If you’ve been on this earth for more than, oh, a few years, you’ve probably heard the saying ‘variety is the spice of life.’ While that doesn’t mean foster a sort of general impermanence, it means trying new things can keep things interesting. However, what about more of the same? Today we’re asking you which car you’d own two of at the same time, and why?
First, the rules. The two cars must be from the same generation, and they can’t be wildly different versions that effectively only share a shell. For instance, a 525i and an M5, or a V6 Challenger and a Demon 170. However, differences in trim, paint, upholstery, condition, and use case are all fair game, as that still means they’re roughly equivalent to each other.
Now, I’m not the sort of person to own the same car twice, much less concurrently, but lately I’ve been giving the thought of a second Boxster a chance. The one I own is already a lovely low-mileage summer toy, but a winter Boxster in a less precious colorway with more mileage and a somewhat questionable history could be a proper laugh. At the bare minimum, I’d be able to save money on oil filter by buying in bulk.
Likewise, I reckon if I ever own something rare enough that a parts car would be a valuable asset, it would make sense to own both a good example and an automotive organ donor of sorts. Not every classic is a Mustang or a Beetle, and I’d imagine that if you lived in North America, having two Citroën DS19s or two Honda Z600s would come in handy for maximizing uptime.
So, which car would you own two of, and why? Is it a matter of different use cases, having one to keep stock and one to modify, cannibalizing one for spare parts, or fulfilling daily driver duties in a two-car household with one optimal solution? Regardless, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
(Photo credits: Porsche, Citroën)
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A joke among the Fiero community is that you can’t own just one. I have had 3, but am proud to say that none of them overlapped with one another.
I’ll say a coupe and convertible version of the same car would be perfectly acceptable (ie, Cayman / Boxster, Z3 Coupe / Z3). Wagon and coupe or sedan, as well (E9x BMW variants. Of course, a track rat or racecar version and a street version is always acceptable and encouraged 😉
I would happily take a second F150.
I have a 2021 Lariat with the 2.7L, and I absolutely love it. It’s such a great vehicle for so many things- It’s quick, smooth and fuel efficient. We use it for everything from special occasions to hauling materials for our building company.
I’d love to add another aluminum body 2015+, Regular or extended-cab F150 4×4 in XL fleet spec. Not only would be handy to have a second truck, and it would be fun to have a slightly rougher example for some mild mods and occasional off-roading.
they used to sell an XL trim with the hybrid engine that would be a great “entry level” truck.
Now, hear me out. I already own a Lancia Scorpion, which is a delightful thing. A Kimera Ev037 requires a Scorpion/Monte Carlo donor chassis to build from, so the chassis number would still go back to a Scorpicarlo on paper. So yeah, I wouldn’t mind having two of those…
I would have two FJ Cruisers. The one I currently own and the next one. Awhile back, I had three Fiat 1100Ds. Two were gifted to me by compete strangers as parts cars when they saw me driving mine.
If I had another garage space I’d want it to hold something really useful like a pickup. And if I had another, I’d buy an electric commuter. Then a roadster for sunday drives…an old prelude so I could relive my youth…a dedicated off-roader… a big powerful German executive sedan…and on and on. Basically I would have to reach warehouse capacity before I could ever consider two of the same car.
Does it count if I own two cars that share a platform? My wife has a 2016 Mazda CX-5 and I have a 2016 Mazda6. It sure is convenient buying two engine air filters, oil filters, and cabin air filters at the change intervals since they take the same ones.
I would have two 1967 Lincoln Continental 4 doors. A black hardtop with a green leather interior, and a yellow convertible with a red leather interior.
2 Ford Raptors, 1 for the drive and one for the dirt
Can I play but with motorcycles? I have 2 Ducati 848s and 2 Aprilia RS250s. It all felt so logical at the time. I was prepping my 848 for the track last winter, having just installed race bodywork, resigned to have it be track-only when an actual track-only 848 (never even registered) showed up about 45 minutes away for cheap so I bought it.
I also have a ’96 Aprilia RS250 that I wanted to bring out too but the original race replica ‘Chesterfield’ bodywork was too nice so I ordered some track bits. Naturally, an old beater track-only ’99 RS250 Cup popped up on CL about 2hrs away at ‘must be a scam’ pricing. It was not a scam but was old and tired and had to come completely apart for inspection/refresh to be safe.
I’m won’t bring the track 848 out until I’ve gone through it too so I guess have two ‘garage only’ copies of bikes I already own.
1)Air-cooled 911s. I can’t get enough of them, so I’d take the SC Targa I already have, and a coupe that’s a lot easier to roof rack to carry a bike and would be quieter on trips.
2)Sentra SE-R. The stock-ish one I’ve had since 1993, and the one a guy I know owns with a 280hp NA VE in it. It’s a monster!
3)Citroen DS. One sedan, probably a ~67 and maybe a Pallas, for the pretty front end and one of the pretty dashes, and an ID Break for carrying stuff, let’s maybe make that one an swap with an SM engine or some modern hybrid powertrain or something.
The 911 suggestion raises the question of what counts as a “generation” for air-cooled 911s, beetles and other models that evolved on a stable base. Maybe it’s being covered by single 3rd party shop manual?
For 911s, I’d say 65-73, then 74-89, then 964, then 993.
I am completely jealous of your SE-R. I had a 96 200SX SE-R. I pretty much ruined it with an overly strong clutch for the turbo, a 4 point roll cage, and dumb seats.
I really want it back….
Yeah, for both my Fiat and my SE-R I’ve solved the “I used to have one and I regret ever selling it” problem by…never getting rid of them. LOL. When my dad was shopping for a new car in 1995 he liked my SE-R enough that he bought a B14 SE-R. I would have kept it after he died, but he had hit a construction area and cracked the transmission case one time and it wasn’t worth it since I was many states away, so I pulled a few aftermarket parts off it and State Farm took it away. I really wish I’d thrown my snow tires or something on it and taken the 15″ wheels with me.
Not an answer to the actual question, but a tip for the wise earned by the foolish: if you own two identical cars of the same year and model and you sell one of them, be veeeery careful to not cancel the insurance of the wrong one (which will trigger auto-cancellation of the registration months later, even if you immediately realize and fix your error), or you will be plunged into a lot of “Who’s on first?” style conversations with your insurer and the MVA to get everything right again.
I may be in the California David Tracy lane at this point, but I have casually looked for a second e-Golf, so I can give my GX a rest and time for mods, while commuting for pennies a day.
I’ll see your 2 and raise you 2 more. Mercedes 124: Coupe (300CE), Cabrio, Sedan (300E), and Wagon (300TE)
Mercedes W123
I’ve owned 2 wranglers at once quite a few times, one bone stock and used for daily driving and towing, and the other one for trail duty. At the end of the day, it was 2 vehicles to maintain, two vehicles to plate and insure, and I decided I’d rather have one nice Jeep than 2 tired 200,000 milers. Traded both in on a 4xe that serves both purposes well.
How you liking the 4xe? I’ve got a 2012 unlimited sport, and yesterday I was browsing used 4xe’s. Looks like I could get a 21 for $35k’ish. Tempted
There are times I’d like to have duplicate, stock XJ in addition to the somewhat modified one I have, but don’t drive it enough that it would make any sense.
This does, however, remind me of one of the bonkers stories from the wife when she was catering in the bay area in college, where some guy apparently had several Lambos that were all identical except color, and he would even have valets have 2 of them present when doing mundane things such as leaving a restaurant, so he could choose on the spot which color he wanted to drive home.
I can probably think of a few, although I like to have variety between cars. But I can in no way imagine being unhappy with two W126 560SEL Benzes, when I was in high school my dad had two, and we switched back and forth a lot. It was interesting how different two of the same exact car can be. I would personally make one a driver and the other one would be for fancy outings only, like having a grungy baseball cap and a formal baseball cap. (Formal of course meaning without the sweat stains and oily fingerprints; I usually don’t go out without a hat.)
Well I actually do currently own pieces of multiple first-gen K5 Blazers (2 VINs, more than 2 trucks worth of parts).
I don’t think I will come out of this odyssey with more than a single running one though, so I suppose my real answer is the Ford F series.
Raptor R for fun.
Super Duty 7.3 for daily driving.
I’ve owned several of the same car. I currently have two AW11 MR2s, (as well as a Roadster/spyder but that doesn’t count). Previously had two of those for a brief period. I’ve had a couple of Suzuki Ignis Sports at the same time- but that’s common in my family. At one stage my parents and my grandmother both had one too.
A classic Mini Traveler and a classic Mini pickup and/or a Saab 900 Turbo Coupe and a Saab 900 Turbo convertible.
If one can own a “beater” work truck and a nicer commuter/vacation spec as well for this thought exercise, I could just about rationalize that. Could be ICE or EV, too, now that we have Lightning Pro and Lariat trims, for example.
What could be crazy is owning essentially identical vehicles that serve the same purpose and don’t do anything better nor are in any better condition than the other. One could say it’s not the most Smart decision, and that one might be better to Jeep out and only have one, which begs the question: YJ’a ask? Could even say there’s a hoard of unholy grails in an instance like that.
Two!? Pah! I own 4.5 Triumph spitfires! Thats barely enough to keep one on the road!
I currently have two 100 Series Land Cruisers. I will eventually get around to selling the old one once the new one is finished getting baselined.
Not sure if it follows the spirit of the question, but I’d love to have a stock verison of my modified 92 wrangler, and for that matter a modified version of my stock 95 mustang.
I use my 986 year-round in Michigan, but I’ve briefly entertained the thought of another one for track days. I’ve given up that thought due to the small chance but big consequences of oil starvation in the M96 engine.
That said, I can totally imagine one day having 2 first-gen Miatas, one to keep clean for nostalgia-cruising and one spec racer. I could also see myself importing a Peugeot 205 GTI with a parts car. But both of those would be far-fetched, as I’m not too worried about a weekend-use-only classic’s uptime in terms of shipping and sourcing parts, and I fear the Boxster has been gradually filling the Miata-shaped hole in my heart already.
I could also totally double-up on a classic bike with hard-to-find parts. Much easier to justify both the cost and square footage to keep a spare with 2 wheels.
What I WOULD like to do is have a backup engine for my Boxster, swap it in one day and drive it while I meticulously rebuild my original unit to X51 specs.