As a few have mentioned, this car is familiar to anyone who has played Gran Turismo 2. But I also know of this car due to its presence in late 90s British car mags, as it was often touted as one of the best handling cars of the period.

Yeah. Not everybody has the option to live outside a city. And cars are useful if you need to ferry goods/people, in inclement weather.

What this post shows is what a great slate of writers and personalities Jalopnik has had over the years.

The Drive seems to have quite a number of Jalop alum.

Aww man...

Horner has visited the McLaren factory too.

Oh yeah. I was wondering why Die Another Day wasn’t featured. It was absurd.

It WAS the R8.

There’s no such thing as bad publicity I guess.

Oh god. New Girl was all weird with their Ford endorsements. I saw one scene where they talked about the Escape and its hands-free boot opening (the one where you wave your foot and shit), and just thought, ‘This doesn’t belong here...’

I think in the right situations they can be useful, i.e. when the road is mostly clear and straight.

I test drove one of these early Sparks about 10 years ago, and it felt like a wheezy, underpowered motorbike. It was just soooo slow and unrefined.

Probably a result of cars being so expensive now, that people need their cars to do everything, including the ability to ferry people/stuff easily.

Jalopnik. Always a fountain of knowledge.

What a cuckoo. Wagon wheels?

Apparently this was a ‘skills demonstration’.

What the actual fuck.

Sebastien Loeb not in a Citroen just feels odd.

Citation needed

I agree. I am as big a car nut as anyone, but my car history reads Mitsubishi Lancer, Toyota Prius, Suzuki SX4 and soon Toyota Yaris Cross (Google it).