Posts Tagged ‘Shaun White’

Cars, like clothing or speech or attitude, reveal clues about who we are as people or who we aspire to be.  In watching the 2010 Winter Olympics, we’ve noticed that several Olympians drive nice cars.  Make that REALLY nice cars.

Viktor Plushenko picked up a hot Maserati that he reportedly used to chase after his first wife.

Figure-skating champion, Evan Lysacek just announced that he’s going to buy a James Bond-inspired Aston Martin DBS.

As we reported last week, Shaun White shreds in a white Lamborghini Murcielago LP-640 when he’s not on the slopes.

These three athletes all compete in sports that demand power, precision, agility, and a healthy dose of style… so it’s no surprise to us that they’d be attracted to these exotic sports cars.  But that got us wondering:  What other cars are fit for Olympians and which athletes might be driving them?

We’d like to hear what you think – post a picture or a comment of you favorite Olympian and what you think they (should) drive.

What’s fast and airborne and red all over?  That would be pro-snowboarding Olympian, Shaun White.

In case you don’t shred or haven’t read, White has been snowboarding since age six and went pro at thirteen.  He won gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino and is back to take on the world at the 2010 games in Vancouver.

In real life, Shaun races around in a Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640.  While an Italian exotic sports car might be a great match for White’s competitive nature and outrageous red hair, it’s not ideal for charging up mountains to get to the lodge.  So that got us thinking: what’s the best vehicle to get Shaun White up to the slopes?

We pulled up the newest data for snowboarders on the Honk search tool and then sorted out the coupes, sedans, and convertibles.  Those body-styles may appeal to boarders who want adrenaline-pumping action down at sea level but they can’t hold enough gear for Shaun.

Next, we filtered out anything that cost less than $40,000.  Sure, that’s steep – but consider that Mr. White pulls in several million dollars a year in endorsements from Burton, Target, and Ubisoft.  The man can afford a nice ride.

The resulting list is where things start to get subjective.  There are dozens of great pickup trucks and SUVs left to choose from and the Honk team had trouble agreeing on just one.  The Audi Q7 and Cadillac Escalade ESV were both cited for luxury and interior space while the Porsche Cayenne stood out for crazy-fast performance.

In the end, though, we felt that Shaun should be roaring up to the lodge from behind the wheel of an Infiniti FX.  Why?  The FX is fast, agile, sure-footed in the snow, and has a unique style all its own.  It might not be able to pull a McTwist 1260 but it sure seems like a great match for Sean’s personality.

Think we face planted on this one?  Run your own search on Honk and let us know what you think the Flying Tomato should be driving.