It made the list for 2 very good reasons. First of all, it's a very cool, very rare (1 of 2) car. Secondly, the original auction post is the most read car post in the history of JaCG (The posts I wrote about my friend Jeff's issues with the city of Stockbridge, MA, still hold the record for number of "hits", but they weren't about a car, per se.) It's been a lot of fun following this car for the past few months.
4. A Perfect 1978 MGB - I know it has rubber bumpers. I don't care. This is a very nice MGB. I owned an MGB in the late 80s / early 1990s. I kept it for a few years and then moved on to something else. Had mine been like this one, I might still have it.
3. 1974 AMC Javelin - A Mom's Muscle Car - Right up front let me say that I really like the AMC Javelin. Given a choice between a Javelin and a Mustang, Camaro, Firebird, etc., I'd take the Javelin every time. I'd want it to be a later AMX or SST Javelin, though.This is most definitely not an AMX or SST. It is, however, the way most "pony cars" were sold in the 1960s and early 70s. The high performance versions that we drool over today didn't sell in great numbers. Most pony cars came through as sensible cars that could be driven every day. This Javelin is the type of car you most often saw on the roads in the 60s and 70s.
I'm not crazy about the exterior color combination and the interior can make you car sick even when the car is not in motion, but it is so cool to see a car like this still around, unmodified, and in great condition.
2. 1983 Alfa Romeo 33 - Readers on every continent other than North America are looking at this car and thinking, "So? It's an Alfa 33. What's so special?" It's special in North America because Alfa never sent these cars to us. This car was privately imported.The 33 was not Alfa's greatest car, of course. But, being FWD and using a flat 4 engine, it was different from anything we ever saw from Alfa. By the time this 1983 model was built in 1990 ;), Alfa had corrected most of the problems that had plagued the car since the days of its predecessor, the Alfasud. They also turned it into a really fine looking car.
It's human nature to crave the things we're not supposed to have. That's probably why I crave this car.
Drum roll, please...
1. 1989 BMW 325i - As I wrote in the original post, some people just know how to do things right. This car just blew me away. It was done so right.This is a "modified" car that an adult could own and love. The modifications that were done to it were useful and tasteful. The body doesn't look boy-racerish and the mechanical mods don't prevent it from being an easy to drive everyday-driver.
The person who bought this car left a comment on JaCG. He said the car is everything the seller said it was. He's a lucky man.
This is the perfect JaCG car. It's unique, affordable and fun. Being a BMW, you can throw "reliable" in there, too.
This is a just great car.
.......
This Top 10 list was a lot harder to do than I expected it to be. Honestly, I thought this would be an easy New Year's Eve / New Years Day post. Something I could knock off in 20 minutes or so.
Nope. This took what seemed like forever.
There were so many great cars available in 2010. Figuring out the Top 10 was difficult. I could have easily done a Top 50. Hell, I could have done a separate Top 10 Alfa list or a Top 10 BMW list. There were Rovers, TVRs, Austins, Peugeots, Audis, Volvos, Mercedes', Triumphs and Saabs that could have made the Top 10. It was almost painful to eliminate them.
As I wrote in yesterday's post, this is all opinion. Feel free to chime in with yours.
Happy New Year! I look forward to more great cars in 2011. Maybe next year I'll do a Top 20...
