There is a game that I play sometimes, during my long commute or when I'm wandering through the neighborhood on walks with Seamus. I look at cars and I imagine who I would be if they were mine.

I could be an outdoorsy camping and hiking type in the Jeep Wrangler, a high-powered businesswoman in the sleek black Mercedes sedan, a rugged and capable farm girl in a pickup truck.

Or I could be a sports car driver - going classic in a cherry red 67 mustang convertible with a black top (I see this car all the time and it is gorgeous) or more modern with one of the new Mustang Fastbacks. Then there's always the Porsche Boxster. Can't leave out Porsche when looking at high performance automobiles. I've always liked the look of older Corvettes too. The ones from the seventies are long and lean, but there are also some good looking ones that I think are from the fifties, more compact, but still with very nice lines. I will always have a soft spot for the Magnum PI era Ferrari as well.

If my fantasies are going in a completely different direction, I could be a suburban mom in a Volvo station wagon, a fun seeker in a Mini (old or new), or a driver who went for the exotic with an Aston Martin. Ooh, or a Karmann Ghia. While I still harbor a grudge against VW for my crappy Jetta, the Karmann Ghia predates that particular era.

I never seem to imagine myself in cars I don't like, so Hummers and Escalades and pretty much every modern Lincoln, Buick and Pontiac are out. As are your boring, everyday sedans. Which, naturally, is what I drive.

Would I be a different person if I bought a different sort of car? I'm not sure I would. No matter what car I got, underneath it all, I'm pretty sure I'd still be me, the ordinary, prosaic and practical Honda Civic Hybrid type. It is nice to pretend, though.

What's your dream car?

Posted by Bad Penguin at July 9, 2009 7:38 AM