How many cars does one need ?

A few years ago, I happened to read an article about the Tamil filmstar Sarath Kumar
owning 20 cars. My reaction was, this guy is either nuts or wants to show off or likes a
vulgar display of wealth.

Well, now I think differently. Is it wrong to have different cars that serve different purposes ?
Infact, isn't it better to have a car for a specific purpose, instead of having just one car that
is used for all purposes ? Lets take a guy who owns an SUV, which in most cases is a fuel
guzzler. Since he has only 1 car, he would use it for even short drives to the grocery shop
when a smaller car would have served the purpose well.

This led me to draw up a list of cars that I would like to own - the rationale being only their
usefulness and not snob value. Most people, when asked to name their dream car, would
invariably come up with names like Benz, Rolls-Royce, Porche etc. However, as much as
I admire these cars, I never have felt the need to own one of them.

My dream car list would look like below :

1. A Benz Smart-type car - For city driving for going to office etc.
Can take only max 2 persons with some space for a few bags in the rear. We do not have
such a car in India yet, but I am sure we will have one soon - priced around 1lac, around
400 - 500 cc and with fantastic mileage.

P.S. : Please note that I do not want the Benz-Smart itself, bcos it is too pricey. Given at 1lac,
I would surely take it. Yeah, I know, its one big dream. :-)

2. A Maruti Omni - For weekend outings with 6-7 friends and space for a few cases of beer,
food etc. Or when many relatives drop in at the same time and one car is not enough to take
them out.

3. A WagonR - For outings with the family (wife & kids). Compact, yet more than enough for
3-4 people.

4. Baleno - Finally a real sedan for those highway drives when you need speed and power.

That would be a dream line-up of cars.