What Impractical Cars Are You Dreaming About Buying Right Now?

The only thing better than buying a car is looking at cars to buy and dreaming about driving them, especially now, as we enter the 70th week of January with most of the country under a layer of ice. I know I'm dreaming of the thaw, for better days when I'm hoping to buy a new-to-me car — a pleasant weather cruiser meant for ice cream runs and steady drives by the river. Will it be big enough to handle all three of my 75-pound dogs? Nope! Will it be useful in the major yard work I'm undertaking this summer? Again, the answer is no. Will it be a reliable daily driver? It's anyone's guess, because what I'm in the market for is a Chevy Corvair. 

I want something silly that will bring a smile to people's faces. A car to make memories in. You make the whole world more interesting when you drive a good car, after all. I know you're thinking about what might be fun to drive once lady winter lets up, so tell me about them. What impractical car are you dreaming about these days? 

What I really want is a candy-colored cruiser from Detroit's heyday. While I love the big, finned Queens of the Concrete, I've also always admired the smaller cars from that era that might actually fit in my garage. The Ford Falcon, the Chevy Dart, the AMC Gremlin and the Plymouth Fury all ring my bell. But if there's one car I've always had a soft spot in particular for, it's the Corvair. 

Yes, the unfairly maligned Chevy Corvair. Where else can you find a rear-wheel-drive car with a rear-mounted air-cooled flat-six engine outside of selling a limb and praying to the Porsche gods? Corvairs are downright affordable as far as classic go, and there are still a metric ton of clean examples available in Michigan. If I can score a convertible, there will be no end to the warm summer nights I'd spend in this car. It might be unsafe at any speed, but considering I plan to drive really slow anyway I think we'll be okay. In the deeps of a bitterly cold winter, I'm dreaming of letting the wind catch my hair as we loop around Belle Isle, cruising at that 25 miles per hour.