Buying a car is an adventure. You go to the dealership, and the first thing you spot is the prestige car on a plinth, the one no one is expected to buy. For Mercedes Benz, that vehicle is usually the S-Class or the SL roadster. For Ford that is the Ford Raptor, or the Shelby Mustang GT. You look at these, but you realize you can't fit your family in a Mustang, and a Raptor is a lot of money to spend on something you'll only drive to the grocery store. Still, your heartstrings are at the mercy of these dream machines. As a result, you settle for a compromise between your heart and your head and buy a vehicle that is affordable and practical but has a whiff of the machine of your dreams.

Some cars appeal to those dreamers who are less willing to compromise, like the Mercedes Benz C 43 Sedan, which is practical and affordable but retains much of the bonkers engineering of the C63 AMG. For fans of the hot hatch category who do not like the gigantic blind spots of the Ford Focus RS, there is the less glamorous Volkswagen Golf R, which unlike the Ford Focus RS, has excellent visibility, all-wheel drive, grown-up styling, and nearly 300 horsepower. Fans of the Cadillac Escalade who can't afford its astronomical price can settle for the GMC Yukon Denali, which is mechanically the same but lacks the top end luxury features of the Escalade, or the Chevrolet Suburban, which is a step down in luxury from the Yukon Denali.  If the midlife crisis set doesn't feel like ponying up eighty grand for a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, there is the Chevrolet Camaro or the Toyota GT86, either of which will supply enough heart-pounding excitement to keep cardiologists in business, without breaking the bank.