What would be your final car?

On the Beach is a post-apocalyptic novel by Nevil Shute. In it, Shute charts the final days of folk living in Melbourne, Australia – one of the last places on earth to remain free of radiation poisoning. Life in the Northern Hemisphere has been all but obliterated and it's only a matter of time before the entire Southern Hemisphere suffers the same fate.

It's an immensely terrifying and heartbreaking book to read as Shute delves deep into the personal lives of the last few people on Earth who witness the end of civilisation.

One character goes by the name of John Osborne, a man who spends his last days on earth restoring his old Ferrari. It was a car financially out of reach before, but with the end of the world approaching, such objects have become worthless.

Osborne also has a few barrels of fuel and a dream to enter a motor race before the final curtain falls over Australia. The race results in a number deaths, but Osborne emerges in second place and in doing so realises a lifetime ambition. A few days later he ends his life with a suicide pill while sat at the wheel of his beloved Ferrari.



As a car enthusiast, this is perhaps the most memorable part of the book. But it recently led me into asking a simple question: if you had to choose one car to see out the remainder of your days, what would it be? I'm not speaking in a morbid post-apocalyptic context, but if you were forced into buying a final car to last you forever, how would you go about narrowing down the choices?

It's not as easy as you think. Depending on your personal circumstances, you may need to consider boring and mundane factors such as practicality and space. You may think you can live with a single-seat track day car, but what happens when you need to take your children to school? Maybe a two-seater sports car would be fine for a couple of weeks, but how will you cope when you need to transport two weeks worth of holiday luggage to the airport?

Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking. Why not let the other half have a practical car, leaving you to enjoy a stripped out B-road warrior? A valid point, but not exactly in the spirit of the blog post. And no, hire cars and taxis are not permitted!

So what do you think? What would be your final car?



I posed the question on Twitter and got some surprising results.

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• @Iheartfastcars - Tough question indeed. I'd have to say Ferrari California. It has GT comfort but sport performance. Plus it's beautiful!
  
• @Scrof - I'm going to have to be boringly predictable and say an E39 BMW M5. It's just everything I'd ever want in a car.
  
• @Scrof - Actually, if we were to hang the running costs, I could be sorely tempted by a 1986 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante...
  
• @evoStephenDobie - If it had to be something that covered all the bases - fun, several seats, a sizeable boot etc - got to be a BMW 1M Coupé.
  
• @Adzman89 - Yellow Ferrari 430 Spider.
  
• @CianHa - Depressingly, it's a Skoda vRS.
  
• @Palmblogging - A brand new, factory fresh Citroën AX, any type, would do me.
  
• @PeterGriffithss - 1974 Series 4 Bristol 411, please. Tomorrow it'd be a different choice though!
  
• @antonyingram - Tough challenge, but I think I'd struggle to get bored of a Porsche Boxster Spyder. Smaller budget: MK1 MX-5.
  
• @antonyingram - I might stretch to a Carrera 2.7 RS if two seats are unavoidable.
  
• @PawnSacrifice - I'd go for a current shape Jaguar XKR. Proper quick GT with real Jaguar style that won't look crass in my twilight.
  
• @Tonsty - Arena Red Porsche 993 Twin-Turbo. To the layman, also known as a 1996 911 Turbo.
  
• @yournotmyfather - If it never needed fixing and never broke down? A mechatronic fettled '71 300 SEL 6.3.
  
• @jeckythump - Too many to choose. I always reckoned my dream 4 car garage (subject to change) would be Miura, DS, Stag & Ur Quattro.
  
• @VeedubGeezer - That's a very good question. I'd go Audi RS2. Everything I'd ever want or need from a car.
  
• @AverageSpeed - Mercedes 600 Grosser for me. "Out of my way, peasants, I'm old."
  

An eclectic mix of cars. Everything from a Ferrari 430 Spider to a Citroën AX.

There's a definite leaning towards 2+2 cars on the list – a tip of the hat to practicality, but with one eye on ultimate thrills. It's quite hard to argue against the BMW M5 and Jaguar XKR to be honest.

As for me, I'm not entirely sure I've made up my own mind yet. Although there's a certain Lancia that's proving hard to resist. It might jut happen to be appear in my Real World Dream Barn...

What about you?