 100-105) than traditional pump gas, which allows higher compression ratios and more power. The engine actually makes only 350 HP in its current form, with the 150 necessary to take that figure up to 500 HP coming soon in the form of a turbocharger.
There’s no fancy traction or stability control keeping all that power in check, so … Details & Pictures