If you've driven your dream car(s), did it live up to expectations?

Alpina e38 B12 6.0 e-kat, as an ardent e38 fan I'd always wanted to drive one and tried a left hand drive variant not long after I'd bought my last e38, whilst it to my mind wasn't worth the then £20K on top of the ~£8k I'd paid for my 735i, it was literally pinnacle e38 in every respect, it somehow felt better built, not that build quality was an issue with the e38 7 series as a whole imo, the performance was impressive for what it was.

Whilst I'm sure an equivalent S600 Merc would better it in many respects, the look/styling the Alpina was in class of its own.

On the opposite side, which is quite amusing given the crazy values they attain these days, the most underwhelming "dream" car I have driven is the Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth, I used to work opposite a well respected tuner of Cosworths back in the 90's and I had an opportunity to drive a complete stock standard RS500 just before it was turned into a fire breathing monster - as many Cosworths were back then - it didn't feel fast at all until the boost kicked in and that was at a high engine rpm, to me it just didn't feel right at all, not that I'm any kind of expert, far from it.
The ride was harsh, rattles audible at any speed, the handling was somewhat loose and as I say, it didn't feel particularly quick at all.

A notable mention whilst not being a dream car as such was a drive in an old Mercedes W124 300E, it felt like it was built from granite, performance was good, the refinement was great and everything worked, at the time it was about 20 years old with well north of 250k miles under it's wheels.

Probably the most impressive car I've driven for not perhaps the usual reasons....
 
jigger said:
I didn’t, but I always felt a ripped off every time I got in and out.
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They're not even that great compared to modern cars, and not even that fast any more (unless running crazy silly power), as modern cars are so powerful and come with better tech/4WD/gearboxes.

For the purist though, it doesn't matter. Rather be in one of those than a fast 1 series or A class, for example.
 
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sigma said:
They're not even that great compared to modern cars, and not even that fast any more (unless running crazy silly power), as modern cars are so powerful and come with better tech/4WD/gearboxes.

For the purist though, it doesn't matter. Rather be in one of those than a fast 1 series or A class, for example.
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Not sure about that TBH. The right road with the right driver and I think a Vspec ll would be pretty dang quick.
 
jigger said:
Not sure about that TBH. The right road with the right driver and I think a Vspec ll would be pretty dang quick.
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I suppose my point was, a few years ago it would have been one of the quickest things on the road. Nowadays even an A Class would be hanging around I reckon.

I can't find a time for the Skyline but A45 does Nurburging in around 7:48. Found a time for an R33 of 7:59.
 
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As a person of a certain age, I like many others had the White Lambo Countach poster fresh in my mind when my mate got his Huracan. Having driven it on numerous occasions it did not disappoint. I don't think I could live with one as a daily but my god it would be a fun weekend car.
 
HI there

The phrase dream car I am not so sure about, think only cars I ever dreamt about owning was 205 GTI's from a young age, I owned several and back in my youth I thought they were awesome, driving around everywhere at crazy speeds with zero acknowledgement of speed limits and just attacking any country road like a track day I could find, I'd say from what I can remember they were ace, but driving over 20 years ago was also way more fun than it is today. I suspect driving one today I'd simply think it was a rattle can POS. :D

I'd always lusted after a GT3, I owned one and sold it six months later, the car was pretty amazing, but something just did not click for me, it gave me the impression it had huge capability but it was never much fun as to speak and even though you had to ring its neck to get the most from the motor now I am grown up to drive a GT3 like I did my 205's would result in driving everywhere at 130-160mph on the road, as such any anything other than flat out I found it quite a boring car, I am sure teenage me would have loved it zooming around everywhere 130mph plus, now I am older and punishments for such speeds are harsher it was a car hard to exploit and enjoy on the public road, but when I took it on track, though again it was very capable it was almost not that much fun.

I found my 997.1 Carrera S a more fun car, especially on road. Based on this if I ever re-visit GT3 I'd be more inclined to go 997.2 GT3 RS, think those are the real magic and prices now reflect as such, the other car in Porsches lineup would be a Cayman R, 718 GT4 or 718 Boxster RS. GT4 RS don't work on the road, I road in one and was shocked at how harsh it was, reminded me of my Abarth.

Now the 458 and 600 LT I have nothing but good things to say really, the 458 has to be the best road supercar I have ever driven and owned, Speciale is an absolute masterpiece, peak Ferrari, peak supercar by miles if you ask me, but no way am I dropping 300-400k on a Speciale when an Italia for 1/4 of the price nets you 90% of the fun and ability, but having owned a 458 for five years, it is truly a car that lives up to the heroism nearly every jouurno raves about it, fun even at 30mph, but also very capable on track but again whilst remaining fun and exploitable, it will pull epic skids on command and the balance feels perfect, just like a Boxster or E46 M3, very confident inspiring.

Then the LT, it literally wipes the floor with the Porsche on a race track in both ability but also engagement and enjoyment to pedal around a track, having driven race cars, Caterhams, single seaters etc, the LT truly is a masterclass in replicating that race car feel on the track but then by some miracle it turns into this comfortable road car with all the excitement, attention and theatre that is deserving of a supercar well done, though it is not quite as fun as the 458 on the road it is the better more rounded capable at everything car I have owned and something I'd say McLaren deserve more credit for than they get as their cars are so damn good on both road and track, easy to daily, stupidly capable on a circuit and easy to drive across Europe.

I am not going to talk about others cars, I've owned too many, but my thoughts above on some that stick out in my memory and one car I wish I never sold #666 Saleen S666 MUS SC281 Mustang, what a car I built, still miss it to this day, shame it is no more, seemed the next owner could not handle the beast and killed it. :(
 
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Not a dream car for me, but always liked a Kia ceed GT when they first come out thought they were great looking cars, and the reviews at the time were generally favourable with the biggest issue being price. Jeremy Clarkson was the only reviewer that absolutely panned it and I thought he was being a ****..

A number of years later one came up for sale locally I needed a new car desperately and so I bought it.

And I can absolutely say Jeremy clarkson was absolutely right on every level.

Worst car I've ever owned put me off the Kia brand completely, I don't understand why Kia seem to be so popular they aren't even cheap anymore.

Can't wait till I've finished paying it off to get rid of it.

I've always liked JDM cars and generally that's what I've had, I have liking for "black horse" cars, I never learn, there's a reason why everyone buys a gift GTi / r, but that just puts me off buying them, I'm an idiot to be honest.
 
sigma said:
Nobody surely buys a Skyline for it's interior?
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R34 GTR interior is pretty contemporary in my opinion:

interior3.JPG


interior1.JPG
 
I think its a pretty timeless design, thats 25 years old. Not like some cars back in the day that were trying to look "modern" or worse "futuristic" and now just look like a bad episode of star trek.
 
I have owned a lot of cars, some cheap some dear and its fair to say iv always found they never live up to the expectations of owning them . Perhaps its because iv never owned them long enough but usually its very easy to get bored and find faults.

More recently i have come away from the supercar scene and have bought a couple of manual cars mustang 5.0 and a supercharged s2000. I also have a 1978 chevy truck, a 1989 chevy truck and a few race cars and other cars.

I have more fun in my 1978 truck as a summer daily, also find it gets a great reception from pretty much all public . The manual gearbox engaging cars have found a new fun factor that i have missed, and they are cheap in the grand scheme of things. It is tricky as i also have a 2021 dodge charger redeye and sometimes its nice to just get in and had 800bhp on tap.

I think the reply from me is they dont live up to expectations and sometimes simple is better. One car does not simply tick all boxes.

Going full circle the S2000 i bought has really made me feel like a kid again, i owned one 12 years ago aged 26. Now another, looking outside seeing a muscle car or two and a Honda just reminds me of fast and furious. Maybe im getting old
 
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