Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 The Avenue of Broken Dreams.

There's a lot of heartbreak parked around this shop.

Or perhaps it should be called, the Avenue of broken down cars!

I have never seen so many Lamborghinis in one place.

This is probably a customer's car.

I've seen worse.

Right across the street from my Wife's hair salon is a foreign car repair shop. Not just a foreign car garage, but a high end foreign car shop. Parked on the street alongside the building, as well in front, are nose to tail fancy furrin jobs. Besides the Lambo's (mostly sedans), there are Jaguars, Porsches and even an occasional Bentley. Not to mention scores of Bimmers and Mercedes. What surprised me is that these cars are left parked on the street. 

Some of them are obviously wrecks that were probably totaled out and put to auction. I suppose the garage owner bought them and is considering fixing them up? 

The Boxster looks to be in good shape.
But let's take a look at that Bentley.

Ouch!!!

What's going to happen to all that glove soft leather inside?

The Bimmer is not as bad as the Bentley?

Quite the row of derelicts.

I know from experience that most of these cars only appear to be valuable, they are mostly ten years old, or even older. From what I've seen, first gen Bentley Continental coupes are only going in the high twenty thousand dollar range. 

Well, that obviously is not chicken feed, especially to a cheapskate like me!

I guess/hope that the shop keeps the really valuable cars in the shop, or in their razor wire fenced yard. As I was taking pictures, the employees were leaving the building at the end of the work day. A man asked me what I was doing. I asked if he was the owner of the shop and he told me yes. I told him that I've never seen so many European cars in one place, and did he mind me taking pictures? He said no, and answered my next question, were these his, or his customer's cars? He said that most of them belonged to customers.

It doesn't surprise me that so many high end foreign cars are in need of servicing, but I find it hard to believe that those are all customers cars. I would be worried about my Lambo being vandalized or broken into.

I lived on that street myself, at one time. Along with the posers, the dreamers, and the enthusiasts. Our binding desire was that we were hoping that we could beat the odds and buy and maintain an earlier example of some fancy Euro car. Some of us might have been successful, at least for awhile, but usually the hassles wear down our resolve, and pretty soon the car is listed on Craigs's List!

Of course there are lots of broken down American and Japanese cars parked on other streets. What makes this different, was that the owners are probably a lot like me. They bought these cars with such high hopes. These were special cars. The owners could have bought more plebian models and come out ahead in many ways. Better off financially, with less hassles, more reliability, and better re-sale. But they would have missed out on that opportunity to sample the reflected glory of a prestigious marque. Sometimes, that alone is well worth the price. Even if it doesn't last.

Oftentimes, that's the only appeal and motivation.

Oh, to pursue dreams of grandeur. But that path has many hazards!

His Dad told him to stay in his lane!

Perhaps like Icarus, we flew too close to the Sun.

We would succeed for a time, then we were struck by the inevitable.  I'll come right out and say it, the poor engineering of these vehicles results in a series of expensive repairs, that we just can't accept and afford. That statement may offend some of you. These cars are supposed to be viewed as the paragons of automotive engineering excellence and achievement, then why can't they run as good as a Camry?  But the primary purpose of a car is transportation, that means that it should run reliably for years, and maintenance and repair costs should be reasonable. Or at least manageable. If you follow any enthusiast forums you'll read tale after tale of woe. I followed the Jaguar forums for many years, and any sane person would have stayed far away from any old Jaguar, they're only worth taking a chance on with a full warranty. Then you'll only be out the inconvenience.

Call me old fashioned, but in my mind, superior engineering should equate to superior durability and longevity. But as all of us aficionados are well aware of, durability is not something that these high end foreign makes are well known for. 

On an earlier occasion I saw a Jaguar XJS parked along the curb. I know that those can have problems!

However, there were some nice looking cars also parked around the shop. Looking nice however, does not always equate to up and running.

Vintage but still stately.

This Benz was in quite nice shape.

As was this Alfa.

This one also looks pretty good.

Well, as enthusiasts we all have our own individual dreams. Many of have chased this path of the Euro car and crashed and burned. Many more after us will engage in the chase oblivious to other's counsel, warnings, and our own good sense!  But the heart wants what the heart wants, and what would life be like without romance? I wish all enthusiasts the best of luck!