The cars that didn’t make the cut

This post may trigger some people. It most definitely will trigger pseudo car enthusiasts. 

These are the cars we considered before getting the first SLR (not Paris Hilton’s).

Carrera GT

Starting with the most boring car on the list that was considered - the CGT. It was around $600k when we looked at it. I still don’t understand how it transcended from that valuation, but the CGT glazing in the past decade has been nothing but amusing to watch. Being celebrated for not being a good car is fucked up and funny all at once. Paul Walker died in one, so we all must respect and fear it. It’s literally celebrated for being a lame car. Sorry, not sorry. If you can’t see this, you’re easily influenced. 

But we did consider a CGT. Never been a fan of the V10s, nor of Porsche, yet we were looking at one. My first impression was that it was not a special car. It lacks the aura of a proper exotic car. Maybe because Porsche is a mass-maker, I don’t know, but it lacks the presence of any other car on the list. “Yet another Porsche was in front of me”. Mind you this is before social media CGT glaze and waaaay before Doug got one. 

The interior is boring and trying too hard to be “special”. This is a general feel every time I get into a Porsche - one of the main reasons why I don’t vibe with the brand. It’s a wannabe brand for wannabes - especially in 2026 with the base Carrera starting at 160k EUR. Like, who’s buying that?! The IG influencer to put her aftermarket Birkin on the passenger seat! LMAO And it’s 100% leased. Not me, for sure!

But back to the CGT - the driving was alright. Finally, something positive, right?! But not for $500k. 500k was a lot of money back in the day and a CGT was not worth that, still isn’t. Maybe for 300k I would think twice, LMAO. “But you could have made money”. Crypto and stocks exist, shut up, normie.

Enzo

Finally something cool! We vetted the Porsche fans with the first one, it’s you and me now. 

I love the Enzo. Gorgeous thing, from every angle. It sounds the way it looks. I have immense respect for Ferrari as a brand; they used to make dream cars. The F50 is “fuck you money” materialised. The shapes of LaFerrari are unforgettable. The Enzo is yet another example of how capable Ferrari used to be. It single-handedly motivated an entire generation to go to work for a chance to own it. The true definition of a dream car. But what would it mean to own an Enzo? The Ferrari brand and customer service quickly shattered the idea. I can’t imagine maintaining a 20+ year-old Ferrari in Bulgaria. Just the thought of it makes me anxious. Despite building dream cars, they’re still poorly engineered. They packaged it nicely, but good luck with the contents. It’s a hot potato of a car. It’s a great car, but I wouldn’t own one. The only Ferrari I would own is the FF. 

1st gen Ford GT (not 2nd)

Possibly the one I would love to own, still. It’s a truly special car. I love Ford as a brand and I resonate with a lot of their offerings - from the Mustang to the pickups, the Bronco is cool as fuck. You can tell a lot about an enthusiast on how they treat Ford’s flagmen. 

The Ford GT will always be a Ford and that’s the great thing about it - it's inherently American. It’s an antidote to the Euro, small-minded, elitist car circles that I’m so fed up with. You show up in one, it’s guaranteed the daddy’s money/trust fund boys are going to piss themselves. Too bad for the tartufo buckets. Just looking at it, it smells like petrol, freedom and a bald eagle’s nest. Badassery on wheels. It’s like having a Steve McQueen among supercar blondies. Its presence creates tension and friction. This is a proper cool car for cool people. It’s a car for people who know who they are and the Ford GT serves as an extension of their personality. If you’re not as cool as the Ford GT, you’ll look like a caricature. I mean it. I’ve seen it and I keep seeing it. I’m not going to say names, but iykyk. Very few people can pull off the Ford GT, and most of them are dead. Jay Leno can pull it off, for example. 

Being cool is not something you can buy, learn, or earn. You either are or you aren’t. It’s a distinct air around a person that cannot be replicated or forced. That’s what the Ford GT represents. Euro automakers will never create something as cool. Speaking of, I’d take a 1st gen Ford GT over any Koenigsegg, Bugatti, or Pagani.

Murcielago LP640

The only Lambo worth owning? Maybe. I mean it probably is in the grand scheme of things. The Countach is overdone to me. The Diablo is missing something. The Murci is the right amount of everything in terms of styling. I love that it’s asymmetrical. Luc Donckerwolke created a masterpiece, but most Belgian designers know how to build with form without compromising the function, hence the asymmetry. 

Despite being unhappy with the ownership, I’m still lucky to live in a timeline where the Murci can be experienced and even more so - to be one of the few in the world to do that. It’s the only car on the list that is a true spiritual competitor to the SLR. The closest one that also serves as a time capsule that will transport you to a more fun era when cars were just different. The Murci will do that and will do it every time you sit in it. Just imagine owning a Murcielago in 2006, driving it on Mulholland Drive or Regent Street - that’s peak “I’ve made it,” and it hasn’t been the same since. While the Murci will 100% offer you that feeling, everything else is gone. It’s so sad. I feel only people who’ve owned a Murci or an SLR will ever know what it was like. And we mourn it every single day. 

But nostalgia alone was not a good reason to choose a 20-year-old Italian exotic over the SLR. 

The SLR won over every car in the list. It’s everything these cars want to be and everything they’re not. It’s the most special car out of them. The collaboration, the built quality, the design - nothing came remotely close to the SLR. A remarkable car, even to today’s standards. 

Even if we look at it as a car, without taking future value into consideration - it’s the best. I’m yet to meet an unhappy SLR owner. In fact, I know a lot of SLR owners; most of them (like us) have a variety of cars, and all of them cite the SLR as a favourite. And I know why.

I’m happy to report that some rare spec coupes are already in the $800k price range. And I do believe the SLR is best appreciated as a coupe, and so does the SLR community, hence why the roadster premium has evaporated. 

The SLR market is in its consolidation stage - the “cheap” SLRs are basically vanishing, and the base of $500k is getting established. The 500k psychological barrier is getting broken as I’m typing this; the next psychological barrier is 1M.

When the “car influencers” jump on the SLR, using Gordon Murray’s name as a buzzword, and learn about what “front-mid-engined” means, I’ll be here laughing. It’s inevitable. Mark my words. Nothing is more undervalued than the SLR at the moment!