What is your attainable dream car?

I always wanted one of these, and eventually I could have one.  I also timed it right apparently, bought it a bit more than five years ago and it has appreciated nicely.  This picture is 4 years ago, she still claims it as her own, and she has driven the majority of the miles total in the last 3 years.  

 

1941 LaSalle coupe sold last year at Saratoga for $20k.  Black paint was about 3ft deep and the red leather interior was stunning!  Guy that bought it is the same guy that bought my Cadimino; he's a collector.

I'd always hankered after a Porsche 928 S but could never quite bring myself to love those goldfish headlights.

Always made me think of these:

Never could understand why Porsche would do that to their top front engined models when these look so much better

wspohn said:

I'd always hankered after a Porsche 928 S but could never quite bring myself to love those goldfish headlights.

 

Always made me think of these:

 

Never could understand why Porsche would do that to their top front engined models when these look so much better

 

The 928 is one of my first car memories.  Porsche (or whoever had the franchise) had brought a black one and a red 930 to the local mall during Christmas 1978.  Dad and 8 year old me mulled them over.  I clearly remember that the 928 listed for $36,000.  Dad chatted up the sales guy and we looked at the 930 too.  Dad said later that he didn't understand the Porsche thing because the 930 was clearly inferior, after all it only had a 4 speed just like our Mustang II, and yet somehow cost even more than the 928!

In reply to wspohn :

That photo is a pre facelift car. I am not sure they made the S in pre facelift. I had a 87 s4 with a manual and it was by far the number one car that I let get away.  
 

I do agree the exposed headlights are polerizimg. Not really to my liking but the driving experience at the time made you forget about the looks. Now days a stock Civic will out perform it in all but top speed and even that may be close. 

dean1484 said:

In reply to wspohn :

Now days a stock Civic will out perform it in all but top speed and even that may be close. 

Indeed - how the mighty have fallen.  But I still enjoy the styling of older cars. A good friend ran a Porsche/VW shop. They had a complete 928 engine sitting as an ornament in the showrrom. I asked if it was to replace someone's blown engine. He said that it was out of a rolled car but that he never anticipated using it as anything but a showroom ornament as they never broke (eat your heart out, Jaguar dealers!)

I have too many (or if you ask my wife, FAR too many) cars but if the right 928 crossed my path I would twitch at it even now.  Some cars just have qualities that attract you. The Honda NSX did that, and for some reson I find myself attracted to the BMW 850 CSI and would probably have troble resisting it if a good one crossed my path even though it makes absolutely no sense.

Heck, I used to own one of these and would have a hard time not 'saving' one if it came across my path again.

Well since "you" asked - ignor the numbering, these aren't necessarily any n order of want or that order shifts around day to day

essentially within my grasp now financially speaking:

1. Chrome bumper C3 - prefer a BB style hood, side pipes, a non numbers matching crate small black would be fine 

2. A 75ish Corvette convertible- bright color like yellow or orange with a 4 speed 

3. 82 Corvette white with red leather and rally wheels - lusted after one like this as a kid- this doesn't have to make sense right?

3. C5 Z06. This is most likely what I'll buy

4. 96 LT4 C4 - bonus for a CE or Gran Sport with red leather - my last C4 tried my patience but I'm over that now lol

5. S550 Mustang Coyote 6 speed - I have 2012 now so this probably won't happen

6. Challenger hemi with a manual- bonus points for a shaker hood

2. C6 manual coupe - probably an earlier one 

4. 03-04 Mach 1 manual or 32v Cobra from that era 

List 2 - less likely to happen but if the stars aligned:

1. C7 in a good color combo

2. c4 ZR1 

2. 2013 C6 427 or maybe a Z06 or Gran Sport 

3. GT350 (S550) hello voodoo

4. S197 GT500 prefer 2010-14

5. Scat Pack or SRT Challenger with manual 

6. SSR with 6.0 and manual 

7. 78-81 Trans Am with big aftermarket snowflakes, screaming eagle decals and maybe upgraded power and suspension to match 

8. Factory 5 "34" Ford 

9. Terminator Mustang 03-04 

List 3 -unexpected money enters my life - so maybe not attainable at the moment 

1. 92 Firehawk Firebird 

2. C8 Corvette 

3. 911SC - bonus points for wide body coupe or Targa 

4. 928 GTS

5. Cayman 4.0 maybe 718 Boxster

6. Resto-Mod 55 Chevy 

7. C2 Corvette 427 

These lists grow and change all the time but these are the staple cars I seem to return to. 

In reply to wspohn :

I saw this the other day and things started tingling a bit.  Somthing about a 908.  It was just ratty enough that I think it was a kit car but closer inspection could not find anything that said it definitly was a kit.  And where I was there was a real possibility it was a real one and people here take real 427 cobras down to the coffee shop.  

I also have been wanting a R8 with a V8 and a manual in burgundy.  
 

At the very high end of my list is a 456.  I always wanted one.  To me it is kind of the C5 of the Ferrari line up at this point.

I like the much cleaner lines it has than the 488 and subsequent cars after it. 

The 904/908 were great looking cars. A friend back in the 70s owned a clone that had been made as a one-off based on a real 904 - fiberglass chassis with bonded in suspension mounting points etc. I don't know if he ever found a 4 cam engine for it - they wer expensive even then (and bring around a quarter million today).

I liked the Audis too - my office was in a high rise building in one of the best moneyed suburban areas in Canada and at one point we had an R8 sharing the parking lot with an R10 spider, plus a bunch of other automotive esoterica.

Sadly many of my dream cars have gone up in price so much that they will now never happen.  That said, I did recently buy a 2005 Lotus Elise and that keeps a smile on my face every time I see it!

In reply to Sonic :

Nicely done............the car's not bad either.

I feel like finding an affordable Phaeton is not hard, but finding on that is 100% reliable is impossible. Shame, because they really were an amazing car and for a DD, who wouldn't want a w12-powered Uber-Sedan from Germany? 

It's cool to see all the different flavors of dream cars represented.

I've been fortunate to have owned 2 of my attainable dream cars.

A 1988 911 convertible just like this one that just sold on BAT. It was supposed to be a forever car, and I really did love it, but shortly after buying, my wife got laid off and wanted to go to grad school full time, plus I decided I really wanted to go wheel to wheel racing, so 18 months after purchase this car got moved along.

Next up is the 2000 Z3 M Coupe. Have had it several years now with no plans to sell, though I don't consider it a forever car. I love this one too, mainly for the one of a kind styling, plus the fact it was built just down the road in SC.

Honestly, these days my dream cars (attainable or not) are restomod sports cars. So, I'm in the midst of doing that with my first sports car. Picture is current (and about as flattering as it can get - it's fairly ratty IRL), but the car's been with me since high school:

I've driven through western NC/SC in a Z3 Coupe(3.0) and it was amazing. Is that photo near Saluda? I only wish I fit in the e36/8 better or I'd probably own one.

Tom1200 said:

In reply to kb58 :

More than once my 1200 crushed the soul of a newbie autocrosser.

As for that special car not being the fastest, absolutely. Even on my money is no object fantasy buy I don't aspire to own the fastest car. 

In high school, I once took top stock time in my Datsun 1200. Imagine how it felt to beat the muscle cars, Corvettes, and sports cars! It helped that the course was very tight and narrow.

buzzboy said:

I've driven through western NC/SC in a Z3 Coupe(3.0) and it was amazing. Is that photo near Saluda? I only wish I fit in the e36/8 better or I'd probably own one.

Z3 photo is from Hocking Hills in Southern Ohio. Rx7 photo is near Fontana Dam, not too far from Tail of the Dragon.

In reply to Toebra :

That's a drop dead gorgeous 904.  I saw two at a Porsche parade in the late 1970's along with a 906 and I have seen a pair of 917's at an auto show...

Porsche Cayman GT4

My definition of attainable is at a slightly lower price point and otherwise somewhat pedestrian compared to some of the above answers: nb Miata (rust free ) with a turbo and good coil overs. 

I just want to remind you all that headlight-deleting a 928 is an option:

And at one point there was a conventional flip up conversion, which I'm sure was rarer than unicorn tears even when new:

I definitely wouldn't kick a nice 8 out of the garage either. 850CSI is hard to resist but I think the ideal combo would be an S62 V8-swapped 840CI with the rest of the CSI bits on it. That and a 6 speed swapped 2001 740i M Sport both roll through my automotive dreams regularly.

preach (dudeist priest) said:

3. A Cummins powered Jeep J-truck.

I have a J-truck with the original AMC 360, and a local friend has another with a 12-valve Cummins. It's a very tight fit that requires a lot of compromises. I'd look into an IDI if I wanted a clacky old mechanical diesel (which I do, but cannot justify).

Attainable is a damned hard one. I've been pedaling the same MR2 for eighteen years and have made no effort to replace it. Part of that is due to having a monthly car budget of about sixteen cents, and part of it is realizing that no matter what I buy, it will still need everything, and I'll lose momentum shortly after dismantling something critical and expensive.

That said, in no particular order, there are still a few "someday" cars that I forget about until they appear in my peripheral vision and stop my heart.  In no particular order:

1. '64, '66, or '67 Olds F-85 two-door sedan. A real 442 would never happen, but I could maybe manage an F-85 or Cutlass and then build it up with all the important bits. If a '66 or '67, those big rear wheelwells are getting filled with 15x10 Centerlines wearing 295/50R15 rubber, because N50-15s are so last year. 

2. 2nd generation Corvair 140. This car is crying out for all kinds of trick stuff, like six-port heads, disc brakes, etc. These are such gorgeous cars that I cannot help but sigh when I see one. Coupe only, please. Convertibles are for parades.

3. A-Model Ford in the five-window coupe variety. Powertrain is undecided, but it would have to be period appropriate for a traditional build prior to about 1964, and would probably be determined  by what found me. Fenderless, chrome reverse wheels, no caps. Probably painted a tasteless metallic gold with some lime green tint in it. No goofy 8-ball or playing card rockabilly fantasy graphics. Upholstery optional.

4. Midyear Corvettes have been stupid money for decades. Maybe someday they won't be. If they ever aren't again, I'd love a '65 or '66 roadster with a rowdy small block. Flares and six taillights for extra credit, and I really don't care if the paint is spiderwebbed.  Don't you judge me.

5. Willys Americar in street gasser style. Straight front axle up front, pie crust slicks out back, and enough blown Olds Rocket to hoist and obliterate them, respectively, at will. White fenderwell headers, because of course white fenderwell headers.

6. '72-'74 (for the dash vents) MGB roadster with something less wheezy under the hood. Maybe a little 289, maybe a 5M-GE with polished cam covers and three SUs.  Possibly with Sebring flares and some fat slot mags and some very orange paint.

The B is very likely the only thing that will ever fall within budget.

A friend had a 928, back when they were newish. Said one day he was moving along in rush-hour traffic about 2mph, when the front upright casting broke in two and dropped the car on the street. Said the dealer later told him, in effect, "Yeah they've been doing that sometimes."

Damn - that flip up headlight 928 looks soooo much better than the stock car!  If I ever came across one I'd be trying to come up with  rationale to she-who-must-be-obeyed as to why it made sense to add another car to the fleet!  And the 850 looks great too.

That's a scale model. I have had a similar one  at home for about 20 years. 

It became this:

Hopefully by the end of next year they will look more like each other...

Since NSX has already been taken, a split bumper Z28 Camaro has always made me think naughty things