As many of you know, I'm a car guy. Well, more specifically, I'm a driving guy. Being a driving enthusiast I've always had a dream car. For some a dream car is a great looking car, a fast car, or a car that can drive over a school bus. My dream car is the most fun car to drive.
The car that believe to be the most fun to drive changes as my knowledge of automobiles evolves and new vehicles become available in the United States. Being that these are my dream cars, I've never actually driven any of them. My opinions on 'fun to drive' are based only on magazine reviews and specification lists. Perhaps someday I'll know for sure.
My first dream car is one I probably shared with almost everyone at the time. In the early 1990s I discovered the Ferrari F40. At the time this was the production car with the highest top speed and the fastest acceleration. It is still considered by many to be the most fun to drive super car ever made. Its lightweight and single function design made it unique. It was probably the only super car ever made with no carpet and probably the last super car made with almost no onboard computers. It was just two turbos, an engine, some metal to deflect the air, and a pair of seats.
The next car that I dreamed about is painfully obvious. In the mid 1990s the new fastest car emerged. This was none other than the McLaren F1. This car featured neat vertical doors, a cool 3 seat configuration putting the driver in the center, and, of course, a carbon fiber CD player. The McLaren, however, had one painful problem. It retailed well into the seven figures. It was about ten times the cost of the Ferrari F40. It was, and still is, completely unobtainable.
It was at this time that I began to race my car in various auto crosses and go real fast during track days. My dreams took an interesting switch. I now dreamed for a car that I may someday actually be able to purchase. Coincidently a very pure sports car was released that very year.
This beautiful automobile is the Lotus Elise. It is lighter than a Miata and considerably more powerful. The reviews stated that although it can turn hard enough to pull you into the side of your seat with more than your own body weight, it cannot be your only car. Its sub fifty thousand price tag, and performance near that of many Ferraris won me over. I almost put money down to join the waiting list, but luckily I decided not to.
It did not take very long for me to find an even more pure sports car. In idle chatter with someone at a race track, I discovered the Lotus 7. As it turned out this ugly car was still in production under the new name of the Caterham 7. The new models featured modern suspensions and engines. This car was also cheap. One can be acquired used and CA street legal for under $20,000. This would have left me enough for a Honda civic beater car, which would be necessary considering the roof for the Caterham 7 was an option I was not planning to buy. This automobile had one small negative, though: it was a kit car. I would enjoy the build, but I'm no mechanic and I'm sure the quality would reflect that lack of experience.
But alas, it turns out that an even more absurdly sporty car exists. The designers of the Ariel Atom built this automobile from the ground up and included even fewer unnecessary features than the Caterham 7. Features that they left out include any possibility of a roof, doors, side panels, a wind shield, and bumpers. Even the headlights and parking break are options that you must specially order. By having none of these pansy features it is amazingly fast. It can accelerate from a stop to 60 in 2. 9 seconds, it can complete a quarter mile in less than 9. 5 seconds, and it can run a lap around most race tracks faster than the mighty McLaren F1. At $35,000 to $45,000 it's more expensive than a Caterham 7, but at least it's built by professionals, and it looks a whole lot prettier (kind of like a Formula 1 car with headlights).
I believe my super car quest is at an end. The atom has it all: looks, light weight, scary fast, and less than the cost of a new kidney. I will have one... oh yes I will.
Something this frightening is better not kept to oneself. Once I scrape together the necessary 4. 5 million pennies to buy one, who wants a ride (or a drive)?