Thanks man, They are so much fun.

 

Rather than replacing the G, I've been thinking about what would be a fine get-about-town car to accompany the G.

At the Autoshow today, I saw something that surprised me. The 2026 Nissan Leaf. I didn't realize how upright and spacious the new Leaf is. In fact, I'm a little shocked at how much I like it.

 

You are buying a Leaf

God help us. Next thing you know, I'll be shopping for a FWD performance car like the Acura Integra Type S (Acura killed it with this car)

All kidding aside, it seems the reviews on the new Leaf have been positive.

In a couple of pics I've seen, it looks like a baby Tesla. Not bad looking. Seems that they are writing a new chapter for the platform, similar to what Toyota did with the Prius.

 

There's more of the Aryia in the new Leaf than Tesla.

I did say I was surprised by my reaction, LOL.

 

All three look similar to me John; little appliances shaped like a pregnant plastic easter egg. :-)

I was travelling for work in TX this week and my hotel was next to a huge Ford dealership that was part museum, part dealership (see pics below). On my early morning walks/runs, I'd browse the inventory and was impressed with how many versions of pickup trucks and Mustangs exist today.


Check out the 2000s era SVT Cobra upstairs. The tow truck brought back memories as well.

Ranchero shown, but I loved those late 1950s Fairlanes/Galaxy 500s that shared that same front end.


Just in case you have an inferiority complex because your carbon footprint is smaller than your buddy’s, Ford makes a 120K dollar truck for you. If your buddy tried to one up you on this one, he will need to purchase something off BAT or from Uncle Sam.

Love that these Shelby Mustangs are still being made. Pictures don’t do this car justice. Cost as much as my first condo, but this is a well executed performance car.

Oh, and for us card carrying Californians, there is even a sole EV charger covered in spider webs and collecting dust to make us feel at home.

 

I'm feeling the same. Our cars are so personal and meticulously maintained, I doubt anyone would want to give us even half of what we feel they are worth.

I have been thinking about obtaining some land in a rural area and erecting a "barndominium" for storage of cars belonging to affluent types here locally. My carpenter/handyman is doing something similar, which gave me the idea as he is setting up one to live in and host weddings in retirement. I would take the car route as many are paying $500-$1000 monthly to store their weekend cars. You then setup a car club and sell some merch around the concept, cars and coffee events on the weekend with food trucks. Stuff that keeps you young at heart. I'd probably add a recording studio and run it with my sons.

Here's one in downtown SD that leverages an old warehouse in a nicer part of downtown (pricey rent): https://www.analogandgrit.com/car-storage

Barndominiums (50-100K) with land you purchase 40-50 miles or so outside of town would be my preference:https://buildmax.com/barndominium-fl...6iyxju3sIKSwa4

 

Getting some quality seat time in the B8.5 this week. RS style grills should be going on in a few

Think I may be doing a CBE sooner than later. I like the OEM exhaust note but it’s very quiet

 

Gorgeous car.

 

That's a super clean A4. Black cars always look so good when they clean, but they are SO hard to keep clean out here in SoCal where it gets so dry and dusty. The RS front grill set-up will really transform the look in my opinion.

I agree about the stock exhausts on the Audi's being way to tame. I just bought a 2026 Audi RS6 Performance and even with the RS Sport Exhaust with the valves fully open it is still too quite for my tastes, so I will also be looking at getting a full cat back system sooner rather than later.

 

Nice collection of cars. RS6 is absolutely bad a__!!!

 

RS6 is my "if I won the lottery" car lol

 

Your first Corvette? I have been looking to acquire a C6 or earlier as I need a width less than 72" or it wont fit in my third car garage. The base C6 coupe is right at my limit, so I have been reading up on it.

Growing up my old man owned a 1969 and 1981 Stingray and loved talking to me about the history of the Corvette, so there has always been a place for them in my heart. The Corvette forums are also pretty good (likely because most folks on the forums are older).

 

Honeycomb grills make quite a difference

Both steering and 6mt are smoother in this car than the G, which feels more mechanical and clunky (in a good way). That supercharger whine is still very novel to me (first FI car), I can tell by my MPG







Only very see through at the head-on angle:

 

Thanks so much, Lego. I also still have my old 1991 Porsche 944 S2 and a Jeep Wrangler 392 that are taking up the front portion of the garage right now.

And I still have the G as well, but that's just been sitting in my office warehouse for the past 4 or 5 years... Time to sell her and probably the 944 S2 since I'm running out of space and I will also need to make space for my next car... currently waiting for a new allocation for a Porsche Carrera T.

Hahaha. Unfortunately, I didn't win the lottery... just very fortunate I guess.

The Vette is still my favorite of the bunch but it's not nearly as practical as the RS6 (or 392).

Unless you count my first car, which was a 1973 Opel GT (aka Baby Vette), then yes, this is my first Corvette. But when I was a little kid my Grandfather had a C1 convertible ('58 or '59 I believe) with the quad headlamps. It was red with the white teardrops on the sides and I just absolutely loved driving around in that car when I would spend the Summers with them. We also had a neighbor when I was a teenager that had an absolutely pristine 1970 Stingray, so I can understand the nostalgia for you.

The C6's and C7's are actually very good cars and a blast to drive, especially since they can be had with a manual. I have a good friend that's a huge Corvette fan and has owned a 1/2 dozen or so and he seems to really like all generations except the C4 and C5. He currently owns a Procharger Supercharged C7, but hasn't made the jump to a C8 yet because he's refuses to give up a manual transmission, which I can understand. There are talks that they may offer a manual transmission again in the Vette in the near future and Tremec already makes a manual conversion for the C8, which I doubt they developed just for the aftermarket. One can only hope...

Yes! Huge difference! Night and day in my opinion. Not that the old grille looked bad but it just made the car look dated.

 

Funny that all of you guys are talking about what car comes next and I am regressing back to my G roots! And glad I am doing so.

I had my mint 2004 G35 6MT coupe until 2 years ago I sold it to one of the guys that I work with. Hoping/thinking that I will get it back one day when I have more garage space when my boys are in college and beyond, if I do, it’s immediately getting a 37 engine swap! Everything else is literally show quality. Only reason I sold it is because I got an allocation for my dream car, a Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0. I’m not a 911 guy - I wanted two seats, mid engine, no turbos and analog gauges. The end of an era. As much as I loved my G Coupe for everything it was and all of the memories, going back to staring at those gold Brembos the first night I got it, it can’t touch the GTS in handling and that always left me wanting. So, my fun car is my GTS.

I also owned a Lexus ISF which was an amazing car in so many ways - but, believe it or not it was actually smaller inside than my G Coupe! I struggled to fit my boys in the back of the F as they got older so I sold that for exactly what I bought it for and added an X to the F and ended up with my FX50S, probably the best ALL AROUND vehicle I’ve ever owned.

So, having ticked off a few itch boxes of rare cars, I am now so happy to be back with a G in the family. And to be 100% honest with you, if I needed a car tomorrow, it’s either going to be a 6MT G37 sedan if it was my choice or a 2017 FX37/QX70 - the FX is truly that good. I know something different is always something better, and I’d probably be in the same boat looking outside of the G37 had I not taken a break, BUT, because I did, I can say with a straight face that for the $15ish k and a few $k to clean her up, I’m getting a reliable car that’s easy to work on that is only twice as much as the sales tax on my GTS! That value proposition works for me!