tachyon

Honestly, has there ever been an era with such amazing automobiles? Think about all the fantastic models we can choose from today: from a Prius to a Hummer; from a Honda Fit to a Porsche Cayenne Turbo; from a Mitsubishi EVO to the mighty BMW M5; from a Saturn Sky to an Audi R8.

And there is some very cool stuff coming down the pike over the next few years: plug-in vehicles such as the Tesla Roadster and Chevy Volt, new hybrids such as the next generation Prius and all kinds of stuff from BMW; monster sedans such as the Audi RS6; tiny cars like the Smart Car. There hasn't been such an explosion of species since the Cambrian period.

The horsepower wars may be reaching a period of cease-fire, but look at some of what they've delivered so far (I realize these are not direct competitors to the E60, but you're tempted, right?):

BMW M3 $58,000 414HP



Cadillac CTS-V $58,000 550 HP



MB C63 AMG $58,000 441 HP



I wish I had a bigger garage.

FRANK970

I totally agree with this. It seems that the engine designers now pick a HP that they want then just start designing the engine to meet that amount. The limits that used to exist just don't seem to be a factor anymore. This HP race is removing the engine as a variable between vehicles. Now suspension, weight, and drivetrain are what seperates one vehicle from the next.

1esquire

Agreed. With American cars coming back like the Charger SRT-8, the Pontiac GTO (w/6.0L!), the soon to be Pontiac G8, the new Vette ZR1, etc., it is really an awesome time to be a car fanatic.

The sad part is that with (1) the price of gas, (2) the economy and bad exchange rates in the US, and (3) Congress requiring more and more fuel efficiency and emissions controls, we could be in the twilight of the era in the U.S. The same cycle happened back in the late 60s/early 70s in the U.S., sadly. Everyone knows how terrible the cars of the 80s were (a Corvette w/less than 200 HP? a Buick Grand National as GM's "best and fastest?" uggghhh.

sixcard

Some very good observations here!

Maybe it's OK to be so freaking old I probably won't see the worst of the automobile change and even worse the political change we are facing.