One of my favorite things about car enthusiasm the way The Autopian practices it is that you aren’t required to be enthusiastic about stereotypical “enthusiast” cars. Sure, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with loving a Mazda Miata or the latest Lamborghini, but there’s nothing that says that you can’t also love cars that were never built or marketed towards enthusiasts. Heck, they might even be practically anti-enthusiast. Pete lusts for a plain-jane Dodge Omni like the one in the topshot, no “GLH model of course” qualification. Which has me wondering: What’s the least “car-enthusiasty” car that you’re in love with?
To clarify this question a bit, we’re not just looking for only the everyday normal cars. We want to know about the cars that no stereotypical enthusiast would ever think of as something to fall in love with. We want to see the people who go gaga over Saturn Outlooks, Chevrolet Captivas, Ford Fusions, Nissan Altimas, Kia Rios, and Hyundai Accents.
I reached a point sometime last year when I realized that I love way more cars than I currently own. So, whenever I thought about a car, bus, truck, plane, or motorcycle that I would at least like to try out one day, I wrote it down in a list. Some of my choices are enthusiast vehicles, which isn’t that surprising. But then I realized that I have a soft spot for lots of non-enthusiast cars, too! Here’s the list as it stands today:
Now, this list is incomplete. As I said, I add to it only when I think of a vehicle that I would love to own or drive one day. I have this sort of idea that one day I’ll run into enough money and storage to just pick any vehicle from the list and buy it. Or, maybe someone will come forward with an offer to drive, ride, or fly one of these vehicles. The list also includes cars I’ve owned before and would buy again.
Some of these vehicles are definitely “me” kind of things, like the buses, German diesels, and the classic International Harvester cabover semi. But, hold on, a Saturn Vue? Yes! I’m not even talking about the slick Vue Red Line with the Honda V6, but the one that’s a sibling of the Chevy Captiva.
Why do I love this thing so much? It’s a combination of its friendly round shape and the Sea Mist Green paint option that was introduced in 2008. Amazingly, the press photos don’t show it, so I had to nab a photo from a dealer. But this paint has an awesome pearl effect when light hits it. Just look at how there’s almost a bit of a gold shade poking through the paint. I have about a hundred cars I’d rather buy before a Vue, but I admit that I stop in my tracks every time I see one for sale on Facebook in this color.
My list has other normal cars on it, too, like the Saturn Astra, Saturn SC1, and an original Kia Sportage. The Kia is probably the weirdest of the normal cars. I’m talking about this little spot utility:
The silly thing about this is that there are far better choices out there for a three-door soft-top mini SUV. I have a Geo Tracker right there on the list! There’s also the original Toyota RAV4. But I’ve always been fascinated with these original Sportages ever since I saw one absolutely conquering a mud bowl in Tennessee. That Kia somehow couldn’t be stopped that weekend.
Not on my list, but will probably be added soon, would be cars like the Dodge Omni, all sorts of Chrysler K-cars, and some American Malaise Era iron. Ah, that reminds me, I need to add a Chrysler Executive Limousine to my list.
Alright, so you’ve seen my list. What non-enthusiast cars would you love to drive one day?
Top graphic image: Chrysler
I wanted to mention that an electric City Car was a running plot element in the show Grounded For Life.
Sometimes someone on foot would stop it by physically grabbing it.
I drove one once. Silent engine and a fair amount of road noise.
I think the dealer was a major electrical shop.
I’ve only bought three cars new and two of them are on the list. (Mazda RX-8, Chevrolet Volt, both first year.) Too bad I no longer have either of them or else I would absolutely help check them off the list.
Not a third list item: I was briefly tempted by a BMW 750iL that was cheap. Then I learned it was cheap because its catalytic converters had been stolen. This is a no-go for California road worthiness. Buying a full replacement set from RockAuto cost more than the car’s asking price.
I would also love some wheel time in many other cars on the list. Not a huge surprise, this alignment is consistent with my love for reading Autopian posts by Mercedes Streeter.
Having grown up riding in not 1, not 2, but 3 different Chrysler K-cars, I can say without fail that I do not ever want to sit my ass in another one again.
Least enthusiast? Tata Nano. Legit curious what that would be like.
A brown ’75 or ’76 Cordoba like the one my grandfather had. As “grandpa cars” go it seemed like a pretty hip choice at the time, and the round headlight years still appeal to me. But then, full disclosure (or perhaps more accurately, full disco), I’d rock any personal luxury coupe from the Bro-ham era unironically.
Biiiiig Lincolns or Cadillacs
As an enthusiast, I’m embarrassed to say a mall crawler spec GWagon.
I’m looking at buying an ’89 F150, 2wd Fleetside shortbed, 302 and AOD.
I have a F250 of this era and I invariably have someone tell me a story about their Ford. Solid basic truck and while the AOD is a little clunky shifting (no electrics) but they are very reliable. Go chase that dream!
A manual gas-powered W123/124. I drove a W115 220D 4M and that was fun.
AMC Eagle wagon, SX4, Kammback
I want a Fiata.
Fiat 124 Spider.
Take everything good about a Miata, then sacrifice some of the reliability for better looks and something just a little bit different that I’m used to under the hood.