For a gearhead, New York City can be a confounding experience. Some of the richest people on the planet congregate here. They buy fantastic cars, surely. Yet it's rare to see their iron steeds on the city streets.
What one does see: some of the weirdest daily drivers you can imagine. Cars so far past their obsolescence dates it's obscene. Custom jobs so unique and funny that it lifts the spirits of even the most jaded straphanger. Ridiculously rare collectibles used (as they should be!) instead of caged in a climate-controlled garage.
And that subway reference is no mistake. Part of the joy of carspotting in NYC is that so few of us own cars here. It's a bad financial decision. Stepping out of the door of even the most humble abode in the city affords one with seemingly endless transport options: Citi bike? Electric-assist Citi bike? Taxicab? Subway? Bus? Uber/Lyft? For the EV crowd, there's Revel. Or your good old feet.
As NY native Billy Joel once opined in the battle of new audio equipment vs. new shoes, "Don't waste your money on a new set of speakers/ You'll get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers".
Oh, and there's the subway itself.
A monthly parking garage spot in Manhattan regularly goes for $600-$900. Again, that's per month. Owning a car in NYC is like owning a Gila monster in an Antarctic research station. It can be done, but it's unadvisable.
(By the way--if you are foolish enough to insist on owning a car in the city, you know--so you can escape hell when the SHTF event goes down--The Manhattan recommends city-owned garages. There are six of them. Slots renew monthly, and you have to logon at 10:00am every month, five days before end-of-month, to renew. It's a hassle. But at $300/mo., it's a steal.)
So: seeing cool cars on the street in NYC and surrounding environs is just plain fun. Car-guru-nerd-cum-crazy-successful-millionaire-car-guru Doug DeMuro used to make good sport of this exact dynamic in his poor-car-guy years. He still does it, to his everlasting credit.
In homage to DeMuro, and the nutty car owners of the five boroughs, here are a few gems we've captured in the past few weeks. It's not about always about the latest and greatest. More often, it's about the weirdos, the unicorn conveyances. Enjoy!
