Fantasy Garage, pt 1

Those of you who have known me for more than, say, an hour, have figured out that I'm a car nerd. Always have been. From the days of pushing Hot Wheels on the rug, to reading Car and Driver at age ten, to building Lego cars and model kits, I've been a petrol-head through and through my entire life.

So, I've assembled a personal list of five dream vehicles to fill a fictional garage. I tried to keep them from overlapping - one wagon, one truck, etc. Of course this list is incredibly unrealistic - I'd have to win the lottery (aka "the stupid people tax") to even consider adding any of these to my real-world fleet. But it is fun to dream. This is part 1 - the "modern" five.

The Family Truckster - Audi RS6 Avant
With a 580 HP twin turbo V-10 putting power to all four wheels via Audi's quattro all wheel drive, the RS6 can sprint to 60 in less than 4.5 seconds. Perfect for rushing Celeste to school on the many days she is running late. Sadly not offered in the US.

The Sunday Driver - Aerial Atom
Honda-powered, street legal, open wheel race car. No doors, no roof, no windshield, just 1400 lbs of pure, elemental driving pleasure. A modern interpretation of the Lotus Seven. Perfect for carving mountain roads.

The Home Depot Runner - VW Tristar
Every fleet should have a truck, right? Well show me a cooler truck than this particular VW Tristar. Tristars were VW T3 transporters with four doors and deluxe interiors. Offered in both 2WD and 4WD variants, this 2WD example has had a Subaru Impreza STI engine transplanted and is putting out 375 horsepower. Porsche 911 turbo wheels and brakes and a nice suspension setup help keep that power well sorted. Buy it now for $35k at TheSamba.

The Vacationer - Airstream Interstate
Based on a Dodge/Freightliner Sprinter and powered by a Mercedes Benz V6 diesel, pound-for-pound it's the most efficient vehicle on this list. Luxuriously equipped for road trips. And true, it's not camping when you're puling into the National Park campground in this, but hey, it sure would be a hoot.

and finally...

The Supercar - Porsche 959
My all-time favorite car. Groundbreaking upon it's 1996 release, only 337 of these were made over a four year span. Read more about the 959 here.