Multiple fun cars. What's our logic?

So i'm sure that I am in good company here that I am always keyboard shopping for my next car.   I have a practical garage already with the wife-mobile and out of town cruiser (Cayenne), comfy daily driver for me (old Lexus), off-road/bad weather/trailer hauler vehicle (Land Cruiser) and my trusty fun turbo Miata for back roads and occasional autocross. 

So with a set up garage like this, why am i always dreaming of the next car to add?  In all reality, it won't get driven much but it would look great in garage and make me happy when i do drive it.  But would another fun car relegate the Miata to sit more and more?   I'm thinking S2000, Cayman, M-coupe, etc - something that makes me smile and looks great lowered and with wheels (if price wasn't an object I would add NSX and turbo 911 to that list).  My head thinks i would do more out of town back road trips, stress relief after work, etc.   

So for those with multiple fun cars, how do you rationalize it and how does it work in reality?  

Oh and i would always prefer to drive vs have to wrench.   

Take your "logic" and "reason" and GTFO. This is GRM.

At one point I simultaneously owned an Elise, miata and S2000. Ostensibly they all served more or less the same function, but I loved them each for different reasons.

Of the ones you mentioned M Coupe, it provides flexibility the Miata doesn't in spite of having a significant overlap of how you'd use it. The Cayman would be second, but would still be pretty tight when packed for a weekend trip with the wife. 

The hole in your garage is a GT cruiser with a touch of luxury and presence to it. 

That is also why we keep looking. We look for holes or deficiencies in our vehicle portfolio and for options to fill those voids. 

The fleet:

Dd mazda6 

Wife dd mazda5 

Truck for truck stuff: 95 Silverado heavy half

Sport truck: 95 Silverado ecsb dropped 5/7

"Track car" 99 miata v6

97 neon acr resto toy

1970 duster 400hp jukebox on wheels

Essentially that's four toys. All similar but different. None stock, all fast and handle good, look awesome in my driveway. 

There's no enough time or energy to drive and maintain them all. I have to force myself to drive them. Neon is easiest to drive often,  as its the closest to stock. The miata gets driven less and less lately, and the neon wound up being more fun to autocross. The duster always needs something, and the stepside sits until the battery goes dead. 

I cannot reccomend over two fun cars from my experience. Three is actually too many, and four becomes a mental drain and added stress. Not to mention maintenance regiments, insurance, parking, etc.

In reply to Caprigrip :

I owned a MGTD  to run in the prewar group. A Black Jack special to run with the Thunderboomers,  and was building an XKE V 12 roadster to run in Group 6 with the Mustangs, Camaro's, and Corvettes. 

Each  made me happy in a different way but doing the same thing. W2W  Vintage racing. 
  
In hindsite  That was too much.  

I'm in the same boat. I barely use any of my cars anymore. BUT I have been craving a V8, MT, rwd  fun mobile for a few years now. Maybe as a convertible for GT duties with the gf and dog. 
 

Used car prices are too high atm so I'm impatiently waiting while my money mostly appreciates in stocks. 

I have one modern sports car as my primary driver (Solstice GXP coupe) and three summer drivers, a BMW Z4MC, a Jensen Interceptor, and a V6 powered rebodied 1950s MG.  Used to have more but you can only spend so much energy on maintaining cars.

Start adding cars and see where you top out at - you could have decades of flow-through as you find that some aren't as much fun as you thought they would be or you accumulate too many to give proper attention to and release them back into the wild.  (I was up to 13 at one point, but that was when I was young and energetic). 

Ha, I feel somewhat qualified to respond...this is my fleet:

Newer F150 - my semi DD/Tow vehicle/trip car

Chevy Volt for wife's DD

99 Miata - wife's long time DD that she loves, now my semi DD lifted 3" with offroad tires - conversation starter, mtn bike hauler and general, I'll take it anywhere and can park it anywhere car.

00 M coupe - my version of what you seek, as Captdownshift aptly described: "a GT cruiser with a touch of luxury and presence to it". I'd say the number one thing about the car for me is the styling. A stock Miata, honestly is slower but more fun to drive around town.

82 RX7 street car - My first car that I wanted to own (bought in high school) and my forever car. Been off the road for ~15 years - working to change that as my COVID project.

79 RX7 club racer - longtime racing hobby car and the one that soaks up almost all of my available car hobby time.

So, when the street RX7 gets finished, I'll have triple redundancy in the fun 2 seater category. Even before COVID and without the RX7 in rotation, the BMW sat alot (avg less thn 2k miles/yr). If I was smart, I'd trade the BMW and Miata for one newer car, but I'm probably just not that smart!

I'd say if you have the space for it, it definitely could be an enjoyable addition to your fleet. Your comment about preferring to drive rather than wrench concerns me though. My M coupe has been reliable overall, but there's always kind of something that isn't quite right or needs attended to (airbag light at the moment). I would expect a similar era Porsche to be at least as needy.

Looks at the absolute ridiculous stupid stuff in my garage. Ummmmm we need a reason for all the stupidity. 

One daily driver sportscar. FRS

On fun,interesting, toy car to take to shows that must always be drivable regardless of use. Molvo

One preposterous long term project that requires that I push my comfort zone. Mid engine Morris Minor.

I'm in the same boat as seven racer   I currently have 15 m4 06 cayman s, supercharged Miata,turbo Miata, and a 350z.  They all drive so different and provides enjoyment in their own way.  But my Miata puts biggest smile on my face.  If you want a car that looks good, tracks well, plenty of luggage room, and gets a lot of complements get a m series.  

I was using a Mazdaspeed Miata and Fiesta ST to get to trailheads on dirt roads.  They would do it, but not happily.  So I bought a FJ Cruiser to serve that purpose.  Since buying it, I've certainly driven the Miata less.  But it's the right tool for the job and is saving the Miata for what it's good at.

I've owned an M Coupe and it is indeed a fine GT car.  Gobbles up asphalt like nothing I've owned before or since.  The only car in which I accidentally hit 100 MPH while passing.  But for autocrossing, I'd rather drive the Miata.

I had a similar thought last year. I've got two "toy" cars right now and I feel hard justifying it. My thought process is to make venn diagrams describing each car and to have as little overlap as possible.

BMW E36/8 is an amazing choice. Makes a good around town car, not bad on the interstate(although geared a little low), easy and cheap to work on and damn good looking. Stay away though if you're on the taller side. I'm 6'0" and my head hits the glass of the sunroof and I can't see the top half of the speedo/tacho.

Guilty of having a couple few too many at times. Full fleet sits at the following:

DD - 05 Accord - manual - 4 cyl coupe - tempting to follow Seth's route to traccord status but just a solid stick daily.

Wifes DD - 10 Fit - auto - great practical car

Fun car 1 - 92 Miata - manual - mostly stock but upgraded roll bar/brakes/wheels & tires sees autocross and HPDE duty, hardtop available

Fun car 2 - 88 325is - manual - mostly stock classy/sporty/cruiser duty

Fun car 3 - 99 Miata - auto - back up DD a fun car wife can drive, hardtop available

Truck - 99 S10 - auto - 1/2 share of family use truck with brother

The 2.5 garage will hold 3 if two are Miata* and all were had fairly cheap (avg purchase price ~$2600). Currently maxed out parking so something will have to move to get something else. Debating going sequoia or something to add towing capacity to the scope. Just the two of us and a dog right now.

*The fit will also nest in there with a Miata too if needed.

Edit - GRM just did a nice comparison that could interest your choice https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/roadster-comparison-honda-s2000-porsche-boxster-ma/

Logic? In my car purchases??? No chance of that. I buy on emotion first and then deal with the consequences later. Such as "huh this 80s/90s car has crappy parts availability" and "oh shucks i don't have the resources to fix this thing"

calteg said:

Take your "logic" and "reason" and GTFO. This is GRM.

QFT....

This is actually an interesting question to me. I live in a big city with very good public transportation and the ability to walk to 90 percent of the things I need. That last part has done wonders for my aches and pains and waistline. 

My only car is the Genesis Coupe and I drive it maybe 3,000 miles a year. My rule of thumb is "drive for pleasure and emergencies only." I'm incredibly satisfied with this arrangement. Significant other has never had a driver's license, but when she gets one, she'll be in a similar boat, though her pleasure and emergencies vehicle is probably going to be an offroader. 

Since nothing gets driven that much, and I almost completely avoid sitting in traffic, comfort just doesn't matter very much, which means I can be as adolescent as I want - race buckets, loud exhausts, stiff suspension - and enjoy all the childish fun that comes along with it. I've even got a way in and out of town that uses 95% farmer access roads which means the fun places I want to go get accessed via challenging, narrow, twisty roads without any traffic lights. I feel really, really good almost every time I drive now. I realize most people can't do what I am but, if you can, berkeley commuting man.

Bumping this back to the front because it really is a mental exercise I visit often and I like hearing (seeing?) other people's thoughts.

I have a Rotrex Miata that is a driving pleasure when I want to use it.

My wife has her perfect DD.

I have a 4x4 Tundra for my short daily commute that also doubles as our workhorse. 

This combo works perfectly because we have a three car garage and everything fits inside.

I seem to always want to add something else to the fleet but when I do I don't like having the extra vehicle. I recently acquired a nice stock XJ that I was going to modify for offroad but as soon as I purchased it and parked it outside in the driveway I almost immediately regretted it and now I'm going to sell it. The 4th vehicle really is the tipping point for me for whatever reason. It seems to be the same when I purchase any 4th vehicle even if I really like it. Maybe it's really my wife tricking me into thinking I don't want the 4th vehicle. IDK?

In reply to JAdams :

I think you're right, 4 is the tipping point. For some reason 3 is manageable by one person, but once you hit 4, one of them  not being driven/deferred maintenance/etc. Thankfully I have relatively little storage space, so 4 cars is also where parking starts to be very inconvenient. 

slowbird said:

Logic? In my car purchases??? No chance of that. I buy on emotion first and then deal with the consequences later. Such as "huh this 80s/90s car has crappy parts availability" and "oh shucks i don't have the resources to fix this thing"

I've done this before.  The best/worst one was a 1992 Dodge Daytona IROC R/T which came with the twin cam Lotus head turbo engine that made about 300 hp with a manual boost controller and an exhaust.  Rare car, I think between 1992 and 1993 they made less than 500 of them total.

It was hilarious to drive in the way that old turbocharged cars can be, but there was *always* something wrong with it. It's one of those cars that I'm happy is gone, but I really wish I could have kept it.

In reply to JAdams :

My fleet and their reasons.

2011 Outback w/manual trans: gets me to work, hauls race tires, goes to old ghost towns and other soft roader destinations

1972 Datsun 1200 coupe vintage race car and track day car: it's slow as hell but fun as hell to drive due to leaf spring suspension and bias ply tires. We've owned it for 37 years and it brings all the happiness of a faithful dog.

1987 Novakar Formula 500: I originally bought it as an autocross car but then figured out it was old enough to be a vintage race car. It rips at autocross. For the cost of making the Datsun faster ($9,000 - $10,000 race engine) I could buy two F500s. Single seat race cars are cheaper to run than production cars.

In reply to Caprigrip :

How much boat can the Cayanne or Cruiser tow?  

amg_rx7 (Forum Supporter) said:

Used car prices are too high atm so I'm impatiently waiting while my money mostly appreciates in stocks. 

The local eurocar dealer has a 2019 C7 Corvette Grand Sport for sale at $70,000.  A 2016 base Camaro manual for 19K.  2-3 year old trucks still commanding original sticker price. It blows my mind what used cars are going for now.   I'm nursing my hoopties along until this madness ends unless I find a deal on a car I want that makes sense. 

I just have automotiveADHD so I really just have to jump between driving a bunch of cars or I get bored. No real logic other than selfish satisfaction.

In reply to 06HHR (Forum Supporter) :

I agree 100%. I've been so tempted to sell my truck only because I could sell it for more than my total investment even with a few small mods and a new set of tires. It's insanity.