How would you build the ultimate car?

Just an odd thought exercise as I was staring at the windshield. 

Volvo rust resistance and theory of longevity, a not worn out BMW transmission, and the aircon from a 75 Coupe de Ville.

And so on:

A Lotus Elise with a sedan body (lightweight) with Rolls Royce quiet inside and 76 Caddy AC.

Volvo rust resistance, a good solid Japanese transmission, nice interior quality.  Must have all wheel drive.  Enough power to get into trouble is a must.

Oh heck, let's cut to the chase.  It's my S60R.

The A/C, incidentally, is the only one I have ever experienced that blows as cold with the fan on high as with it on low.  38F in 98F ambient temps.  In Metric like the rest of the world uses that is 3c when it is 36c out...

Beautiful Swiss body. Agile Japanese chassis. American V8 torque.

Still working on some finishing school manners and details. 

I'd need to know what it was going to be used for to  answer that question.

I think "ultimate" means you need to hire someone like Gordon Murray to design it. :)

Yeah, what was said above... what are the desired features of the end product?

In reply to kb58 :

This is also the reason there is no ultimate car.  No one car can do all car things really well. 

Keith is trolling again.

My answer: I'd let somebody that knows what they're actually doing do it instead of me.

In terms of general utility, a Toyota 4Runner hits the mark fairly well.
In terms of smiles per mile, a Miata hits the mark fairly well.

In other words: The use case is crucial to this question. Nothing will check all of the boxes.

Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:

Keith is trolling again.

The question was how ;)

power, economy, ease of servicing

gimme at least two

The Lotus Super Seven already exists.

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

Get outta my head, man! 

DB9 coupe with a manual.

The end use is entirely up to you.  Gallardo engine speed, Volvo reliability, Honda civic weight, Lincoln town car ride is entirely impossible, but a perfectly legitimate possibility in this case.

Maybe should have said something like, what manufacturer does a certain thing better than anybody else on the planet?  Hence, Volvo rust resistance and old Cadillac air conditioner.

I also believe that no other manufacturer has managed to create a more reliable, long lasting automotive gasoline turbo engine than Volvo.  

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Sadly the whiteblocks do seem to crush the cylinders over time and cause a leaky head gasket that can only be fixed by decking the block.

Be nice if they made rhe whiteblock out of iron 

In reply to NOHOME :

Swiss? 

RWD high reving N/A 4 cylinder 4 door manual hatchback with motor and transmission by Honda, safety and rust resistance by Volvo, suspension tuning by Mazda, interior by Rolls Royce, exterior styling by Aston Martin, clock by Grand Seiko, wheels by BBS. 

AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to kb58 :

No one car can do all car things really well. 

Blasphemy

ND Miata platform stretched 15" into a FUN family-friendly 4 seat convertible, with the 2.5T under the hood... Think what the RX8 is to the NC structurally, but reciprocating pistons and convertiblized. Simply doing a 2.5T convertible RX8 would be an acceptable alternative as well.

Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to NOHOME :

Swiss? 

Sorry, "Swede".  Fingers type paster than brain thinks.

Pre Ford ranger Mazda B series regular cab, NC front and rear suspension because 4 lug on a truck is stupid, turbocharged 20 or 26b, T56.

Or a late 60's to late 70's f150 reg cab short box, DJM dream beams, later model spindles, e series big brake upgrade, 557" bbf twin turbo, turbo400, cal tracs...

Both would be fun because cars suck and trucks rule. 

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Sadly the whiteblocks do seem to crush the cylinders over time and cause a leaky head gasket that can only be fixed by decking the block.

Only if you stretch the definition by buying an R...