I used to do a bit of racing in Formula Fords etc. Now my interest in cars and boats goes for ones much older than me. Never got into motorbikes for some reason.
Patrick wrote:
BMW i3 in most cities and it’s a fun experience! It truly feels like stepping into the future when you get into that car. No bad deal either, at ~30 cents/minute.
I was able to drive along one of those in the BMW World in Munich and I was pleasantly surprised. It won’t be my car (I don’t like the small and tall designs), but I am looking forward to the future.
My M5 is now more than 16 years old (I’ve had it for 10) and I had only one failure on the road when a high pressure oil tube burst, which I found out is normal after 10 years (mine lasted 15) if you don’t change it as a precaution. Otherwise it’s a very nice and reliable car and I enjoy driving it. As I don’t have the means to have more than one car or change it all the time (if I want to fly as well), I find the M5 a very good combination of a comfortable and sports car. Although I would nowadays probably go for the M4, as I don’t need the space and rear seats that often.
Patrick wrote:
Incidentally, our first tour was to the Wright museum at Kitty Hawk
My first drive in the ’99 Miata/MX-5 was to ferry it home after purchase, and in doing so this photo was taken at around 11,000 feet altitude. No oxygen available for either the engine or me… The top was down, maybe that helped! 
Engine power was very limited.
Silvaire wrote:
Good choice. Ours is a ‘99 that I bought for $9K with 18,000 total miles 6 years ago. It’ll run forever without issue and provide a bit of fun along the way.
Nice!
I got hooked to the Miata when I lived in North Carolina as an highschool exchange student in 1999 and my host dad had a red ’91 model. Incidentally, our first tour was to the Wright museum at Kitty Hawk.
Patrick wrote:
Since I was able for the first time to afford the car I wanted, I’ve been driving various Mazda MX5/Miatas. The current one is my fourth one and the only one I bought new
Good choice. Ours is a ‘99 that I bought for $9K with 18,000 total miles 6 years ago. It’ll run forever without issue and provide a bit of fun along the way.
I like driving. Before flying even occurred to me, I was quite enthusiastic about my car – including the daily forum digest (guess where that moved to), meetups, driving tours etc. Since I was able for the first time to afford the car I wanted, I’ve been driving various Mazda MX5/Miatas. The current one is my fourth one and the only one I bought new. The previous three ones were the first gen model with the pop-up headlights that I adored but aren’t put on new cars anymore for safety reasons. The nice thing about this car for me is: It’s exactly what I want and need! There is no dreaming of driving any other, bigger, faster, cooler or whatever sports car. I’m convinced that life is too short for boring cars, I found my perfect balance. The car fits my body like a well-tailored pair of jeans, I put it on rather than stepping into it!
Some say that while people driving convertibles tend to put the top down if the WX is really, really good (and not too hot, because then it’s AC), a roadster should have the top up only in the worst of conditions – and I try to live by that. It’s almost always a question of having the right clothes – all year. While people look at you as if you were a crazy person, I feel much warmer in my car (with a windshield!) than on a bicycle in winter…
Of course, these days, when the WX is fine, the car competes with a flying trip and frankly, it mostly loses. So unfortunately, it has become a useful means of transport and I’m not doing so much fun driving anymore. This photo is from a trip through Switzerland to the Ligurian coast in Italy in 2015 when I had planned to fly there but WX on the day of departure forbid flying.
I also enjoy driving in general. When I’m traveling (basically every week), I prefer rental cars or car sharing over taxis and taxis over trams (and planes over trains, of course). Speaking of car sharing, @Vladimir: Germany’s premier car sharing provider DriveNow has a nice fleet of BMW i3 in most cities and it’s a fun experience! It truly feels like stepping into the future when you get into that car. No bad deal either, at ~30 cents/minute. Not sure if they’re planning to add Zurich to their active cities anytime soon…
Howard wrote:
BMW bikes just work. Every time. Perfectly. They are also good fun to ride. I still lust after Ducatis though.
You might find this report interesting. I’ve ridden BMWs and others for decades. On my last European ride with BMW folk, one late model GS came down with flat cams (a known defect on the newest water boxers) and another had to be recovered by ADAC from Corsica to Munich due to a bad throttle position sensor. I think there were eight BMWs in the group, so only 25% mortality 
I’ve given up on new ones due to the reliability issues but do have one BMW, a 1990 model that will run forever, plus some other bikes including six made in Italy. I choose them, use them and maintain them carefully and I’ve actually never been on a motorcycle ride and not reached my destination on the bike, for any reason. I’ve ridden one of the Italian bikes for 100,000 miles, slightly more than my old BMW.
Oh I’m a complete petrolhead…People have joked about buying me petrol for my birthday…
Since 1992 I have only driven Porsches. (Lucky, I know…I used to have my own business.) They were all news ones that I spec’d out myself except the current one which was an ex-demonstrator with 4,000 miles on the clock. They hold their price remarkably well and are very reliable wonderful machines being so well engineered. I gradually moved up the model list. The progression goes like this : 944 S2 Coupe (one of the very last off the line. Magnificent car.), Boxster S (Nov-99 – one of the very first off the line – I ordered it two years before the model was announced and later spoke at the Boxster convention in Las Vegas in 2000), 996 C4S, 997 C4S, 997 Turbo. They have all been truly wonderful beasts. The 944 and the Boxster overlapped for a few years – the 944 being the family car. I kept it for 11 years. I’d still have it now if I hadn’t had to sell it to pay legal fees in 2003 (long story). The current car is a 2008 model turbo, now with 65,000 miles on it and I intend to keep it until it or I stop running. (I can’t afford to buy a new or nearly new Porsche again whilst also flying.) I have taken a few of the cars to the track and had some racing lessons at Brands Hatch and Silverstone. They were good fun days, but racing properly involves having a dedicated race car (even a street car dedicated to weekend racing) and not just one’s normal road car which is what I have.
I also own and ride motorbikes but have only ever done one (Ducati 748) race day at a track. Bikes are such great value in terms of bang for the buck. I have had a good number of Italian bikes but I get repeatedly fed up seeing them taken away on a low loader by the AA (the last being a Moto Guzzi Griso that had been caught in the rain – Italian bikes are not waterproof!) so I often go back to more reliable bikes until I get the urge to get another fantastic-looking Italian beast. At the moment I run a BMW R NineT and before that an R1200RT. BMW bikes just work. Every time. Perfectly. They are also good fun to ride. I still lust after Ducatis though.
Howard
Not interested in cars or Motorsport. Have owned a motorbike in past, have owned a car since 1960, but it’s just transport. Don’t mind driving for hours, but don’t get pleasure from it. Only worked on car in past to save money.
Not interested in aeroplanes, but enjoy flying. Gliding 1959 – 1964. PPL in 1964, couldn’t afford to fly, got it back 1987. Part owner of Jodel DR1050 since January 1990.
(Boat owner 1965 – 1986, sailing dinghy, then small sail cruiser, then 9 metre deisel fishing boat.)
Vladimir wrote:
Perfect addition, a thing I would include in the same bunch of hobbies/interests. Maybe a good idea for my next vacation: get a recreational license.
I often think cars are poor substitutes for boats for people living inland In Norway we are 5 million people, but I think we have a million recreation boats here (one million). I got 2 (more like 1 1/2 ), a boat and a canoe. Got to have a new boat this year. Something faster so my wife stop complaining it takes too long to get to places and smaller so I can bring it home during the winter and maintain it. I actually would like a sailboat, but too much work, way too slow, so my wife would hate it (I would just love sailing with no other purpose, but she needs to get “somewhere”, and in a sailboat that takes a looong time. She don’t like flying much, but we both like the sea. For me to have a plane, it also means I have to have a boat to keep the family peace )
Probably the most fun I have ever driven (on the ground) are snowmobiles. I have never owned one, only used some company owned ones to get to powerplants during the winter and similar things. The power and acceleration in those are incredible, and I have only driven the average “sedan variety”, not the hot 150+ two stroke hp ones. The sensation of speed going 100+ km/h in between brush and trees, jumping in the snow is really something extraordinary. Those things are mostly for young people IMO, unless of course you need it for everyday use or work or something.
