personally, i like the lines of the XLR much better than the corvette. it's also a car that one seldom sees on the street, which could be good or bad down the road if it's a keeper.
for me, being in a bumper-to-bumper all day or night out here in Los Angeles kind of driving environment, the autobox is also a big plus over manual shift.
admittedly, i'm also more a "grand tourer" than sportscar dude.
those are my reasons, but this year we got the wife a new car; i'm in a holding pattern before jumping into anything new myself so it'll be about a year before i can shop seriously unless some surreal deals materialize.
I tend to agree with you, but when I recently located a red 02 Z06 with 1.400 miles on it. The owner was as anal retentive as a constipated cow too. I purchased it (almost without driving it) for less than half the price of an XLR V. This will not be a daily driver. It will likely end up next to my 86 Monte Carlo SS (black cherry color) with 44k miles on it. I guess I now have two show cars. I have had the Monte for about 10 years, and I have put 3k miles on it in that time. Hell, I have more invested in insurance in that car than it is likely worth. When I really get down to it, I do not own these cars. They own me.
Ed,
you sound like a great guy to hang out with, and subject to the same vice - cars - that I've got. I sold off my e55 wagon recently because I was worried about what kind of prison rape experience I'd be having post-warranty on repairs, especially with the whole brake-by-wire thing and all, and we ordered my wife an x3 with the "peace dividend". Now that the family truxter vehicle is accounted for, I've picked up for next to nothing a '72/73 mercedes 280 SE 4.5 sedan - gorgeous, with only about 73k miles on it. I figure on driving it for about a year because it doesn't cost anything, then putting it into weekend/"parade car" rotation and getting something more recent for daily use. There's so many great things out there I'd love to have, but for the space it all takes, and the wry looks from the wife... know what i mean?
