Mid Week Match-Up: Cheap Car For Matthew McConaughey
Welcome to another edition of Mid Week Match-Up, where readers scour the interweb for the perfect car for some random stranger in Milwaukee who is just going to head out and buy a new Lincoln at the dealer anyway…okay, that isn’t entirely true, but today we are going to find a cheap car for Matthew McConaughey. Why would Mr Can’tSpellHisLastNameWithoutSpellChecker only have five large to spend on a car — THAT IS NOT IMPORTANT — what is important is that we find a car that looks expensive, but is really cheap. Budget ~$5k.
Many poor folks looking to seem well-off will lease some new BMW, but the tip off is that they’ll have the base model with limited options and leases are only a few years old…no…that isn’t the game we are playing today and leasing is for suckers. You could also spend $5,000 on a nice boxy 80s Volvo and have a perfectly nice driver, but anytime I see a Volvo I think the owner is either (a) a professor, or (b) homeless (full disclosure, I know multiple Volvo driving professors and one Volvo driving/living/inhabiting homeless man). What the person trying to save money, but look wealthy really needs is a depreciated high-spec luxury convertible like this 1998 Mercedes-Benz SL500 convertible offered for $4,000 in West Babylon, NY via cars.com. It is old enough that no-one will be leasing one, but it looks like some real old school rich dude’s car.
The R129 generation Mercedes-Benz SL was available with a variety of engines, but the basic 5.0 liter V8 version (rated at 306 horsepower) is more than adequate to impress your friends without costing much more than a transmission rebuild on a Chevy Van. What would you recommend for Matthew? Comments below.
will make you look really rich
Sean — there is a fine line between making you look really rich and making your mechanic actually rich…but you had me at Aston!! -Vince
Ahhh, ok, this is fun. Find a car for the poseur-type of car aficionado who's more into making a socioeconomic statement (even if in reality it's false) than in true appreciation of a given auto for its intrinsic merits….that sum up the ask? Can you give us a price ceiling to narrow this down a little? Heck, a $25k Quattroporte makes one look like a Colombian drug lord, but it's still not a bargain by DT standards.
FTB — right, a price limit. I meant to put a $5k limit in the original post. Lemme update that.
immediate thought: this here mercedes
Good color combo on this Bentley Turbo R
ebay.com/itm/Bentley-Turbo-R-just-57-029-miles-and-turbo-must-see-drive-/391214012102?forcerrptr=true&hash=item5b162c16c6&item=391214012102
Ok, 5 grand….I'm going to hit a couple of the low-hanging fruit options first, then I'll look for a few more from the oddities arena.
S class? they MUST be rich
The P38 Range Rover, for the up and coming aspirational masochist 2262
Always wanted to leave that fancy key on the table during first dates and say "yeah, I have a Porsh?"
But, sir, it's a Boxster…
[img] oldbug.com/061604%20146.jpg[/img]
McConaughey may have been quite good in several movies and television shows; "True Detective", "U-571", "Lone Star", "Reign of Fire", "Killer Joe" and "Sahara" come quickly to mind but the man is a terrible wind bag in interviews. Somebody needs to tell him to stick a cork in it but I have the feeling he'd just keep talking even if the sound was completely muffled.
I wonder if naming it the "Muff Mobile" helps the sale or hurts it?
If anything at all broke on it, you could use this line: youtube.com/watch?v=EuoFTO5p_M0
+1!
I'd go with Kaibeezy's Buick Roadmaster Wagon…I can see Matthew driving that rascal with the seat laid back, one had on the wheel and all the windows down…Alright,alright, alright…Maybe a set of longhorns on the front.
"I'm not driving a Roadmaster because they paid me to. I'm driving it because I've always liked it. It's an existentialist vehicle. Am I really here?"
It's simple. BMW 7 series. 5k gets you one that most squares think is new and worth $50k. Or slum it with a 5 series. Same effect on the non car-dork public. My $3500 540i looks BALLER and combined with my fedora and faux ivory cane the velvet ropes melt away…
It's simple. BMW 7 series. 5k gets you one that most squares think is new and worth $50k. Or slum it with a 5 series. Same effect on the non car-dork public. My $3500 540i looks BALLER and combined with my fedora and faux ivory cane the velvet ropes melt away…