I probably should be asking what you’re wrenching on or how your summer plans are going here in an Autopian Asks, but I’ve got more important business: I want to use these posts to help spread real knowledge about car history and dispel the miserable (often AI generated) misinformation and outright crap that’s out there in tiresome clickbait slideshows.
Today, I want to hear what open-minded enthusiasts have to say about hidden gems and unfairly maligned bargains in the car world. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty tired of hearing about how the BMW 2002 was the greatest thing ever produced since the first wheel. I’m well aware that the Miata is “always the answer,” and if you’re more old school, you’ll give the Datsun 240Z automotive sainthood. Hey, our family owned a rusting S30 Z-car for a decade, so I already know the undeniably good things about it. What I want to know about are great cars that didn’t quite get the day in the sun that they deserved. I’m talking about cars that you could get a dozen of for the price of a perfect-condition painfully overvalued old Acura Integra Type R. Here are just a few to get you going.
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The Lexus LS400 might have received endless accolades when it was introduced in 1990, but many enthusiast magazines preferred the more sporting nature and unique styling of Nissan’s rival Infiniti Q45 instead.
This thing easily out-accelerated the Lexus and handled sharper; the LS400 channeled a mix of Cadillac and Mercedes but Infiniti wasn’t having any of that. The Q45 even featured a version with the first active suspension system sold in the United States to make it respond even more quickly. Wow, my old W126 420SEL looks like it’s about to roll over below!
Maybe it was the strange television and print ads that showed trees and rocks instead of cars that alienated potential buyers. Perhaps people wanted a fake Benz grille on their car instead of the cool cloisonne Hulk Hogan belt buckle up front (which I flat-out love and Jason proudly displays an example of in his basement “museum”). Whatever the reason, the Q45 didn’t even come close to getting the sales and recognition it should have, but it deserves your attention today.
Later big V8 Infinitis like the second-generation Q were the same story as well; the somewhat frumpy when new looks are actually ageing better than I thought they would:
Honestly, even the smaller boxy-looking M45 you totally forgot about are worthy sport sedan entries that the market unfairly ignored.
Not that Lexus wasn’t without hidden, underappreciated gems. Early stickshift IS models seem to fall in that category (or the automatic-only SportCross wagon), but a true masterpiece might have been the new-for-1992 SC coupes, particularly the super-rare manual transmission-equipped SC300s.
I liked the mechanicals of the fourth-generation Supra but never warmed to the looks, even before it got overexposed in the Fast & Furious movie franchise; too bulbous and over-the-top for my tastes. The sculpted-in-clay (literally) SC300 solved that; it featured a 2JZ-GE drivetrain similar to Toyota’s GT but in spirit sort of traded Vin Diesel for Daniel Craig; it’s like a Supra in an Armani suit, with a far more polished interior and better ride/handling compromise.
The public didn’t seem to agree, though, as only 3,883 five-speed SC300s found buyers. It always looks delightfully incongruous seeing a manual shifter in the traditional leather-and-Yamaha-violin-sourced-wood interior.
Sure, maybe I’d rather have an early-nineties BMW 850i like the one I see near my house. Sadly, like the vast majority of them, that local example has sat on four flat tires with a bed of leaves under the chassis for years, so if I want an actual functioning car and not driveway “decoration,” that Lexus seems like a great far more usable forgotten alternative choice.
You Autopians have to be bristling at the seams with examples of cars that shoulda-been-hits that are now dark-horse outstanding values. Let’s hear them!
RX8. A looker, affordable, handled amazingly, great acceleration. Poor gas mileage and the perils of a rotary, but as long as you did your homework (I am mechanically illiterate) never a problem. I owned two, so much fun.
That and its smaller sibling, the NC. Both deeply underrated, buried in the shadow of their predecessors.
Keep it on the downlow, but you can get a late-90s Toyota Carina GT with a blacktop 4AGE, ITBs, and a manual for under $10k.
I hunted for one, never found it. Acura TLS-SH AWD V6 with a 6-speed manual. Had a lovely engine, Honda reliability, AWD goodness attached to a manual. The Beak kept people away, but who cares. Ignoring the schnozz a lovely sedan that had plenty of power, handled very well and cops would ignore.
There are still a small handful out there, but I think that most of them are all in pretty rough shape by now.
every now and then a decent one pops up….but yah. finding one under 100K miles is going to be a tall order. maybe 2-3 available per year.
Corolla FX16. Everyone loves the AE86 GTS sold at the same time, but I traded my FX16 for my buddy’s AE86 for a week and was glad to get back in my nimble little hatch. Not a drifter, but a quick little FWD.
Cadillac CTS V-Sport. Same alpha platform as the Camaro and Ats including the V. 420hp twin turbo v6, magneride shocks, electronic limited slip diff, and a better 8 speed auto than you got in lower trims. I owned one, recently sold it for 12k. The car was like 95% of what the ATS V performance, but it had an actually usable backseat. Aside from special wheels and a small badge it looked just like a base CTS so it was a bit of a sleeper as well.
Lots of’em.
Nissan Sentra/200SX SE-R, Acura Vigor, 5 speed Acura TL, Geo Storm, Dodge Stealth, Volvo 850 Turbo. Hell, I think most people these days have also forgotten the Omni GLH, which was one of the stealthiest sleeper cars.
Also can claim the single coolest acronym in motoring history: “Goes Like Hell.”
Saturn SW2 5 speed, twin cam, wagon. Preferably 1999 or later, but all are good.
There is at least one other Autopian who is a fan.
They were fun, useful and pretty light, the wagon was 80lbs heavier than the sedan.
I had an SL2 back in the day – I don’t know if I’d say it was Fast fast, but it was light as hell and had a truck engine in it and would dust most of the Hondas of the day, so for teenage me, it was plenty fast.
As a bonus, you could take the whole thing apart with a plastic pry bar, and the plastic body panels meant you could give it a good kick when it wouldn’t start without leaving permanent damage. I don’t know if I’d say I’ve got Fond memories, but I do have a lot of them.
Does the G35 count? It wasn’t a hidden gem when new, it was highly rated, sold well, and was decently reliable. However now it’s known more for take-overs than what it started out as, a 280-300hp, RWD, sports sedan\coupe, available in a manual that’s a decent GT car. It was available with an LSD and Brembo brakes if properly optioned.
I’ll second this. My 2007 G35s was a brilliant car for about 200k miles of ownership. That said, I suspect it’s that “known more for take-overs” thing that should get credit for the fact that when I traded it in for a new 2018 718 Cayman, my insurance premiums went down.
I still like the way they look, but you’re right. It now seems to be the favorite car of the “install a fart tip and be a general dickhead driver” crowd.
I found this out the hard way after I bought my 2012 G37X. I call it my “dad rod,” a classy four-door sleeper. Imagine my dismay when I went searching for enthusiast groups for my new-to-me ride, and found that by now, it is most often the choice of what I refer to as “backwards-behatted Monster-drinking tuner douchebros.” Many of the reader rides that I came across in such groups, you couldn’t make me drive at gunpoint. Nuh uh. To quote Cedric The Entertainer: I’m a grown-ass man, dog.
So, uh, greetings, fellow kids. I guess. Or something.
I know the feeling. I had a CRX in the Fast & Furious heyday. People assumed I was an asshole because I drove a Japanese sport compact and looked young. Cops assumed they could just pull me over for funsies because I’m “one of those” and must be doing something wrong. Wasn’t fun.
But hey, I’ve still got the CRX, and it still looks stock (on the outside 😉 ).
“Still looks stock.” My man. For some reason, that makes me think about the particulars of Walt Kowalski’s will in the very last scene of “Gran Torino.” I can’t quote that scene directly here without my comment being hidden for being naughty, but y’all know what I mean. Or you can look it up. There’s wisdom in there.
Oh, and re: the F&F days – my next door neighbor circa 2007 went on an internet date with a guy ten years her junior on a lark, and he came to pick her up in a “tuner” car that (direct quote) “looked like a Jolly Rancher on wheels.”
The date didn’t go well. LOL
’68 Dodge Dart line… duh!… so unappreciated.
Had a ’69 Swinger 340. I’d still love to get one and fix the steering and suspension.
I’ve had an irrational love for the square-rigged 1968-76 Dart/Valiant literally my whole life. I could not begin to explain to you why, I just like them. Even though I often refer to them as being the inspiration for the generic “car” on yellow caution signs, such as the well-known “slippery when wet” sign.
My fantasy is to get a hold of a clean one, massage a romping 6.1 Hemi into the engine bay, hide lots of suspension goodies behind steelies and poverty caps, and go stoplight trolling, possibly dressed in grandma drag to complete the illusion. Heh.
The ’89 to ’94 Suzuki Swift GTi.
It had a 100hp high revving twin cam 1.3 fortified with forged internals, and weighed about 1760 pounds.
With short first and second gears it could hang with real sports cars off the line.
It had seats that mimicked Recaro racing buckets, 4 wheel independent suspension with front and rear sway bars, 4 wheel disc brakes, manual steering, and a nice body kit with fog lights.
It rolled on lightweight 14 inch alloys shod with Bridgestone RE92 rubber in a proprietary 175/60/14 size.
A truly special car with few survivors.
There was a R&T? Article written in the early 1990s called “Beat the Rat Race” that was written specifically about a lightly modified Suzuki Swift GTi that included gear from Jackson Racing that included larger sway bars, stickier tires and a few other light mods that turned what was already a light and fun tossible car to even more fun!
Which reminds me, another good forgotten small affordable and tossible car…
The Isuzu I-Mark which had its suspension created/tuned by Lotus
https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/the-isuzu-i-mark-rs-turbo-motorweek/
I pored over that article as a teenager.
I remember there was another magazine article (GRM Maybe?) Where they drag raced one against a non turbo 300ZX and actually stayed with it until 3rd gear!
I still have mine and can confirm they are a riot to drive.
That is awesome. I had a friend in college that had a late 80s i-mark. Totally under rated affordable car!
The i-mark was cool. I have an old R&T issue somewhere where they pitted it against it’s contemporaries like the AE86 Corolla, Omni GLH, etc. The 80s were such a great time for tiny fun cars.
About 20 years ago I used to autocross with a much older fellow who ran an Isuzu Stylus with the Lotus tuned handling. It was bone stock with some big offset 13 inch wheels and slicks. It was so much faster than it had any right to be, and could easily hang with and beat many Miatas.
The Merkur XR4Ti was fast, handled great, had lots of room, and a unique look that I personally liked. The how-do-you-pronounce-that name and Lincoln Mercury dealer network killed it.
The Scorpio wasn’t bad either. Sadly, captive imports are always a tough sell here.
Rhymes with Bronco was actually *pulls off mask* Jasonco Cammisonco?!
Thought the same thing! Someone else is watching his videos I see haha
Should have called it the Lincoln XRT
Man you know your old when people are suggesting cars that are hidden gem of a bygone age and you think didn’t they just stop making it? My two DD drivers are early 2000 and people are talking about that era as a bygone age.
Tell me about it. My Focus is a ’10, and while it feels normal to me, friends are often amazed that it has no screen.
I was born in the 70s and I remember my dad sparking my car obsession by showing me all the “bygone classics” from his childhood in the 50s. I always thought they were cool relics of a nearly prehistoric past.
It’s unsettling to realize the 80s cars of my childhood are farther in the past than the 50s cars were back then.
Ha – same! My father had a late 50s Jaguar XK140 when I was really little, and it likewise seemed like something you’d see in a (cool) museum. Ala this piece’s conversation, I’m now scandalized that the first gen Ford Probe after which I lusted then is in fact relatively older.
My dad also got me in to cars, though it didn’t take much convincing. I remember we looked at an XK140 with a for sale sign on it at some auto repair shop in Madison in the mid-late 1980s. At the time he already had a 74′ MG B GT as a fun car and I was maybe 10(ish) at the time.
And (sadly) I remember the body at least was in rough shape.
I have a picture of me, as a toddler in those pajamas with the feet, standing in the seat, clutching that big steering wheel.
Long after he sold it b/c a family, he nearly bought a Triumph TR6, but he was just too practical by then. Damn!
Maybe not the Pinnacle of perfection but after having restored and driven one I have to say the 72-74Jensen Healey Roadster never got the proper recognition it deserves. Sure there were more popular better selling 2 seater convertibles but most had tiny little low HP motors while the JH had a Lotus 16 valve Dohc power plant. While the others were slow cars that seemed fast the JH properly tuned but stock could hit 100+ and cruise so smooth you don’t notice except for the cheap mirrors rattling about. So much room under the hood you could put an LS or a V8 under the hood with room to spare. A few minor upgrades like a 5 speed Gertrag, disc brakes, and shocks and you have a sleeper that could surprise today. O yeah get rid of the body rubber 70s bumper and it looks even better.
E36 325i – feels like it’s been overshadowed by the E46. But having owned and sold both long ago, I pine more for older one now. Classic good looks.
Well, it used to be the Honda Life, but that cat is out of the bag.
Anyhow, not telling you my secret aspirations because then they’ll just get even more expensive.
no Acura love? I bought a used ‘13 TSX wagon despite needing new rotors and it’s been rock solid, a comfy high speed highway cruiser with a great sound system. Many complaints that it’s not a “real” Acura, that it’s an automatic, that it doesn’t have the V6, but it does everything well.
I was looking for a TSX Wagon for a while, but judging by the prices asked they are in no way forgotten.
This was me in 2023.
Yeah, I gave up and imported a Toyota wagon from Japan instead.
The Chrysler Conquest / Mitsubishi Starion. Even back in the 80s when they were still being sold absolutely nobody knew what it was and were always asking us who made it.
I don’t know if it’s quite a hidden gem, but I do love my TL Type-S.
Mid 90s Acura Legend – I know it still enjoys a bit of a following, but man oh man was that a great car in its era. I know it wasn’t competing directly with the Japanese v8 Q ships, but in this scenario, less was definitely more.
While we’re on the subject of Infiniti, my mom had a first year J30 and I remember everyone thinking it looked like a spaceship. I was too young to ever have a chance to drive it, but I recall the design was “interesting”.
Did you have a Ludacris style Legend?
Yep, 1994 Legend LS (minus Ludacris’ rims) I believe the one in our family was Canterbury Green with Taupe interior. I took my drivers test in that car.
I’m a sucker for longitude-FWD, and I particularly like the Vigor/Legend’s version of it, which had very RWD proportions, unlike a Subaru, Audi or Chrysler LH car.
I’d love a Legend Coupe.
The GS with the six speed!
I have always Loved the looks of the Infinity Q45 (had real stealth wealth) quality about it and the J30 was also so unique, especially that rear end!
I loved the M45 mention… still really like that car, and would get one if I had a large garage. Since it’s mentioned, I’ll go with the car that I think it the modern version of that Nissan:
The L10 Lexus GS-F. I longed for it almost as much as I long for the LC500 now, and I’ve actually seen the latter on the roads. The fact that I’ve never seen a GS-F out there has me thinking the few that were purchased were bought by old guys who wanted the V8 “in case they may pass one day” but actually never drive. I test drove an IS-F back about the same time, and would have bought it on the spot if I fit in it. It was amazing. The GS-F fixed that last problem…the seats were amongst the most comfortable I’ve ever sat in. Overall, it’s a beautiful big sedan with an amazing V8. The few that were out there are starting to come down in price too… “starting.”
There’s at least one out there! Saw one ripping past the Santa Monica Pier yesterday
The first generation Neons were a blast. Too bad they apparently fell apart with use. But terrific as a rental. Cute too.
Agreed. The ACR versions are true unicorns at this point, jealously guarded and kept up by their owners who refuse to part with them.
They had a decent chassis and were fun to toss around with the 5MT.
They were let down by so much. Abysmal headlights, a 3spd automatic plagued most models, horrid build quality, et al.
Cadillac XLR, especially in V form. The Northstar gets a good bit of hate, but honestly, it’s got a decent bit of punch, especially with the supercharger. It’s like this nice cruisy GT then when you put your foot down it suddenly remembers it rolled off the same line as Corvettes. My grandpa-in-law has had both, currently has the V, and I’ll gladly take any excuse to borrow it. But the most damning factor of the whole thing, it’s black over red and my bestie pointed out that it suits a goth girl well.
Though thanks to this place, all I can think of is OMG don’t touch the taillights stay away from the taillights!
Those taillights strike fear into the heart of anyone who knows
The Northstar as I recall had head gasket issues that once corrected with APR headstuds was then a powerful and reliable lump of metal
May I nominate the 1st-gen Volvo XC90. My Dad had a facelifted 2009, and everything about that car felt significant and solid in its execution. Ergonomics were great, the stereo was pleasant, and the horizontal split tailgate was an interesting oddity. Not to mention the available super cool Yamaha-designed V8.
I don’t see many around, but I love when I do.
The XC90 had some reliability issues, my father in law bought a 2002, and it was in and out of the shop, culminating in a transfer case failure that rendered his AWD car FWD. at this point he listened to me and bought a Lexus RX which was stone reliable for 9 years.
Base model cars are underrated gems.
I don’t need, nor want, power-everything.
I had a ride in a base-model Fiat recently (Uber/Bolt) with manual roll-up windows, no AC, what looked like a 5MT, no big-screens, and I’m guessing the absolute base-model engine.
It was refreshing.
Basically what I came here to say. I had a base model 1995 S-10 pickup that was just a great little truck. 2wd, 5-speed, rubber floors, crank-windows. But it was perfect for what it was designed to do. If you wanted a truck that would haul things without being too expensive or flashy, got decent mileage, and was inexpensive to maintain, then a base-spec S-10 was a great option-less option.
I had a long bed, 2.2L 4 cylinder S10, 5 speed manual, 1997 model, bought by me brand new as my first new vehicle for $11k. That thing hauled my worldly possessions from NC to WA and back, then up to OH. I routinely got 25 MPG around town and my record was 33 MPG on the interstate with a full load of stuff in the back. It was insanely cheap to operate.
GM had gone crazy cheap with the fuel gauge sending unit, which broke after about a year of ownership. The windshield wipers had a recall due to more GM cheapness. Otherwise, the engine, transmission, clutch, everything just worked well. I tried to find one like it a couple years ago but couldn’t get one that wasn’t beat to hell or smoked in for the last 25 years.
I couldn’t find another S-10, so I ended up replacing mine with a 2010 regular-cab 2WD GMC Canyon 2.9L 4-cyl, 5-speed in 2015. Mileage isn’t quite as good. I get 20-25 mpg. But it’s got about 70 more hp, which makes for a fun daily driver.
I surprise myself sometimes how badly I would love to have a late 80s – mid 90s S10 or Ranger. If I were to buy a truck just to have, it would either be something like that, or what we call in the south a “pawpaw truck” – something full size and square body and absolutely loaded, the last new truck Pawpaw bought for himself when he retired, just in case he needed a truck to do any work, that no work ever got done with.
I found one a couple of years ago that just made me mad since I didn’t have the money to spend on it: a 1985 GMC Sierra Grande long bed, root beer brown over gold two-tone, with all the chrome, all the trim, running boards, sliding rear window, power everything, towing package, camel velour deluxe interior, 87,000 one-family-owned miles.
Six grand. Oof. I would buy it just to drive it to the Waffle House on Saturday mornings once a week to drink coffee and solve all the world’s problems with all the other old men.
The second gen Hyundai Genesis Sedan (G80) Ultimate with the V8. Super comfortable, good handling, 425 hp road eater. A friend has one with 140,000 miles and it’s still tight as a drum. Why they never wrapped a two door coupe around that engine is a mystery to me.