Whether we’re talking cars you’ve owned in series or multiple vehicles in your stable right now, I gotta believe they represent a pretty varied range of styles and use cases and capabilities, even if you’ve stuck to just a few brands. I suppose there’s a non-zero chance some of you have owned nothing but lightweight roadsters and currently have a pair of Miatas in the garage, but I’ll be very surprised if you pop up in the comments.
As for the rest of us, there’s probably a pretty good swing from first car to current car, if only because you can likely afford a lot more car now than you could when you were shopping for your first set of wheels. And tastes change, too; you don’t see too many car folks who are still 100% committed to the same machines that excited them back when they had a subscription to Import Tuner. But whatever the reason, I’m confident your car history includes vehicles at some distance from each other on the norm-core to extra-spicy spectrum.
… which brings us to today’s Ask. Speaking for myself, my normalest car is about as regular and basic as it gets, the humble Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon. The example below is positively exotic compared to the “America” version I owned, which was the cheapest of the cheap. It did have a digital clock and a radio (as I recall, the clock was in the radio, but I may be wrong), however, so not totally Spartan. Mine certainly did not have those wonderful wheel covers, or two-tone paint, or a pinstripe. I could only dream.
As for my “craziest” car, well, a Mustang GT isn’t that crazy. Mine wasn’t even a Premium; for the same X-Plan price, give or take a few hundo, I could get a loaded V6 (this was 2012, pre-boostang) or a base GT. This was the first year for the Coyote engine, so the V6 was never a consideration. Lots of fun, lots of tickets, lots of rear tires.
Your turn:
What’s The Most Normal Car You’ve Ever Owned And What’s The Craziest?
Top graphic images: Chrysler; Toyota
My craziest car was a heavily modified 2002 WRX wagon that I bought already fitted with a built 2.5L STi engine, and my most normal car was the 2001 A4 Quattro 1.8T that I bought with the residual value of the STi when the aforementioned built engine un-built itself a year into my ownership.
Most normal – 1992 Honda Civic dx Hatch, when it was just a boring economy car. I used it mostly to get back and forth to college.
Craziest – 2007 Lotus Exige S, when it was just a slightly used exotic shaped car. I used it mostly to bother Porsche owners in the canyons above LA.
Most normal was probably my ‘99 Geo Prizm and craziest was my ‘78 T/A.Gold with auto and no T-Tops.I was only 16 and trashed it because I was a stupid kid.Wish I had that car now.
Most normal: Volvo 7 series. I also had a VW Rabbit convertible which was pretty common back then (the ’80s) but still not as generic/sedanish as the 7 series.
Most crazy: ’69 Corvette Stingray convertible w/a 427cu in engine. Purportedly rated 435HP. Got about 7 MPG. The top fit so badly that the one (and only) time that I took it through a car wash, literal gallons of water came into the cabin.
Most normal was a 97 Nissan 200sx. It was my grandma’s, and I inherited it when she passed in 2002. Parked it on a busy street in Chicago, and came down one morning to go to work in 2004 or 05; and a drunk guy driving a town car had run into it from behind and turned it into an accordion.
Got $4500 from the insurance company and bought my craziest: a 1980 Corvette l-82. Black with white leather interior. Objectively it was a piece of shit with a malaise era engine that meant it was gonna lose to most tercels… But, I still loved it. It looked like a Hot Wheels, and with the t-tops off in the summer it was a ton of fun. Stereo had a weird glitch where it would only play Foghat or Grand Funk Railroad. Weird.
Most normal car? The current commuter beater, 2012 Honda Civic, ex-fleet car in white (though it is CNG), or the 2009 and 2008 CNG Civics that preceded it. There are zillions of Civics out there.
Most oddball/crazy? Probably either the 1972 BMW 2002 with the splotched paint job courtesy of the eucalyptus tree it had been parked under (loved driving it!) or the 2003 1st Gen Honda Insight, the tiny silver spaceship.
Least crazy really would have to be the 2007 Honda Accord hybrid. Great all-around experience. Craziest I think depends on context. Having the 1961 Oldsmobile as my DD in college, 30+ years after it was built wasn’t exactly sane. But in terms of actual ability in terms of being able to get me in trouble, the 2005 GTO tops it.
Multiple Corollas, base model Subaru sedans, a diesel Golf, and now a Camry. I guess that makes the 1980 MB 240d the craziest, even though it was the slowest? I think that I need to rethink my automotive life…
The normalest car I can recall was a hand me down first gen ford escape. I have owned a few others that might qualify, 2.5 passat, Chrysler LHS, or maybe my gramps Ford Focus, which I immediately traded off before the DCT fully failed. Incidentally, I traded that for a a plum Crazy Purple SRT with a manual. I suppose that qualifies as crazy, but the most crazy was probably my first car I paid for. it was a 71 Mustang Mach1 Fast back. it was cheap, and put together all wrong, but I had a ting for the big Mustangs at the time. it was also painted like a rainbow. The guy was claiming he wanted to go drag racing, so he did the front in Neon Green, the middle in Hot Pink and the back in Black Cherry. I had no idea at the time what a paint job might cost, but figured I could save up or do it on my own. News flash, it never got painted until the kid who’s dad bought it from me had it painted red with the correct stripes and all. I think I only saw it once though, it was nose deep in a ditch on a wintery day. the red paint sure did look good though.
Most normal: the E34 535i I drove a thousand miles to drive round the Nurburgring.
Craziest: the 4.6 litre V8 RX7. Or the Silvia turbo with the welded diff. Or the MX5 turbo competition drift car. Or the Europa. Or the CRX with race seats and cut slick tyres. Or the other RX7 with the fire-breathing exhaust. Or the ex-development Elise Sport 160. Or the matte black E30 with “Your mother’s got a penis” scratched down one side. Or the other E30 that I painted camo for a sponsor experience and swapped for some track time.
Most normal car: 2006 Honda CR-V EX. It was my wife’s car, but my name was on the paperwork with her so I am claiming it.
Craziest car: 2016 Focus RS or 2025 Mach-E GT w/ Performance upgrade. I don’t own either of these per se as they are my work cars, but I had to pay the tax on them so I’m claiming them as well.
Normal: Mazda Protege – my first car
Crazy: VW based dune buggy (title said it was a 1973 karma ghia but that was just the vin plate) – bought it took it apart with some friends in a few days and then it never went back together. Still out there somewhere but ? Still have the historical vehicle plate for it that never got used
Normal- 99 mercury sable. Gold on beige. Ultimate blob mobile.
Craziest- well thats obvious, its the Jeep Comanche with the jurassic park paint scheme. Gets more looks than anything else ive owned- the SC mustang, 66 or 69 chevelles, mustang GT or Tbird.
Normal: probably an ’86 Accord or ’94 Altima, although I’ve had any number of pretty normcore vehicles.
Craziest: ’88 Jaguar XJ6, although it’s not really crazy and whatever craziness there is probably is more perceived than real.
Username checks out. The SEAT Exeo (2010 wagon, manual, silver, 120 HP TDI) may have been the most uninspiring car in history, but it served me well.
I regret not having owned truly crazy cars, but the 1990 Peugeot 205 CJ (white, with denim-style seats – straight males like myself weren’t exactly the target audience) probably comes closest. Today, nobody would believe how much fun a 60 HP convertible can be. Who needs power steering and an automatic transmission? The power brakes seemed like absolute luxury compared to the 1982 Fiat Panda 45 it replaced.
Good times.
The SEAT Exeo may have been the most uninspiring car in history
While I stand by what I’m saying, I do remember one quirk. As SEAT had decided to use the A4 convertible’s dashboard (round HVAC outlets and all) in the wagon body, the Exeo ST may have been the only wagon ever to feature a warning light for a defective convertible top. I always expected some VW electrical gremlin to make it light up, but that never happened in the eleven years I owned the car.
As a (fellow?) spaniard I was wondering if your username was referencing the eponympus Seat.
I have always thought that was one of the most underrated Seats (cars?) ever made.
¡Hola, amigo! Sorry, German from the Ruhr area here. 🙂
But my Exeo spent the first year and about 10,000 miles as part of the SEAT corporate fleet in Spain (probably in Galicia: I remember a station with “Vigo” in its name being stored in the radio) before being bought by a car trader from Westphalia for what must have been next to nothing. Which led to me basically getting a new Audi for less than € 15,000 including tax.
After the 1,200 truckloads of tools and other production equipment had been unpacked at Martorell, the workers rose to the challenge and built cars absolutely on par with anything that rolled out of Ingolstadt, first the Exeo and after that the first generation Audi Q3. You are definitely right about the Exeo being underrated – it usually induced blank stares rather than knowing smiles (which happened).
Since the Exeo was based on the Audi A4 B6/B7 from 2000, it wasn’t exactly cutting-edge technology even in the 2010s. For example, the radio could play MP3s from a USB drive, but only if the files were arranged in up to six directories of no more than 256 files each, which were played in alphabetical order (so it was vital to include the track number in the file name to prevent chaos), as the USB port had to emulate a CD changer. As I said, good times.
The Kia Ceed PHEV (wagon again) that replaced it is a better car in almost every regard. But I still miss the confidence-inducing hispano-teutonic solidity of my Exeo. May it still putter along in a country far away to the east or south from Europe.
Lovely 🙂
I bought a 1987 Yugo GV in 1989 that was probably both normal and crazy.
You win best answers to both questions with a single car.
My Model Y fits both. It’s by far the most dynamically capable vehicle I’ve owned. 1990’s supercar numbers in a family crossover.
My RAV4 is by far the most vanilla vehicle I’ve owned. Then again it does stuff like yank a camper through a few inches of mud, all four wheels churning furiously, and reminds us it’s more Madagascar vanilla than imitation.
Most Normal was probably my 2004 Ford Ranger 3.0 (with magnaflow “off-road” exhaust and 31″ tires, stock suspension)
Craziest was the first car I owned: a 1990 RX-7 Turbo II
I’m really trying to think of any “normal” cars… Maybe it was the late-90s Chevy Blazer; it was pretty civilized and normal all around, although 4×4 SUVs weren’t the default family car quite yet at the time.
Craziest? Maybe the Z52-package Corsica — one of those delightful GM oddballs that somehow got out the door past the bean counters and management, and was somehow more than the sum of its parts. Or my most recent acquisition, a 2005 Monaco Signature motorhome. Built like a proper bus with an “integral” (self-supporting) inner structure that forms the combined body trusswork and frame, like an Eagle/MCI/Prevost… with a 600HP Cummins ISX. The engine so many of the supertruckers want in their rigs. Imagine a 45-foot bus that can hit 60 at the bottom of an on-ramp without straining, if you put your foot in it. It’s a whole other sort of machine altogether.
GM has a storied history of releasing high performance cheaper cars that by all rights shouldn’t exist.
I like to think the engineers stayed up at night trying to figure out how to get yet another sleeper or obscure performance package out the door under management’s nose just for fun…
They absolutely did. Example A: Fiero. Two seat mid-engine commuter?!? And somehow it needed more power. And sharper handling.
or they went to sleep…and dreamt up a sleeper? Ha ha
I’ll see myself out…
My 2016 Hyundai Sonata is the most normal car I’ve owned, because it’s a 2016 Hyundai Sonata.
Craziest? It could have been my 1997 BMW 540i because it drove me batshit nuts.
Yeah, I am not exactly a wild man.
I have had a few terrible shitboxes that you might think I was crazy for driving, but at the time they were what I could afford. Mostly they were normal, but old and poorly maintained cars. As far as the “most normal” car I’ve ever owned, I’m not sure what most normal means, but I’m going to say the 2014 Ford Fusion I bought against my wife’s will. I loved that car and it sucked when it was totalled by hail. It was a normal car, but it had sufficient power (240 hp), leather seats, a good stereo, and it was comfortable on a road trip. Honestly, I think it was a better car than the Mercedes I currently own.
I’ve had a few Fusions as rental cars over the years and enjoyed them all. Maybe not the greatest family sedan of their time but very good. They were a really strong contender when I wound up getting my Kia Soul but at the end of the day the practicality of the hatch was too much for it to overcome.
Most normal would probably be my first car, an 84 accord. A grey sedan with an automatic, about as anonymous as they come.
Wildest is my ’65 C10. Custom orange/white paint and pinstriping, a hideous color matched custom interior, and a vortec 350/th350 that makes way more noise than power. It’s way too flash for me, but I’m kind of attached to it now and sorta see it as rescuing a trailer queen. I’ve been all through the brakes and chassis trying to get it to drive the way I want and it’s finally starting to get close. End game is something I can autocross and/or flog down a canyon road
I think the most boring car I ever owned was a mid 90s Camry or late 90s Avalon.
I had a hayabusa swapped Suzuki carry for a bit. It wasn’t done all that well but was a bit crazy . I have a Highlander hybrid made into a pickup that’s a bit strange. I had a zap for a time people are always a bit confused by that. I had a ambulance and a hurse for a bit too.
Way to many ‘normal’ cars. Craziest was probably the homemade dune buggy I had to drive (otherwise walk) in high school. Dumbass stepfather had made out of square tubing, thinking that would be stronger. Nope, just heavier and more stupid looking.
Normal is my Tesla Model 3.
Craziest is a 1966 AMC Rambler station wagon with hydraulics and custom paint.