Five Car Fantasy Garage: Oscar Pistorius

Every car fan has played this game. Close your eyes and imagine that you are walking towards a building with five closed garage doors. It can be any building, old or new, but the important thing is that it is yours and, as such, the contents of said garages are also yours. Five doors, five cars. So, with price and availability taken out of the equation, which cars would you have hidden behind each door?

With each member of the CAR team having given you a personal tour of their dream garage we invited Springbok legend John Smit and beauty Jo-Ann Strauss to submit their own five-car fantasy garages. Award-winning breakfast radio DJ Ryan O’Connor showed us round his collection before two more Springboks, Ryan Kankowski and Schalk Burger, told us how they’d fill their ideal garages. This week, we’re invited on a tour with yet another true South African sporting hero, multiple Paralympic gold medalist, Oscar Pistorius.

Dubbed the Blade Runner, Pistorius became the first double amputee to participate in the Olympics when he represented South Africa in the 400-metre and 4×400-metre relay events at the 2012 London Games. He remained in London for the Paralympics and had the world glued to their television sets as he won gold in the 400-metre final in a new event-record time. Earlier in these Games, he won a silver medal in the 200-metre final before signing off with another gold as part of the 4×100-metre relay team. Arriving home to a hero’s welcome, Pistorius added his newly-acquired precious metal to the four gold and one bronze items he won at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.

So what five cars would the Blade Runner most like to own?

1962 Ferrari 250 GTO

Like many people, I fell in love with the 250 after watching the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. But while the 250 GT California Spyder featured in that movie is achingly beautiful, to me the GTO badge represents everything good about Ferrari. It’s the epitome of what this iconic Italian manufacturer is about and it’s the one that I want.

McLaren P1

What a great-looking car! I was fortunate enough to visit McLaren’s Woking-based technical centre a few months ago and was given a personal tour of this forthcoming hypercar. Much to the envy of every motoring journalist from whom the interior remained hidden as the P1 featured on the McLaren stand at the Paris Motor Show, I was allowed an exclusive look from the driver’s seat at the car’s cabin (envy indeed! – ed). If the P1 performs half as well as it looks, it’s definitely going to shift the goal posts of what a car is road car is capable of.

1928 Bugatti Type 35 C

On a recent trip to the States I was lucky enough to visit Jay Leno in his very famous garage. He owns a number of Bugatti models and I absolutely love all of them. For its day, the 35C was an in-your-face statement of intent to its rivals. I really like seven-spoke wheels (again modern for their time) and the fact that, in its prime, the 35 dominated the racing scene. I also really like the famous Bugatti blue paint finish.

Brabus 800 GV12

I’ve driven one of these and it’s an absolute beast. As SUVs go, this has to be the most hardcore example? I love the styling, especially the wheels, and the fact that the tailpipes poke out ahead of the rear wheels. The twin-turbo V12 is good for 515 kW and a massive 1 100 N.m of torque!

McLaren F1 GTR

The racing version of one of the most iconic cars ever built. I grew up with posters of the F1 on my wall. It’s the car that got me passionate about cars.

Follow Oscar Pistorius on Twitter @oscarpistorius

Tags: Brabus 800 GV12, Bugatti Type 35C, dream garage, fantasy garage, Ferrari 250 GTO, McLaren F1, Oscar Pistorius