1984 Rolls-Royce Camargue

I know, I know, when I started the Lotto Garage I wasn't going to be pretentious. But then I realized that some day I might find myself at, oh, say a high school reunion or something, with the need to make a good impression. And I did win that imaginary Lottery, so why not a Rolls? Especially the Camargue, a two-door coupe designed by Pininfarina and meant to be owner-driven. The Camargue was in production from 1975-86, and 525 of them were crafted (R-Rs aren't built, they're crafted), along with one lonely Bentley Camargue. — jc

1979 Subaru Brat

While I was out Christmas shopping this afternoon in the Elmwood Village, it suddenly occurred to me that I haven't added that winter vehicle to the Lotto Garage yet. After much consideration, and the desire to have something that would stand out from the crowd, I've settled on the Brat. Unofficially a pickup truck, officially it was a "Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter." "Bi-drive?" Full-time front wheel-drive, with four wheel drive "at the flick of a lever," according to ads of the time (here's a link to the ad). And that unofficial pickup status was to get around tariff laws regarding imported trucks. Subaru welded two rear-facing passenger seats into the bed area, making it, what, an open sedan? I wouldn't have wanted to be sitting back there today. But, I'm driving, so I wouldn't have been! The Brat was in production from 1978-1993; even President Reagan had one back in the day, which has since been restored and returned to the ranch near Santa Barbara. — jc

1978 Plymouth Arrow

Why am I driving this yellow Plymouth Arrow into the Lotto Garage? Why not!? You know, every once in a while you want to show up somewhere in a car where everyone says "What the heck is that?" And the Arrow fills the bill nicely — although the Plymouth Cricket would also work here. (Did you just say "What?" again? Look it up here.) The Cricket was based on a British car (the Hillman Avenger), but when that failed sales-wise, Chrysler headed east across two continents and plucked the Mitsubishi Lancer Celeste from its Japanese partner, redubbed it the Plymouth Arrow (also sold in Canada as the Dodge Arrow), and... didn't do much better with it. But it kept a cheap compact in Chrysler's showrooms until the Horizon/Omni got up and running. The Arrow's looks weren't too bad, but I liked even better Chrysler's use of the Harry Nilsson song "Me and My Arrow" (you can hear it here) in their advertising campaign. — jc