So, you love cars and can live anywhere. Where do you go?

I travel for work and only need to commute a few times a year. As such, I am discovering that I can live virtually anywhere in the world for all intents and purposes. So, the question comes up: where might I live?

So far my list includes Northern California, Anchorage and the Virgin Islands for one reason or another, but I'm wondering about places overseas, particularly those with favorable exchange rates. Naturally there are lots of factors, but this is a car forum. Where is the best place for a car-lover to live? Italy? Germany? Atlanta?

Damn man.  So far I cant beat San Antonio, Texas.  A couple auto-x organizations with good venues, rally club, Texas mile, the Circuit of America...  Or there's some twisties to be found in the hill country.

Plus the local craigslist usually has something of interest that's reasonably priced.

I know it's not exactly "exotic", but I havent lived anywhere "better" from this standpoint

Hungary comes in a close second because of its cheap communist car supply (those are lots of fun).  You can drive to the transfagarasan or the nurburgring.  The Hungaroring and the Panonia ring are nearby and both do track days...

The exchange rate is REALLY in your favor.  But still...  San Antonio really takes the cake.

In reply to Hungary Bill :

I don't know man. Coming from SoCal to San Antonio just have me messed up. As far as car stuff San Antonio feels kind of meh-ish. The cost of living is pretty good though, weather meh, people are okay lol. 

If I could live anywhere it would probably be south or central America or Malaysia. I probably wouldn't even worry too much about car stuff though. I would love an epic SUV though, like one that could go anywhere. Like a crazy overlander build. And maybe a couple old Benz that wouldn't draw too much attention driving around in a developing nation. 

Consider western South Carolina.  Close to major airport (Charlotte).  Close to BMW performance in Greer.  Reasonable cost of living.

Challenge with other countries is how long will they allow you to live there?

While I love living in Alaska, it’s not a great place to live if you love cars. The weather and the roads simply grinds everything down. There’s a drag strip in Palmer, a couple road races in Tok, a couple dirt track ovals state wide, and a small autocross scene as well as a show n shine cars and coffee type deal around Anchorage.  

Now if meant “anything with a motor” when you say cars it’s a great place for trucks, atv’s and side by sides, dirt bikes (several MX tracks), snowmobiles (Snowmachines here), and boats. Bonus if you like fishing and hunting, hiking, camping, and other outdoorsy things. Its also a great place to be a pilot as something like 10% of the state has road access.  

I like San Antonio a lot as a city but we’re likely to end up in Albuquerque because family. 

Year round racing, an abundance of tracks, and no inspection. Florida. 

You can find good car stuff in a lot of places. I like Monterey for that. You have all of the Laguna Seca events, great driving roads, cool weather, and of course Car week. 

I'm moving to Colorado partly because of the range of activities there and partly because of the great job offer I got there. You can go off-roading all over, canyon carving at anytime, hit a track day, or go grab a side by side or dirt bike and carve up the trails. 

South Carolina Low Country (excluding Charleston due to crippling congestion). 

Love the area plus the abundance of old muscle cars parked in the back yards are pretty cool. 

Hard to beat SoCal for car culture.  The traffic is bad, but not as apocalyptic as everyone says.

Canada is quite lovely.  Lots of nice driving around Vancouver.  Exchange rate is favorable, but its washed away by generally higher prices on goods and services.  Italy and Greece will stretch your dollar a bit.  I heard Czech Republic and Hungary will as well, but I haven't been there.

Austin has a mighty fine car culture and a neat town.  It is unfortunately going through a renaissance of gentrification.  I wish I had bought a house there 10 years ago.

Atlanta seems to be the town that everyone thinks is a Mecca of cars.  It never was for me.  Sure, if you want a rust-free Camry they're a dime a dozen, but it lacks the car lovers compared to somewhere like Los Angeles.  When I was in LA I had a Craigslist page always open that searched for cars under $500.  I would periodically refresh it just to see what was being offered.  Often times every 15 minutes or so there were 20-30 new listings.  I bought a 74 Maverick 302, a 62 Caddy SDV, and a Honda CB750 that way.  All of them ran, too.  I also often checked the "free" section and just typed in "car" for a search.  BMWs, Mercedes, Rovers, you name it.  Rich folks in the swanky hoods would have a luxo car that blew a head gasket, makes a noise, or fried a transmission, and they just dump it and spend $150k on a new flagship.  Got a 325e and a 78 P30 Step Van that way.

Been watching a British TV show called "Escape to the Country" (and a related show called "Escape to the Continent"). Seems like Wales and Spain are pretty freaking amazing in terms of what housing you can get per money unit... Or were in 2014, though I suspect the UK's only gotten cheaper on the exchange front.

Spain's got the weather advantage. I suspect scarcity makes the Isle of Man a good deal pricier on that front... They haven't done an episode there 

I've never been to Spain, but the few people I know who have say it is the best ever. Weather, exchange, food, all good.

Property in Ireland is cheap right now, too from what I heard.  My parents just got back from a trip there and were amazed at some of the prices.

Curtis said:

Property in Ireland is cheap right now, too from what I heard.  My parents just got back from a trip there and were amazed at some of the prices.

But can expats buy property?

Found this neat site

Property all over the globe under 20k.  When I searched Europe and House it came back with 85 pages of results (most in Greece, Portugal, and Bulgaria)

In reply to yupididit :

I have seen them advertised to Americans, so one would assume they wouldn't spend money on an ad for an audience who couldn't buy it.

yupididit said:

Curtis said:

Property in Ireland is cheap right now, too from what I heard.  My parents just got back from a trip there and were amazed at some of the prices.

But can expats buy property?

Expats buying property shouldn't be an issue in most of the EU. There can be pitfalls that are country specific, but not of the "expats can't own property" kind.

In reply to white_fly :

Regarding the European countries you mentioned - Germany isn't that great for car lovers (see some of TurboFocus' recent posts). Modifying a car there is certainly possible, but it's a bureaucratic PITA and you have to know how to navigate the system. Which admittedly isn't that hard (basically talk to your local friendly TÜV inspector before modifying your car). Plus, you'll have to deal with rust there.

Italy's bureaucracy is a challenge in itself - hey, they've been refining it since the Roman Empire - and while it's a great place to live, the bureaucratic parts aren't that easy to navigate if you don't speak the language. But at least the chance of finding rust free cars is easier there than in more Northern European countries.

The one country (still) in the EU that has a massive car culture that IMHO eclipses most of the other European countries is the UK. Older cars are cheaper to find there than in most other EU countries (mostly because they didn't get exported to the former Eastern Bloc countries like they did from the RHD countries), but they like to rust there. Cost of living there is generally higher than in the US and you have the political and economic uncertainty about Brexit. That said, the last 15-20 years have been pretty  anti-car politically, but there is still more of a culture of modifying cars than in a lot of other European countries.

All European countries I'm aware of have fairly strict safety and emissions inspections that you have to deal with on an annual or bi-annual basis.

Ransom said:

Been watching a British TV show called "Escape to the Country" (and a related show called "Escape to the Continent"). Seems like Wales and Spain are pretty freaking amazing in terms of what housing you can get per money unit... Or were in 2014, though I suspect the UK's only gotten cheaper on the exchange front.

Wales isn't that great if you have to either earn a living there or travel a lot. I guess from North Wales and the Welsh Borders you have access to Manchester and Liverpool airports, but the cheap property isn't anywhere near there. Basically that whole area has been economically depressed since the 70s/80s. When I lived in the UK North Wales was also notorious for the most ham-handed traffic law enforcement (especially if you were on a motorcycle). Plus, you better like the kind of rain that makes Seattle look like a sunny place.

Spain used to be a fairly popular destination for UK expats because you could get a ton for your money outside the big cities. Living in the big cities isn't actually that cheap. There might be a lot of property that'll become available if the UK doesn't get its act together regarding the free movement implications from Brexit.

Spain's got the weather advantage. I suspect scarcity makes the Isle of Man a good deal pricier on that front... They haven't done an episode there 

Isle of Man isn't part of the EU and has very specific residency requirements geared either towards people who have lived there all their lives or bring large sacks of money. Basically it's an offshore tax haven in the middle of the Irish Sea.

Cuba

 Any place they don't salt the roads.......

Hungary Bill said:

I cant beat San Antonio, Texas.

Try harder ;)

I kid, I kid. I found the cost of living in Texas is nice, but yupididit is absolutely right that having lived in SoCal takes the shine off Texas. The weather, roads and local car culture can't be beat. 

Yup and skierd, the non-traditional car stuff is also appealing. In a place like Alaska or the Virgin Islands, road quality isn't typically very good, but that doesn't mean a lifted Miata or something along those lines wouldn't be a blast. Potential for overlanding, powersports, and the like are definitely considerations.

Bubbal, calm down; your bias is showing. I know the cost of living and taxes are both high, but it's not some wasteland on the verge of collapse. Many people can't afford to live in the cities, but I think there are plenty of reasonably priced homes in the mountains outside of Yosemite, for instance. I currently have an address in Dallas and the way I see it, no matter how much money you spend there, you'll never match the view or the weather of many modest homes on the West Coast.

Western South Carolina is an interesting option, and the proximity to AMP and Road Atlanta is cool. Even VIR isn't THAT far away. Does the BMW Performance Center host any events for cars that aren't, y'know, BMW's? What is the heat and humidity like in the summer?

I will likely end up in Florida soon, but the oppressive heat and humidity mean I don't think I'll ever settle there. That said, the access to karting tracks is pretty amazing and the proximity to Sebring, Daytona and Homestead are all nice.

I have no counterpoints to Monterey. I adore most everything about that place.

Colorado strikes me as Alaska Lite, not that that's necessarily a bad thing.

Canada is an interesting option as I like the access to JDM cars and if I get permission to, there's work I can do up there.

I like the idea of Austin between the rally school and COTA, but the weather vs. $$$ equation doesn't work for me.

Eastern Europe, Croatia and Hungary in particular, seem very interesting. I would like to visit both at the very least.

Germany wasn't necessarily a serious suggestion, but the seeming abundance of cheap M, RS and AMG cars is attractive, if only for export. I also seem to recall they have a famous racetrack there. Something starting with an N?

Spain is definitely on the list of travel destinations as well. Authentic paella is a bucket list item of mine. Maybe I'll fall in love with the place?

Ireland and Wales are interesting choices. I really like the fact that you can road register virtually anything through SVA in England. Is the rest of the UK similar?

I don’t think I could pass up the BVI for a few years. That said, Georgia is a pretty rad state for car stuff. Road Atlanta, Roebling, AMP, AMS, plus dirt tracks and drag strips. Barber is a hop skip & a jump too.

Not trying to convince you you should live here, but I really enjoy it...especially AMP, which is about 1/2 hour down the road from me.

white_fly said:

Ireland and Wales are interesting choices. I really like the fact that you can road register virtually anything through SVA in England. Is the rest of the UK similar?

Yep, that's applicable to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Gearheadotaku said:

 Any place they don't salt the roads.......

x2

Finland, ice racing all winter, rally all summer.