A tale of three continents of luxury
By Jeff Rundles
It was the best of times, at least that’s the way we Baby Boomers remember it. As children we made fun of the Japanese, as “Made in Japan” was a euphemism for “Cheap,” we came of age with American muscle cars, and as we entered our adult years we virtually anointed German automobile engineering as the ultimate status symbol. For better or for worse, all these years, since we were born, we’ve been dealing with our Asian, European and American biases.
Things are different now, of course, except that we still want the best of everything. Maybe you’ve finally decided “What the heck, you can’t take it with you” – assuming you have ‘it’ to take – so perhaps this is the right time to at least drive out our remaining days, even if it means driving to the poor house, in luxury.
During the past year I have had the opportunity to drive several luxury models from a variety of American, German and Japanese makes, and for the upper end of the scale – say, those automobiles in the $60k-plus end of the measure -- I found a winner in the Cadillac CTS-V. I have also, over the past couple of years, driven several Mercedes models, Lexus, Infiniti, Lincoln, and BMW in that price range, and I found winners (Mercedes E350, Lincoln MKS, Lexus LS) and a couple I don’t favor: BMW 5 and 7 (way too over-engineered) and the Infiniti M (noisy). The base prices were less, but after you put in all the goodies, these cars all push $60k or go over it, in some cases by a lot.
But this year, I believe, the car companies aren’t pushing the top-of-the-line things as overall sales are way down in a down economy, so what I have been seeing are the models that base price in the high $30ks to mid $40ks and end up right around $50,000, as they say “nicely equipped.” I got thinking about the Baby Boomer history over the years and decided to select one each that epitomize our historical biases: The Japanese Lexus GS 350, the American Chrysler C300 SRT8, and the German BMW 335i.
I actually had the Lexus GS 350 much earlier this year and it was a 2009 model. But never fear; I have done the research and discovered that the 2010 GS 350 and 2011 GS 350 (just out) are exactly the same car, a “carryover” in car-speak.
Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota, debuted on these shores in 1989 with two models: the LS large sedan and the ES small sedan. They added in the GS as an intermediate sedan with the 1993 model year and it has proven to be a winner. Of course, by the time Lexus was launched, “Made by the J.A. Pan Co.” had ceased to be a pejorative, at least among us Baby Boomers, as companies like Toyota and Honda, not to mention such electronic giants as Sony, had set new standards for quality. And we embraced it, forgetting our earlier bias and going Japanese all-out.
The GS 350 I drove was what I call the perfect car for locales with winter: A luxury, mid-sized sedan with All Wheel Drive. You can get one, for about $2,000 less, with rear-wheel-drive, but I live in Colorado and think AWD is the way to go. The GS is a very handsome car, but not a particularly distinctive one, as it, and all Lexi as I call them collectively, looks like a Toyota from a short distance, and it’s no accident that many, many automobiles from everywhere look a lot like Toyotas. I personally have found the luxury Japanese cars, Lexi especially, to be everything you’d expect in a luxury car, but lacking in an individual personality. When you’re in a Mercedes or a BMW or an Audi, there is no mistaking it for anything else. The GS has all the nice stuff, and it is very beautiful, well made and luxurious, but I have always found the interior to be overall rather bland in comparison. This is not necessarily a dig – the interior is like a private jet cockpit; everything you need or could desire is there, and the overall effect is quite comfortable, but unlike the European competitors, it lacks the distinctive touches that could either make you crave it or hate it. It’s a sort of amalgam and, as such, I think it has no character. I liken it to all the new homes I have been in lately: they are all large and have granite counters and stainless steel appliances and cherry-wood floors, but they look like clones.
On the other hand, it’s a Lexus, and the quality just oozes. The leather is special. Everything operates so intuitively that a novice could operate the navigation, the stereo and all of the computer inputs and readouts without having to look at the manual.
And it drives fantastically. My test-drive model was equipped with a 3.5-liter V6 with a horsepower rating of 306 that felt like more. It is very quick and nimble in traffic, and it is a beast on the highway and up into the Colorado mountains. You can get one with a V8 and 342 hp, but I can’t see the point (and it doesn’t come with AWD); power in any situation will never be an issue. Plus, I got to drive the GS 350 in winter conditions and I can personally attest that on snow and ice, and in heavy traffic, I felt safe and secure; the car held its trajectory, had amazing traction, and the ABS brakes, even on ice, worked beautifully. I drove home from work in a nasty snowstorm and then had to go out to rescue my stuck wife, and I felt blessed to be driving the GS 350.
The base price on the GS 350 AWD is now, for 2011, $47,950 ($1,000 more than 2009, $400 more than 2010), and that price includes all of the luxuries and safety features you’d expect. On my test-drive model they added $3,630 for an ungraded Mark Levinson audio system with navigation and a color rear camera for backup assistance. They also added a rear spoiler ($200), a trunk mat ($75), and XM satellite radio ($486). When you add in dealer handing ($875), the bottom line for the 2009 model was $52,214, so presumably for a 2011 model it would be $53,214. It’s a Lexus and will hold its value well, so I believe at that price this car compares favorably to the competition.
After our little Japanese bias as children, all of us Baby Boomers moved on to the muscle cars of the 1960s, and they pretty much defined our adolescence. GTOs, Mustangs, Firebirds and Camaros; anything with some guts and that roar accelerated our evolution into adulthood.
Lately there has been a return to that era, at least automotively, what with the Dodge Charger and Challenger, and the retro Mustang and Camaro. And while these cars are nice – and nice and fast – they aren’t exactly in the luxury category that we Baby Boomers have come to expect.
Enter the Chrysler C300 SRT8. This is the popular 300 model, revived from its Dodge and Chrysler heritage in the ‘50s and ‘60s, that has been about the best thing that troubled Chrysler has had to offer over the last several years. Rendered in the Chrysler line, the car has the look of a Bentley – no accident, I am sure – and for those who favor American-made (or at least North American: engine, Mexico; transmission, US; final assembly, Canada) type of car, this model offers a very nice ride in any of the 13 trims available.
But for the muscle heritage, there’s only one way to go: the SRT8. All the luxury you want, of course, but let’s get to the heart of the matter: a 6.7-liter V8 Hemi with 425 horsepower. Wow. Wow again. I don’t think I have driven anything in recent years with as much muscle, and the only real problem is that it is nearly impossible to drive it in a serene way. It wants to go, go, go. On the plus side, since it isn’t a Mustang or a Camaro or a Challenger/Charger, it doesn’t look like a fast muscle car, so you can stay under the radar, as it were. And then there’s the ability to pull up next to some young whipper-snapper in a Mustang and if not blow them away, at least blow their mind with some Dad-looking car can do. Yeah, it’s a Hemi.
The beauty of modern muscle cars is that they are fast even in the curves. In the old days they were all-muscle and no finesse, but today the car actually takes the turns and the corners without the telltale lean or spin out, which means they probably wouldn’t make a great “Bullitt” car-chase scene, but they will hold the road in pretty much any conditions.
And do it in style. This is a largish car, bigger than the Lexus, but it handles very similarly and has more back-seat room, and a trunk big enough to take whatever and the kitchen sink. More than any other type of sedan I’ve driven this year, my back-seat passengers were impressed with the comfort and leg room, and anybody in the front passenger seat was just impressed. Like the Cadillac I mentioned earlier, several of my passengers said, “Hey; Americans are finally getting it.”
The C300 was a pleasure to drive – what aided that were the 20” aluminum wheels, the traction control, the ABS brakes (wonderful), the anti-spin differential rear axle (yes, I tried to spin it), and the five-speed automatic transmission that seemed perfectly tuned to shift without effort at the exact moment you’d want.
This car was equipped with all of the luxury stuff – keyless entry, power sunroof, leather trimmed seats with suede accents (plush and comfortable), power everything, Sirius Satellite radio (standard), an awesome audio system, on and on. For extras, they added a Media Center ($900, a great price) with Sirius Traffic Service, navigation, iPod control, and a Uconnect phone with voice command; for another $685 they added in 13 Kicker high-performance speakers, a 100-watt subwoofer, a 322-watt Kicker SRT amplifier, and a surround sound system; plus, $225 for an upgraded red crystal pearl cost paint job that was, in a word, beautiful. To add to its luxury credentials, keep in mind that Chrysler was owned by Mercedes when this car was designed, and it shares features with the Mercedes E and S series models.
While I liked it very much, the Chrysler C300 SRT8 has two drawbacks. First, it is not available with AWD, a feature I really encourage for cold-weather locales, although they have tried to make up for that with all the other systems. Still. And second, on this car you are required to pay the federal Gas Guzzler’s Tax: a whopping $1,700 (the car is rated at 13 mpg city/19 highway). I am not in favor of the gas guzzler tax because I don’t believe there are enough cars that qualify on the road to make any difference at all. Eliminating it probably wouldn’t alter sales appreciably, so what’s the point?
The base price of this car is $44,865, and with the extras and the dealer handling of $750 the bottom line is $49,125. There’s a lot of car for that money here, and I’m convinced that Chrysler is so hungry for sales that there are deals to be had; indeed, in 2006 Chrysler sold 143,000 300 models, but fewer than 40,000 last year. My only fear would be whether it would hold its value over time, given the Chrysler reputation and shaky road ahead.
And then there’s BMW, and in this case the 2010 335i Coupe. While they call all BMWs “The Ultimate Driving Machine,” I think these days the 3 Series is the only one that lives up to the hype. Yes, the 5 Series and the 7 Series drive beautifully, and the performance is amazing, but I just can’t get over the electronics in the more-expensive models. I have said many times, driving one of those requires taking an advanced degree in electronic engineering just to operate the audio system, the nav, and the climate control. They have dumbed them down a little bit in response to much criticism, but not enough.
The 3, however, now includes some technology upgrades that mimic its older siblings, but in the 3 they are much easier to use. I drove the coupe (I prefer the sedan), and I found the car a distinct pleasure. You know from blocks away, and especially inside, that this is a BMW, and once you fire it up it doesn’t disappoint. Quiet, luxurious, the 335i is a driver’s drive. The car feels like an extension of your brain. The performance of the 3.0-liter I6 engine with 300 hp that feels like twice that is simply awesome, and the handling is unparalleled; rare few other cars even come close.
The 3 Series BMW replaced the 2002Ti in 1975 and it is now one of the most recognizable and venerable automobiles on the planet. That’s the good news. The bad news is that for most of the last 35 years the 3 in various forms over the 5 generations made was the iconic line’s entry-level car. As such, the 3 was always relatively affordable. Now, however, they have the 1 Series, which is basically the old 3, and they have taken the 3 into the stratosphere pricewise. My test-drive model, not AWD (you can get the 335ix for more money), carried a base price of $42,650 and by the time they added on stuff like leather, navigation, a moonroof, heated seats, headlamp washers and such, the bottom line is $52,525. I go back a long way with BMW – in college my friends and I drove around in a 2002 Tii and a very good friend had a Bavaria – and maybe it’s just aging, but I can’t get my head around a 3 Series BMW for $50k-plus. I just can’t. Perhaps they should have given it another name – like the 4 Series, or something.
Having said that, I am well aware of the BMW reputation for quality and this car will probably hold its value over time as well or better than any other car on the market. I really enjoyed driving the car, although I would opt for the sedan and the ix AWD option, and every single time I have driven a 3 Series BMW over the years I feel as though this is a car I would actually buy and be quite happy. That hasn’t changed. I guess I am just a victim of my past.
In any case, I have a lot of worldwide options, at least in automobiles, to go back in time. And then, of course, like all Baby Boomers, to go forward.
