Door mirrors you can actually see things in. I’ve owned cars with tiny mirrors and never really thought about it, then climbed into something with big mirrors and marvelled at all the extra visibility and reduced blind spots. You really don’t appreciate good visibility until you’re without it.

It’s marginally better, but still far from attractive. In contrast, the older 405 and 406 look fantastic, and the 508 that replaced it isn’t too bad either. Peugeot definitely had a ‘dark ages’ period from the early 2000s until around 2009 when the RCZ arrived. Now, the range is pretty good - both to drive and…

Iffy looks ≠ iffy proportions.

Indeed. The Juke is definitely a case where the details are uncomfortable for some, but there’s very little wrong with the proportions.

Pretty much all of those eastern-market hatchback-turned-sedans (a friend calls them ‘shatchbacks’) are terribly proportioned. So yes, that too.

I’m actually one of those people who likes the Juke, so there’s an element of bias here. But I can understand why others think it’s ugly. I don’t see poor proportions, however. In fact, proportions are probably one of its best visual attributes.

Peugeot 407. Uncomfortably cab-forward stance, long front overhang, oddly short rear overhang, and if I was unkind enough to post a front three-quarter view it’d also throw the large headlamps and guppy-like grille into the mix.

An acquired taste certainly, but badly proportioned? I’m not seeing it. From the side in particular, I think it’s quite neat. Squat, strong haunches, relatively short overhangs. A low-ish roof in proportion to its body helps, too. Only smallish wheels hinder its overall proportions, but even then there are certainly…

I feel like the Multipla is a car that defies proportion. Rather than being badly proportions, it adopts a whole new set of rules dictated by its seating requirements. Ungainly certainly, but I’ve never considered it a car with bad proportions.

That doesn’t surprise me about the Civic Type R. There was a stage a few years back where I used to see an inordinate number of grey-haired pensioner-types driving hot hatchbacks. I figured that - unless they were all ex rally stars - they were walking into a dealership and buying the most expensive smaller car they…

Agreed. While it certainly would have been prescient of Alfa to launch a CUV a decade ago, I’m not sure it would have been necessary - and arguably, Alfa’s reputation at the time would have been less capable of withstanding one. Now, CUVs are part of the landscape, and nobody really bats an eyelid any more that…

Instead they chose to continue building disappointing (though sometimes quite pretty) middle class cars that nobody but hardcore fans wanted

I appreciate that, and I can also think of plenty of sub-$24k cars I’d prefer to drive, but what a car is worth is a very subjective thing, and I don’t think $24k is a bad price for a car this rare and with this much engineering intrigue.

Regardless, few cars available for relatively sensible money are realistically…

Storing? I’d buy it to drive. If it made any money in my ownership span, that would simply be a nice bonus on top of an entertaining driving experience. And if it lost money then it’s no big deal - if it depreciates at all, it’ll still do so far less than a brand new car.

Yes - Dirt Rally. I grew gradually more and more disappointed with the Dirt series but Dirt Rally (even in this early access phase) is so much more enjoyable. Difficult, undoubtedly, but then that’s part of the appeal in a rally game.

On looks alone I prefer the 1300, but I do understand the appeal of the S600. I’m a sucker for kei cars. That said, the later S800 looks similar and is typically a bit cheaper, so that’s the one I’d go for.

NP. It’s jolly expensive for a car of that type, but since these are ludicrously rare and there’s no real precedence as far as pricing goes, it seems realistic enough. Always thought these were quite cool, too.

They do still exist, but the younger ones can’t really afford to drive, and the older ones have moved on from tiny hatchbacks to Mk4 Golfs, knackered E36 3-series, and diesel Vectras.

The United States has many actual robots; they assemble Chevrolets

Not a fan of the cabrio, but I actually don’t mind the normal one. My only experience with one was a rental for ten days in California, so that may have clouded my judgement somewhat, but I actually quite liked it. Engine and automatic trans were pretty bad, but it handled okay, was more than comfortable enough to do…