Tag Archives: lamborghini

A Million Dollars

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I have been contemplating what I’d do if I was to suddenly come into possession of $1 million. I’ve thought about that also, you might say. But have you really? Sure we often daydream of what we’d do if we won a large sum of money, but those are usually musings of buying X or Y expensive toy. There is no shortage of stories of people who come into that kind of money either from sports or who actually win the lottery and come out worse for the wear.

Here is my list of a few ways I could spend $1million (after taxes).

Supercar, Lamborghini Reventon

Supercar, Lamborghini Reventon

For my first attempt at being rich: first I’d buy a house probably in a nice warm state, lets say Georgia, since if you’ve read any of my articles yet you should understand my aversion to winter. Lets say that house cost me $350K. Then I’d buy a Lamborghini Aventador which would cost me another $450K. Now that I’ve only got $200K to spend on taxes for my house, electricity, insurance (for the car) etc, lets just say that I’ve already spend that last $200K. Well that was a fast way to spend that money. Not difficult to see why it’s easy to spend all that money really fast!

Lets try a little more “practical” way. Keep the house, in Georgia so still $350K. Of course it has a great garage for what comes next. A new Corvette is $60K so I’ll buy one of those. Of course I’d need at least one vintage muscle car. Why not a Dodge Charger, 1969 of course, we’ll just say $40K. With this I could do the Hot Rod Power Tour for about $3K, which I’d recommend anyone who can do the Tour at least once do! Probably buy a new Harley and do Sturgis ($19K (2012 Street Bob (candy red, pipes, seat, handlebars)+$2K (trip)) = $21K.

2014 Corvette

So far I’m up to $434K which is not to bad considering all the toys I’ve bought thus far. $434K. Feels good being so responsible. New Lamborghini’s are sure expensive (as evidenced by way’s to spend money $1). On that note, used Gallardos aren’t to expensive! So ad one of those to my list, $115K. At this point I need to start thinking of more exotic ways to spend money. Perhaps attend DirtFish racing school for a week to learn to drive rally cars. A 3 day class is only $3600. Cheap for what it is. I think the next thing I’d apply for is the Gumball 3000. If you’ve not heard of that no worries. It’s basically a Hot Rod Power Tour but for rich guys. At least they are trying to do something to give back these days.The cost of the Gumball 3000 for 2014? $64K for 2 people! After that big party finished maybe I’d try my new racing skills on the One Lap of America which would cost a cheap $3K! (Why haven’t I done this yet?) What is the One Lap? Basically one of the most extreme performance tests of a street car! It’s one week where you have to race at many different tracks, from full road courses to drag strips. Here’s their description

“The event, as it always has been, is foremost one of endurance and vehicle preparation. No support crews are allowed. The tires that are used on the street are the same ones that are raced on (one set per team). Although scoring is based on performance at the race tracks, the vehicles and their drivers must survive over 5000 miles of driving interspersed with the finest meals available at gas station convenience stores.” I’m honestly having a hard time coming up with more ways to spend this million as I sit here writing!

I’m up to $619,600. So lets just call that good!

Arguably this 2nd way would probably be quite a bit more fun than having 1 very very expensive Lamborghini and a nice house. But it’s still very me focused. I’m buying this car, I’m driving this race. I’m spending $64K on a 1 week party. (I think the One Lap of America looks like a better deal than the Gumball 3000, just to note).

What I wanted to propose was a few different ways to make a bigger difference in the world than to spend all that money on yourself though. Start by watching this TED talk on Effective Altruism. What is that you ask?

“Effective altruism is a philosophy and social movement which applies evidence and reason to working out the most effective ways to improve the world. Effective altruists consider all causes and actions, and then act in the way that brings about the greatest positive impact.” – Straight from Googling Effective Altruism

So to the numbers, because numbers never lie, if someone honest is presenting them. Lets say anyway I spend money I’m going to spend $200K on a house, because that is just smart to have a place to live (although to my next point that might even be a bit expensive). So with $800K what could I buy?

Well if you wanted to sponsor a child in a developing country it only costs $25/month. Take that by 18 years (because that’s when most kids can’t be sponsored anymore) equals $5400, and divide $800K by $5400 and you get 148.

Children International Site

So in summary, you could sponsor 148 kids in developing countries for 18 years on $800K. Think about the impact that would be. Your minimal sponsorship gets these kids access to schools (they have to stay in school to get the money). More consistant food, better living conditions, access to health care etc. While these may not be up to your standards it’d sure be a step forward for these kids.

If you wanted to make a larger impact, in terms of numbers, you could donate to End7. What is End7?  It is a site who’s goal is to vaccinate children to give them immunity to NTD’s. What are NTD’s? Neglected Tropical Diseases. Why are they bad? “Neglected tropical diseases kill an estimated 534,000 people worldwide every year” – CDC

“Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are the most common diseases of the world’s poor.Most people have never have heard of diseases like elephantiasis, river blindness, snail fever, trachoma, roundworm,whipworm or hookworm. But nearly one in six people globally, including more than half a billion children, have these diseases. Without treatment, NTDs can lead to lifelong disabilities and suffering.Just 50¢ can treat and protect a person against all seven of the most common NTDs for up to one year.” – Straight from the End7 website.

Did you reread that number? $0.50. Whats that? Lless than you might leave sitting on the ground if you walked by it. To the numbers, $800K/ $0.50/year x 18 years = 7407 kids you could save for 18 years from awful diseases that you’ve never been exposed to.

Now it might seem easy to say, but Axel, you’re just sensationalizing these things. I don’t think so. Think about why you were never exposed to these diseases or poverty. Likely because you were lucky to be born into a family/country where basic health care was to be expected. Going to the dentist, getting your shots, having food on the table. Maybe someone of you were less well off than others, but probably not many have had to sleep on a dirt floor and have it a common occurrence for family to die from a disease for which there is a cheap available cure somewhere else in the world.

You might also object, saying “If those people can’t pay for their own kids they don’t deserve my money.” Think of it this way, there is a correlation between increased education and reduced child birth rates. (I’ll not get into if I think that’s a good or bad thing.) But if we spend time saving these peoples lives they’ll likely have less kids than their parents, and if they are more educated they’ll be able to spend the $0.50 a year to save the kids they do have.

This might seem like I’m getting on quite the high horse and saying material thing are bad, and that’s just not the case. I freely admit that I have a lot of toys myself, motorcycles, cars, etc. But to be the change you want to see in the world, you have to start with yourself. That’s why I’m starting to inventory process. Reflecting on what I have, what I make, and what I can afford to share. I will not give my exact numbers for charitable donations at this time (I might go over that in a future post), but suffice to say it’s not insignificant, and it makes me feel good. A lot of people are struggling in this world, just read about The Restless Project. Why? A lot of it seems to be due to materialism. But what really makes us happy? Check out this psychology. Giving and helping others (with time also), makes us happy! Think about it.

So next time you are thinking about how you’d spend a million dollars, stop and think, “Do I really need a million dollars, or have I already won some lottery compared to a large percentage of people in the world?” And if you find yourself saying yes to that, consider how you can give back. It will make you happy and the world a better place.

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Car Spotters guide to the galaxy, part deux

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Quartermile:
Helping you tell the difference between a pony car, muscle car, sports car and exotics.
The topic of what makes a muscle/pony/sports car is very debatable and you’ll get 100 different answers from 100 different car guys. All opinions voiced below are strictly those of myself, and are not necessarily right. That being said, they definitely aren’t wrong either.This is meant to give you a basic understanding enough to say, who cares what exactly it is, is it cool?

Supercar, Lamborghini Reventon

Supercar, Lamborghini Reventon

La Carrera! (The Race in Espanol, why espanol? not sure, why not? Get some culture in you grease monkeys!)

If you read this article about identifying cars of older vintages approximately 1920’s to 1960’s you are on a good start to knowing what cars are driving down the road and impressing all your friends with your knowledge, or annoying your friends by pointing out every old car they don’t care about.

Either way, you still have a long way to go before you can identify every genre of cars with your eyes closed, young greasemonkey,, so we will continue our car spotters guide here with the next group of cars, in my mind and history muscle cars, pony cars, sports cars and exotics/super cars.

Pony cars – This segment of cars was started in 1964 ½ by the Ford Mustang, hence the pony reference. A pony car is distinguished by it’s physical body features. These are light 2 door, 4 seat, long hood, short truck cars. They can be physically smaller than most muscle cars (although a pony car can be a muscle car also, more later). If you have ever actually stood next to a 1965 Ford Mustang it’s quite a small car!

Notice the short trunk in relation to the long hood.

Notice the short trunk in relation to the long hood.

A pony car can even have a V6 or I6 (like early Mustangs,Camaros, Challengers).To give you some idea an earlier Pontiac GTO (1965) or 1969 Dodge Charger or Plymouth Road runner would NOT be a pony car since the rear trunk is much longer proportionally, related to the hood, than a Camaro or Mustang. Most pony cars were American made, although there might be a few Australian cars that could count, Holden something? To be honest this phrase, pony car, has more or less fallen out of use.

Pony Car, 1967 Camaro

Pony Car, 1967 Camaro

Classic American muscle – In general 1964 to 1972 was considered the heyday of the “true” muscle cars, the ones that started it all. Muscle cars are mostly an American phenomenon, although there were also some Australian muscle cars, Ford XB Falcon (of Mad Max fame)

Ford Falcon XB Mad Max

Ford Falcon XB Mad Max

or the Holden (General Motors) Monaro. Unlike pony cars which are determined by body type, muscle cars are determined by what’s under the hood. That’s why cars below like the Chevelle could be a muscle car or not based on which engine was installed in it.

Muscle Car, Chevrolet Chevelle

Muscle Car, Chevrolet Chevelle

Many argue the 1964 Pontiac GTO was the first muscle car. The GTO was an option of the LeMans that upgraded to 389 cubic inches of V8 power putting down 325 hp. So how can a car be both a pony car and a muscle car? See below.
Ex: A Mustang with a I6 or small V8 (289 CID) would be a pony car but can become a Muscle car by giving it a humongous engine, 427 CID V8. BUT a Dodge Charger, with it’s large body dimensions, is basically automatically a muscle car, but definitely not a pony car.

1969 Dodge Charger, Muscle car! Long hood, long trunk.

1969 Dodge Charger, Muscle car! Long hood, long trunk.

Muscle car, Plymouth Super Bird. A very long car!

Muscle car, Plymouth Super Bird. A very long car!

Because of their large displacement, muscle cars were masters of the quartermile drag race but are notorious for not handling great, especially in relation to lower powered foreign sports cars. Most muscle cars are 4 seaters, but the back seats are a bit more roomy than their pony car counterparts. Although, I’d argue that an AMC AMX, although only a 2 seater, was a muscle car as opposed to a sports car.

Sports car – The word “Sports Car” is a catchall term so broad you could basically use it for anything that performs better than a minivan. For older car’s I’d say that a Chevrolet Corvette and a Shelby Cobra were the two American made sports cars. This was because they were 2 seat cars, often lighter than pony or muscle cars, and had better stopping and cornering performance than contemporary muscle cars. That’s not to say that sports cars can’t have 4 seats also, ex: Nissan 370Z.

Picture showing the variety of sports cars, Nissan 370Z and an 80's Corvette

Picture showing the variety of sports cars, Nissan 370Z and an 80’s Corvette

Into the decades after the 1970’s the term sports car can be applied to so many vehicles so I’ll just list a few to show the diversity, Mazda Miata, Ferrari anything, Nissan all Z cars, most cars you refer to as a muscle car can also be a sports car. Dodge Viper. Dodge Stealth. Acura NSX.

Sports car, Mercedes C63 AMG

Sports car, Mercedes C63 AMG

Modern Muscle car – This is any car made after the 1972 date break for “classic” muscle cars. This is because in 1972 the US government began mandating emission testing for new cars. This effectively killed the performance of muscle cars for the next 15+ years.

Modern Muscle car, 2012 Boss Mustang

Modern Muscle car, 2012 Boss Mustang

That being said, the latest muscle cars, (2000 and newer) are often much better performing cars than their older counterparts, especially in the handling department. The term pony car is basically dead, as far as I’m concerned. Really, do you want to drive a pony car or a muscle car? I think we can see why that term is not so popular anymore.

Exotics/Supercars – Supercars are just what the name implies. They are super in every way. Super fast, super expensive, super cool. They are generally more capable than your average car, in terms of performance, for their time. Some 1970’s super cars could be easily beat in some competitions by a contemporary minivan. Super cars are very powerful like muscle cars, but can also employ a mid or rear engine configuration. They are also exclusively 2 seat cars. They are low to the ground, wide and aerodynamically shaped for their high top speeds and fast cornering characteristics. Italy is the hot spot for super cars with the Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s but there are definitely many more around the world, and new supercars arriving on the scene everyday.

Exotic - Testarossa Ferrari. Top of the line Ferrari in it's day.

Exotic – Testarossa Ferrari. Top of the line Ferrari in it’s day.

Just a few are Koenigsegg, Pagani, Saleen S7, Ford GT, Porsche Carrera GT. Supercar and exotic are basically interchangeable terms, and the exotic name implies that they are made in very low numbers. This can make it a bit confusing when you start to look at some cars like a Dodge Viper or a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. They are both modifications of a sports car for sure. Does their lower production volumes and higher performance make them an exotic? I’m not sure, you decide! Luckily there is no right or wrong answer here.

Exotic, Lexus LFA

Exotic, Lexus LFA

So that was quite the list of different cars. Hopefully you can better tell them apart now.
What is your favorite type of car? Is it in this list?

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