That'd be "Mid Life Crisis", by the way. . .

Here's the thing. I have fallen in love with the new 2005 Ford Mustang. I'm to the point where I'm even checking websites, etc. to see who's selling them 'round here. The thought of owning/driving a sleek, retro style Mustang w/ it's smooth, tight handling and manual 5-speed with the throaty purr of the full blown 4.6L 24 valve V-8 aluminum block engine and dual exhaust; top down on a warm Summer's night. . . Man!!!!! 8) 8) 8)

Now get this. . . I've been driving the same vehicle since 95, and it's still running fine at 150K. It's an S-10 blazer. Very dependable, roomy, 4WD, etc. Figure I can easily get another few years out of her with little mechanical worries, and have always told myself I'd drive the thing into the ground before buying anything else.

On top of that, I've vowed over and over again that I would never, ever buy a new car off the lot (too big a hit in depreciation right from the get-go). [-(

Now, the final factor. . . I turn the big "four-O" here in another few weeks. :-?

So, is this big, huge desire to run out and buy a brand new retro style sports car related to my turning 40??? I'd like to think Ford just happened to come out with an awesome car at this time, and I would feel the same regardless of my milestone birthday. . . Although I know if I were to actually follow thru and get one, everyone else would be laughing behind my back. . . ops:

Hey! I'll make this a poll (since I don't do those very often. . .)

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. . . My moustache is touching my brain!!!!

I'd say wait a bit. If you still want it in six months, and if you can afford it, go for it.

Don't go getting yourself into debt.

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

Why go into debt? If you like it, wait a bit when you will save a lot. And in reality, though it looks nicer, your S-10 does essentially the same thing (gets you from there to there) reliably and for less (incl. insurance).

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"It's time to receive our missions from The Head."

Have your fun. You go around one time, make it count. Denying yourself the fun you want is some ridiculous call to practicality. Most adults are way too practical. I'm not saying to destroy yourself financially just so you can drive a hot rod for a bit; but if it is w/in your means, and you want it - DO IT!

I hear so many people languaging their desires as "I wish I could . . . " or "Why can't I . . . ." or other similar stuff. Then stop wishing and do it. Nobody else is going to do it for you.

And forget the teasing. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I'm a bit of a car buff also and am in the process of financing a Cobra Replicar. Not a cheap kit; but a ground up, high-tech, modern equipped, brand new race-ready roadster from a South African company caller Superformance (www.superformance.com). Just a picture of the rolling chassis is a thing of incredible beauty, an auto engineer's dream.

It's $50K worth of performance, which is a lot since there is no money wasted on roll-up windows, music, sound deadening, air conditioning, crash bumpers, and the like. Just pure unadulterated machine - with just enough of the other stuff to make it legal as a home-built. A true Viper-killer. (These cars routinely win many major rallies - in showroom stock dress).

So why not? You can even just drive if for a few years, then sell it and get a good chunk of your cash back if taken care of properly. A cheap price to pay for something most people are satisfied just to daydream about.

Depending on what you do - in later years you are either going to look back and this will be another of those things you wish you would have done, or it will be one of those things you did. Into which category do you want this to fall?

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Don of Borg - Cool, Calm, Collective.

"Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Heh.

Wait til you hit the big FIVE-oh. And you have a spouse who wants you to get a Mustang so HE can drive it!

I'm in that position -- my Eclipse is starting to show some signs of age, at 110000 well-driven miles. I'm waiting til much later this year, but OF COURSE have been perusing the car ads.

Why not rent one for a few days to try out and make sure it is what your really want. I read you have Blazer. Do you go off-road? If so do you want to give that up. Mustangs were notoriously bad on wet, slick roads; maybe better now but I think a valid question since it sounds this will be your primary vehicle. If its only a summer car and you can afford, then why not. Also do a lot of checks with . Ford has a lot of qulity control problems although IIRC its not so much the Mustangs.

Finally maybe wait until the one-year leases expire so you can take off a huge chunk of the new price.

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Earth First! We'll mine the rest later.

I know the feeling (I drive a 2002 Camaro UltraZ-28SS convertible, 5.7 liter V-8, 385 hp) but why waste money on a Ford Focus with a pretend body? Get a decent muscle car, like a Corvette. Or wait for a year until the new Camaro comes out. The new Pontiac looks pretty good as well.

No. It is your desire to get noticed by good-looking women that is related to your turning 40, you just subconsiously realize that it ain't gonna happen in a 1995 S-10 Blazer. :wink:

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Now while I might be amused by Cthulhians, I don't necessarily distrust them to carry out the functions of government. -- JayUtah

What's it like being a skeptic in the Middle East? Check out my blog.

Well you aren't alone. This a.m. I heard some guy on CNN waxing romantic about that same car. And he said Ford is getting swamped with orders for it. Of course, he was a "mature" guy too. :wink:

What's the new mustang cost? For probably much less you could get an actual retro sports car.

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Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.

Hmm, I just turned 50 and good-looking women still notice me...

...does that mean I get a car??

So what are you driving? 8)

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Now while I might be amused by Cthulhians, I don't necessarily distrust them to carry out the functions of government. -- JayUtah

What's it like being a skeptic in the Middle East? Check out my blog.

Life is to be lived, it is not a spectator sport. Think carefully, if this what you really want (no second thoughts after you drive off the lot!!) go for it. The last thing you want to do at the tender age of 75 is regret your good sense and prudent judgment.

Weigh the factors carefully, but if its what you want to hell with what they (oh lets be honest, all of us here too!! :wink: ) say behind your back. You only go around once in life and you can't take your savings account with you when you go.

=D> =D> =D>

Lots of good advise here folks! Thanks!

T-man. I think you may have hit the nail right on the 'ol perverbial head!

Teddy. I don't off-road w/ my blazer. But Michigan winters (and my 300 ft inclined driveway) would require I keep 'er around for winter driving anyways. Plus, I've seriously considered your very idea of waiting a few months until the 1 yr leases run out. That would save a bundle, I'm sure. . .

Farmer. Very valid points from the minority as well! Kinda what I've been telling myself for the past several weeks! =D>
Sounds like a hell of a kit car you've got in the works! Best of luck with it!

As for the Mustang not being a true muscle car, that's alright by me. I'm being driven more by looks than performance here. A "real" muscle car would probably just get me in more trouble than it's worth! 8-[

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. . . My moustache is touching my brain!!!!

I think of myself as prectical, sensible and rather boring, and my Aerostar proves it.

I also remember a time in '77, driving my sister's silver Camaro down the coast road from Beaumont to Galveston at a goodly speed, windows down, surfsound rolling, Jumping Jack Flash on the radio....


Hmmm. Tough one.

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If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers.

Between $21k and 33k. $21k gets you the V6. $33k gets you the premium convertible with the V8 and 5-speed auto transmission.



This is based on prices from Middlekauf Ford in the DFW area.


BTW, I went through my MLC years ago - that's when I bought the motorcycle (which I still have after one wreck and one theft). MLC2 was when I got the old Mercedes sedan.

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I feel a hot wind on my shoulder
And the touch of a world that is older

NEW camaro? Since when??

It'd be a sin against nature to go with the automatic!!! [-X

Must be able to MANually select them gears!!! 8) 8)

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. . . My moustache is touching my brain!!!!

I'd do it, if I were turning 40. 8)

What I should have said was "do I get a better car". (I drive a Jeep)

an aside, I was watching Spike TV yesterday. They have a show called "Trucks". Anyway, they had these cars/trucks/limos outfitted with Pratt and Whitney jet engines that could reach speeds in excess of 300 miles an hour...I wouldn't mind driving one of those.

Why get it now, when you can wait 8 or 12 months and have the choice between buying a used one at a much reduced price, or a new 2006 with whatever tweaks and adjustments that Ford thinks need to be made based on user feedback? You're just limiting your options if you jump at it right now.

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"The plan does not involve mayonaise."
"... I knew there was a catch."

You can't take the sky from me.

Word from the herd is 2006/2007. There have been some pictures on the web but they are purely speculative. The Pontiac Solstice looks nice but its primarily aimed at the Mazda Miata/Ford Thunderbird end of the market. The rumors I've heard are that the new-generation Camaro will be a somewhat retro-styled pure muscle car. (rather like the way Ford took the Thunderbird back to its origins). Big engine, light body, stripped down to minimum essentials.

Musts tress, haven't heard anything official so this may just be GM floating trial balloons

Personally, I don't like the look of the new Mustang. At all. But then, I'm not a big fan of any Mustang in a good 30 years, so I'm clearly not the target market. From the outside it's not bad, and you get a lot of accelleration for your money, but the inside looks as cheap as it actually is.

I've already announced my intention of having a Lotus Elise as my Mid-Life Crisis car. Once I can afford one, I strongly suspect the crisis will arrive pretty quickly...

mid - Is that dream car of yours the original open-cockpit Lotus (the type driven by McGoohan in The Prisoner)?

You might also want to check out superformance.com. AFAIK, they currently make 3 replicas: Lotus, Cobra, and Daytona Coupe (the original Coupes never got beyond prototype).

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Don of Borg - Cool, Calm, Collective.

"Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

The thing in the Prisoner is a Lotus 7. The Elise is it's spiritual sucessor, take a look at this. Available second hand in the UK from about £10,000. Mid, how old were you feeling? I believe they are going to be sold in the US with a Toyota engine at some point in the near future.

The thing about car ownership is that it isn't rational, or sensible. I've got a 32 year old VW campervan, which I love dearly, yet it drinks petrol like it's going out of fashion, accelerates at a rate that can only be described as glacial, and automatically changes lanes in a crosswind..... Would I sell it? Never!

Far to many people put off what they really want to do because it isn't sensible. As an aside I have some friends who have wanted a canal narrowboat to live on for years. They have recently passed on the chance to do this because "It isn't sensible". My point is that I believe it is very important (provided you aren't living beyond your means) to follow your urges to do fun things. Because otherwise you will regret it later in life.

Cheers
John

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The engineer's mantra :-
The glass is neither half full or half empty, it's twice as big as it needs to be....

Why not go for the ultimate cool machine? Like any work of art, their value will rocket since the death of its creator.

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By asking questions we sometimes get the wrong answers, from wrong answers we learn to ask the right questions.

Uhm, I wouldn't go for the DeLorean.

Not only is it's value rather low, so is it's performance and built quality. It's a problem car. Sure it featured in Back to the Future and it looks like a sports car with the gull wings and the like, but that's it. No offence.

Edit to add: This weekend, I saw the latest (91-95) model Renault Alpine in the calssic yellow. It featured new wheels, and an optional rear spoilers. So the standard car with minor modifications. The car sounded awesome, smelled like sulfur and looked just "right". Especially the real double exhaust, and the height vs width ratio. All those "tuned" little macho cars with too much optional plastics and blue metal parts suddenly seemed even less "right" than before. And in the end they cost just as much.

About the new Mustang: Definately MLC. If you had more feeling for cliché, you would be looking for a Porsche cabrio .
Seriously though, if you really like the Mustang, still like it after a test ride and a few months more, and you have the money to afford the car, why not? If it makes you happy and doesn't get you or anyone else into trouble.

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

No offence taken, I agree that its execution didn't live up to the concept but as a collector's piece (rather than a practical auto) it had a lot of style.

Despite his problems he was a tallented engineer

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By asking questions we sometimes get the wrong answers, from wrong answers we learn to ask the right questions.

The DeLorean is a special car to say the least, indeed! (no sarcasm).

And it's a sad reality that very good engineers, and even very good engineered objects, can be executed rather bad.

I kind of like the car, but I'd never pay $20000 for one.

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

Why buy a Delorean? Go for the real thing!

Granted, it'll cost you closer to $90,000, but you get a real collector's item.

And the pic I show you is even astronomy related!

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Knowledge is a curse, but ignorance is worse