There’s something about a Gran Turismo- the thought of coursing down the Autostrada, the flowing lines of the car vying with the eye candy in the passenger seat for sheer beauty, non c’è niente di meglio? You know it’s never really going to be like that, and for many an American a GT is little more than a tape and trim package on some dull two door coupe, or worse yet a family sedan. Shivers.

That’s so sad because the world is full of great GTs, from the Jaguar XKE to just about anything from Ferrari that has four seats, and none is too expensive yetto keep off the road. But among the more common long distance tourers is a special group, a tiny fraction of the whole, but if you were to draw a Venn diagram of rarity and desirability, these cars would fill that center sliver of an ellipse. Those, like Ahab’s white nemisis, are the ultimate obtainment of the GT fanatic, and I want to know which one is your sperm whale.

The Monteverdi Palm Beach convertible pictured above is one of only two ever built, and both of those are in the Monteverdi Museum in Switzerland. That means obtainment would require either 1% levels of funds or MI6-levels of thievery skills. It’s still a car that I covet simply based on its looks and purpose, and that’s without ever having even driven it.  I imagine, given the chance to slip behind its wheel, I would sadly find it drives like a truck. But what about you, what obscure Gran Turismo is the object of your desire? Do the names Aston Martin, Pegaso, or Facel Vega quicken your pulse? Or, is that ’84 Escort GT gran enough for you?

Image source: [best used car]