Seven Days of Dream Car Garages: Day Three by Richard Cazeau

Day three of our Dream Car Garages series is brought to you by the wishful mind of Road Test Editor Richard Cazeau. First on his list, the Mercedes G65.

Why an SUV? Because it all about the “just in case” factor of: hauling in-laws, moving a buddy to a new apartment or a jaunt to Lake Tahoe. And since Land Rovers and Range Rovers are so played-out by Hollywood celebs, why not opt for a classic?

Why this SUV? Well, regular richies can have the G63 with its 544 hp twin-turbo V8. Instead, the not-sold-in-America G65 gets four more cylinders and makes an outrageous 612 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque! That’s why.

Almost everyone has seen Back to the Future, at least once. The biggest star of the 1985 film wasn’t Michael J. Fox. It was a reworked DeLorean complete with a stainless steel body and Gullwing doors.

Unfortunately, DeLorean’s illegal woes and loss of DMC drove the the marquee DMC-12 car into the ground. Still looking futuristic with its unforgettable spaceship-like design and iconic grill logo, this 130 horsepower ride would be my choice for Big Gulp runs to 7-Eleven.

And as cool as I look now, I’ll be having even more fun behind the wheel when I travel back to 1985.

With progressive design and sporty performance, this is a car you just gotta have as a show-off piece. A plug-in hybrid concept, it combines a turbocharged 3-cylinder with electric motors to deliver performance worthy of the BMW badge.

Set to go into production in 2014, no official specs are yet available, but it should deliver environmentally responsible fuel economy as well, meaning looking like you’ve arrived from the future is guilt free.

There’s only one thing wrong with the i8, and that’s the fact that people will recognize it from that terrible Tom Cruise flick.

When the late Carroll Shelby released GT500 in the KR rendition, my eyes stayed fixed on it for hours. As a collaboration with SVT, only 1,000 units were built for the 40th Anniversary. It has extensive use of carbon fiber and details inspired by the original 1968 King of the Road model. Upgrades didn’t stop there. The KR is powered by a 540 horsepower 5.4L supercharged V8 engine and Shelby along with SVT tuned the suspension and fitted the vehicles with Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires. As a finishing touch, the seats are embroidered with Shelby’s signature. This is the Mustang to own.

Since I was born after the era of American muscle, I can only imagine what it must have been like. And this is how I’d do it, with the closest thing to a modern reincarnation of those automotive icons of decades gone by: the 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392.

Equipped with a 6.4L Hemi V8 engine making 470 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque, it may be more modern with Brembo brakes, a sports suspension, bi-xenon headlamps, and 20-inch wheels, but this piece of hardware is certain to be a classic.

In Season 5 of Mad Men, before taking his life for embezzling money from Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, Jared Harris’ Lane Pryce received this car as a gift from his wife who was unaware of their financial woes. Shortly afterward, he unsuccessfully tries to commit suicide in the vehicle, though I won’t spoil the reason why he fails.

Notorious for being less than reliable, the 1965 E-Type is the quintessential British sports car and an emblem of fantastic 1960s design. An icon from an iconic era era.

Each year, Lamborghini finds ways to shock us with stellar designs and even higher performance. A two-door, two-seater, the Aventador Roadster is the sweet successor to the Murciélago Roadster. Powered by a V12 engine making 700 horsepower and 507 lb-ft of torque with a 7-speed paddle-shift transmission and AWD, it’s all enough to make anyone irresponsible.

In my fantasy world, when I pull to a red light or red carpet in this tour de force, my attitude would change from cool-headed to arrogant in less than three seconds. And then I would say ”the Aventador made me do it”.

Remember the opening scene of the 2008 spy-flick Quantum of Solace, where British secret agent James Bond criss-crossed through Italian mountain roads evading bad guys with big guns, while cooly trashing a beautiful Aston Martin? Of course you do.

That was me. Or rather, that’s how awesome I’d feel behind the wheel of this car.

While Daniel Craig drove a DBS, my ideal Aston is the very same V12 engine, but in the smaller Vantage model. Loaded with carbon black metallic paint, carbon-fiber extras, Obsidian black leather and more I couldn’t bring myself to trash it, for the love of Queen or Country.