Most people “get” most cars pretty easily. There are very few economy cars that would be mistaken for luxury and vice-versa; anything sporting or muscular tends to announce itself as such; and trucks gonna truck, even if the truck is something weird like a Hyundai Santa Cruz or a Cybertruck.
Then there are the cars that people didn’t (or don’t) get. The AMC Eagle comes to mind first and foremost, and I can recall my Dad musing with the other car guys in the neighborhood about just what the heck AMC was going for with what time would reveal to be the template for modern crossover SUVs.
Another example might be the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, which certainly looks like a very capable sports car by the standards of the era, but was merely dressed as one. I say “might” because I don’t think customers in significant numbers were confused by the Ghia, and VW’s ad is just an imaginative scenario. But maybe?
As usual, I put the word out to The Team in case they wanted to contribute, and Stephen (of Walter Gossin fame) piped in thusly:
I nominate the second-gen Chrysler Sebring convertible as a much-misunderstood car, especially after it took a massive depreciation hit. Here was an affordable “drophead” with full-fat GT body proportions (check out the length of that quarter panel!) and a handsome, sharp design for its time that was mostly ridiculed throughout its life. The Sebring was designed and launched as a near-lunxury GT-styled convertible with top “Limited” trims going for $30K in ’01, but was misunderstood as just another OK coupe, a mere rental car, nothing special.
Not helping: Having lower spec cars with cloth and cheaper interiors, having many sunshine state rental agencies purchase fleets of them when new, and having some oil sludge issues on the 2.7L v6 (only pre-02 cars – they quietly added a heater EGR and altered some internals (supposedly) to fix the problem doomed them from the start, especially with car culture.
When was the last time you saw one at Cars & Coffee? Or just saw one in general that was in good condition and looking like it isn’t about to head to the local Pick & Pull?
The cloth/canvas tops last about 13-15 years in the sun before starting to deteriorate. This lets moisture into the car, which eventually molds and ruins the interior. You literally have to buy a replacement top, or roll on with a ton of duct tape by age 15. Most of the time, Sebring soft top owners just get rid of the car by then instead of investing $2K into a new top on a $2K car.
And now, I put the question to you:
What Cars Did (or Do) People Just Not Understand?
Top graphic image: AMC
At the risk of being a broken record for my continued support of the Merkur Scorpio, I nominate it. Great car murdered by a pathetic sales organization.
Ferrari Luce. People didn’t get that it was a naked cash grab and not some kind of passion project.
You’ve just described every Ferrari fir the last two decades.
The Smart Fortwo.
Expectation: People thought it was an economy car, sort of like a modern Geo Metro.
Reality: It’s a city car that’s designed to be easy to park, with basically every other function being secondary. Of course, the reality of what a Smart is doesn’t make sense outside of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York City.
Clearly the answer is the Miata.
All these people that keep buying pickup trucks just underestimate the Miata’s cargo hauling capabilities.
I carried an RX7 engine, transmission, diff, and axles from SC to Chicago in a first gen once… (I did have to remove the passenger seat and put it on top of the engine upside down though)
Mustang SVO. Period. Still one of the best handling Mustangs ever but it didn’t have a V8.
Going by relative sales numbers, I might argue the Prius v (at least, in the U.S.).
You take the already-excellent balance of a Prius between fuel economy yet still having a deceptively roomy interior with plenty of legroom for the back seat, and reduce the fuel economy by a little in exchange for more space…it sounds like a winning formula to me.
On the other hand, I’ve heard it said that maybe it was more on Toyota for pricing it too high, which I don’t feel like looking into at this moment. Still, 44/40 mpg for 67 cubic feet behind the front seats ain’t bad at all. ~2 million+ Prii and Prius Primes out there, but only ~150k v’s were sold. Even the Excursion sold better than that.
The Prius-V was a station wagon. Americans HATE station wagons for unfathomable reasons. I got my mother to buy one, she absolutely loved it. Sadly my idiot nephew killed it.
I disagree with SWG- That Sebring seems pretty easy to understand. It sounds like if you fit into the Venn diagram of ‘Chrysler Customer’ and ‘Liked Convertibles’ (AKA sunshine state rental agency) it was a tempting package. Obviously if you aren’t either of those things you would never buy it.
My suggestion would be the Honda Accord Crosstour- The much maligned prototype of modern crossover design.
In fairness to the Sebring, it wasn’t really that different in target audience than the mopar stuff that Mike Brady’s solid respectable patriarch drove – I know he had a base model Barracuda at one point, but also a lot of less exciting stuff.
Americans didn’t ‘get’ the ’70s era Mercury Capri; but it was a hairy-knuckle Hard Man’s car (as Ford Capri) over in the British Isles. Spec’d with the Cologne V6 it was a whole lot more fun than the Mercury Cougar of the day.
There are still some decent condition Sebrings rolling around here in God’s Waiting Room, FL. Driven by blue hairs, top firmly UP lest it muss the ‘do.
The trouble with them is that they were uglier than the first gen, and just felt like they were built out of compressed crap. And not terribly reliable crap at that. That said, I had a few as rentals and there are few occasions where putting the top down on a nice day doesn’t put a smile on my face. But I would never have bought one in a million years.
I think Americans generally are fundamentally incapable of understanding non-exotic Italian cars, or ANY French cars. C’est la vie.
The Volt, even GM’s own PR people often struggled to explain how it worked
Honda Del Sol. It’s not a perfectly balanced Miata, or a speedy Civic si, but basically the car version of a (pre 4 door) Jeep Wrangler – a fun times, open topped sporty vehicle. Always felt they deserved more popularity.
I bought one for my daughter. She liked it but I loved it.
There’s a lot of cars I don’t get. Just last week I bid on an Apollo GT but I didn’t get it.
I had a Nissan Cube that no one really seemed to get. The little fuzzy dash mat especially. But That car was amazing, easy on gas, so much space indie, i am 6’5″ and it fit perfect in front and in back. It could carry a ton and park anywhere. I think Americans just don’t get these little Japanese things.
I find that the more intelligently designed a car is, the less Americans understand it. The average American wants their car big, dumb, and bought by the pound as cheaply as possible. Except today they are willing to wildly overpay for pickup trucks for some reason that completely baffles me.
The Suzuki X-90. Suzuki didn’t even understand it.
I used to sell cars with a guy who was nuts for these. He had one in Pristine condition. He seemed to really like the transmission, he said that it it revved and shifted in such a beautiful way.