For most people, the day they get their driver’s license is a huge milestone. But for car enthusiasts in particular, the achievement tends to spark especially bad cases of automotive daydreaming. With a newly minted license in hand, surely there was a dream car that was both desirable and on the edge of actual attainability that you just couldn’t get out of your head. So what was your biggest teenaged car crush?
I’m not talking about super car lust, like the cars on posters you may have had on your bedroom wall as a teen (in my case a Lamborghini Countach).
I’m talking about a car that you wanted really badly, but might have actually been able to get (perhaps with a minor miracle) in real life. The car you hoped to be seen in, the one you thought was a great expression of your taste and personality.
Was it the ride of a spoiled rich kid at school?
Or was it as simple as your grandparent’s car? You know, as in, “I’ll take anything, just let me get behind the wheel!”
For my new driver teenaged reality, I was actually quite happy to pilot my mother’s ’79 Oldsmobile Ninetly-Eight LS. Yeah, just like the ’78 Ninety-Eight LS pictured above, it was brown with a beige vinyl top and brown vinyl interior. But I could drive it! And our Olds had the 403 V8, so it was actually capable of things my mother never dreamed of…but those are stories for another time.
However, for my teenaged “could-maybe-somehow-be-a-reality-someday” automotive fantasy, one car did rise to the top, though the competition for my teen wheels dreams was fierce.
For me, that car was the 2nd generation Supra that appeared for 1982. I absolutely loved the aggressive, angular-aero design with big chunky wheels and long hood over the sweet, smooth and powerful Toyota 2.8L DOHC Inline-6 with the 5-speed manual. I wasn’t entirely crazy about the black-painted hatch and rear bumper on all body colors. But I had a solution for that: get a Gloss Black Supra! It sure was mean looking, at a time when black cars were not ubiquitous.
Inside, what could be better than striped velour Sport Seats (with inflatable lumbar support!) and a high-tech instrument panel? Of course, in my dreams I would have added the top stereo system with the cassette player and graphic equalizer too!
This Supra would have been absolutely, positively perfect. Cool, modern, sophisticated and fast–talk about a date magnet (the car, not teenaged me). And speaking of dating, a woman I did date years later (and ultimately married) had some interesting teenaged car lust of her own. Being the car nut that I am, I asked her early on what car she dreamed of as a teen, and her answer was not what I expected.
Apparently in Bergen County, New Jersey where Kim grew up the Renault Fuego had a short burst as the “hot ticket.” And she always did have a predilection for rounded designs: even as a little girl, she really noticed and liked the AMC Pacer when it came out. So I guess the bubble back French oddball was part of that continuum. Chacun à son goût (to each his own taste).
Speaking of taste, it’s interesting to consider how things have changed since the 1980s, when 2-doors were hugely popular and high on people’s lists of desirable cars. Now small sporty coupes are about as in-style as Knots Landing.
My 18-year-old daughter, for example, has had but one lust vehicle since she first got her learner’s permit: a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara, in white, please and thank you.
My 15-year-old son, just starting driver’s ed, fluctuates wildly between dream cars, but an ongoing favorite is the Subaru WRX STI (and yes, he really loves the bright WR Blue).
Both my kids want 4-door and 4wd vehicles—the “it” vehicles for many teens in the 20-teens, just like sports coupes were for many teenagers in the 1980s. But while the vehicle type may change, the desire for cool wheels remains ageless (and hopefully will continue even as vehicles continue to transform).
So now you know my teenage dream machine, and my wife’s and kids’. What was yours?
I really liked the G-Bodies. A Buick or Olds flavour would’ve been tops.
I really wanted my parents’ 1981 Century- it was powder blue with a dark blue vinyl top and interior. But they traded it in before I could get my license.
A year or so after I did get my license, the last generation Riviera came out and I really wanted one. But that was too steep for a college kid and even an eventual new college grad.
Citroen CX for ever or even citroen mehari
Getting my drivers license in 1963 the car of my hearts desire was a Porsche 356 or a Jaguar XK-E. I ended up with a 58 4 dr Chevrolet Biscayne which was a gift and all that I could afford.
Had the red GT but wanted my pal’s dad’s blue gt350-sold for 2400.
And my red GT:
I came of age in 1980. Possibly peak malaise? I spent a lot of time wishing it were 1965 as far as cars went.
Being sort of practical, and from the Midwest, my dreams were of things that were actually obtainable to people of the socio-economic status of my zip code. And, a lot of folks were without a job, and buying American just seemed like the right thing to do.
I suppose that if money were little object and my folks were dying to buy me a new car, a 1980 Olds Cutlass coupe V-8, loaded including the T-top option, might have been the ticket. As malaise era cars went, it wasn’t a bad choice.
As it was, my first and second cars were 1973 and 1976 Cutlass Supremes. I liked them a lot, but as cars of that era got to be several years old, they definitely acted like second hand cars.
I got my license in 1972. A slightly older friend had a 240Z which I lusted after, and that topped my (not quite fantasy but pretty much) wish list. Frankly, I just wanted my own wheels (anything except my mom’s brown Buick wagon) so anything would have done…eventually I was virtually gifted a gold ’70 Lemans Sport coupe when I went off to university.
It was 1989: I wanted an Alfa Romeo 33 or Alfasud but admired Saab 900s and the Citroen XM (which I eventually did own, almost by accident). I regret not having tried any older Alfas.
I really didn’t get interested in the car scene until my last year of high school, and by that time, I was already driving my ’71 Vega. There never was a point where Dad handed me the keys and said, “It’s yours.” It just sort of migrated to become mine over the course of that year. My best friend had a ’65 Mustang ‘box top,’ and we’d ooh and aah over the usual crop of late-1970s hot cars, but knew they were far beyond our ability to own. I regret that he died young (early 40s), as he would have gotten a huge kick out of my Commodore / SS. I finally got one, Billy!
The car I really wanted as I came into driving age was my parents’ 1974 Vega, exactly like this one shown. I had learned to drive in it and had hopes of it becoming mine, but alas it was traded in on our execrable Impala.
In hindsight that was probably a very good thing.
“but alas it was traded in on our execrable Impala.”
Preventing you from looking sportier? What a shame. 🙂
This is a trick question for me, because as you said, I wanted pretty much anything for my own. I had to drive my parent’s conversion van quite a bit at that age, which at first wasn’t ideal (hello 13 mpg). Then I wised up to it’s charms. Pack a ton of friends inside? Check. Invisible to cops? Check. Convertible bed in the back, and window shades? Double check. Words of wisdom to all the parents out there: you think a fast car is the worst choice for a young teen? Think again. A rolling hotel room is guaranteed to allow your kid to make many more nefarious decisions!
My first and second choices. The Austin being number one.
Absolutely. The Big Healey was my dream drive in 1978, and still is today. Could have bought a mint version for around £3000 back then….
Coincidentally, I bought this ’57 100/6 2-seater in 1978; coming up on owning it forty (40) years in April! It was $4200.00, so not all that far off your 3000 Pounds Sterling.
Prior to that, I bought a brand new 1973 MGB, and a succession of used MGBs & MGBGTs followed (a total of 16 of them by the year 2000).
I seem to get “hooked” on one type of sportscar__within my budget; Lord knows there are at least a hundred different Ferraris I can name off the top of my head that I lust for__and presently, my cars are 1999 BMW M Coupe & M Rdstr, and an ’01 M Rdstr. I mean really, aren’t these just modern examples of what I wanted the MGBs/BGTs to be all along?
Having gotten my license at the end of 1971, coinciding with Road & Tracks 1971 Road Test Annual issue, there were a number of cars that filled my dreams; BMW 3.0 CSi, 365 GTB/4, Muira SV, TVRs, but of all the cars in THAT issue, I think I wanted the Maserati Indy (2+2) the most…
… of course what I got, was my dad’s ’64 Plymouth Sport Fury (318/auto) with 106,000 miles on it, and it served me well until the ’73 MGB came along on the Friday of Labor Day weekend.
I wouldn’t own another brand new car until the Thursday before Labor Day weekend of 2001, when my wife and I took factory delivery of the ’01 M Rdstr.
Funny how stagnant the world has become, the go-to dream ride for most kids when I was 15 almost 15 years ago was… a WRX STI in blue.
Not me though, ever the nastalgic rebel I am, I wanted a second generation Camaro and Firebird in any condition as long as it was V8 powered, followed by a A- body Plymouth Duster, and followed by just about any old American V8 coupe I could realistically attain with my meager savings as I got closer and closer to getting my drivers license. – which irritatingly became harder year by year as the clone/restomod trend started taking off, picking away at the lesser models.
Supercars stopped being dream cars for me early on, I had all the posters of the Mclaren F1s and Ferrari F40s and stuff in my childhood bedroom but I think I was basically over them by the time I was 11 or 12, when getting a driver’s license alone still seemed like a lifetime away.
What car did I want? A 1987 Buick GNX.
1970 Pontiac Firebird 400.
I got my license in 1976. I hated that I got stuck with my mother’s 74 Luxury LeMans most of the time and pined for my own car.
I tried to talk my parents into letting me buy a rusty, decrepit 52 Chevy owned by a relative, but it would have been an awful first car. When I was finally allowed to buy something, it was a good time for me as the used car ads were awash with great mid 60s iron. I got pretty lucky when I found the 10 year old 67 Galaxie 500 convertible with 60K miles on it. It was nice and straight (and not terribly rusty for that place and time).
I used to have daydreams of finding a late 50s-early 60s big black Chrysler in an old garage and buying it, but that dream never became reality.
They did not have a Galaxie or a convertible in 77. Do you mean 67?
You are correct, sir. I have gone back and fixed my late afternoon typing.
Never too late. in northern california you can still get a nice driver 64-66 Imperial for 1500-2500 dollars.The dealer in Chico, A. Volpato. Inc. sold more Imperials than any other dealer on the planet every year. There are more of them here. A close friend had 60 1964-65-66 Imps until his divorce, at that time for $800 he sold me 3 Crown coupes and 2 4 doors plus enough parts to build a car.
pics of my 63 Electra, 66 Imperial, and a close friends Tucker I kept detailed.
I also got my license in the Bicentennial year of ’76. My dad offered to buy me a car, so long as it was under $1200. I longed for a 1971 Mustang Mach I, but then I saw a ’66 Impala, black with black bucket seats and console, but Dad insisted it was too big. We were about to give up for the day when we spotted a ’65 Mustang fastback, metallic blue with blue interior; the paint was a bit faded but the gorgeous interior was almost mint. $1200! That was my first car.
Me too, for getting my license in 1976! It was in the fall of that year (call it 1977MY) and I had learned to drive in my parents ‘73 LTD (you and I have had this conversation before JP, and I know how much you just LOVE these cars… https://www.curbsideclassic.com/uncategorized/curbside-classic-1973-ford-ltd-bring-on-the-bloat/)… but being in a Brougham state of mind, when that new for ‘77 Thunderbird came out, I really wanted one of those. I ended up with the LTD, and took very good care of it, unlike the linked car above (mine looked like the one pictured below). Ironically, in the fall of 1979 (@ 19) I was finally able to afford my first new car and bought a midnight blue ‘79 Fairmont Futura, just as the ‘80s were coming out, so I got a deal this kid could afford. It was much less expensive than the T-Bird, but still had that basket handle roof I liked.
As a kid at 12 in ‘72, I had a thing for the C3 Corvette. That never really waned, and I really wanted one, but at 16 reality set in and more pedestrian choices were where it was at. To this day, despite the fact there have been much better ‘vettes, the C3 is still my favorite, with the chrome bumper festooned 1968 thru 1972 (73 for the back) being my absolute favorites. The rich kid down the street got one in 1979 (same time I got the Futura) and I was somewhat green with envy. His was all black, and he kept it perfect. He traded it in ‘84 for a 944… the naturally aspirated one, not the turbo. This was a car guy. He ended up becoming the cameraman for MPT’s Motor Week.
Oh, and just for you JP….
Add me to the list. I like those too. I have driven a couple of them and liked driving them. I also like the styling. This is coming from a guy who generally doesn’t like large cars.
I don’t remember what I lusted for when I got my license to be honest . I got my licence in January 1964 and was hoping to drive my Dad’s ’62 Olds wagon and not my Mom’s junky and ugly ’52 Plymouth. A week before I got my license, Dad came home with a black ’51 Chevy four door for me to drive and , supposedly share with Mom. She drove it only once or twice. I think he was trying to keep me from getting myself and my brother killed trying to see how fast the Olds was. Of course I found that out anyway. I really liked that old Chevy and had it for a year until the ” two in the glue” Powerglide started making noise. We traded it in on a ’55 Ford four door ( my last four door ever) that had a V8. That was a fun car.
Anyway, three months after I got my licence the Mustang came out. That’s when I knew what I really wanted. I was 23 when I finally got my first one.
Actually, I wanted this same generation Supra, in silver with a blue interior like my Dad’s 1982 Cressida which became my first car eventually. Seeing it on the front cover of the 1982 Tamiya model kit catalogue is what sparked my desire – in the catalogue it carried the JDM name “Toyota Celica XX 2800 GT”. It’s still one of my all-time favorite cars.
I wanted a used 1976 Toyota Celica Hatchback that was on sale for $3,200. I ended up with the 1975 Ford Pinto for $2,300. A $900 difference between heaven and hell.
In ’77, my dream new car was Trans Am, with TA 400.
And dream used car was a ’70 442 convertible.
I wanted an Edsel. Seriously. Ended up with a ’74 Pinto. Did love that little car.
Hey Roger; I can relate! I am a BIG Edsel fan, too. That was always my first choice for a Classic / Collectible car. I have posted a larger comment in this article further down. (A Pinto, eh? How was it to drive???)
From the second I got the Matchbox of it at age 6 (1968/69) I wanted a Lotus Europa. That desire stayed strong through high school (end of 70s) and in fact up through the present. Ditto a Lamborghini Miura.
In HS though I knew that was impractical, so I rather liked the idea of a Bradley GT… cheap(ish), unusual, and looked cool. Plus I liked the idea of building it myself (not that I had the place of tools or time or a mentor, bit still…) But also any Mustang, or Ford van, or 1st gen Cougar.
During college in the 1st half of the 80s the Mustang love continued, but an 82 Supra as shown above was also in the dreams.
When I was finally in the market for my first car I saw an ad for a 50s Ford pickup with a flathead, but the bank of dad wouldn’t bite, so I ended up with my old Courier, which actually ended up being the perfect vehicle for that time of my life (though a Datsun PU would have been prettier.)
Either a Vauxhall Victor FD 3.3 four speed or a Valiant 265 Charger then current and previous Benson & Hedges standard production race winners, sadly lack of money got in the way
“I’ll take anything, just let me get behind the wheel!” I lusted after pretty much everything that rolled but mostly drove the family’s 1953 Ford Mainline 2 door with flathead 8 and 3 on the tree,
I got my license in 1983, and what I wanted was either my recently passed away father’s 1979 Opel Rekord E, or a Volvo 144. Just got Dad’s car for a little while until it was sold. In ’85 I almost was able to buy a 1950 Citroen 15. As most say, anything that I could have had.
Did you like the Rekord? I don’t remember them as new but as sad rusted cars killed by Irish roads and weather. When I see them in Germany they take on an altogether better character. Some might raise an eyebrow but I’d love a top-spec Rekord over a corresponding BMW. The Rekord is better than a Taunus and more agile than a Granada.
I loved that car. But I can’t say how much of it was objective, and how much was emotional. I was 16 and my father let me choose the car, which he got with around 15.000 km on it. In Uruguay the Rekord, together with a BMW 320 or 520, were the fanciest cars you could get, barring a Mercedes, costing 5 times as much (no real relation to prices in Germany, of course). Rekords sold here at that time came with power steering, tinted glass, a sport steering wheel, tachometer, AM/FM stereo casette player, and not much else in terms of accesories. There was a Luxus version with A/C, alloy wheels, and headlamp wiper/washers. The A/C was almost useless. It ate up much engine power and didn’t work well. Dad didn’t want to spend the extra money so he got the standard Rekord.
As to how much did I like it, and how I see it after more than 30 years…I was pretty fond of the line of that car. It looked and felt like a superbumper-less American GM. Extremely comfortable inside. You could take out your jacket behind the steering wheel without much contortion. Seatbacks were infinitely adjustable at a time when that was not obvious. Outward vision was excellent. Heating….in a country where most cars were Brazilian, and brought standard what originally was an extra-cost heater that wouldn’t melt an ice cube in hot broth, a good German heater was a real wonder. The big Rekord, with its rear window defogger and heater at full blast, would be ready to go in about 3 or 4 minutes in an 8 degree C day. Just to clarify, it’s not too cold here, but very humid. Windows get very foggy.
So, I’ve walked you around the interior. Let’s start the car. One rapid step into the gas pedal to activate the automatic choke, turn the key, and….probably it’s running. Then again, it could be too rich, or too lean, and you’d have to try it a few times, or eventually tire of the automatic choke and start it with your young, 18 year old foot up to the firewall. No wonder there was so much uncooked gas smell in our garage.
OK, we are on the road now. Steering (this was a recirculating ball ZF unit) was great. Turning radius was amazing compared to other cars (we had two Ford Corcel at home, a Brazilian version of a Renault 12). I remember it to have good feel and to be very light. Then again, I had driven few cars, and very short distances. The engine was slow to rev, and the car was slow to move. It felt as a heavy car (if I remember correctly, curb weight was about 1300 kg). When you got it to 100 km/h, it would stay that way with minimum fuss and very silently. When they were new, I thought they had a 6, so silent they were at idle.
The gearbox had excellent operation. Very light, and very precise. After a few years 4th began to disengage, but I never knew why as we sold it before fixing that.
As after that car everything I´ve had has been FWD, I can’t fairly compare with what I remember as an unstable rear axle, especially when turning a little fast.
All told, I guess it was an excellent car for the times. A BMW 320 cost about the same as a Rekord (20K USD in 1979) and the 520 (with the same equipment) was about 30 K. The only one you could get here in top spec was the 520. I long for finding a good condition one, and for my wife letting me get it, just for good memories.
Hope I have answered your question, LOL!
1978 came and with it, my full license and ability to drive, alone, any time. I could not have cared less as to what I got. I learned in a 65 slant 6 Belvedere, so the 69 Chevrolet Caprice, peeling vinyl top and cracking gray paint and non-working a/c was absolute luxury. Honestly, nothing new was that appealing, and that was the right car for the right time. We did not have a lot of money, and I did not have an afterschool job, so I had 0 chances of getting anything special and was happy with what I got. I guess that driving full sized American iron has lead to my fascination with small (really, tiny is more appropriate) imports, but I would have never wanted the small cars of that time. A Chevette or Pinto, or a Gremlin? Never thought of them as worthwhile then, but now, yes. Japanese cars were still a novelty, unknown and treated warily, so I never thought about them. Perhaps a British sportster, like a MG or Triumph, but that was just a pipe dream.
I passed my test in 1999 and I (and my peer group) considered ourselves lucky to be able to get a car at all. I had already left behind the stage of desiring new cars, and find it impossible to answer what I would have bought were money no object. Probably something ludicrous like a Mark 2 Jag 3.8.
My grandmother had promised me when I was about 10 (and I was excited about it) that she would give me her 956cc Renault Supercinq when I came of age, but she quit driving due to ill health and the car was sold for pennies about 4 years too early for me.
In terms of cars that might just about have been realistic if I had been working consistently, maybe an Alfa 145, a mildly sporty Fiat Tipo, a Renault Megane Coupe, or something a bit older like a Saab 900 Turbo or a Scirocco.
Realistically, the options included VW Polo, Rover 213, 1 litre Fiat Uno etc etc.
As a little kid, I wanted a 1957 Oldsmobile, which was an 18 year old car, at the time.
In my mid teens, I wanted a circa 1980 Aston Martin Lagonda. A couple of years later, it became obvious these cars were a mirage, and the few that were made were not viable transportation.
My lust turned to 60’s Thunderbirds, where it’s been ever since.
License since the summer of 1984. Dream car back then a Ford Capri Mk3 2.8 Injection.
I guess I’m a product of the brougham era, I wanted a 1979 Ford Thunderbird. I guess
I badly wanted a Saab 96. So sleek and form-follows-function! Front wheel drive! Four-on-the-tree! The three-cylinder engine with only 7 moving parts. Most of all, so different!
I drove an old one, the only one we could find in the area at my price level, and it was really worn out. Disappointed, I abandoned that dream and was very happy to get a VW Bug instead.
You see I still had the attitude that if something was popular it must not be any good. Probably caught it from my father, who drove a Studebaker when I was in grade school, before that a Nash, and once even a new Crosley. The VW cured me of the attitude, at least in the car department. Never have owned a Saab it turns out. Mostly been driving Toyotas for thirty years.
A few years ago Lily sold her ’92 Subaru wagon to a kid who was obviously getting his first car. He was so excited! Warmed our hearts to know that great car was going to be appreciated.
The Mazda MX5 Miata was my favorite car, back then.
Anything pre-WWII.
Which dad delivered on two years later in the form of a 1937 Buick Special two door sedan, luggage back (what would have been later called a fastback).
We’re talking 1966 for the driver’s license, 1968 for the car.
When I reached driving age, I wanted a Volvo 740 GL, preferably a 1989 or 1990 model. Nearly 20 years later, I’ve achieved that goal, as I now own two ’89 740 GL sedans – one with nearly 306k miles on the clock.
Good choice. The 740 made an impression on me. i adore the 240s solidity and softer edges but equally the 700-series is a fascinating hybrid of Sweden and America. I was at the Volvo museum in Gothenburg and loved having a chance to inspect a box fresh 760. The quality of construction is impressive.
I am likely older than you. My interest was a Volvo 240 series, and especially the 242.GT.
An Alfa Romeo Spider. In the late 1980s when I got my license, I desperately longed for one of these. I loved everything about it: That it was a convertible, that it was Italian, that it was an archaic throwback to an earlier era.
When I was about 18 or 19, my father – as a birthday present – took me to an Alfa dealer for a test drive. Sometimes it hurts to meet your heroes, and this was one of those cases. Maybe I had expected too much, but the actual driving let me unimpressed. And then there was the oddity of three things falling off the car on the test drive… the door handle came loose when I was getting in, a hubcap rolled off during the drive, and something else came off in the salesman’s hand (I think it was a vanity mirror).
I still like Alfas, if for no other reason than they remind me of the time when I loved them. But I never again wanted to own one.
It was 12/04/1974 when I got my license (on my 16th birthday). My dream car was a DeTomaso Pantera. No brainer!
Impossible to answer. I had AADD (Automotive Attention Deficit Disorder) which meant that the answer would have changed several times daily.
I can relate!
I was 16 in 1972. My buddy Weldon (may he RIP) and I were all about ’55-’57 Chevy 2-door body styles. I actually DID buy one (a ’56 210 2-door sedan)) at 16-17, but it was just about worth the $50 I paid for it (it didn’t run and had all sorts of other issues).
At 18, I bought a running, driving ’56 150 2-door sedan for $400. I then proceeded to pull its perfectly good 6 to swap in a 283.
Easy. Sandro Munari was winning the World Rally Championship in a Lancia Stratos and my Dad bought a Lancia Beta but I always wanted a Citroen DS and/or BMW 3.0CSL (E9). That would have been in the early 70s.
Got my licence on 12 March ’77. Drove my Dad’s Lancia but got my DS in 1989 and still have it. Never will have an E9…although I guess I should never say never.
My wife had a Vauxhall Viva HA when I met her in ’78. Turned out she was an Alfisti – who knew? Hankering after a Guilia at this moment
I had a 66 HA Viva with 1256 HC motor and box it went great far better than the standard brakes and suspension were designed for which added some excitment, no it didnt last long
I’m a self-confessed Mopar-fanboi. Still, this was the new-for-’93 that had approximately all of my attention. My head nearly exploded the next year, when the convertible came out.
Dream car? Realistically? I turned 16 in mid-1979. There were lots of cars I wanted, but being the practical dweeb I was, I recall really wanting a new VW Rabbit. Followed by a Chevy Nova coupe.. I’ve always had a crush on the ’72 Skylark coupe, so I was somewhat pleased to acquire a ’71 Skylark 4 door sedan for $900 in late 1979 as my first car. The 1970 Duster I got for $40 before that doesn’t count, as me and dad never got it running after replacing the thrown rod, I sold it for $50.
At age 16 my dream-dream car was a 60s-era Mustang convertible. My reality-based dream car was a new Mercury Capri with V8, stick shift and T-tops.
Hm – this may seem a bit weird considering I turned 16 in June 1970 and it was still the era of hot ponycars and musclecars. This strange and gorgeous thing had just been recently shown for the first time and was splashed all over the enthusiast magazines. It was like something dropped on Earth from some bizarro parallel world. I was in lust right from the start.
Oh Yeah.
I was in college in the early seventies. The coolest professor on campus drove one of those. A friend who was his student got to go for a ride once. Envy!
Fiat 600 soft top with suicide doors. my excuse? florida native, surfer, with a mechanic uncle named Tony…
Nice. “Fix It Again…”
In 1984 i left China, started living in Toronto and had not gotten a driver license yet even i was in early 20s. My dream car was Porsche 944 and Benz 300E (W124). I still recalled I pointed to my friend how beautiful a passing W124 in Don Valley parkway of Toronto, my friend reaction was he was amazed the simple and elegant trail lights. That design has been copied by other auto makers for 30 years. The love for 944 was beause of favorable reviews from Car and Driver. In reality, i would buy a Celica, Prelude or Civic Wagon of that vintage. However, when I was on market for a vehicle in 1990, I got a 1983 Caprice Claasic sedan as my first car. I purchased my second car in 1992 was a 1987 Accord sedan. So what you want is different what you can afford. Nevertheless, W124 remains my list of favorite cars.
A 71 or 72 Ford Maverick Grabber, with a Boss 302 engine and 4 speed, with all the good suspension tweaks that Shelby did to the 65 GT350 Mustang. Platform sharing CAN be a good thing! Would still like one…
This is easy: a 1957 Chevy 2 door hardtop sports coupe. I still want one, too. Either in Bel Air trim or 210, as long as it is a hardtop. Heavens, I’d also take a 4 door hardtop sports sedan for that matter.
That was my childhood dream car. From my very earliest memories, this was the car was just infatuated with, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air 2-door Sport Coupe in red or black (no skirts, continental kit or other goofy 50’s accessories). Growing up I really like 1950’s cars, and this was my ultimate car. I could rhyme off all the specs as a young kid, and of course I wanted a fuelie. As I got older I took an interest more in 1960’s and 70’s car and the ’57 Chev became more of a cliche of the 1950’s. However, I still have a special place for this car.
So I obtained my learners permit and then drivers license back in 2009. At that time, I was floating around a lot of ideas, from affordable and easily obtainable, to ones that were much more of a fantasy.
I can’t quite remember which car I dreamed of the most, but I always had either a later model BMW E46 3 Series or E39 5 Series hot on my mind. They were still rather expensive on the used car market at the time, for me anyway. My endless talk of BMW however, did get it into my mom’s mind, and I was able to convince her to get one, for herself at least in the form of a CPO 2007 X3 🙂
I’d have to wait a few more years for my own Bimmer. As most know I was passed down the 2004 Toyota Highlander, which wasn’t at all a bad first car, but hardly did anything for the enthusiast in me.
I’m not at all shocked that your daughter wants a Jeep Wrangler. It seems like most teenagers (guys and girls) who aren’t super into cars from a handling perspective want Jeeps. All of my close cousins of driving age (4 boys, have had a Jeep in one form or another as their first car).
The E46 bug bit me in the early 2010s, but one read of the E46 Bimmerfest Wiki ruined it for me.
Yeah, the E46 wasn’t the pinnacle of long-term reliability for BMW. Its successor, the E90 seems to have maintained a much better reputation in this respect. In fact, I actually would be very tempted to purchase a low-mileage E90 as an extra vehicle, should the right spec come along. I’ve driven enough E90s to know that I really like the size and handling characteristics.
When I was 14, I wanted a ’77-’79 Caprice Classic 4-door, fully loaded. Saw an absolutely sanitary such car in a parking lot and left a wobblyhanded note that was never returned.
When I was 16, I wanted a ’60 Valiant V-200 automatic sedan, preferably red with red/black interior just like in the brochure. An early-production model with all the chrome gingerbread that was decontented out early in the production run: the little shark fins atop each front fender, the inner chrome ring on the spare-tire trunk lid, the hard stainless windshield and backglass reveal mouldings rather than the later mylar-over-plastic lockstrip.
Never did get a ’60 Valiant. I briefly (days) owned a ’61 before unwinding that fraudulent deal. I now own what was my father’s ’62 Lancer. And about 12 years ago I was a day too slow to pounce on a pristine, fully-loaded, low-miles, low-price ’79 Caprice Classic sedan.
No, wait a sec, no, I’ve got that wrong. I was 13 when I wanted the Caprice. When I was 14 I wanted an Australian Valiant—an AP5 or a VF Pacer. My folks said no wrong- (right-) hand-drive car.
Throughout my childhood since I could first identify vehicle models, I had always dreamed about owning a Ford F-150 and being able to haul & tow just about anything I could think of in the bed & a trailer. If I also wanted to haul more than just a few passengers, I could opt for an 8-to-12-passenger Club Wagon (Transits weren’t in the US yet) instead and remove unnecessary seats so I could still haul a decent amount of cargo (my dad has an Expedition, but to me SUVs are too small on the inside for their size). Fast-forward to high school: driving my older brother’s 2001 Ranger with the 4-liter SOHC V6 convinced me that anything much bigger or more powerful would be either too difficult to park or very expensive to fill up with gas on a regular basis, maybe even BOTH. All that, plus the fact that most seats from full-size passenger vans are VERY HEAVY and don’t even fold for easier removal & storage, eventually led me to the ultimate realization that a used minivan of a certain kind would be the best solution for 90% of my driving requirements: solid-built construction, plentiful but NOT overwhelming horsepower & torque, superior gas mileage over SUVs and larger vans, and abundant interior room within a manageable (size AND price) footprint; ALL from a well-trusted brand. THAT led me to the Aerostar I drive now. A 7-passenger Transit Connect with the back seats removed (they WILL come out with a Torx wrench) at a good price is now in my plans as a secondary vehicle.
I forgot to mention: my neighbors used to have a green 1995 Aerostar much like the one featured in the How Hard Can It Be to Make a Minivan series. I only remember riding in it once with a few of my friends (on the way to school), but I can tell you that it was one of the best vehicles at the time for that kind of carpooling task in the late 1990s and the turn of the millennium . No seats to have to fold out of the way for entry & exit in the 3rd row while STILL being able to park in a standard house garage or carport was a BIG plus for me, and eventually a very crucial one in my final decision for a dream vehicle. Sometimes your childhood dreams do come true.
A Renault Gordini.
I still marvel at the design of the R8. It’s a jewel of a car.
I turned 16 in 1977 and dreamed of buying a 1953 Studebaker Starlight coupe from a neighbour, but reality intruded and I got a 1968 Plymouth Fury II instead.