Talking Cars Tuesday: What was your childhood dream car?

Submitted by JFW on

Let's stick to what was in production at the time. 

What car got you going in middle school? Corvette? Ferrari? Mustang Cobra II....?

For me, my dream car being produced as a kid was the (brand new!) Dodge Viper. I also fancied the Corvette ZR-1 (C4, mercury marine version). 

I had a poster of a Vector W2 up; but I'm not sure if that ever reached production. 

Grampy

May 8th, 2018 at 3:02 PM ^

A 1957-58 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa. I couldn’t afford it then and sure as hell can’t afford it now

One of these days I need to learn how to imbed pictures.

M-Dog

May 8th, 2018 at 12:37 PM ^

They must have wrecked a hundred of those in filming. 

Every time it landed from one of those jumps, they quickly cut away from the part where the entire front suspension came crashing through the hood.

 

NowTameInThe603

May 8th, 2018 at 11:52 AM ^

Audi TT - No idea why. Maybe because of how it was marketed through video games like Need For Speed.

 

El Camino - I just thought they looked cool.

 

Mustang Fastback - Again I just thought they looked cool.

 

Out of all of them I only desire the Mustang as an adult.

Mr. Owl

May 8th, 2018 at 11:54 AM ^

1969 Pontiac Firebird Convertible.

Bought one in desperate need of restoration.  Never had the money to do it properly.  Sold it for 1/3 of what I bought it just to get it out of my mom's garage.

I now don't even own a car & love the freedom.

SonOfAnAlumnus

May 8th, 2018 at 2:18 PM ^

That was my dad's dream car. He had one growing up. We couldn't find a '69, but we ended up with a '70 when I was just getting my permit. Loved driving that car. Still want to get a muscle car; there's nothing better than the purr of that motor and being put back into your seat when you floor it

Kevin13

May 8th, 2018 at 11:56 AM ^

always loved the look of them and thought I would own and drive one, one day.  Now I look back and wonder why I never purchased one. Probably when it was practical it was too expensive, not that I could afford one it's not practical.

UMfan21

May 8th, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^

yep. in elementary school it was a vette.

in middle school I liked all kinds of exotics. for some reason I liked the Pantera and Maseratis over the more popular, faster supercars.

by high school it was a maclaren F1

jackw8542

May 8th, 2018 at 2:34 PM ^

If you never had a Pantera, be grateful.  I bought one in 1972 and had it for about 13 or 14 months, of which it was in my actual possession for about 2 months and back at the dealer for one repair or another for the balance (repainted in whole or part 5 times, cracked manifold, clutch cable crimped, A/C inoperative, wiring harness issues).  Cold weather invariably brought about a three step process:  (1) pour hot water onto the door lock to get into the car, as the locks would ALWAYS freeze; (2) remove the engine cover to allow the automatic choke to set as the carburetor linkage would also ALWAYS freeze solid; and (3) once the automatic choke was set, it would ALWAYS stick, so that I would be roaring along at 4,000 rpm in 1st gear and unable to shift to second until the engine heated up enough to thaw whatever was causing the choke to stick (second gear at 4,000 rpm was way to fast for leaving the neighborhood).  After I had the car, I read an article in a car magazine that said that someone seeing a Pantera desperately wanted to be inside while the driver was desperately longing to be outside.  I was reminded of that article one day when I was on my way to the Ypsi dealer where I had bought the car (Sesi Lincoln-Mercury) to (again) bring it back for service when someone came running up to me to tell me my car was on fire.  I calmly looked back, saw smoke billowing out of the engine compartment with no flames, assured him that the smoke was not terribly abnormal (it turned out to be a cracked manifold), and continued on my way to the dealer.  I couldn't get Ford to take back the car, so I eventually sold it.  The day the guy who bought the car was coming to look at it, I started the car before his arrival (wanted it warmed up so I could be confident it would start), saw smoke coming out of the engine compartment, took everything apart to get at the engine, found it was a cracked hose, taped the hose with duct tape, pointed out the duct tape to the fellow who came to look at the car (wanted to be honest with him) and went for a test drive.  I was surprised (and incredibly grateful) when he bought the car.  It amazes me when I see how much people are now paying for them.

Craptain Crunch

May 8th, 2018 at 11:57 AM ^

Both very special during the 80s.

I had a well to do classmate who was given a Henna Red M3. He was a maniac and I thought I was going to die with him behind the wheel. Ah, what great memories.

M-Dog

May 8th, 2018 at 12:47 PM ^

You and I are the same age.  An older kid in our neighborhood got one of these.  When he brought it home, it brought out all of us younger kids on our Schwinn Stingray's for blocks around to come and see it.

That thing was bad ass.

We're blessed to have lived during the muscle car era, even if not as drivers.  (There were still plenty of used ones around when we did hit driving age . . . if you could afford the gas.)

True story:  I guy my age had a gorgeous Boss 302 Mustang in the early '80s.  He traded it in for a Pinto because he could not afford the maintenance and gas.  Nothing said "loser" to the rest of us like that.

Nobody should ever have to face that kind of life decision.

 

Hail Harbo

May 8th, 2018 at 5:33 PM ^

Took my driver's test in a '70 Chevell SS. Red with black stripes, it was my mother's car.  No, really.  And because it had lived in Ann Arbor its entire six years of, the painted black stripes were the only thing holding the rust bucket together.  I didn't pass the test that day, got an incomplete because the rust bucket was shedding parts as I drove down Stadium.   

BornInA2

May 8th, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^

Lamborghini Countach. I suspect I am not alone in that, as my generation's entry into the "disposable income" years has tripled the price on these cars in the last few years.

Second would be a particular Ferrari with a particular occupant...

(holy hell, I cannot copy/paste into the comment entry box anymore. Can we PLEASE get some software written in this decade?? I almost want this as much as I want a serviceable offensive line)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST6Ky7IL8cM

UMfan21

May 8th, 2018 at 1:00 PM ^

For those who said Countach, I coincidentally came upon this video yesterday.  This guy has a great series of videos.



I never realized how awful the interior is for most of these supercars.  But the Countach...well it has many quirks I never knew about.



 

JeepinBen

May 8th, 2018 at 1:23 PM ^

Get off my carbourated lawn! Back in the day supercars were hard to drive. That was good! Nowadays any Justin Bieber off the street can roll up in a Lambo and think they're cool. They don't have to deal with overheating motors right behind their heads, contortions to upshift, or anything else besides have money.

Image result for porsche 911 turbo adImage result for 911 turbo ad legal

JFW

May 8th, 2018 at 2:55 PM ^

of alot of the uber electronics anyway. Some is okay. I mean, I drove a Challenger 392 and being able to choose whether I melt the tires off or whether the computer prevents me from swapping ends is okay. But the key is in the choice. And in the idea that if their is a failure, I can still drive the car. 

 

Too much expensive bullshit in cars today. 

 

I may have trumped your old man-ness. 

Yo_Blue

May 8th, 2018 at 12:07 PM ^

Mine was actually my first car - a '70 Mustang 302.  That thing was FAST.  Being in a Ford family, there was never a consideration of looking at anything else.

Sadly, I sold it to a neighbor and got a Mustang II.  Man, was that a mistake.

Yo_Blue

May 8th, 2018 at 3:43 PM ^

Graduation present.  It was mine if I sold my '70 to a neighbor.  I thought about it for a while, but didn't want to offend my parents.