One thing that saddens me when I do my nightly readings of BMW i3 press materials is just how amazing the car was, and yet just how few people bought it. It’s depressing thinking about this masterpiece that designers and engineers dreamed up and executed, and to imagine all of them looking at the sales figures thinking they failed. Then I imagine the BMW i-team disbanding, and the company basically abandoning the concept. It ain’t right! But this is just one of many such stories.
Today on Autopian Asks, we want to hear from you about a car that you think struggled with sales, only to later be rediscovered by the masses as a legitimately cool car. The Pontiac Aztek I think falls into the camp; for far too many years it was derided as the “ugliest car of all time,” and yet nowadays people dig it. It’s a legitimately useful, comfortable, and soulful machine.
This question is a little different than the classic “tell us about some underrated cars,” because the cars I’m asking about are no longer underrated. People have come around to their glory for whatever reason. Maybe it’s simply that the cars are now much cheaper than they were new, and at the cheaper price, they just make for way more compelling motoring than they did when new. I think that’s true for the i3 and for our Nissan Murano Crosscabriolet:
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But there are plenty of reasons why a car might pull a Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” and reach its prime many years after its debut. Which ones come to your mind?
Xf wagon?
Nevermind the dealers don’t want to sell cars.
The 246 Dino starting around 1969 had “no respect” in the words of Mr Dangerfield. Of course today they fetch a princely sum.
I was lucky enough to drive one for about 2 miles and I can tell you that it’s absolutely brilliant. Pedal and wheel placement are a bit odd, but everything else is exactly what you want from a lightweight, vintage “Ferrari”
The GMT800. Hear me out:
Of course they sold well, but growing up in the early days of the internet, on forums almost every day after school, and reading magazines when I wasn’t on the computer, I distinctly remember seemingly everyone HATING that new body style. People would sit down, write letters, and pay postage to send in their opinion on what a mistake GM was making for “copying Dodge and ford” with this new, sleek, rounded off truck.
Now truly, the GMT400 was a hard act to follow, maybe an impossible one.
But I want you to take a look at a FB group called “Gmt800s with threatening auras”
This truck was hated by our 90’s truck enthusiast forefathers, but for anyone born between 1985 to 2014, with clean, running squarebodies being unobtainium and decent GMT400s creeping right up behind them, these trucks have become legendary.
They are cheap. They are indestructible. They make the “Wapapapapapapapapapa” sounds.
Without dragging this on longer, to the young, to the poors, to us folks who just appreciate a rusty AK47 on wheels, the GMT800 has become an icon. I’ve owned 3 of them across 10 years. The most I paid for any of them was about $2000. All three got the shit beat out of them. All three were crashed. All three were sold. All three are still running and driving. The GMT 400 was the greatest truck ever made, but the GMT800 was the last great truck GM made.
I’m with you. I personally like some of the refinements in the GMT900 trucks a little better, but wouldn’t say no to either.
How about the Panther platforms? They’re out of production now, and Cleetus is doing his darnedest to decimate the population. They have a following, and the special versions (Marauder, Crown Vic Sport) command a premium for nice ones.
They generally either lived hard lives or were Grandma cars, and the granny mobiles are being snapped up.
Nice call. Looking back on it, the whole thing was bizarre – basically, Ford sold a 70s sedan into the 21st century, and nobody really thought it unusual. But…a body on frame RWD sedan that was only available with a V8? In 2010??
If I close my eyes, I can still hear the rear diff whine of taxi cabs and cop cars pulling away from the stop sign in front of my old apartment on summer nights with the windows open.
They didn’t invest in it. Street cars having the same 4.6l and 5spd auto as the explorer. Save the 4spd for police and taxi use till the 5spd is fleet tested.
Bonus points for awd crownvic.
Buick Roadmaster Wagon
Ford Flex
Lincoln Blackwood
Nissan 240SX
Toyota Previa
2nd Gen Saab 9-5
That final 9-5 was a bonkers car.
Any six speed Suzuki SX4.
S13 240SX
I know it has since gained appreciation, but it was very much not considered a desirable machine while it was in production.
The last year or production was convertible only because Nissan hadn’t sold enough to satisfy the contract with the conversion company. They were all automatics also, not sure if that was for similar reasons or if they had just given up on selling it as a performance car in the US.
Girlfriend in highschool had a 93/94… it was unremarkable? Why are you thinking this is underrated? is it as a drift platform..?
They are a good sports car that eventually became very desirable after they were out of production, but were not sought after (or even sold in expected numbers) in the US. They had a strong following in Japan where they had several exciting engine options, but in the US they got a naturally aspirated 2.4 out of a pickup truck.
It was before the internet and before the big surge in tuner culture, so nobody really knew they were huge in Japan.
Ahh ok got it. Makes sense.
Definitely the BMW E30 M3 for me.
I was looking at getting one around 99/00. I asked my cousin, a BMW dealer tech, what he thought.
He said the techs didn’t really care much for them, as they were known as the gutless M car. For about $8000 CDN, I decided to pass.
Fast forward to 2025 and these things are going for 6 figures.
Kind of a manipulated market. I believe there were a few hoarders of these and E36 M3 Ultralights.
How many General Motors products can we list here?
The 2004-2006 Pontiac GTO.
Those got destroyed by the press for not looking retro and having standard GM plastics. They had a shared, yet de-tuned LS1 engine with the Camaro for the same year.
At the end, it was LS2 6.0 and manual transmission goodness with late 90s/early 00s looks that we no longer see; the damage was already done.
With modern tuning and turbo charging, they easily can make 500 hp. They are relatively cheap now, are reported to have great handling, and are very reliable.
Came here to say Pontiac G8.
Both good calls.
The Aztek gets appreciation but Breaking Bad drove a lot of that. I don’t know that the Murano CC deserves love but it does deserve appreciation for trying something different to preserve a shrinking segment. 2-doors and convertibles were fading out, so it was worth a try for something that would still hook the demographic – older DINKs or empty nesters. Basically the same idea their friends at Renault had with the Avantime.
The SC430 has been mentioned and is a good one. The FJ…did people not like them new? I could be misremembering, but my mind wants to say it was very love-it-or-hate-it but and mainly a victim of poor timing since after its first couple years the recession hit, and it just never recovered.
I’ll throw the Ridgeline in if it hasn’t been mentioned already. The Vibe/Matrix too, actually – while they sold fine, they always seemed to be in the shadow of Mazda or VW or the Focus hatch. Especially the cheapened second gen.
May I offer the 6 cylinder Corvette please?
Actually drove one, (#13) for a summer, it was just fine in an Ozzie and Harriet sort of way.
I think someone has already added the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky and Pontiac Fiero to the list below. . .these were my intital thoughts. I think some one commented every “good” GM vehicle bekow, which is hillarious.
So to that, I will add some small cars. . .
Geo Metro
Mazda 2/Ford Fiesta
I get excited now when I see a Fiesta or 2 (hatch please…the Fiesta sedan had weird proportions). It’s hard for me to believe that not that long ago I was like “nice, Ford finally has a decent car line up again, maybe it’ll bring the Probe back.” Sigh.
Honda Element. Not super popular when they were selling new, and now people seem to covet them.
The marketing was bad. It basically showed people living the proto vanlife.
They should have shown it being used in a normal context by relatable people. I knew I wasn’t skydiving to a beach bonfire.
I have to say your description of automotive advertising just nails it. I’d also have accepted “scuba diving to a picnic in a meadow”
Kitesurfing to a mountain trailhead.
I still miss the 80s when it was all about driving into the city at dusk to park on a street corner right after it rained and then stand around with your friends.
I miss those days.
My current commute (bungee jump to zip line) is becoming a hassle.
Definitely the Element. Lots of usable room, easy to maintain. Lot’s of great examples under $10,000. Many in the $6,000 – $8,000 range.
The Bugatti Type 41 was a sales disaster and about half of the production run eventually changed hands for scrap value over the years but I understand it has a better reputation these days:
https://www.bugattirevue.com/revue58/junkyardbug.htm
Ford Fusion. Nobody cared until everyone looked around and realized all the sedans were gone. A purely competent sedan with a sizeable interior and styling that didn’t infect you with rage zombie virus, but everybody just went “Meh” for most of it’s life. I’m seeing people tune these things now, especially the facelifted second generation, and they’re turning them into actual threats on the track.
Studebaker Golden Hawk. Maligned even when new, and seen as outdated just three years after it debuted. It wasn’t until the late 2000s that people started realizing just how impactful it really was, and how much better it was compared to contemporaries. It was one of the first commercially available supercharged V8 sports coupes!
First generation Dodge Durango. A car that sold numbers, but nobody really thought about. Years later after Daimler-Chrysler, then Cerberus Capital Chrysler, then Fiat Chrysler SPA, had ruined all of their other SUVs and turned the Durango into a bloated beast did people realize just how great the original Durango was. Eh… Exploding transmissions aside.
The Cadillac DTS. YEAH I SAID IT! FIGHT ME BEHIND THE WAFFLEHOUSE IF YOU THINK I’M WRONG! Cadillac’s last big floaty road couch left the world empty after it’s passing. Cadillac ever since the debut of the CTS in 2003 has tried to be more German and sporting, going for a technofuture look and aiming for harder suspension and shorter 0-60 times. The DTS was the last of the Cadillacs that just wanted a slow cruise beneath the canopy of the beech trees with Roy Orbison playing at low volume on the stereo.
oh hell yes, i am a DTS lover!
In the northeast, those Durango’s were 40% rust by the time the transmissions went.
Those things seriously seemed to be the fastest-rotting cars on the road.
My grandparents purchased an 06 DTS new, with the crazy option of a front bench seat that was both heated and cooled! It was terrifying to think that old people drove those, there was zero rear visibility. It did have a potent engine for a FWD car, making some hilarious torque steer. It was still a nice comfortable floaty car.
Old people never look out the back window anyway.
They just throw it in reverse and hope for the best.
I had a 2004 CTS-V that was in the shop a few times on warranty (the drive train was not really ready for that engine!). A couple of times, the dealer gave me a DTS as a service loaner. That big floaty car had a surprising amount of get-up-and-go.
I’m hoping the Stinger has a moment in a few years. Journalists loved it, nameplate got killed after 5 years due to low demand.
Same problem as many vehicles. The manual was only available on lower trims. I don’t believe they made one with AWD and manual transmission.
The Stinger only has the 8 speed auto. It’s one of the reasons I bought it – we were a one car apartment dwelling family at the time and I needed something the spouse could drive.
Wow. I thought it was available in manual on small engine / rwd versions but I must be wrong. I really like the Stinger. It was the third pedal that was a deal braker for us. Wife insists on manual at the moment.
Cadillac V-series wagon. It was built for a niche market when it came out, and still is, but going from 10 fans to 50 is a 400% increase!
Like all car blog commenters, I thought the CTS-V wagon and coupe both looked phenomenal, but was nowhere near affording one.
Still love the CTS-V coupe! Bill Mitchell would approve of those creases. Looks like nothing else on the road.
I’m going with every single pre-1968 American pickup. Pickups were bought to be useful, to be rode hard and put away wet. They (mostly) weren’t particularly powerful. They didn’t offer a smooth ride, nor could they handle well. They were a tool, nothing more, nothing less. And they weren’t appreciated for anything more than being a useful tool.
But then people actively sought them out. Modified them with more power and better handling and ride components. Admired the beauty of their designs.
Fight me.
My 66 C10 is almost back on the road. Upper radiator hose and electrical gremlins left (rear lights don’t work, new rear harness)
Can confirm put away wet, California truck (still has SF dealer badge), rust hole in floorboard
I think they’ve been driven up by nostalgic buyers being priced out of more desirable similar vintage stuff and settling… Same year Chevelle/Camaro/impalas are eye bleedingly expensive. Sam think I think happened to the El Camino.
I would say the Subaru Baja falls into this category. Rust free Bajas with manual transmissions are a hot commodity.
This entire thread and nobody has called out David referencing pop culture trivia?
I suppose I’ll throw the Aztek into the mix.
Lexus LFA
For sure on that!
I was in the middle of my 14 years at Lexus when they came out, and for all the criticism at the time about the cost, the horsepower, the weight, the lap times, the 0-60, etc., they were (and still are) a very special machine in their own right.
The fact that they came from what is normally such a very conservative company/parent entity that just doesn’t devote the amount of resources to niche vehicles that they did to that, is really remarkable and probably also has an impact on the retrospective appreciation that they receive now.
Got more attention than it should have.
Pour one out for the Honda CRX HF. Not every car needs heated cupholders and a sunroof for your emotional support chihuahua. When I offered someone a ride, they asked, “Is it finished yet?”
This little gem was a car built for one purpose: squeezing incredible mileage from every drop of gas. My friends used to joke that I was driving a glorified lawn mower, but this “lawn mower” could cross three states on what they spent getting to the mall!
No rear wiper, passenger mirror, or fancy steering – just essentials to keep weight down. When I offered someone a ride, they asked, “Is it finished yet?”
Honda claimed 49/52 mpg for my 1990 model – numbers that would make many of today’s hybrid owners gently weep into their owner’s manuals.
It wasn’t about speed – it was about bright, efficient engineering that was truly ahead of its time.
The Geo Prism.
That car ruled the sleepers, and it ruled more because it didn’t tell anyone, lol.
With the Hatch and the 4age? Hell yeah
Non-Mustang Fox Platform cars. As someone who has owned 5 Fox platform LTDs and a Mark VII over the last 30 years, it’s been interesting to see Fairmonts, Tbirds, etc. go from unloved red-headed stepchildren of the Mustang (even though Fairmont came first) to now being actively coveted.
A large part of that is the rise of popularity of Fox Body Mustangs over the years. Cars from the Radwood era are hot, and now Fox Mustangs are so valuable that people are looking for similar alternatives, and the rising tide has lifted all of the related boats.