So I have been doing some thinking lately, about cars (I know, go figure), and have been thinking that it is not completely outside the realm of possibility for me to own a small collection of cars sometime in the next few (10?) years.
So I started to think about the cars I really want to own, and to come up with realistic rational affordable (by me) cars. of course I want a Koeniggsegg, or a Ford GT, or a Pagani Zonda, but those simply aren’t realistic for me. So here are the cars that i really want, in a loose order of how much I love them, and all of these are realistically obtainable if I work my ass off, spend more time investing, and focus on the prize (i.e. a kick ass car collection).
1. BMW E30 M3 with E36 I6 motor swap. ~$30,000 if done right.
I basically want it to look like this. Preferably in Silver, though Metallic Grey or white with the ///M stripes would work for me as well. The M3 I want is a no-no in purists eyes, as I want to retrofit an e36 M3 motor into it, actually, I want an S50 top end (which has OBD1 and if I can find a Euro spec top end 6 individual throttle bodies), and a S52 3.2 block. Even the US spec motors can make about 300HP at the crank with the right application of the modding brush. Basically its a 2800 pound, 300HP car that handles like an e30, looks as beautiful as an e30, but doesn’t have the high strung s14 motor that they usually come with.
2. Audi urQuattro. Maybe ~20,000 for one that doesn’t suck??
I honestly don’t know much about these cars, other than they are beautiful! They made them from 1980 – 1991, though I think in the US we only got them from 82-84. The one with the vents in the hood is a newer one with a DOHC, and I think you can tune these to about 300HP. But I am SURE upkeep on a ur is nonsense expensive, but that seems to be par for the course with awesome enthusiast cars.
3. Alpha Romeo Alphetta GTV6. I havent a clue, maybe $15,000?
Again, don’t care much what color, I just love the lines. I know they made them from 1980-1987 and once again, must be an upkeep nightmare. Italian, sporty, from the 80’s.
4. Opel GT. $10,000? $15,000? More? Who knows!
This one I would definitely want in a dark color, and just look at those lines, someone once said it was the German Corvette of the time, and they were so right! (Actually it came out a couple of years before the Stingray, see the resemblance?) They are small, nimble, woefully underpowered (from what I can tell on paper, as the BIG 1.9L motor made 102HP), and look amazing. But were made from 1968-1973, so these are clearly not modern sophisticated reliable cars, but again i draw your eye to the lines, pure sex.
5. Factory Five Type 65 Coupe. $30,000 - $50,000 (build vs. buy)
Again, look at the lines, holy crap I love cars that look like this. The Opel GT is similar, the Ferrari 250 GTO is sooooo similar (this car is pretty clearly based on the design of the 250 GTO IMO), and this is the poor mans version. If I was ever going to build a kit car this would probably be it. There are so many options with this car, what running to gear to use, what rear end, what transmission, what gearing, which motor to put in it (you have to use 1 of 3 Ford old school motors in it though). I am no lover of Ford, and no lover of carbeurators (I can’t even spell it right!), but even so, this car is just awesome, its like a Cobra, but has a roof and that badass oval flat butt. Colors would ideally NOT be blue with white stripes (boring for this car), but instead silver with burgundy stripes, or the inverse of that. mmmmmmm
6. Triumph GT6. Again no clue as to $$$ value, maybe $15,000?
There were 3 versions of this car, the Mark I, Mark II, and Mark 3. I personally think I like the Mark II the best (the picture shown above). Again, my love for the hatchback continues, damn that’s a sweet looking car. Its the only car I ever want to own in British Racing Green. I generally LOATHE that color, but on this thing it just looks right. Now again, this car is ancient (1969-1970), and British, so I wouldn’t expect it to be be reliable, or fast (as a matter of fact it can go to 60mph in about 12 seconds!).
I doubt I will ever actually own one, as I tend to like cars that aren’t slower than my parents Scion XB, but sheesh, imagine if you had the time/skill to swap in a BMW 1.8L motor from the e30 318is / e38 318. 140+ HP high revving, or better yet a Hyabusa motorcycle motor, now THAT would be a car worth having!
7. Ferrari 308GTB. ~$35,000 for one in decent shape.
This has always been my favorite Ferrari (well favorite of the affordable Ferraris). Just look at those lines. I would rather have an earlier one, like 1980-1982 with the carb motor, as it makes about 255HP vs. the 308GTBi which was given Fuel Injection and extra emissions equipment for America which lowered the HP to something in the 215 range. Either way, some day I will own one of these, even if they make Fiat’s and Triupmhs seems like reliable daily drivers!
8. Lotus 2007 Exige S. $40,000
If there is one thing I am an expert on (besides ///M Coupes) its modern Elise/Exiges. After owning my Elise, I am pretty sure I want an Exige S. 2007 please, as that’s the “sweet spot” year. It is the first year of the Supercharged Exige, it has the best price point, came with the Intercooler (which was deleted for the 2008 year except in the Exige S 240 model), and come standard with the equivalent of the Sport Pack, but maybe only 6 of them don’t have the Touring Pack :(. Meaning; track pack=Harness Bar, Bilstein Coilovers, touring pack=Leather Seats, extra sound deadening, power windows. They ALL come with the Sports pack wheels and suspension (unless spec’d with the Track Pack). You can track them out of the box, and are probably the MOST trackable car in stock form you can buy, but for another $1000 you pretty much cover al your bases and have a fully streetable, and incredibly capable track car in 1!
9. BMW ///M Coupe. $20,000-$35,000 depending upon year.
So this is the car I feel I have the most knowledge in. The venerable Z3 M Coupe. Made from 1999-2002. The only difference being in 2001 they gave it the S54 powerplant instead of the S52. Same displacement, but 315Hp vs. 240. Torque went from 240 to about 285. This motor can make a little more HP with a chip, as it raises the 7600rpm rev limit back up to the 8000 the motor has in the e46 M3. If I ever get another M Coupe it will most likely be a fairly track-centric ride. Stripped interior, custom roll bar, better seats are a must (the stock ones are quite heavy and extremely uncomfortable to me), and there is about $5000 of other mods and fixes one needs to do to transform a 2001-2002 M Coupe into an EVO killer.
The ONLY 2 things I don’t like about M coupes are this; 1) The subframe weld-seperation issue, you have to find one that hasn’t suffered damage yet and get that subframe reinforced before it DOES happen, and 2) 3.1 turns lock-to-lock on the steering and that too-big steering wheel can make it feel like you are driving the BMW equivalent of a a VW Van. A smaller Momo steering wheel is required, too bad there isn’t a quick easy swap in to replace the steering rack and get a quicker ratio. Oh yeah, every single one seems to have that stupid useless pop-up moon roof, and for a proper track car it would be better to yank it out, have a piece welded in place and then a new headliner put in. That’s probably $3000 of labor right there though.
OK, so I only came up with 9 cars, but you will notice some universal traits amongst my dream garage (as I said earlier, this isn’t my “I just won the lottery” dream garage, but a semi-realistic array of cars I strive to someday own). So back to these similar traits. None of these cars has more than 2 doors, all but one are either hatchback or fastback design, most are from the 80’s (thats the craziest thing to me, didn’t the 80’s suck for cool cars?), and only 2 of them are mid-engined.
