Top Shelf showcases luxury vacations, goods, restaurants and more that you can indulge in after your investing pays off.
Once you meet me, there’s a good chance you’ll soon meet Sally — my lovely, 14-year-old Jetta.
She’s a bit boxier than many of her curvy Volkswagen (VLKAY) cousins, but she’s fashionable and wears her age well — especially considering how hard I am on her.
At this point in time, I hope Sally lasts me forever, because the last thing I want to do is shell out cash each month for a new (or at least new-to-me) car.
But hopefully, after a few decades of hard work, smart saving and savvy investing, Sally (who barely and begrudgingly trudges up hills, whose left-hand side mirror is close to coming off and whose cupholders no longer hold cups) will be a sweet and distant memory.
She will be a long-lost symbol of just starting out and just getting by — and will be replaced by a much-preferred kind of symbol: One of status, like a brand-new Maserati Quattroporte.
The four-door Italian sedan is a beauty to say the least — and one that can back its good looks up with eye-popping performance. It competes with luxury models from names like Audi, BMW (BAMXY), Jaguar, Porsche (POAHY) and Daimler‘s (DDAIF) Mercedez-Benz … making it a clear upgrade from my small German family car and its slow four-cylinder engine.
Heck, at this point in time, my dad’s new Ford (F) Taurus is several rungs above my Jetta … so the Quattroporte is practically a whole ladder better.
The Quattroporte GTS has a Twin Turbo V-8 that fuel a 0-to-60 mark of 4.2 seconds. Meanwhile, the S Q4 model has a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 that’s good for about 404 horsepower. According to Motor Trend, it was the most powerful V-6 available until Cadillac recently trumped it with a 420hp beast going into its 2014 CTS Vsport.
Past the engine, I’m mesmerized by lovely interior intricacies that my current ride would kill for — doors with frameless glass, soft leather seats, an 8.4-inch touch control screen, all-wheel-drive, a traditional oval grille and …
Hold on, I’m drooling.
My favorite part? You can choose to have 15 speakers distributed across the dashboard, doors and rear shelf. Considering I’ve blown out my speakers, replaced them with speakers that I thought I couldn’t blow out, then blew those out too, I’m going to go ahead and check “yes” in that box.
Granted, by the time I can afford this car, there’s a good chance I’ll be listening to my music a bit quieter. Motor Trend puts the coming 2014 model at a price range of $102,500 to $140,500.
Still, when that day comes, I might crank the volume up anyways as I accelerate up hills and whip around turns … just because I can.
As of this writing, Alyssa Oursler did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Follow her on Twitter: @alyssaoursler.
