I was in to BMX back in the late '70s/early '80s. There was always a huge delta between the bikes I wanted, and the bikes I could afford. I would spend hours pouring over BMX Action magazine and dream about owning a SE Racing, Diamondback, Redline, etc. But bikes like those were always out of the reach of someone in my family's economic position.
My favorite bike I've ever personally owned was my old Cycle Pro Macho BMX bike. I only owned it about a year before it was stolen. I wrote an article about it on my website:
My Third Bicycle - The Tundra Man Workshop