Very nice indeed…I am humbled 
Tbh at this juncture I am absolutely pig sick of cars…
I treated myself to a 2022 Porsche Macan on January 4th.
On January 21st with just 152 miles on it some muppet in Dodge Ram2500 drove into the side of it.
Four months later I finally got it back after waiting for parts and paint( new for 22 colour nobody in the USA had code for!)
This morning with just 480 miles it’s back at Porsche with a leaking rear axle.
So fed up…
But also so glad I picked up a pocket rocket while it was in body shop.
A VW Golf R32… Some of the most fun I have had with most of my clothes on.
Bad picture but all I bothered to take so far.
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That sucks. Sorry to hear it. There is always that danger that you might not ever feel good about the car that had to have a repair done on it. This is a familiar experience for some. I remember never warming back up to my first BMW M3 ('94 E36) after some low-life broke into it and stole the stereo; I sold it 3 months later.
I saw the pics of your Macan earlier in the thread - I do like the colour. I’ve never had the courage to spec an “out there” colour for any car I’ve owned (I’m not counting Mrs Tel’s Nitrous Blue Focus RS as it was her car!). When I was still harbouring thoughts of the 992 GT3, I was fully prepared to adopt the “you only live once” approach and had been looking at Shark Blue, Lava Orange and Python Green.
Those R32s were real “Q cars” back in the day. I can imagine you had some fun 
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I do have that feeling already, only compounded by it now having to go back to Porsche…it’s an omen.
Already looking at Maserati 
Just have to get Mrs.Rimmer on board with the idea.
And I nearly bought a new Focus RS as our local dealer had two old stock models he was discounting but… They were both bloody battleship grey.
Sorry to me it looks like they forgot to finish painting them 
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Is the Z07 the flat plane crank engine that was in development?
Yes, “the 670 horsepower makes it the most powerful naturally-aspirated V8 in production. A testament to unrelenting craftsmanship, this hand-built engine features an all-new flat plane architecture that gives it a signature growl. Strike fear in your competition as it hits a redline of 8600 rpm – 2000 rpm higher than Stingray.”
There will also be an E-ray (electric) and I am not certain the status of the “Zora”.
I have a C7 Z51 that I do not drive. A friend in New Jersey had two Z06s on order and has canceled them both, feels that his waning car interests do not warrant north of $175k for the car.
I am a bit more interested in Corvette’s business plan. They, like McIntosh (which has now been acquired) are targeted to a specific clientele. You can note the same thing with the Porsche 911. I owned a 911 years ago, really enjoyed it.
The two FordGTs I owned were a great financial investment, but I did not enjoy driving them.
P.S. I like your new Mercedes a lot.
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I have enjoyed being down to one car. With me being retired from work, flying, and drag racing, I rarely need a car. My wife and I just have to keep out calendars coordinated, which is not a problem.
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8600rpm… 
a flat plane design V8 at 8600rpm will sound like God having a shave. That’s getting up there with the 9000rpm red-line in the 992 GT3.
The Ford GTs in your pics are beautiful looking things.
Thanks. I’m quite taken with it. The tech in the dash (MBUX) and the base driving systems are amazing and better than I ever expected. Let’s see how I feel after 6 months or so.
The first FordGT was midnight blue. It was delivered from the factory with several parts missing. A very nice guy (who was then with Ford) arranged for the car to go back to Wixom, MI and have the parts installed.
Then, they could not return the car to me because the factory cannot send to an individual. In all, it took about four months to get the car back. Then, as occasionally, happened with the FordGT, the transmission would jump out of 2nd gear.
So a new transaxle was sent to a dealer to replace mine. The new transaxle was actually stamped and to be shipped to Carroll Shelby.
To get it installed, I had to take the car to a Ford dealership where I sat in line with Ford commercial trucks in for servicing, including sanitation trucks.
Then (another not uncommon problem) the gauges began to fail. The center emblem in the steering wheel began to delaminate. It was also part of the notorious air bag recall fiasco.
It was an “experience.”
I sold it.
Two years later, I bought another FordGT (the Heritage model). It was great for the kids since they were known for us owning the car. Personally, I did not enjoy the car, but it was an excellent investment.
After many Vipers, the FordGTs, Corvettes…and in the past, GTOs, etc., I still like learning about cars but have no personal need to acquire more.
I do not know if this is helpful, but you and Rimmer may have more success with color choices if you leave “u” out of the spelling…but then we have to deal with the “st” in “while”.
I did have an SL Mercedes and my wife, an S-class. They were so solid and quiet. We do not have that in our SUV.
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Pride of ownership is so…human…sometimes competition and sometimes relief and self-reassurance. The marketplace thrives on our feeling we must have the latest and greatest and, therefore, continually changes what is at the “top.” It is why we date the latest supermodel or buy a car that has 50 more horsepower while we use it to sit in traffic.
My son coming home one afternoon.
I think there is a huge element of “self-worth” involved.
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Yes, and as you and I are saying, the lack of self-worth can cause us to acquire objects to fill an otherwise painful void within ourselves.
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We don’t have the luxury of our spelling remaining static. Unfortunately we are forced to endure our language continually evolving.
When I was running my last data centre consulting business, I once engaged a branding/PR company to aid in developing the look and feel of our new website. My primary contact was a very well spoken Brit who advised me that I needed to have multiple iterations of landing pages for different languages. It made sense as we operated globally and had physical presence in 8 countries including the US (where it was definitely “data center”). He made a point of referring to US English as “Wronglish”. It made me remember the phrase: “Two countries divided by a common language.”
Love your horror stories about the midnight blue Ford GT. I am surprised you didn’t get the typical service reception retort upon sharing your woes: “oh, they all do that, sir”.
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I sold mine in late 2020 to get my 2013 Miata. That R32 was a great car, and if I have the space, I could see getting another.
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I do also have my daughter’s 1991 NA Miata to play with as well…she’s in Hawaii so as I have to upkeep it, I’m also driving it at times…fun little skateboard.
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I bought my son a 1987 Alfa Romeo Veloce when he left home for UGA in 1995. He still has it in Denver. I loved driving that car, when he would let me. It looked like this one…I had a BMW Z3 that I traded for my 2000 Mustang GT that soon because a 9.15 second drag car. I totally gutted a brand new Mustang. That wasn’t the plan, but one thing led to another.
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/cars-another-expensive-hobby/96269/7?u=jim_f
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Very nice cars, unfortunately they had a terrible rust problem in the UK, along with most Italian cars like Lancia and Fiat.
I owned a couple of AlfaSuds and a Guila.
Sweet motors and rides, pity about the electrics and rust though.
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You may know or heard of Jim “Wombat” Wemmet?
Funny car racer from New York, retired to Jacksonville Beach Florida.
I bought my Mercedes SL500 from him earlier this year with just 22945 miles from new.
I had a wonderful Alfa Romeo 157 sports tourer in the early 2000s and everyone loves the look of it.
I had no problems in 4 year’s with it, everyone was really surprised, so several other people in the business ordered them now that they were reliable again… Turns out I had “the one” and all the others were constantly in the garage and cost a fortune.
My company banned anyone having an Alfa after that 
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I bet your name was mud for a while there.
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