Counterpoint: How to build the ultimate 2 (or 3) vehicle collection.

"JEM" (jem)
03/15/2017 at 21:33 • Filed to: None

Not to take away anything from Andrew’s article, which I think is excellent and gets to the essence of jalopnik:

How To Build The Ultimate Affordable Five-Vehicle Collection

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But I think you can pare it down more.

Let’s start with his first pick: “A daily driver and light adventure vehicle”

I’m also going to argue that there is no reason his #2 pick can’t be the same as #1. Get some good Weathertech mats and be done with it.

This will vary based on your locale and idea of adventure but his suggestions are spot on. A CX-5, Subaru wagon, etc.. will totally fit the bill here. Having owned an XJ, driven a CX-5 quite a bit, and lived in NE long enough to have been in many Subarus, all good choices. Personally, I went with a Kia Soul because I realized I almost never needed the 4WD on my Jeep, and I missed winding the piss out of tiny 4 cylinder engines:

Next up, let me address 4 and 5 - ferocious motorcycle and comfortable motorcycle.

There’s absolutely no reason anymore to separate these two. Something like a Ninja 650 of GSX 650 is fine. Move up to a ZX-11 or GSX-1000 if need be or so experienced. There’s so many bikes you can recommend in this category depending on whether you lean more towards canyon carving or long distance riding. The point is any motorcycle (yes even a 500) is going to be ferocious compared to a four wheeled vehicle.

Personally, I’ve gone with a GSX1250FA (aka Bandit) and it handles everything well, even track days:

Which brings me to choice #4 - get a bike as your track weapon. I know a lot of people will think this is insanely dangerous, but the truth is there are many riders out there who only ride on the track now because it’s safer than the streets. I get it if you don’t agree which leads me to the wildcard.

#3 - the wildcard.

I think for a lot of enthusiasts, a good choice of one 4 wheeled and one 2 wheeled vehicle would fit the bill. But I get that you want a project. Or have a specific need for a hovercraft. That’s fine! Hell I’ve semi commited to restoring a friend’s CB400 and search the internet for a 1st gen Goldwing to cafe/brat out. I. Get. It.

The whole point of this is the difference between need and want. Oh wait, we’re talking about collections so that doesn’t matter haha. Ok cool. I still think you can have a “collection” that fills pretty much everything (except a hoarders invite) with 3 things:

1: Practical

2: Speed

3: Desire