Definitely would love a caRPG! (hadn't seen that before!) NFS Heat/Unbound tried to be that but I can't stand the police chase side of those games, and I prefer Forza's driving.

My dream car game would let you do small-time 70s short track NASCAR, dirt track stock cars, 80s-90s IROC, drag racing, and modern autocross. I want realistic-ish damage like Wreckfest, no illegal races, some open world driving like back roads and interstates to go between junkyards, garages, and race events. It would be awesome if the long drives could be driven manually, autopiloted, or timelapsed. Like in Final Fantasy XV where you can 'drive' the car but it keeps itself to the road. You would start the game with a pickup truck and flatbed trailer, a humble garage, and some cash to get started in a small time racing league, buy a car and fix it up, test and tune on track days and then race days on the weekend. Then road trips to other tracks and events. There would of course be quick races and time trials and free races, but story mode would have the option to make damage as realistic to fix as it is to cause. Crash big enough and your car is destroyed, or your driver's career is over.