I’ll start. It’s the 911 Dakar. I’ve always been a massive fan of the Safari models. But being this off-road capable is insane, and not to mention that it might be one of the best daily driven cars ever made. I always loved big boxy SUVs for daily driving, but this seems to combine my 2 favorite things.
Focus RS. A mortgage and a baby kept it just out of reach for me. For that reason, it’s felt like a “car next door” type of crush.
We had a focus RS for a day once. Very very stiff ride, and confining seats. But a lot of fun as well. Coincidentally that day we visited the now deceased John Campion, his personal collection/garage. To our surprise and John’s surprise, we pulled up and he happened to be driving a focus RS as well. Hilarity ensued. Such a great guy and sad to have lost him to cancer. I have also driven focus and fiesta ST and I think I would probably live with those better than an RS. But I appreciate the RS for what it is.
FiST was a great car. Loved throwing that thing around on the track. I remember getting in some FoSTs and it just felt a bit too heavy, but damn, that RS looks fun!
I owned a Focus ST and loved it. Possibly my all-time favorite car. I traded it for a Focus RS to gain AWD (I live in a very steep and snowy area). That car was not pleasant. Did not enjoy it anywhere near as much as the ST, even when the RS was working, which was rare. I was happy to get rid of it a year after buying it. I sold the ST after 6 years and was sad to see it go.
I owned one for a couple years and while it did some things very well, I enjoy my Mk7.5 Golf R more overall.
Similar feeling for me - the scion fr-s release series 1.0 was basically the epitome of cars that I wanted when it came out. But while I probably could have stretched and afforded it, but my wife and I were starting a family and we knew that a two door coupe was not going to work with an infant. So, alas.
But every time I see one, I get wistful. The color is one that Toyota deploys on occasion and between it and Honda’s “boost blue” (or alternatively, Toyota’s “voodoo blue”, which I actually prefer" just hits me in the color receptors. Gets me every time.