Love that VR-4!

90's era Chrysler took all sorts of wild swings, made interesting things, did top-tier concept cars, and if they weren’t American, more people would recognize that.

The US should require behind the wheel driving tests every 10 years. With a written test every 5.

I agree with you on the spartan interior. But now that the Hakkapeliittas are mounted for winter... the fun factor is through the roof.  

I still miss mine 12 years after owning it from brand new to barely running donor car.

My daily is a Crosstrek. It’s perfect for where and how we live. My fun car is a Bugeye WRX. I love that car. I’d never commute in it. It’s harsh, twitchy, has a heavy clutch, and is miserable when it’s going slow. The driver’s compartment is almost racecar tight. However, get it out of the city turn the boost up a…

“but the Bel Air was rusting from the inside out”
“but it didn’t have a V-8, a straight six doesn’t offer enough protection”
but, but, etc.

You would be surprised how much of what’s “fun” in an enthusiast car is actually code for uncomfortable or complicated.

It’s ok to say, I deserve to be comfortable and to be able to do a 7 hour drive without feeling like I just ran a marathon. It’s OK to say, yeah, I really don’t want to “feel the road” because the road is a poorly maintained piece of garbage. It’s OK to say, I want my partner not to hate driving with me. :)

Honestly, most of the dumbest stuff I’ve ever heard about cars comes from enthusiasts and is best summed up as “there’s only one way to enjoy cars, and that’s my way.”

Mazda looks like Magneto’s helmet...

Hardly possible since Isuzu is long gone from the US, but the VehiCross was, and is still, super cool.

In this market the Chevy Trax is the right answer.

Even though it’s an automatic, I love my 5 sport. Bought new in 2010 with 8 miles, now at 258,xxx and still running. A little slower, but still solid. 

Envista GNX!

Good nomination. I actually like the Buick Envista cousin, but the engines in these are a no-go for me.

The new Chevy Trax, it has a nice hatch/wagon shape but is hampered by only offering the 1.2T. It would look really good dropped a few inches, then drop in the 2.0T or 2.5T, add AWD if possible, swap out the 6 speed auto an 8 auto (I’d say manual but trying to be realistic with the present market). A 250 or so hp Trax…

I think you meant to type Car & Driver, and their’s didn’t really ever run properly. The best Boss Wagon they ever did was the Volvo 265 imo but I digress: https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15143471/holy-conestoga-sven-its-boss-wagon-iii-archived-feature/.

This is the correct answer.  Mazdaspeed all the things.  And put manuals back in them!

I’ll go one further - every single Mazda. They already want to be a budget alternative to the Germans, who do M/AMG/RS versions of just about every car they build. I’m not saying I’d have bought a Mazdaspeed CX-5 (because I’m cheap), but I’d have lusted after it stronger than the regular turbo I wasn’t willing to…