Gallery: 9 Rides Truly Wired Gearheads Should Love
Ford012012 Ford Mustang Boss 302
The problem with loving machinery is twofold. First, machinery cannot love you back. No car or airplane will ever crawl into bed with you at night, nor will it send you a really nice card on your birthday. Second, machines cost money. This is not so much a problem if you are [Bill Gates and you want a Porsche 959](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2011/03/show-and-display/). It is more of an issue if you are Bill Gates' gardener and you want a Porsche 959. As with people, some affections are destined to be unrequited. [](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/rawfile/wireds-9-for-9-galleries/)What, then, to make of our dreams? The answer is easy — love them for what they are, and keep dreaming. To that end, we have gathered a few of our favorite things. Some we've experienced, some we haven't. But all are worthy of our affection, and yours. This is the kind of stuff that keeps us up nights. It's what makes the life mechanical worth living, but more important, it's what Wired is all about: The intersection of tech and emotion, speed and seduction. You're going to disagree with us. That's fine. This is *our* list. Tell us what's on yours and we'll compile another one. 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 -------------------------- There are cars, and then there are muscle cars. The genre is filled with throwbacks, outdated shapes that pluck your heartstrings but don't make much sense for modern life. Most of these machines — chiefly, the [Chevrolet Camaro](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2011/09/camaro-celebrates-45-years/) and the Dodge Challenger — are too big, too fat and too thirsty. They recall much-loved bygone eras without reminding us why we liked them in the first place. This is the exception. The [Mustang Boss 302](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2011/06/mustang-boss/) is Ford swinging for the fences, updating its live-axle Mustang into a beast to be reckoned with. It's loud. It looks obnoxious. Its name references the Boss 302 Mustangs of the late 1960s and early 1970s, track-racing specials that were deeply flawed but still enormously cool. The '12 Boss isn't flawed. It's a nice, well-rounded performance car. It makes you feel things deep in your gut, even if you're not a muscle-car nerd. It cranks out performance numbers similar to those of a BMW M3 or Mercedes-Benz C63 but at half the price. The point here is the benchmark: This is what a raw, simple and utterly charming car feels like. We can't forget. *Photo: Sam Smith/Wired.com*
STAFF SGT. GREG L. DAVIS02North American P-51 Mustang
North American P-51 Mustang --------------------------- Here we have a Mustang of a different flavor. The P-51 is perhaps the best-known fighter plane of World War II, and with good reason — it's sturdy, fast, and impossibly good-looking. Bonus: A 1,490 horsepower Rolls-Royce/Packard Merlin V-12 sits under that long nose. You know what this is? This is America in polished aluminum. You need to ride in this (and you can, [thanks to a group of generous P-51 loonies in Florida](http://www.stallion51.com/p51-flight-ops/p51-orientation-flights.shtml)) to know why high-performance military technology is worth geeking on. A little perspective: When this thing was new, the average general-aviation aircraft looked like a [Piper Cub](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_J-3_Cub) and the average car was barely more evolved than your toaster. We've also included the P-51 because no matter how nicely you ask, Uncle Sam won't stick you in an [F-22](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/dangerroom/tag/f-22/). *Photo of two Mustangs over Davis-Monthan Air Force Base: Staff Sgt. Greg L. Davis / U.S. Air Force*
031999 Ducati Monster 750
Ducati Monster -------------- Motorcycles are funny things. Unlike cars, most are specialized tools. No one *has* to use a bike every day, so motorcycle manufacturers are free to build products almost completely without compromise. That's where the Ducati Monster comes in. This is an old-school, pared-down sport bike, not a crotch rocket, repli-racer or squid machine. The 90-degree V-twin nestled in the Monster's trellis frame is a strong, soulful piece, offered around the world in displacements ranging from 400 to 1,100 cc. This isn't a machine of extremes, whether in power, handling or comfort. You get what you get, but it's somehow always enough. This is what fast bikes used to feel like. This is also what motorcycling, at its core, is all about: a frame you can see through and just enough power to scare yourself. *Photo: [sonofabike](http://www.flickr.com/photos/oyj/2968717340/in/set-72157628094669892)/Flickr*
04Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car ----------------------- With the possible exception of Ferrari, no car company on the planet is as revered as Porsche. The brand's most hallowed product, the 911 Carrera, is one of the most successful sports cars in history. It's also one of the most successful racing cars ever. The 911 GT3 Cup is Porsche's six-figure spec-racer 911, the turnkey factory track toy used in the global GT3 Cup series. It's also one of the most evolved and — if our sources are worth their salt — predictable, fun-to-drive speed machines out there. Oh, right: *You* can drive it, pending two days of instruction, at the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Experience in Alabama. It costs just $10,000. Pricey, yes, but a bargain when you consider a single Cup race entry could cost as much as a new Mercedes-Benz. Call it the perfect introduction to Porsche's decades of dominance. If you can't swing 10 grand for two days of fun (and really, who can?), pick up a used 911. It'll run you anywhere from $10,000 on up, depending on your taste and budget. The medium is different, but the message is close enough. *Photo: Porsche*
05TGV Paris train station
Train à Grande Vitesse ---------------------- France's high-speed passenger train is a marvel. Although it was initially engineered and developed more than 30 years ago, it remains one of the most fascinating, most pleasant ways to arrive somewhere on wheels. The system carries tens of millions of passengers each year and is capable of moving cars at speeds topping 200 mph. The average TGV train is an eerily quiet ride and couples impressive ride isolation with an astounding safety record. It also traverses some of the most beautiful landscape in Europe. Think about this: We live in a world where one of the most-used forms of public ground transit goes faster than some aircraft. How cool is that? This is the future, the past and the present all in one place. It's also a remarkably good argument for the global implementation of high-speed rail. *Photo of TGV trains at the Paris station: [Rami](http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhk313/2811844975/)/Flickr*
06Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing
1954–1963 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ------------------------------ When they close the book on the European supercar, this is the one everyone will remember. [Mercedes-Benz's Gullwing coupe](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2011/07/benz-gullwing/) and its roadster sibling are the *ne plus ultra* of German production-line awesomeness, but they're also wonderfully usable. Few 60-year-old cars are fast, comfortable, quiet and engaging. Close your eyes while driving a 300 SL and you could easily be in a modern Mercedes. Also, the dang thing is a piece of rolling art that sounds like God. Angry God. Oh, right. We were [lucky enough to drive one](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2011/01/driving-the-awesome-mercedes-300-sl-gullwing/). It changed us. Forever. *Photo: Sam Smith*
Image: Chris Burnham, DC Comics07Chris-Craft speedboat
Any vintage Chris-Craft ----------------------- Yes, that's right, *any* of them. From the early 1920s to the late 1950s, Michigan boat builder Chris-Craft created some of the most beautiful watercraft in history. Each is unique, but most sport a double-walled mahogany hull, varnished sides and tops and a v-shaped planing bottom. Power sources vary, but it's usually a prewar Chrysler or Ford flathead. (Fours for the small boats, sixes for the large ones.) Exhausts are wide-open and loud, muffled only by the engine's flow-through cooling system, which ingests and spits out the water you're slicing through. There are faster boats, and there are definitely more durable ones. There are rarer and more beautiful classics — Chris-Crafts were built on a production line, and are thus somewhat common. But few waterborne machines pair this much style and grace with speed and usability. Even now, they make our collective heart go pit-a-pat. *Photo: [bill barber](http://www.flickr.com/photos/wdwbarber/4290849133/)/Flickr*
Mike Ditz082012 Nissan GT-R
2012 Nissan GT-R ---------------- This is the big dog, the giant killer, the rolling Deep Blue. It is known as Godzilla, and despite costing $89,950 it is quite possibly the best performance bargain going. For just under 100 large, you get a 520-horsepower, 451-pound-foot Japanese monster capable of felling Ferraris. The GT-R's twin-turbo V-6 puts its power to the ground through one of the most complex and intelligent all-wheel-drive systems on Earth. An advanced and extremely well-calibrated electronic stability control system keeps you out of the weeds, but its sensors work with the GT-R's electronically managed differentials to improve handling. Topping things off, a digital center stack relays a host of information about the car's underpinnings — everything from throttle-position graphs to cornering Gs. We lost count of how all the ways you can configure it. The GT-R is quite possibly the most evolved, most digital, most geekable car on the market. Nissan's beast may lack driver involvement (steering feel wants a bit, and unless you're sliding sideways or topping 150 mph, it feels like a cold, distant fish), but believe it or not, that's part of the charm. This is as close to an autonomous car as we want to get. Any closer, and you're just along for the ride. *Photo: Nissan*
09Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC SE
Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC SE ---------------------------- This alphabet soup of a motorcycle is the [Nissan GT-R's two-wheeled equivalent](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2011/06/video-an-aprilia-slays-godzilla/). "APRC" stands for Aprilia Performance Ride Control, the Italian company's in-house electronic stability and rider-management system. All things considered, this might be the smartest motorcycle ever. Using a host of sensors, including two pyrometers and two accelerometers, the RSV4 measures yaw, lateral acceleration, roll angle and longitudinal acceleration. It also tracks a rider's control inputs, all in the name of helping you ride better and faster. You read that right: This isn't a safety system. It's not stability control. It's a system designed to help riders exploit the bike's potential. It's also somewhat difficult to explain in a limited space, so just [watch this helpful video already](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2011/06/video-aprilias-tech-makes-even-squids-ride-well/). *Photo: Aprilia*
