@doctorrobert: indeed. Pull the boys out of the Middle East and take the savings to pay down the national debt.

@Aurailious: no need for sarcasm at all.

@Centry2008:

most production cars these days - especially from Japan - have as much personality as soggy Wonderbread.

fugly and now useless offroad too!

@yellofury : JPNS OEM JDM: indeed, almost everything. there are still some very nice Porsches.

@Cintax: You don't have to be snitty. I sincerely want to understand what you're trying to say, and you're the one getting all defensive.

@Cintax: I've read more, per your suggestion, but I still don't understand what you're trying to say. Forgive me for not understanding your claims. I need factual references, not just your opinion, to be convinced.

@PhineasJW:

@Cintax:

all others pale in comparison...

@Powerlurker: thank goodness there remains some small measure of justice in the world!

@VetteWrecker: agreed, minus 2 wheels, 2000 pounds, power brakes, power steering, and A/C.

So you are saying that this is the ideal car for those wayward souls who must own a new car but are too cheap to get a truly good one? Perhaps the Ford may win some Hyundai drivers back due to its low sticker price, but right now the Elantra is the obvious benchmark for Ford's newest cheapmobile. Insert that to…

Shopping for an Alfa Romeo goes something like this:

@arozzi: It is far easier to add power than it is to -reliably- remove weight, but removing weight pays greater dividends in all aspects of vehicle performance. This is why some of us prefer the Lotus/McLaren/Porsche philosophy of "adding lightness", even when it drives up raw material costs.

legendary resemblence ...

I'd like to see the BMW C1 make a comeback.

Sounds to me like much wasted time with the R10 toodling along on the autobahn and a lot of time parked at a hotel where some snapshots were taken and the article was padded with completely unrelated Apollo wikipedia factoids. Deadline to meet?

@RaptorConner: