RE: £100K Garage: Richard Kenchington
Tuesday 13th May 2014
Name: Richard Kenchington
Previously owned: 2000 VW Bora Sport 2.0 petrol, 2005 Seat Leon Sport 2.0TDI 140PS, 2009 Volvo C30 T5 R-Design, 2008 Audi A4 2.0T 211PS S-Line
Currently owned: 1972 MGB GT, Current daily driver is the missus' old 2006 Renault Megane 1.5DCi (and it's killing me)
On the shortlist: "My shortlist seems to change on a weekly basis. Here I have tried to spend my imaginary money to cover all those cars that would be useful to have and also fun to drive at the same time. Thankfully at the moment there aren't too many requirements but that could all change so I have tried to plan ahead too! I have always liked saloons, for some reason big always seems to be better for me whether that be a saloon or estate. And in the engine stakes when it comes to big V8s, a wise friend of mine once told me "There is no replacement for displacement."
BMW M5 Touring
Cost: £22,995
Balance: £77,005
Why I chose it: "When considering a £100K garage you need something practical in there for tip runs, taking the cats to the vets, the necessary but expensive trips to Ikea, but no one said practical had to be slow! The 5.0 V10 with 507hp is just the kind of family mover every man needs and would allow me to at least minimise the time it takes me to get to Ikea even if I can't shorten the amount of time I have to spend dragging my carcass around it. I saw this M5 and it looked evil, which is always a good box to tick when buying a performance car I feel, there is a silver one on PH cheaper but this is black, therefore so much better!"
Dodge Challenger 6.1 SRT8 V8 Hemi
Cost: £33,000
Balance: £44,005
Why I chose it: "Well when you look at the photo it's kinda clear why any person would choose it, for a start it's in matte black and that is the colour of stealth things! OK, so it's not stealth or anything like that but it does look amazing and will have the awesome American V8 soundtrack, which is always better than a European V8. This car fulfils my need for an American car and also I have a small weakness for anything with twin spot headlamps. Why? I just always think they look super stylish. Ever since I first saw a Triumph Stag twin spots just seem to say retro and cool. Plus 425hp so job done!"
BMW 335i Convertible
Cost: £6,500
Balance: £37,505
Why I chose it: "There are at least two reasons why I shouldn't want this car for my fantasy garage; firstly I live in England and therefore it rains at an almost biblical level, and secondly I am a bald man and so driving a convertible is fraught with dangers of looking like a total prat for the follicly challenged male. There is something about the BMWs from the 90s that just look fantastic. This one having been lowered and played with a little bit looks close enough to stock without being too boy racer to appeal and so would be perfect. Plus with a '335i' conversion it's not going to be slow when the inevitable traffic light grand prix happens."
Aston Martin DB7 Vantage
Cost: £24,750
Balance: £12,775
Why I chose it: "My uncle once owned an Aston Martin DB7 and it just looked fantastic wherever it was I lusted over it, drooled over it right up until he replaced it with a Jag. I think it's probably one of the best designed cars of recent years, although a choice between this and a DB9 would be a hard one. This means that when I'm spending £100K I need to have a GT car, just in case I should wish to drive down to the Cote d'Azur to gamble away more of my imaginary money. To have the ideal car for this means I need to have a V12 Aston Martin. What self-respecting Englishman doesn't want to own an Aston at some point in their life?"
Alfa Romeo 159 3.2 Q4 JTS Lusso
Cost: £6,250
Balance: £6,505
Why I chose it: "Everyone needs a daily driver and despite my £100K make believe budget I can't think of anything better to enjoy every day on that trip to work than an Alfa. I once came close to buying a three-year-old Brera but stopped myself. I've always like a saloon, evident from my car history, and the 159 is one I'm yet to own but would love to. It's achingly beautiful as most Italian cars are and would certainly lift one's spirits after a hard day in the office to come out and drive this home. This one is also the V6 engine with plenty of stallions under the bonnet and the tan leather just lifts the interior and gives you the perfect combination of black paint and tan leather. A pleasure I'm sure, until it breaks..."
Mazda MX-5 2.0i Sport
Cost: £6,490
Balance: £15
Why I chose it: "Like most men if I was spending such vast sums of cash on what has turned out to be a small fleet of cars, then I would need to remember the little lady in all this motoring moolah! She once had a Mk2/NB MX-5 but unfortunately life got in the way and it had to be changed for a diesel euro box so she could make her 120-mile round trip daily commute without being bankrupted. She loved that little car and I vowed one day she would have another. This would be me living up to my promise and treating her to a Mk3, with a little more power and that much needed sixth gear to make the perfect roadster even better. This has great spec with the sport wheels which make it look so much meaner, the full leather interior to burn your skin in the height of summer and finally only two seats!"
£100K Garage: Richard Kenchington
Richard ticks off V6, V8, V10 and V12 in his garage plus more besides!
Previously owned: 2000 VW Bora Sport 2.0 petrol, 2005 Seat Leon Sport 2.0TDI 140PS, 2009 Volvo C30 T5 R-Design, 2008 Audi A4 2.0T 211PS S-Line
Currently owned: 1972 MGB GT, Current daily driver is the missus' old 2006 Renault Megane 1.5DCi (and it's killing me)
On the shortlist: "My shortlist seems to change on a weekly basis. Here I have tried to spend my imaginary money to cover all those cars that would be useful to have and also fun to drive at the same time. Thankfully at the moment there aren't too many requirements but that could all change so I have tried to plan ahead too! I have always liked saloons, for some reason big always seems to be better for me whether that be a saloon or estate. And in the engine stakes when it comes to big V8s, a wise friend of mine once told me "There is no replacement for displacement."
Cost: £22,995
Balance: £77,005
Why I chose it: "When considering a £100K garage you need something practical in there for tip runs, taking the cats to the vets, the necessary but expensive trips to Ikea, but no one said practical had to be slow! The 5.0 V10 with 507hp is just the kind of family mover every man needs and would allow me to at least minimise the time it takes me to get to Ikea even if I can't shorten the amount of time I have to spend dragging my carcass around it. I saw this M5 and it looked evil, which is always a good box to tick when buying a performance car I feel, there is a silver one on PH cheaper but this is black, therefore so much better!"
Cost: £33,000
Balance: £44,005
Why I chose it: "Well when you look at the photo it's kinda clear why any person would choose it, for a start it's in matte black and that is the colour of stealth things! OK, so it's not stealth or anything like that but it does look amazing and will have the awesome American V8 soundtrack, which is always better than a European V8. This car fulfils my need for an American car and also I have a small weakness for anything with twin spot headlamps. Why? I just always think they look super stylish. Ever since I first saw a Triumph Stag twin spots just seem to say retro and cool. Plus 425hp so job done!"
Cost: £6,500
Balance: £37,505
Why I chose it: "There are at least two reasons why I shouldn't want this car for my fantasy garage; firstly I live in England and therefore it rains at an almost biblical level, and secondly I am a bald man and so driving a convertible is fraught with dangers of looking like a total prat for the follicly challenged male. There is something about the BMWs from the 90s that just look fantastic. This one having been lowered and played with a little bit looks close enough to stock without being too boy racer to appeal and so would be perfect. Plus with a '335i' conversion it's not going to be slow when the inevitable traffic light grand prix happens."
Cost: £24,750
Balance: £12,775
Why I chose it: "My uncle once owned an Aston Martin DB7 and it just looked fantastic wherever it was I lusted over it, drooled over it right up until he replaced it with a Jag. I think it's probably one of the best designed cars of recent years, although a choice between this and a DB9 would be a hard one. This means that when I'm spending £100K I need to have a GT car, just in case I should wish to drive down to the Cote d'Azur to gamble away more of my imaginary money. To have the ideal car for this means I need to have a V12 Aston Martin. What self-respecting Englishman doesn't want to own an Aston at some point in their life?"
Cost: £6,250
Balance: £6,505
Why I chose it: "Everyone needs a daily driver and despite my £100K make believe budget I can't think of anything better to enjoy every day on that trip to work than an Alfa. I once came close to buying a three-year-old Brera but stopped myself. I've always like a saloon, evident from my car history, and the 159 is one I'm yet to own but would love to. It's achingly beautiful as most Italian cars are and would certainly lift one's spirits after a hard day in the office to come out and drive this home. This one is also the V6 engine with plenty of stallions under the bonnet and the tan leather just lifts the interior and gives you the perfect combination of black paint and tan leather. A pleasure I'm sure, until it breaks..."
Cost: £6,490
Balance: £15
Why I chose it: "Like most men if I was spending such vast sums of cash on what has turned out to be a small fleet of cars, then I would need to remember the little lady in all this motoring moolah! She once had a Mk2/NB MX-5 but unfortunately life got in the way and it had to be changed for a diesel euro box so she could make her 120-mile round trip daily commute without being bankrupted. She loved that little car and I vowed one day she would have another. This would be me living up to my promise and treating her to a Mk3, with a little more power and that much needed sixth gear to make the perfect roadster even better. This has great spec with the sport wheels which make it look so much meaner, the full leather interior to burn your skin in the height of summer and finally only two seats!"
Discussion
Richard said:
I am a bald man and so driving a convertible is fraught with dangers of looking like a total prat for the follicly challenged male.
In my experience rag tops are always driven but either young ladies or balding men, probably about a 50/50 split.I like the E30 choice there, the one pictured looks to have a bit of a drop onto period Avez rims which works for me. My garage would have more retro motors like that I reckon. The Challenger is very cool but I'm a bit meh about some of the others.
Good choices there, I agree with the Aston & the little sporty roadster, plus a retro/classic, although with the last two an earlier MX5 & an old Jag saloon would be my preference. A fast estate or 4 x 4 is a good addition, but a Range Rover for similar money would get my vote. As for the US muscle car, its not something I would have chosen, but seeing it there I think you have my vote. It would make sense to me to choose a number of vehicles for the money that fulfill different roles rather than blow it all on one or two, and the choices you made got me thinking to the point of writing a response, so good article.
ORD said:
I cannot for the life of me understand buying a big American lump of a car when you could spend more on getting a better Aston. Also, would anyone actually buy lots of OK cars rather than a couple of great ones? Poor choices.
Because of the 'Vanishing Point' association and the glorious earth-shaking thunder of the Hemi V8. It's a great car. So is the E61 M5, for one simple reason: 5-seat barge/wagon with 9000rpm F1-derived V10. Since the Challenger is definitely Thor, I'm trying to work out which of the Nordic gods that M5 is. I can also definitely understand the hot E30 thing (although I'd rather have the 350i V12 that Harris tweeted about a while ago), the V6 Alfa itch (though not the 159 with its Holden iron boat-anchor) and the V12 Aston thing (make mine a DB9 please).ORD said:
I cannot for the life of me understand buying a big American lump of a car when you could spend more on getting a better Aston. Also, would anyone actually buy lots of OK cars rather than a couple of great ones? Poor choices.
In your opinion.Funnily enough not everyone wants the same cars. People like and want diffrent things, I know F**k me right?
ORD said:
I cannot for the life of me understand buying a big American lump of a car when you could spend more on getting a better Aston. Also, would anyone actually buy lots of OK cars rather than a couple of great ones? Poor choices.
Because the Challenger would be FUN.A DB9 over a DB7 Vantage is just a little bit more of the same, better executed, but ultimately the same experience.
Perhaps he would be after a wider range of experiences than just finding what is numerically the best for his £100k. Maybe everything in his life isn't derived from a spreadsheet?
Naturally he should have just given the entire £100k to Porsche and taken the best they would give him, then we could have all had a little pocket shuffle over the PDK shift times.
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