Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

It's a little spendy, I wonder whether a 530 M-Sport Touring would do pretty much the same thing for rather a lot less

Yeh but there's M an then there's Alpina.

Nah. M5 Touring or bust. Or an RS6 Avant.

RS6 Avant.

How's that working out? ;)

That place seems, ahem, rather expensive. £100k for a 12 year old Honda NSX? And I paid the same as this (near as dammit (pun entirely intentional)):

http://www.millenniumheroes.com/cars/audi-rs6-avant-for-sale/

for my C6 RS6 Avant. Does anyone actually pay those prices?

Nice but pricey. In other words, pretty much as expected.

It's a very silly car. But it's great fun. I had to leave the house at 4.30am this morning to get to Stansted, and spent the first 10 minutes of the journey seeing how long I could keep the traction control light on for. Quite a lot, as it turns out. 15.8mpg from my house to Stansted.

Does anyone actually pay those prices?

It's a good question, I have no idea what a fair price for that B10 Touring would be, so would be a little at sea in a negotiation.

Sounds like fun.

I nearly went out on my motorbike this morning before I realised I would be dead by the end of the road.

Nah. M5 Touring or bust. Or an RS6 Avant.

7 speed SMG box going boom scares me, and you can't put a tow hitch on an RS6 unless it had the prep option from the factory.

Y U need tow hitch?

Oh, it was. And I got to Stansted nice and early too. It may be a wallet-destroying fuel-guzzling lardbucket, but boy does that thing cover the miles quickly.

Nah, the E63 is the performance estate car to have. http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/long-term-tests/mercedes-benz/mercedes-e63-amg-estate-2011-long-term-test-review/

Y U need tow hitch?

Bike carrier

Nah, the E63 is the performance estate car to have.

a) only taxi drivers have ever wanted a Mercedes and b) it'll rust faster than a 70's Lancia.

I would pay less for an Alpina touring than same condition M5, so use that as a benchmark.

If it just needs to be a V8 touring, then the 540 should suffice.

Realistically though, are you really going to sell the Volvo for maybe 50% of the purchase price of an unknown car that you potentially have to spend loads of money on anyway?

If you want the same peace of mind, you're going to have to spend £15k from one of those collector aimed dealerships for a proper minter.

Also, far be it for me to get in the way of a good faff since I am 100% in faff mode with my rusty MX5 (I just halved my budget since I bought a gaudy laptop - priorities?), but the 911 was your Normally Aspirated, power on demand, fun car, and the Volvo was meant to be a fast as fuck wagon. If you buy an Alpina or 540, you'll only try and turbo the 911

I think I'm getting old(er), I quite fancy big off-idle torque, an auto box and a comfier ride. In the estate, that is. Possibly as I now have the 911 for the sharper stuff so I want the estate to deploy its 360 bhp more calmly than the 850's "normal car until 3,000 rpm, then hit fast forward" approach.

Why not go even crazier with the Volvo and add a smaller turbo to spool the big boy, or nitrous for "torque-fill" - the new buzzword.

Hmmm, that was a factor when I got the Wankerbarge, but since you can get two people and two bikes inside the car I only ever used the tow-bar mounted bike rack once or twice a year, so decided that having bike stands on roof bars instead wouldn't be too much of a hardship. Can't say I've really missed the tow-bar one.

I quite fancy big off-idle torque, an auto box and a comfier ride.

Alpina rather than M5 then. The M5 engine is a beast, but you have to rev it hard before it gives up the goods.

It makes taking up to three bikes very, very easy- plug hitch in, drop carrier on, plug in, load three bikes. Means you can then take luggage inside (such as cats in their boxes) who/which might complain if put on the roof.

Why not go even crazier with the Volvo and add a smaller turbo to spool the big boy, or nitrous for "torque-fill" - the new buzzword.

This is a tricky one, as the value creeps up it's the standard cars that are likelier to be worth more, I might put a smaller turbo on and a more reserved tune for sale. I don't want to spend the 3k that a sequential setup is likely to cost if I then just take it off again.

Are you really going to sell it??

Agreed. The V10 M5 feels like it has the wrong engine in for a big superbarge, it ought to be in a smaller saloon with a manual box.

If it's torque you're after I still miss the V10 Toerag I used to tow with. It would beat everything off the lights whilst pulling 2.5 tonnes. Not exactly glamorous, but a great sleeper car for motorway work.

Or just a remapped twin turbo 335/40/535/40i. They make 380bhp and gobs full of torque with little lag.