For one, the transition to electric power is expensive and they need to sell cars. And it’s great that they’ll be building something relatively affordable. And small-ish. Both those things need to be applauded. But, they’ve almost always had an affordable car in their lineup. Most recently the S40 which was their…

The Renault 4 is the king of cheap cars. Durable, thrifty, and practical. Citroen built the legendary 2CV and then Renault turned the idea into something more useful. It was also better than the Beetle.

I bought a new Mirage when they first came out and it was a great car. I gave it to my sister and she’s still driving it. Cheap new cars are important. There are a lot of advantages to buying new like a longer warranty, they’re easier to get financed. Plus it’s just nice having something new. That experience shouldn’t…

That’s utter bullshit. I went from a hatchback to a sedan recently and I absolutely love it. It’s so much more practical and convenient for my and many other people’s purposes. It’s great having a separate cargo compartment. Long live the trunk. CUVs are pointless garbage cars that don’t do anything well.

Subaru 360! It’s everything a cute car should be. Minuscule with a coquettish expression. It is here to spread mirth and frivolity to all who see it.

It shouldn’t be an arms race, first of all. What is the end result? Everyone in a Sherman tank? Sure, SUV’s are somewhat safer for the occupants in general. Especially when going against a sedan, or compact. So, now I can’t drive a sedan or compact because you’re selfish? Also, there are plenty of circumstances where…

I had a Daihatsu Midget (Trimobile in this country) of that generation and it was a damn fine little truck. Incredibly well built for what it was.

Velorexes are awesome. The funnest road-trip I’ve ever taken was driving a Velorex from New York City to Boston.

I daily drove a Subaru 360 for a few years and it was perfect. All the car I needed and it got me so much attention it was like I was a celebrity. I want another one.

A majority of people could, and should, do the same thing.

Studebaker Lark R2. Looks like a plain ol’ cheap Studebaker, but under the hood is a supercharged V8 Avanti engine. One of, if not the, first muscle cars. So sleepy, hardy anyone then or now knows of its existence.

You had to change your frame of mind to understanding what you get when you spend less than $4,000 on a new car. You got what you paid for which was a totally fine car that required you to take care of it if you wanted it to last. Otherwise, it was disposable 

Haha. Man, you’re an asshole. I’m from a civilized part of the country and I also know a lot about cars. In the early 80’s, American cars were at their nadir which is why we all bought Japanese. The Yugo was worse than those, but not much worse than cheap American shit. That’s just a fact. And they were cheaper. You…

But the Riva wasn’t a bad car. Like the Yugo. I never said it was great. It was fine. Even the Trabi was fine for puttering around a city. And it required less maintenance than the Yugo or Lada or a lot of other cars of the time.

No, asshole, I’m from America, but I know how to maintain a car. Back then you had to work on a car to keep it running, but at some point in the late 70's, Americans seemed to have lost that ability which is why you also don’t see many American cars from that era around any more. They were worse than the Yugo.

It was a third world car. That didn’t make it crap. It was built with different consumer standards in mind. And it was less than $4,000. You got what you paid for. A perfectly reliable cheap car that would continue to work if you took care of it.

They were only crap by American standards, but Americans are dumb and believe they should get a Cadillac for $4K. If you maintained a Yugo, it would last forever. But, again, Americans were too stupid to figure out how to maintain them. You do know what a jalopnik is, right? If you want to read about boring shit,…

My dental hygienist drove one for years. He was Armenian and knew how to work on it because he had one back there. They really weren’t bad cars. They were cheap. Much cheaper than Americans were used to. But they did what they were supposed to do and if you knew how to maintain them, they’d last.

But it was good. Which is why it was in production so long. It may not have been suited to America and its drivers, but that didn’t make it bad. It was cheap. And it was built to be cheap. It did the cheap car job fine.

The Scootacar, naturally. It was built by Hunslet Engines, a locomotive manufacturer, because the director of the company’s wife wanted something easier to park in London than her Jag. So they decided to enter the microcar market and came up with this. By 1957, when they were introduced, microcar enthusiasm had serious…