Dream car?

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Sun 3 Jan 2016 18:15
Dream car? - P3t3r

I have been thinking about what my next car would be and trying to decide what my 'dream car' would be. Sitting in traffic one day, I thought about my current car... it has a heater, air con, a radio, it's cheap to run, realiable and it'll get to 15mph pretty quickly. What more could I want when I'm stuck in traffic? I may have my dream car and hadn't realised it. There are faster cars out there, but it would be a waste for what I do.

If I got a 'better' car it would:

  • use more fuel
  • cost more to insure and service
  • take longer to wash due to its size
  • be harder to get in and out of (in car parks) due to its size
  • have more things to go wrong

My car's a Citroen C1 (1.0) and I think I'll stick with it.

What's your dream car? Is it something fast, something economical, or something else? Maybe you already own your dream car?

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Sun 3 Jan 2016 18:38
Dream car? - RT

Car purchasing should be about defining your "functional specification" using your head, not your heart - but if we all did that, the car industry would shrink as we'd change cars far less often than we do in general.

I guess I already own my current dream car - having just bought a new one following many months of deliberation - and very pleased with it.

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Sun 3 Jan 2016 19:20
Dream car? - Engineer Andy

A chauffeur and a minion who cleans the car for me? Especially good for traffic jams (1st) and cold days (2nd).

Otherwise it would have:

To be a small-medium coupe but with room for 4 and a decent sized boot;

The mechanicals/electrics of Honda;

The looks of a Mazda;

The performance and sound of a Beemer;

The interior of an Audi;

The handling of a Ford;

The new price of a Dacia;

The reliability & running costs and dealership experience of a Toyota/Honda;

The depreciation of a Porsche 911;

Only topped by Gillian Anderson sitting in the passenger seat wearing some very....beep-beep

Its at that moment I wake up and realise it was all a dream. Looks like I'll have to do with me Mazda for the moment.

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Sun 3 Jan 2016 19:29
Dream car? - scot22

One that has function above style.

Excellent all round visibility. Good handling - not interested in 'fun' (still not sure what that is in a motoring context)

Super mini size ( car parks !) with interior space and quality of Mercedes W169.

Proper handbrake and none of the unnecessary extras that cost a lot of money if they go wrong.

Since it is a dream : a proper TC auto transmission.

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Sun 3 Jan 2016 19:40
Dream car? - gordonbennet

My dream would be to grey import one of the last batch of civilian Landcruiser 70 series made up to last year but only for the home (Japan) market, still made in troop carrier guise i believe.

Still on rear cart springs, still simple and robust, true if it aint broke don't fix it philosophy.

www.tradecarview.com/used_car/japan%20car/toyota/l.../

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Sun 3 Jan 2016 21:42
Dream car? - Wackyracer
I'd draw the line at going back to cart springs!

Dream cars and skin flints don't go together so I guess I'll just stick with what I have.
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Mon 4 Jan 2016 09:21
Dream car? - Engineer Andy
I'd draw the line at going back to cart springs! Dream cars and skin flints don't go together so I guess I'll just stick with what I have.

Aren't 'cart springs' the same as 'leaf springs'? If so, the previous Corvette still had them if I recall correctly, as I remember JC saying so on a test on Top Gear a few years ago. Amazing how such a car still had such old technology in it - says it all about the US motor industry really.

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Mon 4 Jan 2016 09:49
Dream car? - gordonbennet

Mustang had live axle and leaf springs until around 2010, not sure what the new model has underneath the back end now, might even be the same.

What exactly is wrong with a live rear axle properly located and damped but sitting on good leaf springs.

Not all new designs are best for all applications, Toyota kept steel springs and live axles for heavy duty versions of Landcruisers, not the ones we get here that only negotiate the speed humps in Tescos, but the ones used where lives depend on dependability.

If it aint broke don't fix it, pity so many makers of all sorts of products have forgotten this.

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Mon 4 Jan 2016 10:07
Dream car? - madf

Live axles are all very well in the backwoods but for performance cars they are 80 years out of date..

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Mon 4 Jan 2016 11:07
Dream car? - craig-pd130

18 months ago, I got to drive a Jensen Interceptor, my all-time fantasy car, for a day. It was everything I'd hoped / dreamed it would be.

But when I was driving home in my Volvo V60, I was musing on how the Volvo was so much quieter at speed, had far better seats, handled better, was no slower, and went 3.5x further on a gallon of fuel ...

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Mon 4 Jan 2016 11:28
Dream car? - John F

Even a billionaire might be unable to own their dream car - such cars are rarely for sale. My DC....

Horch straight eight Type 853A, bodywork by Erdmann & Rossi.

Fabulous rare Audi ancestor, a combination of pre 2ndWW power and beauty even the USA luxury marques could not match IMHO.

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