The BaT thread for the cars we won't buy, but kinda wish we would

[FC]

Originally Posted by JST

Also, I kind of love this.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...11-targa-4s-3/

The targa mechanism looks goofy as fuck and scary as hell, but it's such a weird car that it has a certain appeal.

That is ludricrously complex. I honestly never bothered to find out that the modern Targa was a fully convertible top that simply danced around a beam and rear glass. It's both impressive and ridiculous at once.

[Nick M3]

Have you guys seen an E93 cabrio? That targa top actually looks pretty simple to me.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by JST

I was going to say I don't think I've ever seen a green M5 before, but then I realized I have a vague memory of actually driving one back in the day at that place in Manassas. It's a neat color on the E39.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2002-bmw-m5-94/

Also, I kind of love this.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...11-targa-4s-3/

The targa mechanism looks goofy as fuck and scary as hell, but it's such a weird car that it has a certain appeal.

Maybe SCA needs to buy the M5...

[FC]

Originally Posted by JST

OK, here is one for FC:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...enntech-sl740/

Damn. That went for $84.5k. That's impressive.

[FC]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Have you guys seen an E93 cabrio? That targa top actually looks pretty simple to me.

Not really familiar with many convertible tops. Just Miatas, Boxsters, SL's, and vanilla 911's.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

That targa top actually looks pretty simple to me.

911 targas have always looked pretty ugly to me. In the older ones, something about how they flattened the roof plus the way the rear window was curved to make it look like a 50s era American front windshield. Blech.

Those newer ones look like someone with power at Porsche got really high, cracked a Bud, asked someone to hold his beer, and then threatened everyone to make a new 911 targa or they'd lose their job and be blackballed from ever working in the auto industry or racing forever. Then he gave the designers he'd been getting fucked up with 30 seconds to sketch it out, screamed, "Brilliant!" and tossed it to the engineers with instructions, "make it look exactly like that!"

Yeah. That's what happened.

[JST]

Re: e93–yep, it’s pretty complex. Even the model comes with a detailed set of instructions to put the top down.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by clyde

911 targas have always looked pretty ugly to me. In the older ones, something about how they flattened the roof plus the way the rear window was curved to make it look like a 50s era American front windshield. Blech.

Those newer ones look like someone with power at Porsche got really high, cracked a Bud, asked someone to hold his beer, and then threatened everyone to make a new 911 targa or they'd lose their job and be blackballed from ever working in the auto industry or racing forever. Then he gave the designers he'd been getting fucked up with 30 seconds to sketch it out, screamed, "Brilliant!" and tossed it to the engineers with instructions, "make it look exactly like that!"

Yeah. That's what happened.

Yeah, I'm not saying that I like it. It's ugly. And it's a really stupid execution that basically gives you all the negatives of a coupe and all the negatives of a convertible in one lousy package that doesn't offer much in the way of upside.

I understood why the ancient targas make sense. Essentially zero complexity at a time when convertibles were truly garbage, but it's 1,000% a nostalgia play today.

[wdc330i]

I was eyeing the soft top M3 as a possible next convertible, until BMW designers uglified the thing with that horrible grill.

Maybe the grill will grow on me by the time I can afford to replace the 2....

But, with the CX-5 in the mix now, the 2 will accumulate very little gratuitous mileage on top of its current 16k.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

I was eyeing the soft top M3 as a possible next convertible, until BMW designers uglified the thing with that horrible grill.

Maybe the grill will grow on me by the time I can afford to replace the 2....

But, with the CX-5 in the mix now, the 2 will accumulate very little gratuitous mileage on top of its current 16k.

I mean, given what the M4 cabrio is going to sell for, it's hard for me to imagine that it would make sense as a second car vs. a boxster.