Talking Cars Tuesday: What was your childhood dream car?
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.
OWCH!
A Vector W8...
Or a Countach... or a Delorean DMC-12... or Ferrari Testarossa... or... I had a LOT of dream cars as a kid.
Either the Ferrari F50 or a Lamborghini Diablo
I was in 7th grade. Gangly, peach fuzz mustache, and incredibly smitten with a neighborhood 16 year old. Her parents had money, so she was gifted a 16th birthday present in the form of a blue Pontiac Fiero, circa mid-1980's. Something like the picture below. She was a sight to behold with shades on and hair waving in the summer wind. Naturally, it was my dream car.
Runner-up: Mid-80's Chevy Beretta.
I have a 1987 Fiero GT that looks exactly like this one. Bought it in 1991 (third owner) as a college graduation gift to myself. Am about 75% done restoring it.
if it will always be 'The car that could ahve been so much more...'. Great memory.
Quite. In typical GM fashion they spent $30,000,000 to redesign the suspension for 1988 and the killed the car halfway into the model year. The original plan was to launch it in 1984 with an aluminum block V6, but after the project budget got cut down to about 1/3 of what was originally slated, it ended up with the measly (but reliable) I4 "Iron Duke". The 2.8 V6 in the GT would have made a decent base engine, with 140 HP. Mine now has a later model 60 degree 3.4 liter V6 that makes about 160 HP- feels pretty good. A well-done Gen 1 supercharged 3800 swap will get close to 300 HP, which I don't think I'd want in a Fiero without the 1988 suspension.
These cars are still a lot of fun to drive, get great response at car shows, and are very affordable to get and maintain.
Modified the exhaust. Nice throaty rumble and more hp/torque. New wheels. Else, stock 2.8.
and the mid engine... damn.... it could have been an amzing car.
As it was I remember the 2M4 selling like Crazy.
'68 Camaro. Such a bad ass looknig car
I will accept no argument about this. The DB5 is the most beautiful car ever made
tho Enzo might have thought it was beautiful.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_E-Type
On its release in March 1961[6] Enzo Ferrari called it "the most beautiful car ever made".[7]
Richard Pryor called it Pure Pussy.
but I loved the Cobra Daytona more.
Accept no substitute
"Who's da U-boat captain?"
Apple IIGS, FTW!
'66 Corvette, cherry red with black leather interior and soft top.
My childhood piano teacher has one and man that thing rules so hard. He still drives it in my hometown Fourth of July parade with some local dignitary or other in the back.
For my first car, I wanted one of these, but instead only had enough cash for one of these.
So close . . .
I don't know how much you know about cars, but can you guess which one shook like hell once you hit 60 mph?
Depends on the road surface.
No . . . even that doesn't matter.
the Shelby Mustang GT 350 (wimbledon white with Guardsman blue LeMans stripes). Always been my favorite. Also AC Cobra. Basically, anything having to do with Carroll Shelby
I will once day have a Cobra kit car. Dont care if its not the real thing, just want to drive one.
One of my favorite cars ever.
Dream car in middle school sadly was the Renault Alliance Sport. I dream big.
From a GM family...
As a high schooler, nothing got me going like a Corvette ZR1. Quite excited about the new one... sexy
1969 Mach I
in third grade i was crazy about mazda miatas.
by middle school and high school all i wanted was a camaro.
I have two of them really.
The first was a Ferrari F40 (a doctor in my neighborhood had one of these and a Lamborghini Diablo, and promptly gifted the F40 to his son when said son got his M.D. from Johns Hopkins). Prices have skyrocketed for these lately to north of $1 million, so needless to say it'll never find it's way into my garage.
The second is a Porsche 911 Turbo. I truly fell in love when, in 1995, they introduced the first AWD version. Unfortunately, as with the Ferrari, these late 993 models represent the last, and probably best, of the air-cooled Turbos, and prices have also punched through the stratosphere. The following 996 generation are not very attractive, but represent an incredible bargain for the performance and luxury, since you can find relatively well-sorted 6-speed versions around $50k. Maybe one day I'll convince my wife that those are a great idea.
No so much "dream", but we had one of these when I was a kid except in blue (and my dad still has it actually, and it is in great shape - not on a machine with actual photos):
Yep, the "Magnum" car.
To this day, I've never driven a Ferrari. For my 50th birthday this coming July, I thought it would be a great gift to myself - just rent one for a weekend. Unfortunately, Michigan might as well be Mississippi, because no one rents Ferraris in Michigan. Some large rental fleets, like Enterprise, will rent them in California, but that's about it.
I guess I'll just have to keep on dreaming.
I was given the gift a few years ago of some road course time in an exotic. It was pretty pricey, but kind of one of those bucket list type things. I got to drive a Ferrari 458, then I bought extra seat time in an Audi R8, then I paid for a ride along in the R8 from a professional driver.
If its available anywhere close to you I'd suggest it because driving something like that on an actual road course where you can open it up was definitely an experience. Expensive though. I think the name of it was Xtreme Xperience or something. They had Porche's, Lambos, Corvette Z06s, etc.
Groupon - my wife got me one of those with Xtreme Xperience on-track packages. I drove the 911 GT3 and absolutely loved it. definitely pricey tho
Breaking the rules. I was a child of the 90s, but at a very young age my favorite car of all time was a Blue and White Striped 1969 Shelby Cobra.
Ferrari F40
AC/Shelby Cobra 427
This is the correct answer
But part of me always wanted a 289 rather.