This thread Asks what car you’d buy if you had $28,000 to spend on it. But suppose you have the resources and the car-passion of Jay Leno? What would be in your collection?
I’ve already talked about the '66 MGB roadster I’m having restored until people are probably sick of hearing about it. And you all know that I have '46 Willys CJ2A Jeep. (I may have to sell the Jeep to pay for the MGB restoration, or for space limits – but I’m trying not to.) My tastes in collections tend to be toward the mundane. I like good examples of fairly normal cars, rather than the über-exotic. So if I had the money to buy them and a large structure to keep them in, here is an incomplete list of what I’d like in my collection in no particular order, and all concourse-level restoration:
1994 Yamaha XJ600 Seca II (I love my bike!)
New Yamaha R1 (but I want red-and-white, which isn’t currently offered)
2003 Royal Enfield Bullet
Ducati 999 (or 916, or 900SS)
1969 Honda CB750
1976 Yamaha 250 Enduro
1976 Yamaha 400 Enduro
And if I was really loaded…
Sikorski H-60 Black Hawk
Bell 206 JetRanger
Robinson R-22
Robinson R-44
Schweizer 300
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.V
North American P-51 Mustang (B or D)
North American SNJ
Beechcraft T-34C
Douglas TA-4J
1970 Cessna 172 Skyhawk
2003 Cessna 172 Skyhawk
2003 Cessna 182 Skylane
I’ve thought about this a bit - tho on a smaller and less precise level than you. Generally, when I see a really neat car, I’ll think - MAN it would be neat to have one of those.
I’d really like a 72 Cutlass convertible. As long as we’re dreaming, might as well go with the 442.
I’d have a couple of Jags - what is the really low 2-seater V-12 with the hood that never ends. And a sedan - XJE - Vanden Plas edition?
Maybe a Porsche 911 targa. (Maybe you’ll let me borrow yours?)
And a little red Mercedes 450 convert.
Add in something really old and curvy and classy from the 30s or so. Like a Cord or a Hispano Suiza.
And a big black blocky car from the 30s-40s straight out of the oldtime movies.
And I have a soft spot in my heart (and undoubtedly my head) for VW Khaman Ghias.
Oooh yeah. A long, low Eldorado convertible from the early 70s.
And I’d probably have to add in a Corvette - not sure why. Maybe one from the early 60s - the one with the sply rear window, and a curvy penis version from the 70s.
And a Mustang fastback.
And to end up the list, a “batmobile” Buick Electra with the wasp back window. Love the look of that car!
But I would definitely start with the Cutlass.
And I’d have to have something to race against, so maybe a “Goat,” or a Charger …
Looks like I’ll have to build another fantasy garage!
I’d start a museum for race cars. I’d get examples of various important/interesting racing cars I can, mostly F1 but I’d throw in a few important sports cars, too. They wouldn’t just be static display pieces, but a working museum located at a track, and every car would be run from time to time. Off the top of my head, here’s a list of F1 cars I’d like to get:
Mercedes W196
Cooper T51 (first mid-engined F1 car)
Ferrari 156 shark-nose
Lotus type 25
Lotus type 49
Tyrrell P34 six-wheeler
1977 Renault F1 car (first turbo F1 car of the modern era)
Lotus type 78 (first ground effect car)
McLaren MP4 (last turbo F1 car to win a championship)
As for sports cars (all in racing trim):
1962 Ferrari 250 GTO (the single most beautiful car ever created in the history of the universe)
Jaguar D type
Shelby Cobra
Ford GT40
Chaparral 2 Can-Am car
Porsche 917
Jaguar XJR12 (“Silk Cut”, Le Mans Winner 1989 or '90 IIRC)
There are others I’m sure, this list is just what I can think of at the moment.
1967 Shelby GT500 (dk blue w/ wh racing stripes)
1967 Mustang fastback (black w/ red racing stripes)
something 30’s era
a Buick Grand National (check out the pic about a third of the way down - this car just exudes evil. I believe it was only released in black?)
a Mach 1 Mustang (1969 or 1970 model)
a WWII-era willys jeep (or 2. or 3.)
a real old international scout. I’ve got a '69 now and I want one older…
And for my daily driver, a 2003 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. Mwah. On 33’s.
Plus, I’d have the usual assortment of '55-'57 Chevys, 1960s Jaguars, 1960’s-early 1970s era Mustang/Shelbys, a late 60’s AMX, and an early 1970s RoadRunner.
Just to head off any nit-pickers that might bring up the mid-engined Auto Union grand prix cars of the '30’s, I want to add that the Cooper was the first postwar mid-engined F1 car.
(I want one of those Auto Unions, too. And a Mercedes 154. :D)
I have a 66 GTO, I would like to have one each of it’s corporate cousins, a 66 Buick Skylark GS, 66 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396, and an Oldsmobile 442. If I had the resourses, I would also collect old race cars from the 30’s through the 80’s. For my interest in sprint cars, a late 30’s Offy powered Miller would be nice. Maybe and early 50’s NASCAR Hudson Hornet would be cool. 64 Ford Galaxies made great race cars, I’ll take one. Throw in a Hemi Mopar from the late 60’s. Maybe a Mustang or Camaro from the Trans Am series. A 72 Chevy Nova short track racer. An early 80’s March Indy car so I could go race at vintage racing events.
I would also like to collect some of the cars of my youth. My first ever car was a 62 Pontiac Catalina convertible. 389, floor shift automatic between the seats, 8 bolt wheels just like the Grand Prix. I paid $35 for it and sold it for $50. A 64 Mercury Comet Caliente, a 65 Chev Impala, and a sweet little 62 Ford Falcon. And I had a 63 Comet convertible with a rare Gertrag 4 speed transmission. I traded it for a flywheel for a 66 Pontiac Lemans I was trying to get on the street.
Oh wow! My list has been building for years … here’s part of it …
First, the dreams:
Mercedes C111 4-rotor
Mazda 110S Cosmo Sport
NSU Spyder
Ford GT40 MkIV
DeTomaso Pantera
Porsche 356 No. 1 and 356 Speedster
Porsche 550 Spyder
Porsche America Roadster
Porsche 916 and 914/8
Porsche 993 Turbo
Porsche tractor (yes, they made a tractor in the 1950’s)
DeLorean
RUF CTR and CTR2
McLaren F1
Lotus Elan Sprint
Acura NSX
Now semi-realities (though a few of these are very hard to find):
Porsche 914/6
1993+ Mazda RX-7
Porsche 968
Acura Integra Type-R
VW Corrado VR6 and G60
VW Golf R32
Lancia Zagato
Alfa Romeo GTV6
Alfa Romeo Milano
Ford Capri (the Euro version, NOT the '80s and '90s Mercury car)
a London cab
Already in the collection (my brother’s cars included):
1974 Porsche 914 2.0 and 1.8
1984 Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE
1987 Porsche 924S
1989 Porsche Carrerra 4
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