NJ’s ‘dream car’ may surprise you

Authorities say a 21-year-old man has been arrested for stealing 10 vehicles off the lot of a dealership in Bergen County. Ten Range Rovers, one after another, all in one night according to police.

Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg says the total loss was “in excess of $740,000.” New Range Rovers retail for well over $100,000 so I don’t know if this was calculated as dealer’s loss before profit or if these were used vehicles or what.

But it got me thinking about high-end cars. Dare I say "dream cars." A quick Google search showed me that nationwide Range Rover is the No. 9 most coveted vehicle on a list of dream cars. We’ll get to New Jersey’s No. 1 in a moment.

The list is from a 2018 survey and the top 10 dream cars nationwide were as follows:

1. Mustang
2. Tesla Model S
3. Jeep Wrangler
4. Corvette
5. Camaro
6. Tesla Model X
7. Charger Hellcat
8. Toyota Prius
9. Range Rover
10. Honda Accord

Hmmm, a Honda Accord and a Corvette on the same list? Clearly, people have very different dreams when it comes to their dream car. Some dreams are sexier than others while some are more practical.

Some are downright fantasy, like this guy I saw driving a replica of the original Batmobile in Flemington.

So then I had to find out if dream cars vary from state to state. According to a study by Autowise they sure do.

They used geotagged data from Twitter over a three-month period. For example, in Texas their dream car is a Chevy Camaro. In Tennessee it’s a Jeep Wrangler. The Ford Mustang is the number one dream car for people in Michigan.

New Jersey’s No. 1 dream car?

Tesla Model S.

An S is going to cost you more in 2022. (What doesn’t cost more, right?) The starting price is $94,990. That sweet Tesla Full Self-Driving option? That’s a $12,000 upgrade.

I’ll have to stick with my 7-year-old SUV for now.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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