In 1995 I had a metallic blue Mk1 Mazda MX5 1.8iS, loved the car, eldest daughter was 2 by the time I had to sell it before 2nd daughter arrived and had to move on to a more sensible 1.8 MX3.
I always wanted another, MX5 not daughter
Oldest daughter is now 24 and has just bought this as a project for herself
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She has even put me on the insurance
I much prefer looking and admiring classic cars rather than owning and driving them but it would have to be a old citroen for me (I owned three XM V6, two 12V and a very late 24V over a few years) so preferably a SM or a DS23/D21 even a CX Gti Turbo2. No space for me cars here though! Maybe a S1 Elise is more likely.
HSR Chevette was a 2.3 but only 4 cylinders 16 valve
Droopsnoot Firenza now they are quite rare , Gerry Marshall was the opposite of any today's drivers he was fat , probably smoked and had a thirst but was always at the front
good point! If we’re talking money-no-object, but you can only have one…
A-Team van, modernised, electric conversion, kitted out as minimal camper with bike garage/load space. (I am not even joking, that is what I would get 🤣)
Looks like it'd have plenty of space in the rear, and I do like the idea of a minimal camper set-up.
Would be handy as a bike holiday solution for someone who didn't like going on planes, eh?
Money no object? I got to sit in this actual car when I was a teenager.
Actual childhood nostalgia car? I got to sit in one of these most days when i was a teenager
My husband had a Droopsnoot Firenza before I met him, sold it to fund a XR2 when they fist came out.
Guy who bought it rolled it after a couple of weeks and it ended up totalled and in the scrap yard.
Porsche 914
Always loved them when I saw them in the 70's and sill love them now. Still fairly cheap too.
Another vote for the Mk2 Golf GTI 16v
Here's the one I used to have:
Sold it about 20 years ago. Red bits on the photo are due it being the last frame on the 35mm roll (I think.)
Always wanted (still want) a VR6 Corrado.
Now, if I had almost unlimited amounts of cash, Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk style then the world would be my oyster. I'd probably stop hanging out with eugenicists and would want to fund Covid vaccinations for everyone, pay my employees properly and pay my tax so that we all could enjoy a properly funded NHS, I'd probably still have pots of cash lying around that I could never spend in one lifetime, so I'd go for the following:
A Mercedes Benz 600 Pullman - the problematic ownership profile included people like Idi Amin, Deng Xiaoping, John Vorster, Kim Il-sung and Jeremy Clarkson. On the flip side David Bowie, Karen Carpenter and John Lennon owned 600s, so I'd like to think that I was restoring some karmic balance to the brand.
Then there's this:
I mean, just look at it. It's as old as New Order's Blue Monday (both were revealed to the world in 1983) and the Porsche doesn't come with Peter Hook. Running costs are apparently monstrous, but away from a race track you'd rather drive one of these than a Ferrari F40 and it's going to be far better everywhere than a Lamborghini Countach, especially in the rain.
Finally, we have this:
Take a Williams FW15C and add a 1994 Renault Espace silhouette body and this is what you get. The downsides are that it's not road legal, it requires a Formula One team to start and spares are going to be thin on the ground. But it's gloriously mental.
Late 60’s early 70’s 911 Targa in dark blue or Burgundy
Delta Integrale Evo 3 in yellow
Renault 5 turbo 2
Escort Mk1 drop nose.
Pug 309 GTi Goodwood
The Instagram link thing doesn’t work any more then?
No, it’s the one thing that worked so they removed it.
Ha.
Having some experience of trying and failing to get software developers to do seemingly simple tasks, I'm sure there's a pefectly good but unintelligible explanation for its absence - or that there are much more important business priorities which we aren't aware of.
I was lucky enough to buy my dream car a few years ago. Audi quattro turbo 1988. It didnt disappoint. Nearly bought a Lancia Delta Intergrale when I sold it but went for a motorhome instead. I'm toying with idea of getting a Mark 1 Toyota MR2. Had one back in the day, great little car.
Money no object?. This:
Bids open at 1,000,000 euros!!!.
Money no object? An early Jaguar XKR, they aren't that expensive, but it would be by the time I've spent an extra few grand on some wire wheels and written a blank cheque made out to retropower....
This just looks so RAD and ticks all my boxes
There's a lot of nice motors on this thread, but that Esprit is just ****ing moist. It looks like it's doing Mach 1 when it's parked up.
Would have to be one of these. When I was 18 a bloke I used to climb with who worked offshore had one and did a Lakes trip in it up the A65. The sound of an air cooled 911 is like nothing else.
Full spares availability (including new rustproofed bodyshells)
Reasonable purchase price
Available in large numbers so plenty of choice
Easy to work on at home
Low insurance
No tax
Great owners club support
MGB
My dad had a powder blue Viva HC company car, which my grandad bought off the fleet and kept for years. It wasn't anything special- reasonable spec, 4 door, think it was probably the 1.2- but I absolutely loved that car and the fact that any time I saw it, there'd be good times coming.
But I still love that nose, and the whole "tiny muscle car" thing always appeals. I don't want a resto or a Proper Classic, though, I want to get a basket case and fill it with whatever I can squeeze into it. Lots of tyre, give it some curves back in the arches, nose down... I could definitely be tempted by a Firenza (not a droop snoot, just the normal coupe) or Viva-E but really it's the old blue car that's the inspiration so I don't know if that'd be Pure. I don't know how to do most of these things to be fair but that's just details.
Had a near miss with a volvo 940 just before I got the current car, still love those too. Banded steels and as much boost as you dare 🙂
Volvo 480 ES turbo
I had a 1967 mrk2 spitfire (then I got divorced) the guy round the corner from me in Colchester had a non running GT6, he kept offering me the engine and running gear for cheap. Apparently the ex got in it one day and the floor fell through (it was stationary).
So a mrk2 spitfire.
Or
Austin Healey 3000
Or
Mark 1 mr2
It wasn’t anything special- reasonable spec, middle sized engine, hardly a Firenza- but I absolutely loved that car and the fact that any time I saw it, there’d be good times coming.
^Brilliant, cause my Dad also had a Blue Viva HC 🙂
A while ago I almost bought a lime green Shuvitt as a runaround ,I was outvoted.
Miura as the money no object option. Much better looking than a 250GTO IMO, although I wouldn't kick a 250SWB out of bed for dropping crumbs...
More realistic? XJS. Ideally the V12, but would settle for the straight six if I had to daily it. Either way, it'd need a manual conversion and to be rot free (lolz)... An early 911 would be lovely too - like this
Volvo p1800 es for me please
Had a Citroen zx 16v in the late 90’s in white as pictured previously, very nice quick car, hasn’t aged well though looking at the pic compared to my fuzzy memory of ownership
Mg midget or a bond bug....
996 generation 911 Turbo S or GT3. They came out around the time I started driving ('97 so the turbo did anyway) and there was one around the corner from my uni house, just the right kind of unobtatium to get 18 year old me drooling!
On a more limited budget, I would love to have another 172 cup, I ran a mild modified one for a couple of years as my daily covering 30 odd thousand miles (could never be quite sure as the gearbox speedo sensor was a little dodgy so used to just drop off and not show speed or record mileage until I changed it). Sadly I didn't have space to park it up when I bought a more sensible car so traded it in for a grand (was actually bought by the garage so they could turn it in to the staff track car!) gutting when half tidy ones are going for £4k plus now.
this one recently sold for £7.5 plus fees!
How old is classic?
I've owned my take for 13 years, 27 years old this year.
I'd love a GT6 or a 240z, anything else my heart lusts after (air cooled 911, NSX,Hakosuka kpgc10, Cosmo 110s etc) is now sadly out of financial reach.
I had a 172 cup, great when it worked but broke constantly. Less reliable than my rotary, and it has been looked after!
Wife had a DC2, and it was phenomenal. If love to have another.
Another shout to the Saab 900. Would upgrade the family memory to a soft top Turbo.
My Dad used to be asked for his navy blue standard 900 as a wedding car living on a dodgy estate. Did it for a couple of pints and it being washed. Even had the posh ribbons in the boot. Actually looked quite good although smelt of Hamlet cigars inside! Oh, the 1990s.
For nostalgia purposes: MK2 GTI IV - Oak Green
but if we are are dreaming, then a delta integrale
^^ love that Oak Green GTI - I always wanted one that colour. Had a Jade Green one with the machined version of those wheels and then a bit of a scabby dark blue one.
I'd like a mint version of my first car - Mk4 Austin Healey Sprite - basically a Midget, and a mint Mk2 Golf GTI. However, I'm in the fortunate position of having a car I've always fancied - cheap and cheerful but a great drive. This car, but a few years after this advert after it had been standing a while...
Money no object? 1973 911 RS Touring
The industry experts always rate the Mk1 GTI so it's good to see the MK2 getting a lot of mentions on here. I really loved mine and with the addition of extra anti-roll bars it cornered so flat it was like a go-kart.
I had a Mk1 Scirocco GTi in Arctic Gold. Light and beautifully balanced. I’d have one of those in a heartbeat.
I had a MK2 GTI 8v 3 door in Oak Green. One of the 1 in 10 million Campaign models with small bumpers, rainbow interior, sunroof, half dark rear lights, tinted glass and Castellet wheels. Lovely car that rotted badly in the sills. I owed a mechanic mate of mine a load of favours so gave it to him for nothing. He welded it up and it ran in the VWDRC for a while.
I’ll have the same as pondo please. Lancia Statos in Alitalia livery. Failing that a Delta Integrale.
oh, and a triumph stag because my Dad bought one "for my mum" when he was having a mid life crisis
The first time I put my back out was lifting the hard top on to that car - weighed about as much as the moon.
Had a Mk1 Caddy pickup up until last autumn, but sadly I'd bought a bit of a dog and it never went very far in the 4 years i had it.
Dream would be the same again with a straight, rust-free chassis/body, decent brakes and suspension, a non-scratched windscreen and an electric motor dropped in...
As others have posted vans, I'll add my 1974 'bus' which I still have.
Previously, I owned a 1939 Citroen Light 15 - awesome engineering for a pre-war car. 2 litre engine and could do 70mph. Only trouble was it was the first monocoque and the back doors used to pop-open due to body flex going around corners - nearly lost Mrs DB going around the Elephant and Castle.
Alpine Renault A110.
I was lucky enough to co-drive in one in 2019 for an Italian guy, and he gave me a shot of driving it on one of the road sections.... wow 🤩
I would love to have the chance to go for a road trip in one.
Would have to be a mini. I had 6 as a kid, one of pretty much every variant other than a van or a pickup. They were all beaters though, so it would be nice to have a good one and see if they are as much fun as I remember them being...
Absolute dream would be finding an ERA.
Just for Northwind - here's my HC Viva. Fitted with an Alfa 1750 engine and gearbox.....
That is lovely.
An alfaholics 290R
Having owned three 1600 105series Alfa coupes it would be both nostalgic and a dramatic improvement on the originals.
Circa 1990 BMW E30.
I'd have another Alfa Romeo Bertone coupe - having previously owned a 1976 GT Junior. Great little car, in that idiosyncratic way that only Italian cars - and especially Alfa's - really manage. Mine was Piper Yellow, aka Mucky Beige. Proper 70's colour.
After the Viva/Alfa above I became a full Alfista and got a red Bertone GTV - and another has been on my wish list ever since.
I've also had GTV6, Alfa75 V6, Alfa 155, Alfa 156 (2x), Alfa 166 V6 and currently have Alfa 159 3.2 Q4
Peugeot 205 GTI. Preferably a Miami blue 1.9, gutted I never got one when they were cheap
Silly money/dreamland stuff it'd probably be a 964 given the Singer treatment.
