2015: My Damn Disappointing Year in Auto Enthusiasm

The 2015 “car season” in Canada is just about over.  Unless there are a few miracle warm October days in the works I’d say the my summer car is staying in the garage.  Overall this has been a pretty fucked up year for my car enthusiasm on so many levels.  From car accidents, car damage and dissatisfaction or maybe we could call it  restlessness to keep what is currently in my stable.

It all started with the damn Dodge Hellcat.  I really wanted this car and was so high on getting one.  The Challenger is beautiful but let’s face it, the car is a heavy pig.  However with 707 hp it really doesn’t matter.  I ran into some problems with getting one however.  One was that I’m a “nowhere man."  I am not a resident of Canada and I don’t live in the States so as far as banks are concerned it’s a reject on either side of the border.  You need to reside in the place you get a loan from. The other is that the cars were limited production and you just couldn’t find a dealer that could order one.  And the final nail in the Hellcat coffin was that my girlfriend was against it.  She is not a car enthusiast and does not understand my horsepower addictions.  Which is the same issue most men encounter I assume.

If you look back on my past posts or you actually read this blog then you know I was also after a damn Pantera.  I found that to my girlfriend it makes more sense to “invest” in a car that will appreciate in price rather than depreciate.  Also to me it made sense to buy a car that I could continue to improve upon and keep forever rather than chasing after the newest hot car that hits the market.  I picked the Pantera because it is unique, isn’t coming out with any new cooler models, and it can be made to be super-fast.  When I started looking I found that the cars for sale seem to be in one of two categories which are restored, in great shape and very expensive or if you find an affordable one it is a complete and total piece of crap basket case.  Then there was also the question whether or not I could actually fit my 6’2” tall self in the car.  So the Pantera was out.  The good ones all seemed too good for my budget.

In May while driving my Hummer back from the States some damn trucker lost a rubber wheel block off his trailer.  It bounced up and smashed my windshield.  Even though the driver stopped and gave me his insurance info he later denied everything and his insurance (Lancer Insurance) refused to pay for any damages.  My insurance agreed to pursue the case however they said it could raise my rates and we’d have to pay our $500 deductible.  A quote to repair all the damage was over $2000 but we found a place that would replace just the windshield for $300 so we went with that and left the insurance out of the picture.

Of course the biggest event of the summer was getting into an accident with my damn Mustang which took it out of commission for months.  The final verdict was that the other guy was to blame so I didn’t have to pay any of the $8000+ bill.  Most of the damage was to the suspension as he struck the front passenger wheel and bent it. It of course also then dragged the front of his car down the side all the way to the bumper.  So a lot of panels and paint was needed to repair it.  I really thought the car would be called a loss by insurance because it’s only worth about $9000 but no, they fixed it.  When I got it back it tracked fine down the road and you really can’t tell anything happened at all.  They did a great job. But it really deflated my love for the car which wasn’t very high to begin with.  That 4.6L is just a crap engine compared to what is out there currently and 300hp is a joke.  I spoke to a local Mustang performance shop about my car.  Would it be worth adding power adds to or would it just blow up?  They suggested coming in and getting the cylinders tested to see if it could handle more power.  But even if it could the 4.6 is not recommended to be pushed over 450hp which is still a low number.  Imagine dumping a huge pile of money into an engine with tunes, supercharger, etc. and just getting a horsepower number barely above a stock current generation Mustang GT 5.0.  What a huge waste of money.

I saw the new 2016 Mustang GT350 as a beacon of possibilities.  It could solve so many issues.  I could get rid of my current car, it has 520+hp, and it’s going to be a classic so it’s in theory a car that would increase in value and be something I could keep for a long time.  However I am faced with the same issues I faced with the Hellcat which was getting a loan and finding a dealer.  However things seemed to be coming together though.  I found a SVT dealer about 45 minutes from me that has a few tickets left to order a Mustang GT350.  It wasn’t the GT350R but I think I could live with that.  Then suddenly I got my Canadian residency approved so I could get a loan.  Everything was looking good!  But then my girlfriend put the brakes on it all.  She does not understand why I need a new Mustang when mine runs fine.  I say, “Because I want a better track car.” She does not understand why I would want to go to the track and risk crashing my car and getting hurt.  Unfortunately saying, “Because it’s fun and exciting" is not a valid reason in her eyes.  So now I see I have a serious problem here for any automotive joy in my future.

And now just to rub it all in my face Ford is coming out with a Focus RS that has more horsepower than my Mustang GT. *sigh*

For me the clock is ticking.  My Mustang is worth at best $8000 trade in, it's worth less than my Hummer, and is worth even less every year I wait.  The clock is ticking on availability of the cars I want, they aren't just sitting out there waiting for me to be ready.  I found a dealer with GT350 orders available and all I can do is watch.  The clock is also ticking on me.  I'm not spring chicken at 46 and I've already been dead once.  How many years of fast driving do I really have left?

I’m overwhelmed with frustration over this entire year.  So I’m putting the damn Mustang away for the damn Canadian winter and going to try and forget the whole damn thing.  Dammit.

The Depreciation Angle

If you've been following this blog at all then you know I've been seriously looking to replace my '07 Mustang.  I've been a bit "on the fence" whether to do it with a new Mustang GT350 or get something older.  Lately I've been very interested in getting a DeTomaso Pantera, particularly a 1971 or 72.

Older cars are usually a hard sell to a girlfriend or wife.  They see it as a money hole and something that will constantly be breaking down because it's old.  They are right to think that since that is in fact what usually happens.  What is hard to understand is that some of us find all that fun.  So this often makes it hard to get them on board with the idea of purchasing something older.  However I found an interesting angle.

New cars depreciate!  My $32,000 2007 Mustang GT is today worth about $10,000.  This SUCKS but it's a hard fact of owning cars.  That is unless you get something different.  Something like an older classic collectible car.  Hemmings Motor News often shows these numbers.  See where I'm going with this?  That's right, my girlfriend is completely willing to let a Pantera into our life because I showed her the numbers Panteras have appreciated over the years.  Money talks as they say so I let money do the talking for me.  Later in the day she even brought it up again saying, "It really makes sense to get a car that is going up in value." 

So now the trick is finding a Pantera that meets all my needs.  Maybe there isn't one and maybe I'm too big to even fit in a Pantera (I heard they are very small inside) but that just means I need to find a different classic that is increasing in value.  Or I may say screw it and just get the new Mustang GT350 but at least I now know an angle that makes sense to her and gives me more options into finding my perfect car. 

Pantera Appreciation According to Hemmings Motor News 

2014	$60,000
2009	$45,000
2004	$30,000
1999	$29,600
1994	$25,000

Car Obsession Reaching Critical Levels

My car obsession has started to reach a critical point again.  Back in 2005 it happened.  I had been without a performance car for years and following my near death health emergency I decided I needed a fun car now.  So I bought the newly restyled 2005 Mustang GT, then a couple years later I upgraded to a higher trim level 2007.  Since then my obsession has been relatively dormant.  I did some minor modifications to my Mustang but mostly have just been sitting back, enjoying it, doing a little autocross, and racking up the miles.  Newer Mustangs were relatively the same as mine and even with the addition of the 5.0 I felt slapping a supercharger on mine someday would keep me up to speed.

Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat

Then everything went to hell or to Hellcat I should say.  That damn Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat seemed to rekindled the auto world and my obsession.  It has 707 horsepower for Christ sake and under $60,000!  Suddenly it felt like general horsepower ratings in cars took a huge jump.  My 300 hp Mustang is now getting eclipsed by Camaros, next generation Mustangs, and even new model Honda Civics.  I am definitely feeling the crunch on the street too.  Casual stoplight challenges are getting tough and recently a Subaru Impreza STI not only beat me but toyed with me.  So embarrassing.  My obsession is starting to change into a panic of confusion over what to do.  What am I going to do to literally keep ahead of the competition??

At first I went with the obvious “knee jerk” reaction which was, “I’m going to buy a Hellcat.”  I called a dealer, I lined up spot for when they got the okay to order one and was ready to take the plunge. Then my girlfriend kind of slapped some sense into me and made me answer some real questions.  Could I really afford it?  Yes but I'd be back to a tight budget which kind of sucks the fun out of life.  Is a Challenger Hellcat really the car I'm looking for?  No it isn’t .  I want something that has power but controllable power.  The Hellcat has monster power that is all over the place and I don't think they have a way to control it.  It's a tire smoking machine.  Taking it to any track other than a drag strip would be a joke.  Driving it would all boil down to the driver’s ability to control his foot more than the car.  So I let it go and my obsession smoldered in the afterglow of almost having new horsepower.

Ford Mustang GT350R

Then Ford announced the Mustang GT350 and the GT350R.  I wasn't terribly crazy about the new styling but here was a Mustang build for the track so it has much better handling than my Mustang and a Hellcat.  I thought very nice but judging from the pricing direction Chevy took with the Camaro Z/28 the track focused GT350 should sell for around $75,000 which is way out of my price range.  But then they announced the price and it was $45,000-ish??!?!?  WOW! So amazing to get a track oriented car with 526 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque for that price.  My obsession rose and rose and I started getting a little crazy about getting one.  I called a dealer attempting to pin down a spot to order a GT350R before they sold out.  But then I remembered the words of my girlfriend and did a reality check.  Do I really want a car payment?  Well the payment wouldn't be as bad as the Hellcat and with my paid off Mustang for trade-in and $6000 down it should be around the payment I was making on my previous Mustang.  Next question.  Is this really the car I'm looking for?  What the hell am I looking for anyway?  So I started to think long and hard about it.

What I want in a car is really to be done looking for a car.  I want something that I can own forever and feel this is it, this is my car.  I want something I can endlessly tinker with and improve but is already a strong enough contender that I'm not going to be struggling at stoplights against the newest thing out of the showroom.  Something iconic and somewhat timeless that will always be looked upon with respect even by people with something faster.  Is the new 2016 Mustang GT350 that?  Yes I think it will be one of those cars, and with 520 hp naturally aspirated it has room of much more if I wish so yeah.  Is my current Mustang GT at that level?  No, not even remotely but could it be?  Could the real answer be to modify my existing car to the level of modern counterparts?  I really don't know because of the car’s age as well as money and workspace I have to do it in.  Or I should say lack of workspace.

 

My 2007 Mustang GT

So what would be the advantages of upgrading my Mustang?  Well for one it would be cheaper.  Certainly parts cost money but you aren't strapped into a loan to get one.  At worst case you pay a little interest on a credit card as you pay it off.  Also I really love the color and look of my Mustang.  Sure I see a zillion Mustangs daily but not too many are Grabber Orange.  The new 2016 has a weird metallic Triple Yellow and a Competition Orange but they just don’t have the same pop as my Mustang's orange color.  On the down side my 2007 Mustang GT is coming up to being 10 years old and it has about 102,000+ miles on it.  Some performance modifications don’t recommend adding them after 50,000 miles because of the chance it could damage an older tired engine.  But then some people say to hell with it, just add the parts and if it pops then it pops and you go buy a new engine.  Buy a new engine?? Suddenly the “cheaper route” isn't sounding so cheap.  They don't make my 4.6 L engine in a crate engine so that would mean converting it to the new 5.0 which American Muscle says requires a lot of hidden expenses. Also while praying the engine doesn't pop I would estimate to gradually get my Mustang close to the performance level I’m looking for is probably around $20,000.  So to dump all that money into a car and then the engine blows would be a huge loss.  Not to even mention the problem of having only a tiny one stall garage to work with.  I really don't have the space for a project so I'd have to possibly rent some space somewhere which would also cost monthly.

1972 DeTomaso Pantera GT5

A last and possibly more crazy option is to buy something older, iconic, and basically finished.  Buy a project that another guy is done with.  Stop chasing the newest thing and just stay with something that is incredible no matter how fast it is going.  My most recent obsessed example of this is to buy something like a DeTomaso Pantera.  They are an utterly gorgeous borderline supercar with a completely repairable Ford engine.  It's beautiful, it's fast, it's iconic, and it won't cost millions of dollars to keep running.  Best of all it's all I could ever want. It looks like a goddam Lamborghini which is more than I could ever dream of owning.  It can go to track days, car shows, cruises, and even if it gets beat in a race it will certainly be better looking than whatever it's racing against so even if you lose you win.  Even though it looks exotic it's really just an italian Ford so prices for these are still reasonable, costing about what I would pay for a Mustang GT350.  They are starting to get noticed by collectors however and won't stay low for very long.

So basically my goal is to lose the car obsession.  Well not lose it but more to focus it on a single car and stop looking for something better.  I want to lose that panicked feeling I have right now because I feel the auto world is advancing without me.