A lot of car buyers are loyal to their favorite automakers, almost to a fault. In my travels, I’ve met Ford guys who say they’d never buy a Chevrolet, Ram guys who’d never buy a Ford, BMW guys who’d never put their hands on anything American, and pretty much all points in between. Automotive tribalism can get weird sometimes, but it makes us think. If you had to live with a single car brand for the rest of your life, which one would it be, and why?
This is a question that’s hard for me to answer. I love all cars, even the deeply unloved ones. If anything, the more a stereotypical enthusiast hates a car, the more I’m likely to love it. I do own six Smart Fortwos, after all. Still, I also own lots of other cars and motorcycles, from American classics to a Japanese rotary. Telling me to pick only one brand feels like torture.
For the purposes of this question, the brand you choose is the one that you also have to drive for the rest of your life. This means that you can’t just rent a car from another brand as a sort of loophole. No, if you rent a car, you have to rent a car from your chosen brand. Also, brands that are technically related to other brands, like Ram, DS, Polestar, or SRT, are considered their own brands for this exercise. I suppose the one loophole would be that you can be a passenger in another brand’s car.
The implications of this can be grand. If you choose a brand that builds nothing but sports cars, you’re sort of screwed if you ever need to drive a truck to move out of your house or apartment. Likewise, if you choose a truck brand, you may never experience the thrill of driving a roadster or a sports car. Logically, the best choice here would be a full-line automaker that has everything from sports cars to trucks.
Despite the rules I set above, I would still pick Smart as my one and only brand to live with.
I’ve gotten through much of my life already, depending on a Smart Fortwo to be my everything. My 2012 Smart has worn many different hats throughout its life. There was a time I treated it like a tuner car, a time when I had it towing trailers and working like a pickup truck, a period when it was my off-roader, and more. My Smart fleet now has a frugal 70 mpg diesel, a convertible, a beater, and a speedy turbo model. Smart has also built a weird street legal go-kart, a sports car, a couple of small four-door hatches, and now it makes a bunch of crazy fast electric SUVs.
If I need to go faster, I suppose I could just soup up a stock Smart engine or have someone implant a Suzuki Hayabusa engine or a Toyota Paseo engine into my car. Some wild builders also used to make six-wheel Smart pickup trucks, too. I could pretty much have most parts of the car world covered with an armada of Smarts.
I think if I had nothing but Smarts for the rest of my life, I would depart from this mortal plane as a happy woman. So, here’s where I turn things to you. A terrible sorcerer is using magic or whatever to force you into sticking with a single car brand for the rest of your life. What brand is it, and why?
Honda or Toyota. With Honda, then I get bikes as well.
Toyota. Besides, no other truck wears “YO” on its backside quite like a Tacoma.
Honda.
Cars AND motorcycles, plus aircraft, marine engines, robots…
Next question?
++ Rocket engines
Plus, the best home-use 1kW to 3kW generators too.
I guess practicality wise Chevy. Emotionally Triumph. Although I already have a Chevy/Triumph hybrid.
BMW – though I find it *highly* unlikely I will ever buy another new one. Baring accidents, I may well have the pair of 2011’s I have the rest of my life. I do want to add a much more vintage one though. I’ll have a 2002 or another e30 318iS again someday as a toy. And technically, BMW owns Triumph, so my Spitfire is “in the family” too, and they owned Rover when my Disco I was built.
I forgot BMW got the rights to the Triumph and Standard automotive brands as part of its acquisition of Rover Group, and has retained those.
In general, BMW has had some drama surrounding naming rights. Like how it swooped in and licensed the rights to the Rolls-Royce nameplate–which Volkswagen was under the impression it had won–and then launched what is technically a new company, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. The old company, previously comprising the Bentley and Rolls-Royce brands, was called Rolls-Royce Motors and is now Bentley motors under Volkswagen.
The whole Rolls-Royce/Bentley saga is quite hilarious, and very much a case of VAG not doing their due diligence. Rolls-Royce the car company did not own the name, Rolls-Royce the separate aerospace company did – retained when they spun off the money-losing car company in the 70s. They were already in bed with BMW. Sold them the name for peanuts compared to what VAG paid for Bentley and a moldy old factory. Oops.
Indeed. That said, I’m sure Volkswagen made all their money back as soon as they decided to half-mass-produce a glitzier Phaeton and give it the Continental GT/Flying Spur badge. And I say that as someone who owns a Phaeton. And if not then, certainly by the time they came up with the Bentayga (an ugly offshoot of the Q7 platform).
My love has always been for the proper, big Bentleys, which they no longer make. Those had minimal commonality with the rest of the Volkswagen portfolio and just oozed character and occasion and regality. My dream car is a 2017-2020 Mulsanne Speed (although the final Mulsanne shared the entirety of its electrical architecture with the D4 Audi A8, to good effect). Perhaps in the next five years.
You and I evidently have very similar tastes in luxury cars. I LOVE the Phaeton (that it looks like a big Passat is very much a feature for me), I just have no use for such a thing. And I have always preferred the Bentley version to the equivalent Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royces are just too damned pretentious and shouty for me. And so are modern Bentleys, sadly. The less said about the SUVs from either, the better. There is only ONE luxury SUV, as far as I am concerned, and it is made by Land Rover.
I love the understated SZ cars, Bentley or Rolls-Royce. I very nearly bought a 1994 Silver Spur III that was for sale locally, but it was a bit too questionable in terms of condition, and the seller wanted $17,000 for it. I had to pass.
I think I’d have to narrow it down by who makes the most types of vehicles that I want. Porsche I guess? I can get a wagon, an suv, a sedan or a coupe. That works for me.
This also assumes I have so much money I don’t know what to do with it all. So realistically, it would be something much more pedestrian. At this point in time, Honda looks pretty good to me. I can afford anything they make, and they make a lot of different stuff.
I plan on living forever, so sticking with a single brand might prove difficult.
I’ll take Toyota as well. Not because they’re great cars, but because they offer about the widest breadth of range of cars sold in the US.
Quick and fun? GR Corolla
Fuel sipper? Prius
Sports/GT? Supra
Bring the whole family? Sienna
Tow/haul? Tundra
Not everything they make is great, but everything they make is at minimum very good. I also trust the Japanese to make shit that doesn’t break. They take an enormous amount of pride in their manufacturing and craftsmanship and boy does it show.
This is a tough question to answer, because so many brands have been going off the rails of late. 20 years ago I wouldn’t hesitate to pick a wide variety of brands. Porsche, BMW, maybe Mercedes-Benz. But their current directions are Godawful.
Guess I’ll still pick Porsche. We’re allowed to drive their older offerings right?
I’d probably stick with Chevy for a brand. They have a decent mix of boring dailies, SUVs, trucks, and, of course, the Corvette that could keep me entertained.
Smart engines, including the diesel ones, are great for ultralight aircraft too….
But for me it is Citroën, even though they have been the red-headed stepchild of Peugeot and now Stellantis for far too long.
Always some little design feature which shows someone was thinking when they designed and engineered it in those cars….
I love the DS series, both past and resent. Citroëns are cool. I almost bought an XM, once. This one, in fact. But it had a leaking liquide hydraulique minerale (LHM) system, and I already had three needy, aging, esoteric European cars in my fleet.
Had one of those with a 110HP diesel.
Lovely car until the head gasket blew, and it started laying a steam trail a locomotive would have been proud of. When the garage got the head off, they found it had already been replaced at least once, and one of the built in studs to line it up was broken the first time round.
Did not have cash for new motor so that was that.
So comfortable my wife would fall asleep in five minutes, even if we were just popping down to the shops.
Make sure you buy one after the first two years of production, the time it took for Citroën to realise they needed to change their electrical connection supplier and all the connections.
Probably domestic, if that’s a thing any more, and looking back on my history of cars I’ve mainly been Mopar but split among Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler, so strictly one brand it’s tied between Chevrolet and Ford at 3 and 3, Chevrolet all cars, Ford all Trucks
BUT, we lease a Prologue which is basically a Blazer, and my wife had a Cavalier when we met, and also a Chevette prior to that, and I had an Isuzu P’up which was also the LUV at one point, so I guess Chevrolet, and hopefully they come out with a small EV truck at some point.
Strangely I’m fairly comfortable with that answer, not sure I’d be as comfortable if I said Ford, and definitely not as comfortable if I said any of the Mopars.
If I had to stick with one brand, it would probably be Toyota. It’s a boring, safe response, but it’s a brand that I assume will stick around and probably won’t become complete junk.
GM would be the other option I’d strongly consider sticking with. I haven’t always really enjoyed the Chevies I have owned, but they have treated me well enough and never really let me down.
Ford would probably come in third, though it’s in direct competition with Mazda and Subaru for that place on the list.
What other choice is there to be made besides Nissan, the pioneers of the legendary Jatco Xtronic CVT themselves? I know I’d be getting the best in efficiency, power delivery, and smoothness at all times.
And without having to deal with any of those pesky gears that interrupt power delivery and over complicate things!
They’re also great traffic repellent. Big Altima Energy (BAE) has proliferated so much and so far on the internet that even the general populace makes fun of Nissans. Much in the same fashion that a newer Explorer or an old Crown Vic that bears a resemblance to a police cruiser will part traffic for you, people will move out of your way if you drive a Nissan. Just have a little bit of body damage and drive aggressively. Bonus if it’s an actual Altima or a Rogue; those seem to be the worst culprits of bad behavior.
Fisker, of course. They will surely continue to reincarnate to sell dozens of vehicles in some random form factor. Maybe the next round of roulette will include a Jatco CVT to go with the electric motor. Or two, one for each axle.
My “needs” range from towing 14,000 pounds to Sunday driving in an open air two seater.
If Ford still owned a chunk of Mazda, I’d cheat and go with that, as that’s actually the ends of the current fleet’s spectrum.
By these rules, I guess I’d have to trade the Miata in for a convertible Mustang and the RAV4 hybrid for a Mach E.
Suzuki, since my childhood to this day we have Suzukis, started with my father and his SJ30 Jimny pickup which was abused and kept going for 10+ years, then the 2 doors Vitara in early 90s, Vitara 5 doors in late 90s which lasted for long time, now my brother have Vitara too, and if i’m going to buy a new car it’ll be Suzuki, it’s cheap, reliable and simple.
I could live pretty well with a Suburban, a Z06, and a Silverado HD
I’d miss a lot about Toyota, but if you don’t offer big engines anymore, I can’t pick you.
Ford also gets an honorable mention.
G. K. likes the FoMoCo 7.3-liter “Godzilla.”
So do I.
I don’t see Ford going anywhere any time soon, so at much as I’d love to say something like Lancia and picture myself driving off into the sunset in a Stratos or Delta Integrale, I don’t have the wallet for that. Instead I’m going to pick a brand that still exists and will have parts support for at least 5-6 more decades.
Toyota makes the best cars, so that is my choice 🙂
Mazda is always the answer
Boring answer? Toyota.
The older I get the more I want to minimize any hassles and they just make safe bets in nearly every category. I’d glady take a car/truck/SUV that might lack some competitive performance, style, or fun to know that it’ll likely start and run 99%+ of the time.
Sigh, Toyota. They offer everything, although the current design language is not my cup of tea. We’ve now owned 5? They are comfortable, durable, reliable.
Hybrids are second to none.
Bentley, for rather obvious reasons!
Of fuff you plebian. A Rolls-Royce would be even obviouser.
I have driven the same eight litre as my primary car since circa1978. My Grandfather bought it new. I also race a 3.5 and share a supercharged speed six. I am not super rich, more very lucky. It would seem ungracious not to answer the question a I did.
I took possession of the big car on my eighteenth birthday. As I looked afteritand did not do anything too stupid I formally inherited upon reaching 21. Yes, it is a two owner from new (one surname) car with a full service history.
I think the premise was buying new cars, the new Bentleys seem like the opposite of what W.O. was making.
I can’t imagine any current Bentley lasting 100 years.
I don’t know that that is the premise, since Mercedes is mentioning driving and retrofitting older Smarts. Seems to me her idea is that you could buy any car from that brand’s catalog, current or prior.
In which case, I’d still have to go with Bentley. The modern Rolls-Royces feel like what they are: impeccably engineered, British-flavored, baroquely styled BMWs. Whereas the Bentleys have a lot more soul, especially the ones with the 6.75-liter L-Series V8. The Mulsanne feels a lot more special and passionate, to me, than any Phantom, let alone a Ghost.
I am not sure any current car would last near continuous driving for a 100 years+ the big bits of the 3-5 started there competition life 103 years ago! They do not build them like that today. A confection of the forth bridge, Meccano and steam locomotives, whatever it is it still holds a place.
There seem to be a lot of model As on the roads on nice days around here, I think there must be a club, they are all shiney and travel in groups. I know of a couple guys who daily drive them in upstate NY
My guess is that electronic fuel injection marks the cut-off between needs lots of maintenance but everything can be made from scratch if you really want to, and never needs repairs, but when it breaks it’s not designed to be fixed.
There are so many things that have nothing to do with making a car move, steer, and stop that can keep it from working. Imobolizer systems are a pox, infotainment and all the crap in the dashboard seem designed to stop working eventually and take the car with it.
Purchasing a Bentley, even previously owned, is a bit vulgar, though. How many elderly relatives or dear family friends do you have to keep your transportation needs met?
The Bentley ownership experience we are talking about is more like inheriting a Frank Loyd Wright house, maybe more accurately a Sanford White House. I know people with Sanford White Houses, don’t know anyone with a Wright.
100 made, mid 70s still exist, you don’t own something like that, you conserve it. Not vulgar at all.
I like the 1955 Bentley R-Type Continental a lot, they seem to have become quite costly, but not vulgar at all.
Those VW things? Yeah, kind of embarrassing and vulgar.
Except for a cheap Miata in 2020 for fun when fun wasn’t to be had, and a Porsche 944 Turbo I regretted after a year, every car has been a Toyota or Subaru since 2008. Which is when I split with the ex-wife and cars became fun again.
Flip a coin, Toyota?
Honda.
Honda is my choice also. You get cars including the Civic Type R, SUV’s of different sizes, minivan, light truck, motorcycles, ATV’s, side by sides, marine engines, aircraft, lawn and garden equipment, scooters, and small engines.
That should cover all of my current and potential needs.