@cruzer555: We replaced a leak-ridden '97 Audi A6. The Sonata has nice enough trim and amenities and fit-and-finish that it felt like a lateral move. And we got a 20 year 200,000 mile drivetrain warranty. I won't have to pay for any repairs (other than normal wearable parts) for 5 years. Our Sonata will cost us less…

@Alfisted: ZING!

@Alfisted: Good call. That was my first thought. Developed before WWII and in production several decades later. I don't know of any other four that gets that honor.

@jimheem: It helped that we were in my crappy '87 corolla that was given to me and had a bullet proof drivetrain. That makes it less stressful. She just got a 2011 Sonata (6-speed). THAT would be pretty stressful to teach someone on. It's our first new car and the most expensive one we've ever owned.

@cruzer555: The 2011 Sonata might surprise you. Almost 200 HP, 6 speed MT, plush amenities, good fit & finish. Consumer Reports rates it pretty much top in its class. The direct injection engine is pretty torquey. It's basically like a ford ecoboost without the turbos.

My grandpa taught me how to drive his old suburban when I was 8 yrs old. It was a manual transmission on the column. I wasn't heavy enough to push the clutch in with all my weight so I had to pull myself down on the steering wheel.

We just bought a new car for my wife. It's a Sonata with M/T. Those six speeds are pretty sweet.

@Ding-Dang: My first thought when seeing this photo was that Wes Anderson is just out of frame.

@CABEZAGRANDE: The exhaust was so hot they needed ceramic tiles like on the space shuttle to keep it from melting/burning the rest of the car!

@CABEZAGRANDE: I messed up my posting and didn't get my text in. The reason why I posted this is because it was so nice on paper and it drove like a beast in Gran Turismo 2, but in real life it sucked and they only made one.

Ford GT90. Because it was from the future, was pretty sweet on paper, and in Gran Turismo it ran like a beast, but This is what Jeremy Clarkson had to say about it: "I actually drove this and it was horrid. It had a top speed of 40 (mph) and it handled like it was in a cartoon".

@irishman72: I'm pretty sure one of these Cavalier wagons has placed in the top 3 in LeMons races at least twice.

It's so unrealistic... A row of trees around the perimeter? Trees... in Texas?!

@Velorium: I saw the old style microscope right away. It even has the slide holder!

@The Second Spitter: YES! This was so futuristic in its design.

@Professor Slowmobile: They actually used these as cars from the future in the movie Gattaca. The foley they used made them sound like electric cars, but the looks were entirely unchanged.

@Tijuana Taxi: See third from last sentence, "...after it was dispatched." Like the Norwegian Blue, it is no more. It is an ex-croc. It has ceased to be. It's pushing up the daisies.

This is exactly the sort of thing that goes horribly wrong on its maiden voyage and they end up needing to call International Rescue.

@Elhigh: I second this. It is much easier to get passionate about F1, where each team builds its own cars, works in their own tweaks, and has true rivalries. The competition isn't just between the drivers, but between the car designers and makers. I firmly believe that if NASCAR returns to its "stock" car roots,…