Automotive Guilty Pleasures
- Thread starter Turtle
- 1,415 comments
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- 17,898
- Florida
- GranTurismo0517
- RandomCarGuy17
It's not so much the car as a guilty please as the stripes. I guess there are tacky things on cars that I like after all. My only issue with the stripes is that they put stripes on the roof when the classic Camaros didn't have stripes on the roof (at least not ones I've seen).
UltimateYosh
Premium
- 947
- New Zealand
- UltimateYosh
Those stripes would be better if they didn't go onto the front bumper. Plus I find those white wheels tacky too.It's not so much the car as a guilty please as the stripes. I guess there are tacky things on cars that I like after all. My only issue with the stripes is that they put stripes on the roof when the classic Camaros didn't have stripes on the roof (at least not ones I've seen).
- 17,898
- Florida
- GranTurismo0517
- RandomCarGuy17
I would disagree there, I think it would look wierd if they didn't meet at the front. It would look like it was unfinished.
- 30,003
- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
Guilty because, as a rule, I just plain don't like BMWs (I've gone into this elsewhere and don't intend to do so here). A nifty oldie without the popularity tax of an 02. I'd be happy with a 2000ti utilizing the 2.0L sixer from a decade later.
- 27,219
- United Kingdom
Weirdly I didn't know these existed until two days ago, when I saw one in Iceland.
With you on this, though I'm also oddly selective. No love for the Demio for instance, nor the facelifted Micra pictured, but the pre-facelift Micra of that generation is great (particularly in as low a spec as possible), and both the Cinquecento and Seicento appeal to me, particularly in Sporting trim. Also quite like the Rover Metro (yet I've no interest in either the Rover 100 that followed, or the Austin Metro that kicked things off), pretty much all of the 80s superminis (Fiesta, Nova, Renault 5, Pug 205, Citroen Visa, Fiat Uno etc), and the Ford Ka - but again, only with the unpainted bumpers. And the first-gen Renault Twingo is brilliant.
I think it's a continuation of my love for the kind of basic automobiles that got nations on their wheels after the second world war - Beetles, 500s, 2CVs and the like. Cheap to build, cheap to buy, cheap and simple to fix, but ultimately still cars, and therefore better than the alternatives. It's not been the case so much recently as everything has become more competent, but these kind of cars, up to maybe the early 2000s, were also quite characterful in their own ways. In the 90s in particular there were some quite big strides made - the Micra moved the game on for quality and refinement, the Ford Ka for handling, the Twingo for packaging. Was an interesting time.
- 27,219
- United Kingdom
I'm not entirely sure.
The new one is a nice car, and with a rear-engined layout it seems novel. But it doesn't extract the full benefit of that layout, which should be a spacious cabin - the rear seats are pretty cramped. There's more space in the original, which was designed more like a small Espace, a one-box shape where interior volume was prioritised over all else. And having lots of space in a small footprint is surely the holy grail for a small car - it was the entire concept behind probably the definitive small car, the original Mini.
The new one is obviously more refined, quicker, better-built etc. But I think the original is probably the cleverer car. More charming? That's open to debate obviously, but given the original is now a couple of decades old it's well into the realms of being charming simply as an example of how things once were.
The only really disappointing Twingo is the second-generation car, which didn't really innovate. Though I can forgive it because the Renaultsport 133 version is such great fun.
Edit:
Another guilty pleasure: the outgoing Jeep Patriot:
I know they're not particularly good, but I do think they're styled nicely. Kind of like a much-updated version of the old XJ Cherokee. I'm aware the car in the pic above is also wearing some non-standard bits, but that's also part of the appeal - it's still a Jeep at the end of the day, so some people still use them for their intended purpose.
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- 5,768
- Anoka, MN
Mine's more of a certain type of vehicle, the 80's and 90's SUV with a rear mounted spare-tire. 
- 27,219
- United Kingdom
I don't feel the least bit guilty about liking the Avantime
And it might be based on an Espace, but calling it a minivan is probably being a little too generous to its interior volume - one thing most reviewers agreed on back in the day was how marginal it was to even squeeze four people in there.That said, it's got plenty else going for it. Pillarless doors (rather complex dual-hinged ones at that), barmy styling, sense of occasion etc.
The Vel Satis is certainly a guilty pleasure though. Styling is harder to love (if not quite as shocking as it looked back in the day), complex to the point of dubious reliability, not a great handler.
But you could get one with the Nissan 350Z's V6 (probably ruinous for economy, but great for reliability and giving it easy performance) and they're the complete antithesis to the tedious German stuff that everyone else buys.
Turbo
(Banned)
- 3,824
- Elizabeth, New Jersey
This car is vel-satisfying. Unique, good looks, just like on the Avantime.
- 16,511
- Melbourne
- ScottPuss20
- CheetahsMeow
Mercedes Benz S-class W126, when I first think of Merc's I think ether of this or those early 2000's mercedes with double oval headlights. I always think this looks rather classy.
Pretty much any Saab car, there's something about it that makes me like them.
3rd and 4th gen Chevrolet Caprice (or pretty much anyone before that newer holden one came out).
I remember saying something similar about the Crown Vic on this thread back then. Well pretty much that.
Pretty much any Saab car, there's something about it that makes me like them.
3rd and 4th gen Chevrolet Caprice (or pretty much anyone before that newer holden one came out).
I remember saying something similar about the Crown Vic on this thread back then. Well pretty much that.
MedigoFlame
Premium
- 6,231
- Maine
- MedigoFlameX
Never quite liked the R-Class. But then, the R63 AMG always seemed interesting to me. My parents neighbor has a normal one. Barely ever see any on the road.
Obelisk
Premium
- 9,789
- United States
- RMedia_Obelisk
"ROAR63"Never quite liked the R-Class. But then, the R63 AMG always seemed interesting to me. My parents neighbor has a normal one. Barely ever see any on the road.
- 16,511
- Melbourne
- ScottPuss20
- CheetahsMeow
Do you see a trend?
- 30,003
- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
Of obscenely fugly SUVs and crossovers? Yeah.
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