I have lamented the decline of American cars, of course. But given that the 12th series (British shows don’t go by seasons like American shows do, so they call each run a ‘series’ and will have two or three a year) of my favorite show in the world, the British automotive show Top Gear, begins again tomorrow, I thought I’d touch on the topic of cars all over again. And I’ll do this by listing the five normal-ish cars I lust after on a regular basis.

5 – Alfa Romeo Brera

Take a moment to look that up. Seriously. Does that not look fantastic? Alfas are renowned for their horrible lack of reliability, but also their amazing handling, racing pedigree, and outright soul. You have to learn to love them for their flaws. But their incredible good looks are never, ever the problem.

4 – Ariel Atom

Ok, it’s a stretch to call one normal. But they’re relatively cheap as track cars go: only $60,000 or so. And they move like a bat out of hell. Despite their odd looks they’re also road legal… or at least if you get the optional signals package for a little extra. Don’t want to get caught in the rain, though.

3 – Audi A5 (or S5)

Audis are pretty high quality stuff for the price tag. Nice luxury but with remarkable handling. The S5 is a tad pricey for a lot of extra power, but the A5 is more than adequate to my needs. They look nice and aggressive too.

2- Citroen C6

The chances of me getting my hands on one of these is slim, yes. But man, they have class. Performance isn’t anything special but the interior is nice and posh. I’d want one of the new ones though. The old ones were weirdly designed. They were more comfortable than the new ones, but weird nonetheless.

1 – VW Golf GTI

The GTI is the uprated edition of the Rabbit I have now. Same chassis, same transmission, but a beefed up engine and suspension. The chassis is renowned for the amount of grip it provides, and the mileage isn’t even that bad. For $28k-ish nicely equipped I would have bought one last time around… except they don’t look good in four doors, and with a kid, they’re kinda necessary. Oh well. I have a discount rally racer as it is.