Everyone would have their own dream garage if they could I’d imagine. You know; a collection of 10 or so cars that to them are just the bee’s knees. They wouldn’t have to be perfect cars, they could be terrible, but to that person, the dream collection.
I’ve been thinking a bit about my hypothetical dream garage today. I’ve tried to put as much rational and practical thought into it as possible, rather than just be silly and choose 10 or so supercars. I’ve tried to think a lot about what cars mean to me and what I value in them. What gets me interested in a car and so forth. It might sound a little over the top and frivolous, but when you do analyse your own perceptions of something you care a great deal for, you can’t help but get a little swept up in it.
In my case for instance a great car, or ‘dream’ car has to have a few foundation stones. These might vary in quantity or frequency from car to car but they do have to be there.
First is innovation; the car is essentially a metal box that is propelled along by a series of small explosions, designed originally for practicality and convenience. However, we’ve used it so much over the years that a LOT of thought has gone into how to improve it. So much so in fact that throughout its history and development as a piece of technology it has exhibited such innovation, imagination and forward thinking that while being the same basic recipe as it was a hundred years ago, its efficiency, reliability and practicality bear no resemblance to itself as it originally was. It is real innovation and good ideas that have helped it along. A great car to me should reflect this. It should be clever and most of all it shouldn’t be afraid to bend the rules or be different.
Second is character. Cars are surprisingly anthropomorphic. Lots of people name their cars or at the least establish whether it’s a he or a she. We like to give them characters. Probably because they’re part of our lives usually from the word go. But I think it’s also because they’re very complex and more to the point noticeably complex. Even if you don’t understand in any way how a car works you know there’s a lot of ‘stuff’ involved. From the noise it makes to the levers and pedals you have to operate in order to drive one. It’s a very physical thing; you can feel the vibration of the engine. You can feel the friction of metal on metal when you change gear. You can sense when a car is struggling with a given terrain and you naturally will it onward, primarily because you’re in it, but also because you can sense all these complex, meticulous things like vibrations and noises and their endless combinations giving you certain impressions and eventually characters. Human beings have very complex characters, so naturally we’re used to automatically empathising with other complex characters. But who says these characters have to be human. We empathise with other animals very easily and it’s not the first time that a tonne and a bit of metal with hundreds of moving parts has been called an ‘animal’ in its own right. They also sound like animals some of the time. Cars can purr, they can growl, they can bark, they can roar, shriek, whine, grumble, croak and hiss. No-wonder we read a bit of sentience into them occasionally. They can also have very varied characters. Some sports cars are like excitable puppies with quick revving high-pitched engines, agile handling and a slight lack of discipline. Some old off roaders are like a shire horse; big, strong, not in a hurry but with a gutsy-engine. Some powerful executive saloons are like an eagle or a falcon; strong, precise, serene, very calm and collected when cruising but with an embedded ability to dive at full power if required. Whatever the character, a great car should have one and an endearing one at that.
Third is build quality. A bit self explanatory this one. Needless, to say a great car doesn’t necessarily need to be working, but it certainly helps.
Forth is a little more individual; it’s a WOW factor, a sort of X factor that can appear in several guises. It’s a sense that this car is special, a sense that this car steps above the rest, it might even be for a very mundane reason. But if it matters to you, then it matters.
Here then is my DREAM GARAGE. It’s the cars that stand out to me for the above reasons. It’s the cars that I like and the cars about which I actually do think: I would love to own of those at some point. Some are down to earth, some are a bit fanciful, some are just fun, but hey, the word dream isn’t used for no reason.
1. - Aston Martin Vantage (1993 model)
2. - Bugatti EB110S
3. - Bugatti Veyron
4. - Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
5. - Honda Accord 2.0 (2009 model)
6. - Lotus Exige S
7. - Nissan GTR
8. - Nissan R390 GT1
9. - Skoda Octavia VRS
10. - Volkswagen Phaeton W12
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