As a kid, it was Gypsy. My much older cousin used to borrow his friend's soft-top Gypsy for movie nights at Drive-in Cinema. While people would plonk their beach chairs and mattresses along with all types of Farsan. Me and my cousin used to stay back in the Gypsy.

It's a long list for me. Infact I have a thing for good old NA petrols and big torquey diesel SUVs and my list of crushes shows that(with a few exceptions though).

1. MS Zen/Carbon (With a G13B/G16B plonked in. E-Zen/B-Zen)


2. Abarth Punto (Only Turbo Petrol in the list)


3. MS Esteem G13B


4. MS Baleno G16B


5. Ford Ikon 1.6 Rocam


6. Honda City 1.5 VTec


7. Ford Fiesta 1.6 S/Classic


8. Honda Civic 1.8 MT


9. MS S-Cross 1.6 (With a definite Facelift nose job)


10. TATA Safari Dicor/Storme Varicor 400 4X4


11. Mitsubishi Pajero SFX


12. MS Gypsy MG413W (May be with a G16B swap)


13. Mahindra Classic CL340(May be with a XD3P just like GTO sir)


14. Mahindra Thar CRDe


15. Isuzu D-Max V-Cross

For me, my first love was the W211 E-Class. The 4 eyed front, the drooping lines made me fall in love with it. It was my dream as a kid to own a Mercedes, particularly an E-Class. And I’m proud to say that my dream has been fulfilled

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I was not much of a SUV guy as a kid and the only one car which attracted me with its lines were this



Source

When I was a kid, 3 cars which i admired the most and dreamt of owning it one day are

1. Omni
2. Gypsy
3. Safari

2002 Fiat Siena, with that characteristic front grill.

Daewoo Cielo. Eventually got to buy one. It was a white colour top end version with a special VIP number of 0001. And what a car. I remember doing Gurgaon - Chandigarh dashes in a little less than 3.5 hours. Pity I eventually sold it when I joined Maruti Udyog in 2003 since they did not allow their staff to park competition cars in the factory. All thanks to the VIP number, was still able to get 1.5 Lacs resale value. But towards the end, the company was in shambles and service started costing a bomb with only imported Korean parts available. I might still have the owners manual if I search for it.

No 1. HM Contessa, simply drool worthy! The only car in India having the looks of the American muscle cars!

No 2. Tata Sierra, just loved those huge glass windows & tailgate mounted spare wheel!

And apart from these two loved the Lancer & Safari too.

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Not in any particular order,
1. Tata Sierra
2. Contessa Classic
3. Mitsubishi Lancer
4. Tata Safari

It was always a Merc! The sight of a Merc on Kerala roads in the late 90s and 2000s would set me off on this thought of owning one once I grow up. It brought about a ton of thoughts whenever I saw one. To put into words the vehicle oozed Class [no pun intended], Elegance, Style, Grace & Charm. I never got to sit in one until the last decade and boy it was a moment! Interestingly it was an Uber ride in Hyderabad [when Uber had just launched]. It was an E-class.

I still love the sight of a Merc and I feel the design language of the late is simply awesome.

The Ford Mondeo, especially seeing the huge hoarding that was there for many months or probably a year or more near the IOC building near Kalanagar T junction at Bandra. So I opted for a mini Mondeo, a Ford Ikon as my first car in the year 2003

Ofcourse then there was that dream Mercedes W126 and the W140 that were on my mind all the time when growing up.

Being a car loving kid, all cars appeal to you but some have a special place. I would segregate list by Crushes and Likes. Crushes are same as all-time-favorite and Likes are those that turn your head every time you see them.

Crushes:
1. Contessa Classic
2. Tata Sierra
3. Lamborghini Countach

Likes:
1. Standard 2000 : Long, beautiful, luxurious and rare.
2. Mitsubishi Pajero : A different breed amongst the regular cars - In those days, they were imported.
3. Mahindra Classic: Every boy wanted to be seen in one.
4. Mahindra Armada: Loved the flat yet timeless shape mimicking the G-Wagen.
5. Daewoo Cielo: Loved the looks and exhaust note. Still remember those LED brake lamps that were ohh-so-Red!
6. Gypsy King: The lure of open top motoring coupled with butch looks.
7. Lancer SFX: There was this Yellow SFX at a friend's apartment that blew us all - and the guy who owned it (now a friend) used to keep it in immaculate condition.

For me it were these boxy cars. I am an 80s kid and as kids we used to draw boxes on wheels too for the cars! It somehow made a very strong impression.

I was quite looking forward to a Nissan NISMO/ IDX concept launch https://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/f...ct-sedans.html They had a buzz around a few years ago. Wish they can launch these in electric versions.

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[quote=KkVaidya;4984973]

Those Pajeros used to be great. I had a big crush on these from the Paris-Dakar rally they used to show on Prime Sports (which later became Star Sports). I used to drool over these cars. I still remember spending 50 Rs to buy a car poster. It used to be kind of a big deal. Collecting 50 as pocket money for 3 odd months or so and then spending it all on one poster!

Ohh those posters
Off-topic but I remember waiting for AutoIndia every month that had a center-spread poster in each issue. Used to pin them on the softboard right in front of my study table!
Yes posters were a rage in those days.