AutoGuide Dream Car Garages: $500,000 Edition
Jason Siu's Dream Car Garage
When you have to pretend you have $500,000 to spend on cars, you’d be surprised how hard it is to come up with the cars you’d want. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit since we all definitely have an idea of our dream cars, but given the budget of $500,000, you can’t reach for the stars, which means exotics like the Porsche 918 Spyder, LaFerrari and McLaren P1 are out of the question. It then becomes do you want quantity over quality? Sure one could just shove a Lexus LFA onto the list, but that’s 75 percent of the budget right there. So I decided to maximize my spending while plucking away some of the best each region of the world has to offer.
Audi R8 Spyder V10 – $167,350. At the top of the list is the Audi R8 Spyder V10 equipped with a manual transmission of course, which fulfills having a convertible in the garage. While there’s a fair amount of people that would disagree, I stand by the belief that the R8 is one of the best cars Germany has to offer and is one of the most capable daily drivers when it comes to the world of exotics. Plus it’s just absolutely gorgeous to stare at while its 5.2-liter V10 with 525 hp and 391 lb-ft of torque makes it a complete blast to drive. Priced at $167,350 including destination, the R8 V10 Spyder is the most expensive vehicle on my list.
Nissan GT-R NISMO – $151,585. Next up is my favorite from Japan, the Nissan GT-R NISMO. Ever since the GT-R first debuted in America, the Japanese automaker has continued to up its performance, claiming records all around the world while padding its price tag by a fair amount. For the 2015 model year, the GT-R NISMO chimes in at $151,585, but it’s also a limited production sports car producing 600 hp from its 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 engine. If you’ve ever gotten behind the wheel of a GT-R, you’d know that it’s just one of those vehicles you have to have given the opportunity.
Tesla Model S P85D – $105,670. With a manual exotic from Germany and one of Japan’s finest sports cars already in my garage, you might be surprised to hear that my third car would be a Tesla Model S P85D… or maybe not. With a 250-mile all-electric range, the Model S P85D will make me feel a bit better about myself after burning all that fuel in the R8 V10 and GT-R. But I won’t be missing out on any performance, with 691 hp available and a 0-60 time of 3.2 seconds. And besides, every now and then you need comfortable seating for four and the Model S P85D really is the best of all worlds. Boasting a price tag of $105,670 with the addition of the Model S P85D my budget is now down to just $75,395.
Alfa Romeo 4C – $69,995. Having had the opportunity to drive the Alfa Romeo 4C, I’ll be the first to admit that it’s loud, fairly uncomfortable and extremely jarring to drive. All that said the 4C is one extremely fun car to get behind the wheel of, especially for weekend outings or going to the track. And that’s exactly what I’d need to complete an all-around garage, a proper Italian-built sports car that has no compromises. It’s lightweight and the 1.75-liter turbocharged engine with 237 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque really pushes the carbon fiber monocoque chassis. The Alfa Romeo 4C Launch Edition is priced at $69,695 which leaves me $5,700 to toss around for a nice set of wheels and tires for the GT-R NISMO!
