My perfect garage. What would yours be?

If there is one thing to get car enthusiasts talking, it's a discussion over what cars would be included in their dream garage. I created a discussion group on the now defunct Drivers Republic for people to create their lists and thought it was high time to revive things here at Drive Cult.

To kick things off, here are the cars that would fit into my custom-built, de-humidified dream garage. They are listed in age order rather than any order of preference.

1. Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Le Mans Coupe.

Some people argue that the Alfa 2900 is the world’s first supercar, which considering the term wasn’t invented until the sixties is a little odd. The 2900 was powered by a 2.9 litre straight-eight supercharged engine, which produced around 200bhp - a lot for a sportscar in the thirties. The 2900s came in a variety of body styles, both open and closed, by Touring of Milan. In truth any of the 30 2900s would be very welcome in my dream garage, but the one that I really want is the Le Mans coupe which, as the name implies, competed at Le Mans in 1939. Quite comfortably the fastest car in the race assisted by its revolutionary all-enveloping enclosed bodywork, the car was leading by over 160km when a tyre blew. Despite being brought back to the pits, the car retired with a broken valve shortly afterwards. Even though the car retired several hours before the finish it still covered more distance than the fourth-placed car. An awesome car then, and still an awesome car today.

2. Mercedes Benz 300SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe.

Following the theme of long bonnet GT sports cars and straight eight engines, we move post-war to the mighty Mercedes 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe. The 300SLR was a fearsome sports racing car, and most famously known for powering Stirling Moss to a win in the 1955 Mille Miglia. Mercedes also built two closed versions, possibly to compete in the Carrera Panamericana road race, but before this could happen Mercedes withdrew from motorsport following the tragic 1955 Le Mans distaster where 83 spectators were killed following an accident for Pierre Levegh's 300 SLR. Rather than let one of these coupes go to waste, Mercedes chief engineer Rudopf Uhlenhaut put one to use as his road car. He fitted a huge external silencer to the straight-through racing exhaust, although I suspect trying to quieten a straight-eight engine with desmodromic values and direct fuel injection (in 1955, remember) was probably a futile exercise! Both cars built are owned by Mercedes itself, and Sir Jackie Stewart, who drove one at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, indicated that Mercedes insure these cars for $40 million each. Since this is a dream garage, the money is irrelevant - the Uhlenhaut Coupe makes it for being absolutely gorgeous.

3. Porsche 356 “Outlaw”

Just a tad cheaper than the 300SLR, I move onto the the Porsche 356. I've always been a fan of the 356. It’s a neat shape and extremely cool, especially in Speedster form, but at the moment what really attracts me to having one is the trend for the so-called Outlaw 356s. These are customised or hot-rodded 356s, probably an idea that developed out of the modified Beetle scene. The idea of building or modifying a car to the specification I want it has an appeal and modifying a Ferrari is considered sacrilege, so making the perfect classic Porsche would be a great substitute for my modding tendencies. I wouldn't do anything crazy, just give it a great paint job, some chrome Fuchs wheels, remove the bumpers, add some nice chrome detailing and tweak the engine a little. Perfect.

4. Ferrari 330GTO SN 4561SA

Finally, a Ferrari in this list, and what a Ferrari it is. Known as a 330GTO (although I'm not sure if that's an official title), 4561SA sports a GTO body with a wheelbase stretched by 50mm, the potent 400 Superamerica engine and a 5-speed gearbox. I’ve already blogged about this car here so I won’t repeat the history, but suffice to say, for me this is the best-looking of the GTOs, with the 50mm increase giving a slightly leaner and meaner look to the car. The current owner campaigns the car at Goodwood and the Silverstone Classic (where it won this year in the hands of Willie Green), but if it joined my dream garage I would use it as the original owner intended, as the ultimate road car.

5. Iso Grifo Series 1

The GTO was engineered (at least to begin with) by Giotto Bizzarini. After he and many other engineers at Ferrari had a falling out with Il Commendatore and left the company in 1961, he teamed up with Renzo Rivolta to produce a new range of racing and road cars under the Iso Rivolta name. The most famous and best of these was the Grifo, a front-engined GT (can you see a theme here?) sporting a Giugiaro-designed body and a range of Chevrolet and later Ford V8s. My personal pick is a Series 1 with the open headlights and a small block V8, to avoid the unsightly bonnet bulge of the big block. As my Dad is currently restoring one, I hope next year that the reality meets the fantasy.

6. Ferrari 275 GTB/4 N.A.R.T. Spyder

It's 1967 and Ferrari has the 330GTS as its convertible offering. Ferrari’s American importer, Luigi Chinetti, wanted a new, more sporting open car as a spiritual successor to the 250 California. The obvious solution was to build an open version of the 275GTB/4, and a run of 25 cars was planned, all for the US. A high unit price ($14,000 when a standard car was around $9,000) resulted in only 10 being completed. That didn’t stop the car becoming a movie star, as one example appeared in the original version of The Thomas Crown Affair. The film’s star and renowned petrolhead Steve McQueen was impressed enough to order one for himself. McQueen was involved in an accident with the car shortly after delivery, which resulted in this car needing extensive repairs to the rear end. He took the opportunity to make some change to the design, resulting in this car having a slightly raised rear spoiler. This 'side project' resulted in what in in my opinion is the best looking convertible ever made. The looks led to several other 275s being converted in a similar style, as shown in the picture above.

[Photo: Ed Callow - @torquespeak on Twitter]

7. Ferrari 365GTB/4 Daytona 

I'm not sure if you can count a car you already own as a dream car, but it's my list and my rules, so it’s in. If you're at all familiar with this website you should know all about my Daytona. If not, check out the entries on it in the Drive Cult Garage.

To be a little different here I’m featuring the Competizione versions. Ferrari produced sixteen race versions of the Daytona, one alloy-bodied near-standard car, and three series of five competition versions with ever-increasing power outputs and wheel sizes. Several other cars were modified in period to race specification as well. I saw one of these on the drive down to one of the Goodwood Sunday Breakfasts, and it was without a doubt the meanest-looking car I have ever seen on the road.

8. Ferrari 288GTO

Leonardo Fioravanti’s first design for Ferrari was the Daytona, and his last was the wonderful 288GTO. A development of the basic 308 design, the GTO was developed for Group B racing, with a 2.8 litre turbocharged V8 producing 400bhp which, together with a lightweight composite body, resulted in epic performance. The combination of crushing speed together with stunning looks is a winner. The classic car market has woken up to the GTO recently and the cars are rocketing in value, and whilst this list is not so much about value but more desire, I think anyone wanting to get one should act quickly, since in the current market they are unlikely to get cheaper.

9. McLaren F1

Gordon Murray’s masterpiece stunned the motoring world when it was launched in 1994, boasting 621bhp and a top speed of 231mph (later raised to 240mph) in a road car that weight just 1200kg. For me, it was the incredible attention to detail that really made the car stand out; details like the gold-lined engine bay for optimum heat reflection, and a titanium toolkit. Being a lifelong Ferrari fan, the car never appealed to me when it was new, particularly the thought that my fantasy funds would end up in the hands of Ron Dennis! However, being given a copy of Driving Ambition, Doug Nye's comprehensive book on the story of the McLaren F1, changed my opinion completely. The trouble is, the F1 has become the modern-day supercar to own, and values have shot up far in excess of its original huge price tag of over £600,000, to something closer to £1,700,000 and up.

A road version, possibly fitted with the downforce pack, would have to be in the dream garage, if only to sample that incredible 6.1 litre BMW V12 engine, often said to be the greatest road car engine of all time.

10. Mercedes SLS-AMG

Any dream garage needs a car that can be used every day, and that really means something new or nearly new. Of the cars that really float my boat, two stand out - the Ferrari 458 Italia and the Mercedes SLS-AMG. Which one makes the list is a difficult decision, since both are fantastic cars from manufacturers at the top of their game. Despite this being a dream garage, it was a real-world decision that swung it towards the Merc, which, as a front-engined GT car, is probably just about more usable that the mid-engined Ferrari. Inspired by the 300SL Gullwing, the SLS is the first car entirely engineered by AMG, Mercedes' in-house tuning outfit. It sounds spectacular (especially in its role as the F1 Safety Car), and the gullwing doors, while maybe a little awkward, give the car a real sense of theatre.

So this is my list, and we at Drive Cult would very much like to hear from you as to what your top ten dream garages would be. Feel free to add your choices in the comments section below, and any really interesting or unusual choices may be featured in the future. The only criteria are that the list should contain just ten cars, and that at least one of them should be a new or nearly new car (e.g. sold within the last five years). Get thinking...

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