Some of us deliberate for a long time about which car to choose, and the answers are almost always different based on what the car will be used for, the owners driving style and favorites, and, if we’re honest, whether the owner wants the car to make some statement in public. Rain City Supercars (now the Avants Podcast) had a lengthy discussion about the perfect “everything” supercar for the Pacific Northwest. Since many gearheads have more than one car it made me think about the rationale for the somewhat unusual cars I chose, and their respective joys and regrets. Perhaps to give them each a little performance review against the things I happen to care about in a car. Those things are:

Good looking. There are lots of beautiful cars, way more plain ones, and more than a few fugly ones. Why not have one that makes you look back every time you park it?

Well engineered. As an engineer I appreciate what it took to create a car. There should be a few special things about the machine’s design that speak to you.

Fit to purpose. There are enough car makers in the world to produce cars that are really good at the thing you care about most. Many, if not most, cars try to be good at everything. If you need a car you need one of those. If you already have a good generalist, why not make the next one a specialist?

Special. By this I mean rare. Hard to find. Hard to make. You are unique, so why not drive something that’s unique? (Outside of your club meet!)

Dick factor. Some cars that tick all the above boxes have to be stricken from the list because of the people who drive them, or even the public perception of people who drive them. The Northwest is a pretty understated place.

Against all these I picked three cars:

–         2015 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster

–         2007 Audi RS4

–         1967 Austin Healey 3000 Mark III

(If you are familiar with any of these cars you will immediately see that maintenance was not a selection criterion.)

So now that the cars are taking up expensive Seattle parking spots, how did they do?

Good looking:

This may just be for those of us who are vain enough to care how we look, and old enough to know the news isn’t good. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I’ve had a chance to gauge people’s reactions to these cars in a bunch of settings and I have to say the Healey wins hands down. Thumbs up on the road, at a stoplight, everywhere you go. The looks have stood the test of time, and speak of a revered era of road travel. It hints at the legendary Aston DB5 of the era, but at a tiny fraction of the modern day cost.

The modern Aston comes next. I think the designer aptly referred to the Gaydon era designs as “a brute in a suit”. The look is understated enough to go unnoticed by most, and those who do notice usually speak up and say it is strikingly beautiful. And we’re not known for talking to strangers here. Nobody hates on an Aston. Personally I think it is the most beautiful thing on the road.

The Audi is only ever noticed by true Audi afficionados. They are few and far between but never give less than a thumbs up. Passing for a mild-mannered sedan, in its day it was a true wolf in sheep’s clothing, with only subtle details like the flared fender arches to identify it. I like that it goes under the radar, and in truth the simple lines and blue-ish Avus Silver have really grown on me. I do now stop to look back as I walk away.

Well engineered:

Would you believe that the Germans did better than the British? To be fair, the volumes and deep pockets the Audi-Volkswagen group in the early 2000’s put huge amounts of proven engineering into the parts bin when it came time to build the RS4. Though the engine is unique, the brakes are shared with Lamborghini and some of the bits probably came off a Beetle. What constantly impresses me is how the Audi engineers brought all the bits together, though. The car is a joy to drive and very engaging. The engine has been recognized as a masterpiece, and perhaps the first in mass production to achieve 100hp per liter. The torque curve is very steep, and all the time spent above 2500rpm is delightfully responsive. The engineers also defied physics by hanging a large, naturally aspirated V8 engine out the front of the car, yet with a fantastic (short lived) suspension made the handling great. Quattro traction and power distribution helps a lot with that as well. The build quality is stellar, with barely a rattle 15 years on.

The Aston is nonetheless impressive. One number puts the Audi to shame. Top speed in the neighborhood of 190mph. Some math also tells us it will do 50 mph in reverse. The problem is that only James Bond can theoretically drive at those speeds. In the real world it makes the gearing very steep, the clutch unforgiving, and the greater torque only accessible when screaming up the gears. But it did the business to compete (somewhat) with the Ferraris and Porsches of its day. This is what makes the two 420HP, naturally aspirated V8, manual 6-speed beasts an interesting comparison. On a more favorable note, the Vantage Roadster is a true sports car. This V8 is dry-sumped, hung low and pushed back behind the front axle, making this a mid-engined rear wheel drive car with perfect front-to-rear balance and a really, really low center of gravity. In spirited driving the Audi surprises (“a sedan did that?”), where the Aston delivers as promised. The performance and handling match the looks – understated, slick and confident. I’ve read that they have an engineer whose job is to make the car sound good. He did this very well. The sound matches the looks in being quite exquisite, and never getting old. Which leads us to the Roadster part, which gearheads would traditionally shun as being too wobbly. This car was clearly engineered from the outset to have a convertible version, with just the right stiffness added to the very stiff aluminum body cage to make the handling sublime while truly listening to the glorious exhaust note.

The Healey. May I skip this part? No? Well, here goes. To it’s credit, in post-war Britain the Healey 3000 was one of the supercars of its day. The 3000 signifying a 3 liter straight six engine that put out a whopping 150HP and got the car to 120 mph. The Big Healeys competed respectably in the big motoring events of the day, due largely to the car be designed for lightness and speed. Comfort was not really a consideration until the demands of the US market called for luxuries like roll-up windows, a permanent convertible top, and servo-assisted brakes. Using WWII aircraft technologies the bodies were made of aluminum while the chassis is steel. This is not a great combination electrolytically. Protection from corrosion was not a consideration (a heritage still honored on some bits by Aston), so if not for the copious amounts of oil spraying around inside and under the car there would be few left. Back to highlighting the positive, compared to modern cars there is very little to go wrong. And when it does go wrong the bits are affordable, in plentiful supply, and sometimes with modern engineering in the aftermarket. (The RS4, in particular, is increasingly made of Unobtainium.)

Fit to purpose:

This is pretty much a wash across these three, if your purpose in owning one would be the same as mine. The Roadster is the Grand Tourer, to take long road trips with speed, comfort and style. The RS4 is a ‘does everything” car, from driving in the mountains in winter, to hauling all your sailing gear in summer, to being a driver-friendly daily. It does it all very well. The Healey is the “picnic car”, implying short, fair weather trips like you imagine your grandparents took in “the good old days’.

All that said, if I had to choose one of the three to be the everything car for the Pacific Northwest, it is unquestionably the Audi RS4. Supercar performance (in its day), four wheel drive grip in the twisties and the snow, room for 4 with skis and a huge trunkful of gear. It draws less attention than the other two, and that’s also a plus for an everything car, while it is still very pleasing to the owner’s eye.

Special:

Surprisingly the rarest of the three is the Audi. Only 2000 RS4s were imported to the US. All manuals. At about $76,000 a driver’s car that looks like any other sedan was not in great demand. The RS4 group in the Northwest numbers about 30. A serious downside to this is finding parts. My mention of Unobtainium earlier was not a joke. Basic things like new wheel rims, a euro plateholder, or a water pump simply cannot be found. Fortunately most of the parts are shared with other VW-Audi cars so that is not always a problem.

The Vantage, though less rare, still is a very special place to be. While the engineering is impressive, and the Vantage was the “affordable” Aston, it is still a bespoke, hand made car. 200 hours of labor go into making this smallest of Astons. It is not unusual for an Aston to be “one of one” (or 2 or 5 or perhaps 10), but never one of 10,000. In fact, over 15 years only 24,700 were built. That’s about a day’s production for Honda. Insert One of One cert. Every inch of the interior is clad in leather or alcantara or metal. It even smells like luxury. All this specialness again results in a the occasional parts supply issue, and costs to match. However, the ride and handling on the open road leave you refreshed even after a spirited drive. Sure it is still a brute to drive at nine tenths, but a track is not its purpose. Really a joy to take anywhere, at any time, on any road, at any speed. (Unless it is snowing.) And then you just want to sit in it, because wherever you are going is not as nice. Very special.

Also surprising … the Healey is the least rare. The great majority were made for the US market, so of the twenty thousand-ish made, a shocking number are still on the road in America. This is great news for parts supply, knowledgeable (and busy) mechanics, and a vibrant community of long time owners. This is by far the most affordable car to run of the three, while still being special enough to turn heads everywhere it goes outside of a Healey meet.

Compared to Ferraris, Lamborghinis and especially Porsches these cars are all rare and special by any measure.

Dick factor? Enough said.