On the Subject of Dream Cars

I believe it is important to have a dream car.  (For the sake of this post, I will state that "dream car" can be a symbol for any kind of desireable object.  For me, it's a car, for you it may be a rare watch or piece of art.)

Since I can remember, I've always had a dream car.  It's certainly evolved over the years.  At one point, I really wanted a Mitsubishi Eclipse.

I mean, what red-blooded American 15-year old boy wouldn't want one of those bad boys.  I didn't know much about anything at that point, but I know I wanted one of those.  Of course, the only way I would acquire something like that would be begging mom and dad for it and hoping for the best.

It didn't happen.  I ended up with the 1992 Toyota Camry.  It was a great first car.  Certainly not fast enough to get into any trouble, fairly safe, and basically bullet-proof.

After a year of driving the Camry and our troublesome work truck (with a transmission that was about as reliable as a Nicolas Cage movie), I was ready for the next step.  I had a bit of money saved and my dad was ready to help me out with my first real car.  I knew I wanted
something rear-wheel driven and something a bit older that I could tinker on and learn more about cars with.

The search began as we looked at some older BMWs, Datsuns, and Mazdas.  I've always loved the old Datsun Z cars.  My cousin had one when I was about 9 or 10 and I remember loving it.  It was (and still is) difficult to find one in good condition for a fair price.  They were either destroyed by rust or in pristine showroom condition.  Nothing in between.

It soon looked like I'd be stuck in the Camry or something else fairly boring and safe.  But, the search continued until one fateful day.


I came home from school one day and Dad had a newspaper.  In the classifieds (craigslist before craigslist for you youngsters), there was a 1979 Porsche 911SC Targa listed for $6800.  It needed some body work, but the engine ran great and didn't need any mechanical work.

My dad showed me and said he'd set up a meeting with the owner to go check it out.

Wait.  What?  A Porsche??  It was the dream car that was actually a dream.  Nothing I'd ever expect to own in real life.  We met the owner and drove away with the car.  It had dents and bad paint, but over the course of two years, we turned it into a really awesome machine.  I'll never forget the rides to the beach with the top down or the road trips down the coast along Highway 1.

Unfortunately, life changes and moves on.  When I went to college, we sold the car and now I've got a dream car of a different kind.  A little BMW 318ti.  It's nothing special, but I've always loved them and now I have one of my own that I can tinker on, customize, and eventually turn into something really special.
This BMW costs less than most of the cars I've ever owned.  (Heck, it costs less than half of the motorcycles I've ever owned).  But, what makes this a dream car is that I can look at it and dream what it could be.  What if I put a V8 under the hood and gave it a ton of power?  What if I got some wider wheels and really got the suspension tuned in?  What if I iinstalled a great sound system in there?

It lets me dream every time I look at it and drive it.  It's a constant work in progress.

More and more in my life, I've found that my "dream car" isn't something I just hope to buy off of a lot.  My dream car is something I make.  My dream car is one that I can project my dreams onto and lets other people see how I imagine perfection and beauty to be.


Working hard and saving up lets us all get closer to our "dream car."  Once this car is close to finished, I'll move onto the next dream car.  I'll have bigger and better goals.  Dream cars are healthy.  They keep us moving forward and aiming higher.  Personally, dream cars help keep me creative and thinking about more and more possibilities.  The only limit is what I can dream up.

So, what is your dream car?