What do you like?

What kind of cars do I like?

When people find out I am a car guy, they always ask me what kind of cars I like? It is a tough question to answer. My daily drivers are a Subaru Outback and a '94 Ford Taurus SHO. My classic cars are both '67 Mercurys (Cougar and Park Lane two-door). Am I a Ford guy? Yes, I am. But, I love all things Pontiac from the 60s and early 70s. I think that some of Chrysler's current lineup are awesome (Charger, 300C, Challenger). I also think Corvette's are some of the best bang for the buck versus any exotic car out there. So, how to answer that? I guess it's complicated.

I used to talk about my Top 5 to my buddy, Jim, with whom I do nearly everything car-related. On a trip to pick up one of our project cars, he made me list my top 5. It ended up being a top 100. We decided I needed to narrow it down...

I initially planned for this blog to be only about Classic Cars. Most of today's cars look like everything else on the road; very few new cars excite me like the "old cars" do. In fact, I even made no effort to go to the Chicago Auto Show this year because there was nothing I "had to" see. The soon to be released Dodge Challenger is GORGEOUS, but I have seen tons of pictures of it, and the crowd that would be around it made it seem not worth the effort.

There are some exceptions. I love the current Mustang and all of its variations (most recently the Shelby GT500KR), and the aforementioned Challenger. However, it is rare that a new car from Europe or Japan gets me excited.

Don't get me wrong. I love the lines of Mazda's RX8 and will mourn its passing when it dies due to slow sales. The Infiniti G37 has great lines, too. The Mazda 3 and VW GTI are cool looking and fun cars to drive. But few of these really make me crane my neck to see them after they pass...

That was until a week or so ago when I looked in the rearview mirror on Lakeshore Drive on the way home from work. The first thing that caught my eye was the illumination from the headlights. The LEDs along the bottom and up the inside edge really got my attention.

As it got closer, I noticed the front of the car looked like Audi's sensational new R8, which I have not even seen in person. The front fascia of the car looked really cool as it maneuvered around the Audi A4 behind me.

Then it passed me,... and I was in love.

The rear three-quartere view of the car was stunning; the cool shape of the taillights and the quad exhaust looked great and like almost nothing else on the road today. The roofline was the aspect that I remember most clearly although I cannot really describe what it is about it that I like... Is it a coupe that is almost a fastback? Or is it a fastback that is almost a coupe? Whatever it is, I love it!

I could not wait to get back to work the next day to talk to my buddy, Tony, about the S5. The next morning, I got an email from him that had a picture of the S5 and said, "Quite simply, the best looking car they've ever made... They obviously clearly used the 3 Series for inspiration, but I think it looks even better than the BMW." I agree wholeheartedly.

So, to answer my own question. What kind of cars do I like? Almost all of them. There may be some individual cars I do not like (the Buick Rendezvous/Pontiac Aztek come to mind), but I like all kinds of cars. New and old. Big and small. Fast and slow. Sleek and boxy.

Do I still need to narrow it down? Not really. I am a car guy.

To read more about the Audi S5, you can go to:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FullTests/articleId=121924#7

To see some video footage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGC48TlcKnA