Hype is a funny thing. It builds a superhuman halo around certain cars, sometimes over time and sometimes immediately. However, sometimes the hype train misses our station. What iconic car is impossible for you to love? I’m talking about cars so beloved, you’d be a pariah if you said anything negative about them.
If you’re hesitant to answer, be assured this is (for the most part) a judgement-free zone. A friend of mine hates the Ferrari Testarossa. Adrian isn’t a fan of old British roadsters. It’s all good. Let me start with my own coldness to a hero car.
Everyone loves the Honda S2000, right? Winner of a zillion comparison tests, commander of strong resale values, bestowed with a legendary redline and a phenomenal shifter, you’ve probably heard it all by now. Actually, I should say that almost everyone loves the S2000, because I don’t. I respect it immensely, but love? It just doesn’t do the sports car thing well enough for that.
Let’s start with the steering. Honda went with an electric power steering rack, and since the S2000 was launched in 1999, steering feedback is an absentee. The ratio itself is reasonably fast, but your fingertips don’t pick up what the car is doing. Instead, keen drivers will have to rely on sensations through the seat and pedals, and that’s a disappointment.
Speaking of disappointing, the seating position isn’t great. On the stock seats, you just want to be an inch or two lower, something that just isn’t feasible. Oh, and that’s before we get into the frustrating inaccessibility of the powerband. Even the torquier AP2 didn’t properly get on the boil until 6,000 rpm, and given a 2.045:1 second gear ratio, a 4.1:1 final drive, and a 24.7-inch rear tire diameter, means the fun doesn’t really start until 52 mph or so.
Whether a bedroom poster exotic or a humble people’s car, today’s Autopian Asks is all about going against the grain. What’s a widely-loved car that you just can’t get behind, and why? As ever, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
(Photo credits: Honda)
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Newer Lambos and Ferraris. They’re just too… over-hyped for them to click for me. It’s the thing that so many people that have most likely never touched a toolbox want.
Most over hyped muscle cars but the best worst car has to be the Beetle and the VW Van. Ugly, no power, no amenities, no safety devices. I mean it is just 3 legged horse at the Kentucky Derby. It has nothing in it that event advances it to blah. It’s only plus is it is so ugly it creates sympathy because of its inadequacy. And let’s be honest it is just a slow moving vehicle that allows hippies and potheads to blame driving slow is the cars fault. The 2 door coupe has no room for average sized people to get in the back seat. And the big and roomy bus that fits in the teens has such a tiny motor if you fill the seats 0-60 speed is measured with a calendar. I mean you lighten the weight of a vehicle for speed not too be able to get up your driveway. Can anyone really make a case they are anything but ugly? They are the the sports team the is last in the league in every statistic. Their only successful measure is they rust quicker than most any other vehicle and their are so many made that there are tens of millions broken down for easy parts accessibility. I guess besides being worst in every measurement they aren’t so bad.
In no particular order:
-Most Mustangs
-Most Camaros
-Overpowered FWD cars
-All DCT equipped vehicles
-All non Tundra Toyota pickups/4runners for one specific reason…they aren’t comfortable if you have long legs because the seat bottoms are directly on the floor. If the 2024+ Tacoma fixes this issue, I’ll likely be purchasing one.
-80/100 series land cruisers that people want to try and sell for $20k when they have a billion miles on them… guys… give it a rest… you don’t “know what you have”
-HD diesel pickup trucks. Unless your job is to tow very heavy/long distances with them frequently, most who have them don’t need them, and you will actually have cheaper total cost of ownership with (most) of the gas options. Plus, if you ever roll the thing, better chance of staying alive if you don’t have a 800-1000lb engine putting more force on the roof structure….Ford got in some hot water for this specifically…
Daimler SP250. Call me the odd man out but IMHO it is butt ugly. It has a mix of both curves AND sharp angles that just don’t go together for me. Like one guy designed the front and another designed the rear. The rear fins are awful. It makes me so angry just looking at it that I want to punch one in the grill. I want to buy one, rip off the rear fins and smooth out it’s arse till it looks like my wife’s (which is awesome;-).
BRZ and Miata are similar on paper. I have owned both. I still dream of the Miata. I don’t really miss the BRZ.
Tesla Model S and Porsche Taycan are similar on paper. Both are comfy and fast in a straight line. But, the Taycan has steering feel and feels a lot more involving to drive.
Summary: BRZ and Model S are fine cars that are very similar recipes to two of my favorite cars. But I didn’t really click with them.
the 1970-73 mustangs. I know a lot of people who love them and a few who have owned them and in my opinion, they’re horrifically ugly. also like to add the foxbody mustangs to this list. not a fan of them honestly. again, they’re so ugly
this is mostly about looks, but I don’t like how either drives really either. I’m a ford girl (generally speaking), but you can get similar performance from a 70 firebird, camero, etc and they look better. no notes on the foxbody, just not my favorite.
Do you mean the 71-73’s? Because I agree, those just don’t look right.
However, the 1970 (only) I think is the most underrated look. I helped fix up a 1970 BOSS 302, and even though I’m not a huge Ford or Mustang guy… it was gorgeous in person, especially with the gold paint and black striping.
Once we finished it, some rich guy gave it to his 17 year old son as a birthday present. Promptly crashed it and the kid almost died, along with his friend. What fucking moron gives a car like that to a 17 year old who didn’t even know how to drive stick in the first place?
yes, I did mean 71-73. I do love the look of the 70 boss Mustangs, that’s my bad. I don’t understand people who do give their kids a nice car like that. your first car(s) should always be a beater and fairly low power. life happens and a kid should not have a car that costs that much or behaves like an old muscle car.
Bugatti Veyron. I appreciate it for its impressive engineering, but nothing about it really seemed all that exciting. Granted, most exotics don’t do anything for me, so the Bug never had a chance.
It’s fugly.
For cars I literally can’t get behind (the wheel) it would be any Miata and the aforementioned S2000. And kei cars.
These are all I need a car to be, but at 6’5″, I physically cannot fit in any of them, so my enthusiasm for them is muted.
Same, but mine is more of a width issue. Sometimes being hawaiian makes life difficult.
Several of ’em. And I don’t tell many people because I don’t want to be assassinated. 😉
2000GT. Yep, iconic. For its time, awesome. I’d love to have one because I could sell it and retire. But, sorry, it’s ugly.
Same with the Porsche 914. Looks like Porsche got drunk and said “Sure, Fiat, you design one for us!”
And the Lotus Europa. The whole “let’s make our sports car look like a station wagon from the side” thing just never did it for me.
Of course, I also have controversial opinions on the other side. I think the 25th Anniversary Countach looks far better than the original.
The Grand National is extremely iconic, and for apparently no reason. It’s an ugly mid 80s grandpa car with a POS V6 that made like 200hp, which wasn’t anything special even in the 80s. The later ones are legitimately fast in a straight line, but a grandpa car being fast in a straight line is not remarkable in the slightest(see any 60s Cadillac or Oldsmobile).
It was fast for its day, one of the first post malaise performance cars. That was the appeal. Guess you had to be there. 🙂
The 1984-1985 Grand National made 200hp. Wikipedia says 15.9 seconds in the 1/4, compared to 15.3 for a Corvette or 17.0 for a v6 Camaro of the same year. So I maintain that it’s nothing special. Corvettes had been faster for several years, and the 1985 Mustang had 200hp and did the 1/4 in 15.4.
The GNX, of which there are only 1000, was legitimately fast, but Grand Nationals prior to 1987 was not ground breaking performance.
Corvette I presume was in a different price bracket.
Mustang, interesting.
The “grandpa car” comment doesn’t ring true though. I had two friends who had the same basic car, one a Monte Carlo and one a Cutlass. I remember hearing that GM kept trying to replace that platform with a newer front wheel drive. The cutlass Sierra, I think was one of the new ones. They sold them in parallel for quite a while, because silly consumers kept buying the older cars that they liked instead of the uninspiring replacement.
Holy Grails. Just in general.
What, you like your cars to come in white or silver with the most common engine option and an automatic transmission?
It’s more the term.
Welp, time to get some hate.
BMW and Mercedes. All of them, but in particular, Rad-era (when I grew up).
To me, a luxury car is mostly just setting money on fire as a flex. To own a BMW or Mercedes means lighting money on fire to buy a money incinerator.
After my Dad passed, my Mom decided to treat herself to a fun car. She bought a 2005 Thunderbird. It’s a beautiful car, Robin’s Egg Blue and she loves it. I love how it looks but hate driving it. I can’t get the seat low enough, the top of the windshield is exactly at my eye level. The trim looks gorgeous but like a lot of Ford stuff, the plastic trim pieces feel cheap and makes that noise that I hate.
Would the Stinger count? I never got the point of it honestly, but I also don’t think it’s really “iconic”. Maybe it is?
Besides that, the first US-Spec Type R’s. They’re “Mopar fans spend too much on cosmetics like it’s 2001 and Fast & Furious is life” styled. From the factory.
The newer one isn’t much better.
The beauty of the S2000 is that it’s a Sports car that revs to 8 or 9 depending on year, and has the reliability of a Honda. It’s the full package, not just a barn burner, not just a boring appliance.