It’s safe to say that many of us were bitten by the car bug when we were knee-tall. Maybe it was a poster, maybe it was a book, maybe it was a television program, a car show, or a magazine. Maybe it was even just a stranger driving by in a machine that captivated your imagination and became your world. Childhood dream cars, before we even got our hands on our learner’s permits. But are they still our childhood dream cars today?
Admittedly, my childhood dream car hierarchy tended to trend a little bit older. However, beyond the Viper on the auto show stand and the poster of the 930 Flachbau on my wall, one car stood tall above everything else in the earliest days: The Lamborghini Diablo SE30. Violently purple and violently violent, this pop-up-lamped wedge with billionaire doors was an outrageous monument to speed. With a 518-horsepower 5.7-liter V12 and no all-wheel-drive to save you, this lightened, steroidal supercar was Lamborghini before the Audi influence. Pure daydream material, and far more attainable than a McLaren F1
However, a funny thing’s happened alongside growing up: I still love the Diablo SE30, but if I could only own one fun car, this probably wouldn’t be it. I’ve been lucky enough to have friends and acquaintances with Diablos, and these cars all have one thing in common: They’re a bit much. They’re needy, they attract massive crowds, they’re compromised and demanding. A fantastic fourth or fifth car for a bit of pantomime, but they aren’t what I’m seeking from a dream car.
I’ve known that driving can be ridiculously good fun from the moment I first squeezed the throttle in a kart. It put an ear-to-ear grin across my prepubescent face that hasn’t really changed. The problem is, it’s hard to drive a Diablo everywhere in the real world, especially when you live in a place with frost heaves and speed bumps and diabolical traffic and RAV4 drivers who merge without looking despite the amber lamps of their blind spot monitoring systems shining bright. Even when traffic clears, there are better cars from an ergonomic standpoint, and better cars from a cheekiness standpoint, with gears you can actually use without having to get in the back of a police car afterward.
My ultimate childhood dream car might no longer be my ultimate dream car, but that doesn’t make my list any more boring. I still dream of the TVR Sagaris, a whole raft of special Porsches, the Renault 5 Turbo, the Noble M600, and probably against my better judgement, the Jaguar XJ220, among other things. So, has age and perhaps wisdom changed your dream car, or is it still the same as it ever was? I’d love to hear your answer in the comments below.
Top graphic image: Lamborghini
I sat in a 1995 Viper RT/10 in the Mall of America when I was 12 years old. I never cared much for red, but the when the 97 GTS coupe came out in Blue with white stripes, I was smitten. I still want one, but they ain’t getting cheaper!
Ive got a few, some more easily attainable than others
An lp400 countach, with or without the wang
Either company owned diablo, but for different reasons on either an earlier or later one.
Just about any air-cooled porsche 911, hell id settle for a 912.
A digi dash c4 vette with the 4+3
And finally a gen 2 viper gts, in that deep blue color. But… Id also be ecstatic with a gen 1 or 2 rt10.
Kind of? I was never into supercar or muscle car stupidity. I’ve owned most of the cars I loved as a kid that were readily available in the US – Saabs, Volvos, water-cooled VWs, BMWs and Mercedes, even Peugeots and Alfas. Little British cars. Biggest exception being an air-cooled VW or Porsche. Or a BMW 2002, though having owned lots of BMWs the itch for one of those isn’t that strong given current prices (best to buy what isn’t wildly popular). Still want something air-cooled, but at this point I can’t stomach the silliness that is air-cooled Porsche prices, so it would be a VW if I ever do it. I don’t need to go fast. But at the same time, there are lots of other things that would be better suited to my local environment, like another Alfa Spider. Much more capable on the highway, and most are air-conditioned.
As an adult, I bought and still have my dream car, when it was a serious financial stretch to do it – a brand new ’11 BMW 328i wagon in RWD with 6spd stick. I absolutely plan to be buried in that car. I would live in it before I sold it. I was just able to swing it, but BMW announced the end of wagons, so it was do it now or forever hold my beer. Of course, they sort of lied, as they did another half year run of the e91 for 2012 (my car was almost the very last 2011 built before model year changeover shutdown), and then we did get the F31 wagon for a few years, but autotragic and AWD only.
Sure is. My dream car from about age three was a 911. (I was born in the 70s, so this means air-cooled.) I bought one about a decade ago and it’s still my dream car. I love every single minute in it.
“So, has age and perhaps wisdom changed your dream car, or is it still the same as it ever was?”
I had a few dream cars when I was young:
-Late 1970s Chevy Camaro Z28
-Early Porsche 928
-The big luxury cars from the 1970s like the Lincoln Continental Mark V.
-Eagle Talon TSI AWD (when I was a little older and these had just come out).
-Porsche 959
-1987+ fox-body Ford Mustang GT
-early 1990s Mazda RX7 twin turbo
-Lambo Countach… the late one with all the spoilers and fender flares added.
These days, my dream car is more or less the opposite of these. And that’s because when I look at the car, I also think about the cost of ownership, the cost of insurance and how easy or hard it will be to service.
And I still don’t have one dream car. I have different dream cars for different use cases. My recent dream cars have been:
-Tesla Model S (until Elon Musk lost his mind and ruined that dream)
-Rivian R3 (my dream car for a daily driver when it comes it)
-Honda Beat, Toyota Sera or other interesting bubble era Japanese car (I miss driving a manual)
-A Honda S2000 (also for the manual transmission fix)
-a 1st gen Honda Insight (Aluminum manual transmission hybrid that I just think is cool)
-a RWD long range Hyundai Ioniq 5 (dream car for a daily driver)
-Miata with the manual… either the 1st gen or 2nd gen… or the current gen one.
-Fiat 500 Abarth with the manual
-The new electric Dodge Charger… IF they make one that is a 4 door hatchback, RWD and a long-range battery.. and after they work out all the bugs. The new 4 door electric Charger is essentially a lot like the Model S in terms of size and practicality, just without the Elon Musk stigma. I love the style inside and out and as for the performance, it might not beat the competition, but it still has waaaay more performance than I’ll ever need or want.
Which one of these am I most likely to buy? Probably the Ioniq 5. Though if I find a heavily depreciated electric Charger, I may go for that.
Or if I decide to satiate my manual transmission desires, a 1st gen Insight, a Kei car, Miata or a Fiat/Abarth 500.
It all depends on what is available to me for a reasonable price and what the insurance quote comes in at.
Back in 2024 (before Elon Musk completely lost his mind), I almost bought my dream Tesla Model S.
And then I got the insurance quote… which was CAD$4500/year. By comparison, a Prius or Ford C-Max of similar age/mileage/cost only around $1500/year.
And I ended up with my current C-Max Energi.
I didnt have a specific dream car. I enjoyed all the exotics..but came to realize that my family was poor and all drove mediocre cars. Therefore I saved every penny and bought a 79 Chevy C10 LWB. Still miss it. Its more of a dream car than anything really now. But I have always had a soft spot for mk4 Supras.
As an 80s kid, the Ferrari Testarossa was the dream…and I’d still love to have one today.
As a 90s teen, it was the 993 Turbo, in Arena Red of course. There’s a Guards Red 993 C2 in my garage as we speak…so not quite the same, but hey, close enough!
I dreamt of a 1993 Honda Civic del Sol Si in Samba Green Pearl. Big dreams, and you know what, I’d still like one today
Aston Martin Lagonda. From the first time I saw a photo of one until now, more than 40 years later, I have wanted one above all others.
It’s funny – the Lagonda is absolutely one of my all-time favorite cars, I think they are absolutely amazing. I even got to sit in one once at a car show. But I have absolutely no desire to own one. Just happy to have seen a handful in person and marvel at the spectacle of it all. I am ultimately a simple man, automotively, LOL.
Of course, if I won the MegaMillions and had an aircraft hanger to fill and a professional staff to maintain the toys, you bet.
I can technically afford to buy one, but likely not to maintain one in daily drivable condition.
On the other hand, with that hypothetical lottery money, a few upgrades to the electronics and maybe a modern powerplant and transmission might make it a good car to drive on the regular. Even so, I would have others in the stable “just in case”.
I could easily drive one daily. I just don’t want to. Cool to look at, but “too much muchness”. I also just don’t have much use for a “going out to dinner car”, aka a fancy luxury sedan. My mildly luxurious Mercedes wagon is more my speed – much more practical. Not hauling 30 boxes of Pergo flooring home in a Lagonda, like I did the other day. Now if a Sheik put one of the Lagonda shooting brakes up for grabs, well…
I certainly wouldn’t touch that fabulous DOHC V8. But a more modern transmission behind it would work wonders. Or better yet, I assume the 5spd from an Aston Martin V8 would bolt right in. I believe there is a company that made electronics for the dash that actually work properly.
Yes. A 1969 Dodge Super Bee. My first car.
Still want another one over 50 years later.
Early childhood dream car: early C3 Corvette, and just about any Cadillac. Give me the winning lotto numbers, and I am for sure buying an LT-1 C3 and a 1968 Eldorado.
Teenage me just getting my license: Porsche 959. This is still my ultimate dream car.