Number 1:  1966 Ford Mustang GT 350H
The last time I rented a car, it was a Hyundai Accent and it was rather boring.  If I had gone to Hertz in 1966 with about 100 bucks in my pocket, I could have had a ’66 Mustang fastback in black with gold trim and more than 300bhp under the bonnet!  I also could have taken it to the drag strip and legally raced it.  What incredible days those must have been.

Number 2:  2000 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R
The first Cobra R that you didn’t need a special license to purchase and it would do 0-60 in around 4 seconds and on to a 175mph top speed.  It also looked as if it had been designed by Batman who, when he was done, suddenly decided that orange, rather than black, was the way to go.  Without any doubt, the most striking Mustang ever made.

Number 3:  1978 Ford Escort RS2000
It may have been the Professionals, the fishnet Recaro seats or the droop snoot nose, but whatever it is about the MkII Escort RS2000 that makes me want one, I know it will be the 110bhp through the rear wheels that entertains me the most!  The shape seems to get better with each year and although the X-Pack kitted cars are the most eye-catching, it is the standard bodywork that looks the best.

Number 4:  1987 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth RS500
Limited to just 500 examples, the 224bhp RS500 is one of the rarest Ford’s in Europe.  The Sierra’s looks were an acquired taste anyway, but when the RS body kit was added, drivers had to get used to the attention pretty quickly!  This car was so much more than just a fast Ford, it represented motor sport success, 80s excess and was the apple of many schoolboy’s and yuppie’s eye.  I will have mine in black thanks.

Number 5:  1986 Ford Capri 280
The final incarnation of the best looking coupe Ford have ever made was mechanically identical to the 2.8i Special, just with 15” alloys, leather interior and in the cool Brooklands Green colour.  The ease with which the Capri ate up long distances, the burble of the lusty V6 and the sheer manliness of the shape, makes the Capri the car I would probably most often use.

Omissions and Conclusions.
It was tough choosing the final five, with several models just missing the cut, the hardest of which was the 1963 Galaxie 427.  In the Sports Roof configuration, the Galaxie was a drag strip powerhouse, developing somewhere around 430bhp from the engine that would eventually find its way into the curvaceous body of the AC Cobra.  On the more sensible side of things, an early 70s Mk1 Escort Mexico was sacrificed in favour of the MkII RS2000 mainly due to its glittering media career at the hands of Bodie and Doyle.

Try as I might, I also couldn’t decide which one of the Mustang’s should go, as at first I promised myself only one would feature on the list.  But to choose between the rare and beautiful 60s car and the extremes of the Cobra R was just too tough.  Eventually, it seemed only fitting that Ford’s most famous model should be represented twice, and at either end of the ‘Stang’s evolutionary scale.  The hardest omission however, was the AC Cobra, but as the Cobra never officially wore the blue oval badge, it merely had ‘Powered by Ford’ on its flanks, it didn’t really fit in.    Anyway, the Cobra will definitely find another way into my dream garage!

With an unlimited budget and no restrictions on rarity or unavailability, what cars would occupy your dream garage?  A dream garage is the place where you would store all those cars that you have always wanted, but were never able to purchase for silly reasons like not having millions in disposable income.

So, over the coming days, I’ll reprint the garages here – broken down by manufacturer with one or two exceptions – just for my own satisfaction.

Although the site is first and foremost a showcase for my online writing, the blog will remain and be used to keep visitors up to date with my latest projects.