It may depend on what you class as youth.. being your pre-teens, or maybe even 20s.
Mine would have to be the RS2000. The closest i got really was a couple of XR3i's with my favourite being in this grey colour.
TBH i'd love to have another XR3i but as you'd expect, there's less and less of them about on sites to be able to purchase etc... They're also not cheap, but i'd expect that anyway. Nostalgia.... you've got to love it.
The original Golf GTI
VW Sirocco - my dad ended up with one, TBF the only decent car he had in later life.
I ended up buying a my version - but the one without an engine as it was all I could afford.
Opel Manta
Another Opel Manta fan here, I had a 2.0 GTE hatchback in my younger days. It was a great car, lots of happy memories.
"Of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?"
"My dear Doctor, they're all true."
"Even the lies?"
"Especially the lies."
Mr Moofo wrote: Wed Feb 04, 2026 7:27 am
The original Golf GTI
VW Sirocco - my dad ended up with one, TBF the only decent car he had in later life.
I ended up buying a my version - but the one without an engine as it was all I could afford.
Opel Manta
I had a Scirocco (1st Generation). It was a nice combination of power/weight and the handling was OK although it had a tendency to 'cock a leg' when cornered hard.
The interior was, really, pretty basic but I think it was the best looking of all the versions.
MingtheMerciless wrote: Wed Feb 04, 2026 7:36 am
Another Opel Manta fan here, I had a 2.0 GTE hatchback in my younger days. It was a great car, lots of happy memories.
I too had one in the 1980s.Perhaps the only disappointment was that it was a rear wheel drive car but german engineering made sure it didn't handle like one; and, dare I say, it behaved not unlike a Morris Marina when power was applied mid-corner. Safe but unexciting understeer!
Going back to my 20s I was working in the motor trade and the car I really wanted was a BMW 2002 touring, preferably (rare if not unobtainable) turbo one. I had the chance to drive quite a few more exotic cars but they never seemed a sensible proposition for me.
KungFooBob wrote: Wed Feb 04, 2026 7:42 am
Surely a dream car should be something almost totally unachievable,my bedroom poster car was a Lamborghini Countach.
Though I'd happily settle for a Lotus Esprit Turbo.
Same. In a red frame, proper 80's cool.
I had a matching picture of the Testarossa, too. Side by side. I thought I was the coolest thing since Don Johnson's rolled up jacket sleeves.
That said, I think they're best remembered as pictures on a wall, as I imagine that owning one would be a very painful experience.
We went to Monaco when we were 19 and wandered around the marina.
2 young kids pulled up next to a huge yacht in a Lamborgini Countach and got out of the gullwing doors.
That became my dream car.
It would have been a Capri, a couple of my mates had them but I could never afford to insure and run one unless it was a 1.6l version, and there's no point having one of those when there was a v6 version
When I was a teenager I thought the Lotus Europa was a really cool car. There is an original one that drives around her in an odd beige / yellow colour. It’s horrid
My 2nd car was an original XR3i and I loved that car but I was a teenager and for the time it was a quick little thing.
Thought several supercars have the "wow" factor but I've never really had a dream car. It's always been about going fast and having fun for me, which is relative to the car of course.
I always wanted a car with 400+ bhp and I have one now, but there are so few places it can be really opened up it's virtually pointless really. Next car could well be a classic; something that can be a barrel of fun without doing silly speeds.
The Martian wrote: Wed Feb 04, 2026 9:53 am
Next car could well be a classic; something that can be a barrel of fun without doing silly speeds.
I'd quite like a Morris Minor Tourer (the rag top) and proper pimp up the A series motor, same as the mini so loads of tuning bits.
I had a V6 Triumph Stag for a couple of months in my early 20's which was great fun, but refused to start in the rain so I couldn't keep it as it was my only transport. Something like that for a weekend car for me; RWD / LSD
Like most of my era I wanted the Feeling rdofferings, Mexicos, RS2000s, Lotus Cortina’s. When I started working in the motor trade I got to drive most of them o never needed to own one . Cats Like Ferrari 428s and the current Lotus range turned to be horrible to drive and I’d walk past all of them to drive a Merc, Hag or even Granada Ghias. Or if it was sunny any drophead! I then latched onto 4x4s and today my preferences are still luxury, 4x4 or dropheads.
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