Okay, let’s be honest for a moment. I do it. You do it. Just about every car nut does it. Countless hours spent considering our favorite cars, trying to decide what our ultimate garage would look like. We reflect on engines and colors, optioning cars in our heads and often on virtual “build it now” pages on automaker’s websites.

One salient thing tends to temper the grandiose plans that most of us have though, and that is the oldest foe there is: the lack of funds necessary to see our automotive fantasies realized. Even those of us who are well-heeled and who actually have a burgeoning car collection often have four wheel aspirations that exceed their means.

Of course, when reality disappoints us, our imaginations can keep our dreams alive. It is in that spirit that I thought I would share with you what my modern car garage would look like… if price were no object.

10) Jaguar F-Type SVR Coupe

All car enthusiasts have had a thing for at least one model of Jaguar. The D-Type captured the hearts of racing fans with its sinuous lines and prodigious performance. The E-Type seduced an generation of sports car aficionados, and prompted no less a personage than Enzo Ferrari to declare it the most beautiful car in the world. The XJ220, arguably the world’s first hypercar, blew folks away with its cutting edge construction, looks and capabilities.

After falling on tough times during the 1990s and early 2000s, Jaguar came under the ownership of Indian concern Tata Motors in 2008, which reinvented the company, and released a formidable line of sports coupes, sedans and SUVs.

There are several Jaguars that I’d consider owning, but for me, the star of the lineup is undoubtedly the F-Type SVR, which might just have brought the title of world’s most beautiful car back to the British manufacturer.

A svelte, cat-like coupe with nearly perfect lines, the SVR is the sharp end of the F-Type series. Its 5.0 liter 575 bhp, supercharged V8 engine, mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission and an intelligent four-wheel drive system give the car serious driving chops, enough to give comparable models from the Teutonic assembly lines a run for their money.

Inside, the F-Type SVR doesn’t disappoint, with the finest in leather, Alcantara, and carbon fiber. The electronics are top-notch and the ergonomics nearly perfect.

Jaguars are sometimes overlooked by shoppers looking for sports coupes, but I can tell you first hand that you’d be making a mistake not to consider this one. A well-appointed Jaguar F-Type SVR runs about $130,000.

9) Chrysler 300

Some of you were probably expecting my entire list to consist of expensive, powerful sports and muscle cars, and they are surely present here. Having ridden around as a kid in huge cars such as my grandpa’s 1974 Cadillac Sedan deVille though, I definitely have a soft spot for ponderous and luxurious boulevard cruisers. In today’s world brimming with hulking Mercedes S-Classes and BMW 7 Series, there is actually a great, American, full-size sedan alternative in the form of Chrysler’s 300 series.

With updated looks that are fresh and the venerable 365 bhp, 5.7 liter Hemi V8 as an option, the 300 is a very attractive car indeed. Designed in the Daimler-Chrysler days based on the S-Class chassis, the 300 is a large car by today’s standards, but it doesn’t drive like one thanks to a Mercedes-designed suspension. This isn’t your, or should I say, my grandfather’s cruiser.

Instead, the 300 offers performance, luxury and enough electronic do-dads for most, and while it may not feature the absolute finest in materials and quality appointments, it is still an awfully nice package for the price, one that I would be interested in owning. A nicely optioned 300c with the Hemi is just a hair over $45,000.

8) BMW M4

What can be said about a car that invented an entire automotive segment and continues to be the best at what it is? Introduced in 1975, the BMW 3 Series sedans and coupes laid the groundwork for what virtually every automaker has been trying to emulate for the past 45 years; that is to say, a fast, neutral-handling and practical, sporty car.

The BMW M4 is the ultimate modern example of that formula.

The 3 Series coupe became known as the 4 Series back in 2013, and now consists of three models, an entry level version with a turbocharged inline-four, a mid-level model with a turbocharged inline-six, and the car I lust after, the M4 with a silky-smooth, 3.0 liter, turbocharged inline-six packing a 444bhp wallop.

But the M4 is way more than just a superior powerplant. Its ergonomics are peerless, its handling legendary and dare I say that the current iteration is the best looking BMW in ages? Give BMW extra props for still offering the car with a manual transmission.

Outfitted the way I would want it, this Munich missile would make me $76,000 poorer.

7) Porsche 718 Cayman S

Yup, Porsche and its purist aficionados are all about the 911, and nothing else. If it ain’t packing an engine in the back, then it ain’t a Porsche they say. But I’ll let you in on a secret, the 718 Cayman is a significantly better car.

Sure, it lacks the high-end panache and mega-power of its stablemate, but on a twisty road the Cayman will leave the 911 behind. The reason? Pure physics. The 718 is a perfectly balanced, mid-engined modern design, whereas the 911 is a unbalanced, rear-engined dinosaur that requires an experienced driver and a host of stability programs to be flicked around like the Cayman can be by nearly anyone.

And that’s precisely why I want one. What’s more, I wouldn’t opt for a heavily optioned example. Instead, I’d want a no-frills car, devoid of such toys as torque vectoring, active suspension, and a paddle-shifted automatic.

Give me a no-nonsense Cayman S with a six-speed manual and a simple interior, and I would disappear for long stretches of time in it, carving up the canyon roads of Malibu. Hell, you can even do away with the sound system on mine, because I’ll be too keen on listening to that 2.5-liter, 350 bhp turbocharged four-banger.

Done my way, I’d have to part with $75,000 for one, but I have little doubt it would be amongst the best money I ever spent.

6) Ford Mustang Bullitt

In case you weren’t aware, I have a background in filmmaking as well as cars. If you were to try and combine those two obsessions of mine and make it manifest in automotive form, the result would be the new for 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt. Why? Because it draws inspiration and style from the car in the classic Steve McQueen movie, and mixes it with the performance and technology of today’s pony cars.

While this generation of Mustangs is not my favorite design, in Bullitt guise, it is a seriously good-looking car. The Highland Green paint, blacked-out and ornament-less grille and 19-inch, five-spoke, black wheels with red brake calipers simply look sinister and cool.

The other Bullitt extras, such as a Hurst style manual shifter with cue ball knob and the Bullitt-only interior, exterior and underhood badging and appointments also make you feel like you are driving something special. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the car though is the standard, active-valve exhaust which Ford engineers tuned to sound exactly like McQueen’s steed in the movie.

The flexible and powerful 5.0-liter Coyote V8 is the sole engine available and makes the Bullitt’s $49,500 price tag a relative pittance in the face of such serious and cool muscle car performance.

5) Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrafoglio

It was voted Motor Trend’s car of the year and for good reason: it is one phenomenal, high-performance sedan. But my reasons for wanting it go way beyond the numbers. I want it because it is sexy, and because it is truly an Italian muscle car that is an exciting alternative to the Germans.

Wrapped in bodywork that is both sinister and elegant, the Quadrifoglio’s heart is a simply divine, Ferrari sourced, 2.9-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 engine that boasts 505 bhp and 443 lb-ft of torque. If you think those numbers are just nominal in a world of 800 bhp muscle cars, consider this: the Quad can hit sixty in just 3.7 seconds, rip off a quarter mile in twelve flat, and go 190 mph all while comfortably seating five people.

So strong is my desire for this car that I have resolved to one day add it to my collection for real. Optioned with those glorious five hole wheels and a few other niceties, a Quadrifoglio is going to set me back $77,000. Gotta start saving pennies…

4) Aston Martin Vanquish S Coupe

Aston has announced that their flagship car, the Vanquish S is going to be supplanted by the 2019 DBS Superleggera. This development is truly one of the heartbreaks of my life right now, because, unless I win the powerball pretty soon, I will never have the chance to purchase what I have long thought is one of the most stunning cars ever built.

Introduced in its current form back in 2012, the Vanquish S is a microcosm of everything Aston Martin is and aspires to be: fast, eminently opulent, flawless, enviable and ludicrously expensive.

Under that seductive skin lurks a 6.0-liter V12 engine that produces 568 bhp and 465 lb⋅ft of torque, which is enough to propel Starship Vanquish to 60 in 3.6 seconds, and a top speed of 201 mph.

What really does it for me about the car is the insane attention to detail. The Vanquish S features such fastidious appointments as hand drilled perforated leather seats and door inserts, hand polished aluminum knobs and rotaries, magnesium shift paddles and a glass, yes glass key.

I really don’t know what my Vanquish S would cost because the Aston website follows a “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” axiom, but I do know that you can easily bump the price north of a very dear $350,000. In the words of Aerosmith, “Dream on…”

3) Mercedes AMG GT C Coupe

One of the cars currently in my collection is a beloved 1971 Mercedes 280SL, a car I have owned for nearly twenty-five years.  I adore many of the cars that came out of the factory in Stuttgart during that and the previous eras. Sadly, I don’t feel that way about the majority of cars that MB produces today, owing to the company’s general strategy of moving away from sharp handling cars, and towards over-wrought and over-complicated luxury vehicles.

That is, with the exception of one car in their line.

The Mercedes AMG GT C is everything that Mercedes-Benzes once were, and everything they should be today. It’s brutally powerful, ethereally gorgeous and downright lust-worthy.

Under that exquisite bodywork that echoes the styling and proportions of the legendary 300SL Gullwing coupe, the GT C is equipped with only the best AMG has to offer, including that magical, hand-built, 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 churning out 550 bhp. That lump makes the GT C one seriously fast car. How fast, you ask? Try a hypercar worthy 0-60 time of just‎ 2.8 seconds.

Beyond the numbers, the GT C rides and handles like a racecar and cocoons you in one of the nicest interiors money can buy. And speaking of money, to enjoy the GT C on the road and in my garage, I would have to fork over an eye-watering $153,800. Sigh…

2) Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye

I am a muscle car guy. Beyond that I’m a certified, card-carrying Mopar freak. So there was really no way the world’s fastest, most powerful, street-oriented, factory Mopar brute was going to be passed up on this list.

Announced just a couple of months ago, the 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye took the Mopar world that was expecting a mildly freshened Hellcat by utter surprise. The Redeye is no refresh. In fact, it just may prove to be one of the most significant performance cars the House of Pentastar has ever released.

Mating the street-focused standard Hellcat with the drag oriented Challenger Demon results in a car that is better than both of its parents.

Featuring the Demon’s supercharged, 6.2 -liter Hemi V8, slightly detuned to 797bhp, and improving upon a host of the Demon’s hardware such as a larger 2.7-liter supercharger, an updated fuel-injection system with two dual-stage fuel pumps, and the trick SRT Power Chiller and After-Run Chiller to keep things cool, it can be argued that the Redeye is an even more advanced car than the Demon.

Add to the mix the new fully functional dual-snorkel hood, attractive new wheels, line lock and launch control features and you’ve got one scarily capable muscle car, one that I would snap up in a New York minute were it not for the $90,000 plus price tag. Nonetheless, to the well-funded collector, that price is a pittance considering what it brings to the table.

1) Ferrari 812 Superfast

I thought long and hard about what would be my most desired car if price were no object. Marques like Lamborghini, McLaren, Bugatti and Pagani wafted through my mind, but when it came down to it, there really was no question. If I had an ungodly amount of money, the car I would most want to snap up is Ferrari’s current top-of-the-line, non-production limited car, the 812 Superfast.

It’s not just that the Superfast is immensely powerful, undeniably gorgeous, and insanely capable, it’s all those things plus more than a dash of what those other manufacturers just don’t have: the indelible history and passion of the Ferrari legend. For me, the House of the Cavallino Rampante is simply the ne plus ultra of the automotive world, and I want the best they have to offer.

The Superfast is that car. Packing a 6.5-liter, front mounted, naturally aspirated V-12 that bangs out 789-hp, 530-lb-ft and redlines at an astonishing 9,000 rpm, the 812 can do sixty in a scant 2.8 seconds and trip a 10.4-second quarter-mile pass at 138.6 mph. What numbers cannot tell you is how lithe and agile this beast feels on a twisty road or the glorious V12 symphony that emits from its quad exhausts.

Moreover, nothing can describe what owning a Ferrari, literally a piece of automotive art, makes you feel like. It’s something I have longed to experience my whole life, but at a base price of $335,275 for a Superfast, it may not be something that I get to experience any time soon.