My coworker's brothers, neighbors $500k car

[Crazy Cooter]

http://www.mbusa.com/brand/models/SLR.jsp

A coworker of mine was down at his brothers house when the neighbor stopped over in his new Mercedes.  It's a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.  He had a bunch of pics of it so I had to check it out:

After tax/gas guzzler fees/etc etc, it's about half a million to drive away with one.

[fredster]

What's does that guy do for a living?

[ChadTower]

Such abhorrent waste of resources.

[DrewKaree]

After tax/gas guzzler fees/etc etc, it's about half a million to drive away with one.

Where does he live?  I've never heard of a "gas guzzler fee".  I HAVE heard of "etc etc", which usually equate to "this will look AWESOME with a lame pinstripe, we added undercoating, and anything we could rephrase to make you think it's part of the car".

If I spent that much on a friggen car, I'd want it to look a LOT less like a Chrysler Crossfire than that!  FWIW, a McLaren (NOT the Merceded, the super sweet/phat one you'd actually drool over because it wasn't a Crossfire) was reviewed in Road&Track or some such publication and was said to be around the same price.  Why the HELL would you buy that Merc instead of an actual McLaren is beyond me.

Guy's got his "lookit my small-weenie/midlife crisis car" mindset all outta whack.

*edit*
I believe this was the car they reviewed in the article - the F1

[Daniel270]

This doesn't help do anything to bring down gas prices NOR the cost of insurance.....

[TOK]

*edit*
I believe this was the car they reviewed in the article - the F1

This car is legendary by now. It was only made for a couple of years, and I believe selling for well over a million now. Amazing car.

[RayB]

DK just reminded me of a thought I've had recently. I resent the whole nice car = "mid-life crisis" stereotype. My take is if you have the cash to spend on a car, why not one that is fun to drive? And when else can you afford a nice sports car? Is it when you are young and being paid $15/hr? Or is it when you're older and you've climbed up the salary ladder? But then, once you can afford the sports car, society says you're having a mid-life crisis. No, you're supposed to drive either a mini-van or "sensible" sedan. --Why??

 

[SirPoonga]

Exactly.  Someone can't have an expensive car if he/she can afford it?

Granted my ultimate car would be a Toyota Supra twin turbo pushing 1000Hp, only cost about $100k ($40k for car, rest for upgrading)....

[GGKoul]

Exactly.

[fredster]

I always wanted a '69 shelby cobra.

[Bones]

A 1000cc bike worth 20K will still blow it away. 

[quarterback]

I agree that people can spend their money as they see fit.

[danny_galaga]

I agree that people can spend their money as they see fit.

[Crazy Cooter]

He "was" an engineer in FL.  What he does now, I have no idea.  I would have bought something I could actually race, but to each his own.

[missioncontrol]

I could think of several other things to blow 500k on besides a Benz, but if he's got the money to spend more power to him......

[ChadTower]

I can't stand cars.

[danny_galaga]

i think ALL of us here would build our own arcade replete with a whole bunch of classics before we did anything else...

[Daniel270]

i think ALL of us here would build our own arcade replete with a whole bunch of classics before we did anything else...

That's exactly what I had in mind.... 

Not to mention regulation pool table, air hockey and jukebox

[RetroJames]

phhht...can't haul no games in that!

[duffjr]

i want the delorean from back to the future.

[danny_galaga]

i want the delorean from back to the future.

well you can!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4522746742&category=31830

but i think it'd be nicer if it was left original, and probably 50km/h faster too...

[missioncontrol]

i think ALL of us here would build our own arcade replete with a whole bunch of classics before we did anything else...

That's exactly what I had in mind....

[Sephroth57]

Exactly.

[DrewKaree]

DK just reminded me of a thought I've had recently. I resent the whole nice car = "mid-life crisis" stereotype. My take is if you have the cash to spend on a car, why not one that is fun to drive? And when else can you afford a nice sports car? Is it when you are young and being paid $15/hr? Or is it when you're older and you've climbed up the salary ladder? But then, once you can afford the sports car, society says you're having a mid-life crisis. No, you're supposed to drive either a mini-van or "sensible" sedan. --Why??

You forgot the other half - the "small weenie" syndrome.

FWIW, I completely understand the ability to purchase an automobile such as these.  You simply CAN'T afford to when you're younger.  If the monthly payments (or final cost, if you're buying outright) don't push you out of the market, the insurance premiums WILL.  I understand why all those old guys have Corvettes - they couldn't AFFORD them when they were younger....and the ones who don't like to tinker around under the hood drive the newer ones and pay someone to tinker. 

I couldn't care less what type of car someone drives, as long as it isn't my wife.  If it were my wife, she's not getting behind the wheel of that car, as her propensity for damaging a car goes up in direct proportion to the cost of the car.  Because I have 3 kids that tend to destroy any car simply due to their inability to reason (no, you CAN'T have markers in the nice car with leather seats) and fathom the worth of a car, I drive around in $1000-$2500 vehicles, because I can generally fix what's wrong with them, and if I can't, it's cheap enough to just buy another one.

When I no longer have to worry about kids, I STILL would never buy that Mercedes, because, while I don't mind having a car that I will see numerous copies of on the road, I certainly wouldn't drop that much cash on a Chrysler Crossfire with a Mercedes emblem on it.

Sure, there's all kinds of stuff underneath the skin of that thing to demonstrate it's WAY more than a Crossfire, but why spend that much money on something you've got to "experience"?  Just buy the Crossfire and be done with it.  Before that guy could afford that Mercedes, I bet he's the guy who bought the SHO Taurus and bragged all day to his friends about how his was so much better....not knowing his buddies went home and said to themselves "Dude, get OVER yourself, it's just a friggen TAURUS, for Rudy's sake!"

Oh, and if you were the guy who bought that SHO Taurus, don't mean to pick on you....but now you know what we were thinking to ourselves.

[DrewKaree]

Here...snagged these from hither and yon.  You tell ME this isn't a striking similarity!  Enough of one that I'd complain that I'm paying $450,000 over sticker 

[missioncontrol]

yep, same care......both way overpriced........

[DaveMMR]

I know people who buys these cars in NYC and they can never open up because they're constantly stuck in gridlock. The bicycle courier is getting more speed out of the roads than the guy with the half mil dollar car.

Personally, I'd do what Sammy Hagar did*.  Buy a nice big stretch of land and then get the fast car.  You can drive well above 55 on your own property.


Based on what I learned from VH-1's Pop-Up Video.

[danny_galaga]

or you can live in the top end of oz like me. open speed limit on the highway...

but really, wouldnt you rather buy several of these instead?:

http://www.aquada.co.uk/

[Bones]

open speed limit on the highway...

Awesome. Hayabusa, 320km/h and a kangaroo.

[SOAPboy]

Exactly.

[SOAPboy]

Sex on wheels..

Rivals the Mclarren F1 as fastest car made..

http://www.koenigsegg.com/

funny part.. its not a V12.. its a V8.. ohhhhh

[danny_galaga]

open speed limit on the highway...

Awesome. Hayabusa, 320km/h and a kangaroo.

more likely cattle. so THIS time you might become mince meat! the cow of course will probably walk away 

[DrewKaree]

funny part.. its not a V12.. its a V8.. ohhhhh

I thought the Acura NSX had a V12.  What's that?  Those AREN'T an Acura....ohhh, my bad.

Isn't it amazing how much they charge for vehicles, and yet, stylistically, there's so much homogenization going on?  Makes me long for the days where cars like Dirt's were "new".  At least those cars had "character".

[Chris]

I'll just take one of these....

[SOAPboy]

funny part.. its not a V12.. its a V8.. ohhhhh

I thought the Acura NSX had a V12.

[ErikRuud]

A friend of mine works for an aftermarket parts company, so he was able to get into the 2005 Chicago Auto show press preview day.

He took photos of the new Mercedes McLaren SLR.

Full shot of the sticker

Close up of the bottom line!

Drew, please note that the "Nice leather seats" cost almots 10K!

[ErikRuud]

The Gas Guzzler Tax has been around since 1978.

What is the Gas Guzzler Tax?

The Energy Tax Act of 1978 established a Gas Guzzler Tax on the sale of new model year vehicles whose fuel economy fails to meet certain statutory levels. The gas guzzler tax applies only to cars (not trucks) and is collected by the IRS. The fuel economy figures used to determine the Gas Guzzler Tax are different from the fuel economy values provided on this web site and the Fuel Economy Guide. The tax does not depend on your actual on-the-road mpg, which may be more or less than the EPA published value. The purpose of the Gas Guzzler Tax is to discourage the production and purchase of fuel inefficient vehicles. The amount of any applicable Gas Guzzler Tax paid by the manufacturer will be disclosed on the automobile's fuel economy label (the window sticker on new cars).

GAS GUZZLER TAX
Unadjusted MPG(combined)* Tax
at least 22.5 No tax
at least 21.5, but less than 22.5 $1000
at least 20.5, but less than 21.5 $1300
at least 19.5, but less than 20.5 $1700
at least 18.5, but less than 19.5 $2100
at least 17.5, but less than 18.5 $2600
at least 16.5, but less than 17.5 $3000
at least 15.5, but less than 16.5 $3700
at least 14.5, but less than 15.5 $4500
at least 13.5, but less than 14.5 $5400
at least 12.5, but less than 13.5 $6400
less than 12.5 $7700

* The combined fuel economy MPG value (55 % city, 45 % highway) is used to determine tax liability. The MPG value is also adjusted slightly to account for differences in test procedures made since the base year. The MPG value is not adjusted for in-use short fall. The unadjusted combined MPG of a vehicle can be approximated from the city and highway values provided in the Fuel Economy Guide and on this website by the following equation:

(1/(.495/city MPG + .351/highway MPG))+.15


Since this is an approximate calculation, the actual gas guzzler tax may be off by one tax bracket.

[DrewKaree]

The Energy Tax Act of 1978 established a Gas Guzzler Tax on the sale of new model year vehicles whose fuel economy fails to meet certain statutory levels. The gas guzzler tax applies only to cars (not trucks) and is collected by the IRS.

THAT'S why I never heard of it!  I've never purchased a new car....EVER.....in my lifetime yet. 

When you say it's collected by the IRS, do you mean to say it's collected by the dealership on behalf of the IRS?  I don't recall reading anything on this while filling out my 1040's.  I'm assuming it's like the IRS collecting on your winnings in Vegas - the casino deducts it for them, and gives you a slip for you to file with your taxes for that year.

[Shape D.]

13 in the city and 18 on the highway.

WTF

My Puppy Crushing Blazer gets better gas milage than that.

[SOAPboy]

13 in the city and 18 on the highway.

WTF

My Puppy Crushing Blazer gets better gas milage than that.

my old truck sure didnt.. got 4 to a gallon on the highway.. crazy gear ratios..

then again, it was built for mudding.. >_<

[DrewKaree]

I had a girlfriend who had a Barracuda that got 5 mpg.  That car was AWESOME!

....unless you're not pro-smokestack like I am 

[RacerX]

i want the delorean from back to the future.

well you can!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4522746742&category=31830

but i think it'd be nicer if it was left original, and probably 50km/h faster too...

OMG.  That's like MAME-ing a classic cab!  Whoever did that should be flogged...   

[Bones]

open speed limit on the highway...

Awesome. Hayabusa, 320km/h and a kangaroo.

more likely cattle. so THIS time you might become mince meat! the cow of course will probably walk away

[ErikRuud]

As far as the new SLR looking like a Crossfire goes, keep in mind that Mercedes and Chrysler are both part of Daimler.

Also, the design of the new SLR is inspired by the design of the old SLR's from the 1950's.  The 1955 300 SLR "Uhlenhaut" Coupe in particular.

[DrewKaree]

Ya know, until you showed that pic, I forgot all about the gull-wings!  It's been so long since I saw even a friggen picture of those things!  How many of those were produced, as you sure don't see them being driven around much anymore, or are they just that rare that you wouldn't even consider it anymore?

Yeah, I knew Daimler has the whole family thing going on, I just forgot that the dang Crossfire is actually the copycat, but still, I'd want my half-a-million car to NOT look like a $50,000 car

My mom is trading her friggen Town & Country (with only 370 miles on it!) in on Thursday for the Cadillac version of the Saturn VUE  AND them a-holes at the Caddy dealership are hitting her for 10 g's OFF the price she's paying for the T&C....I wish I had the drive for sales again, I could make a KILLING at cars.....mebbe real estate....if a Canadian can do it.... _{good to see you around again, Zakk!}

[ErikRuud]

The "Uhlenahut" coupes are extremely rare, they only built two.

The 300 SL is much more common, as it was the street version inspired by the original 1952 300 SL race car.

There is a good run down on the history of the 300 SL and SLR cars from 1952 through 1963 at this page

[danny_galaga]

they made roughly 1000 of the gull wing. cant remember if that included the convertible though. the gull wing and the lambo muira are my two all time favourites. a contempory road test for the lambo:

http://www.autocarmagazine.co.uk/RoadTest_Summary.asp?RT=202085

[DrewKaree]

I'm of a simpler time.  I'm a GIANT fan of the '49-'51 Mercs, either stock or tricked out.    I dig Dirt's car (pardon the pun), but I can't tell if he's done with it, or if that's the color it IS, and I can't find anything to read on his buildup of it

HINT FRIGGEN HINT DIRT!