[jyl]

You know the concept of usable power - not just how what the max power is, but how much of the power you can actually use.

I think there's a concept called "usable fun" that is relevant here.

Driving "fast" is not inherently fun. What's fun is driving at a speed that is fast given the limits of the car and the driver and traffic/safety on that particular road.

Take a given stretch of twisty road. In a Austin-Healey 100, 45 mph feels like you're Aryton Senna - you're shifting, drifting, catching, having a great time. In my 89 Carrera, 45 mph is mildly entertaining - I can stay in the same gear and steer with one hand but its nice to hit the apexes. In a GT3, 45 mph is stone boring - I'm probably fiddling with the radio and drinking coffee.

Now, there is a speed that makes this road great fun in the Carrera, probably 60 mph. And at 80 mph in the GT3, it's probably fun. But this is the street, not the track. There are blind corners, bicyclists, little old ladies, police, cross-traffic, etc. You just can't sensibly go 80 mph here, even 60 mph is $500 ticket time.

For this road, I think the A-H has the most "usable fun".

For a pure pleasure car, I'd want the one with the most usable fun for the roads where I'm going to seek my fun. It might be an A-H 100, it might be the Carrera, it might be . . .

So this is where the muscle car comes in. In city driving - straight lines, 90 deg turns, 40 mph speed limits and lots of pedestrians/traffic, what can be more fun than a classic muscle car? You get that jolt off the line, rear tires breaking loose, you can hang the rear end out merely turning right on a red light. If I did all my driving "in town", I'd want my 65 Mustang back.

Now, Paul's Mustang is a far cry from a vintage muscle car (in a good way). I'll bet he picked the car with the maximum usable fun for the roads that he drives.