Hold out for the dream... Or settle for reality?

I don't know about you but I have a picture of my dream car imprinted deep within my mind.

Pretty much everyone has an idea of what the perfect car would be for them. To some it may be the environmentally friendly Prius, while to others that dream car might be a Hummer.

Each and every person is unique so it stands to reason that everyone has a differing opinion on the subject. In fact, I once dated a girl whose goal was to one day own a Nissan Maxima. I can't even begin to tell you the grief I received for suggesting that she set the bar a bit higher... but I digress.

Many of us (including myself) have a dream car, which is so unobtainable that we have to live vicariously through the likes of Jay Leno.

In my case I would go to great lengths to own a 1965 Shelby GT 350R... and since there were so few manufactured I'll have to drop down a rung to the more available 65 GT 350. An unimpressive example of a GT 350 will run around 90-100K, while a truly pristine car might set you back one quarter of a million dollars. I suppose that since the economy is in such dire straights I might be able to sneak up on a deal for around 125-150K. Who knows?... maybe one day you'll see a 65 Shelby parked in my car port... most likely not though.

Since most of us live in the real world, where money out of pocket is the bottom line, compromises must be made.

Now when I say compromise, I don't mean a polar opposite of the dream... the proverbial Ferrari for the Volkswagon Beetle so to speak. No... not at all. There are many compromises, which could be made, that would save not only money, but time and headaches.

For instance if you dream car is a 1932 Ford three window coupe, maybe you would be willing to settle for a Model A five window coupe instead... at least until money becomes less of an issue.

If you aspire to one day own a 55-57 Chevy two door hardtop or Nomad, a good intermediate car might be either a 4 door sedan or a station wagon. Both of these two options are much more affordable than the more sleek and highly sought after hardtops.

I'm not saying that we should give up on our dreams, but instead to realign our halcyon ideals with the reality of the times.

In my next posting I will demonstrate how I am taking a much less desirable car and transforming it into a dream worthy car which will suit my family's needs where we are right now.

You know... now that I think about it... I never did hear whether Julie ever managed to ever purchase her Maxima or not.

Ira