Do "special" cars become less exciting if driven daily?

[Alex]

Short answer "yes", but it depends on the car and type of car.

I drove my Griff 500 every day for 3 years and 40k miles. After a while, it did feel less special and, dare I say it, slower.

I wouldn't want to drive a classic like my old Alfa GTV6 every day, as that would definitely spoil the specialness.

However, I do drive my BRZ every day and it always feels special as it is the sort of car that you can always take opportunities for a spirited drive, yet is comfortable and refined enough for mundane journeys too.

[loose cannon]

Yeah it was a bit hairy when the usual tailgaters and cutter uppers got involved just not enough escape roots to keep the blood pressure down in poor weather, still I managed it for a year then folded and bought a cheap 190e for the commute
From a colleague who emigrated to Saudi Arabia

[Morningside]

My TVR Chimaera felt gutless after a few weeks but after swapping for the family runaround it brings it back to perspective.

(Still hated the hard rev limiter)

[Alex_225]

Also, there are some cars that are epic to drive but for the long, boring drives they can become tiresome.

I used to commute in a Clio 172 I bought back in 2003 and as many of us know an RS Clio is a fun car to be in. Less so for the stop start traffic and dawdling along at 30mph. Yet give me a B-Road and one of those, I'd be grinning like an idiot.

I can imagine more extreme machines like an Elise or TVR could end up the same? Even though they are somewhat more special than a 172!

[GetCarter]

Yes.

[blueg33]

My Evora is my daily driver, its my second Evora and I do about 12k miles a year in it.

I don't think it has become less exciting, I still get a buzz every time I get behind the wheel, even if its just to move it a few yards to wash it. The interior feels and looks special, the sound is great even when just trundling along in a traffic jam

[Poopipe]

It's not driving cars every day that spoils them, it's driving into a town centre and spending 40 minutes crawling every day that does it.

[Sump]

Stuck 12k on the DB9 in one year. Novelty wore off and got pissed off at every ridiculous manoeuvre for a photo or people slowing down around you or assuming you were up for a chat. Oh fk off, don't assume I am free for 20 minutes because you fancy talking st about a car I own. Happened once and never again.

[velocitas]

Definitely agree.

I've daily driven all sorts of exotica and more often then not they just become a pain in the ass. Examples being:
- holding up traffic to climb multiple speed bumps,
- not being able to get in/out of the car in tight parking spaces because they are low and wide (Audi R8),
- not being able to get in/out of the car because of the high sill and you're fat! (Mclaren 12C & BMW i8)
- your ice cream melting in the frunk on the way home become of the raditors ,
- not having space to bring friends or luggage for road trips so you end up using your car even less.

I don't do a lot of miles so when I've run a two car garage the wasted expense of having two cars sitting around just kills it for me. I end up letting friends borrow them which has it's own problems!

In fact the only cars that have remained special while I've owned them have been 'Sheds' - generally more features than you'd expect, you can treat them with wreckless abandonment and you feel like you're getting more than you paid for it. That makes it special for me.

[RenesisEvo]

Poopipe said:

It's not driving cars every day that spoils them, it's driving into a town centre and spending 40 minutes crawling every day that does it.

absolutely this. I've driven all sorts of cars, but I've never enjoyed one sat in a traffic jam. Some are more pleasant to spend that idle time in than others, but crowded roads are always a blackhole for enjoyable driving.

[Crafty_]

Depends what you call special I suppose, I don't really see anything that is mass produced as "special".

[Harvey Mushman00]

I don't think "less exciting" is the term I would use. i use a Honda Civic 1.6 day to day and i have a Lexus IS-F for weekends, summer days, road trips etc, the thing is i love the car so much if i used it every day it would not become less exciting, i think the sense of occasion would be slightly less for me, but then again everyone is different....................

[NigeT]

Totally agree, once took my Mondial (and my elderly mum) to the local Sainsbury's and crawled back home in heavy traffic, it just felt so wrong. Also don't want to be thinking about anything work-related when driving my car, think a big part of the fun of "special" cars is totally escaping from any thoughts involving the daily grind - kills lots of the excitement for me.