I am unabashedly biased against anything Korean because of what I heard of their civil rights issues, but mostly from what I heard of their eating dogs. (It’s pretty juvenile, I know.) The air of disposability that many of the cars have has also reinforced my bias.

I remember Patrick Bedard, in Car and Driver, likening buying a Hyundai Excel to a delicatessen (wording approximate): “Yeah, give me five grand worth of car. Blue’s okay.”

Dodge Spirit and Plymouth Acclaim, preceded by the Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant, succeeded by the Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring and 200—all of which would be entitled to places on this list. When I rented one, I remember that the car was...blue. Absolutely nothing else stands out.

The Skoda Rapid. 58 hp, 0-62 (100 kmh) in 16 seconds. It wasn’t.

The Skoda Rapid. 58 hp, 0-62 (100 kmh) in 16 seconds. It wasn’t.

You mean...you can’t go to Costco and get an Interstate for 75 bucks?

You mean...you can’t go to Costco and get an Interstate for 75 bucks?

Some have tried.

It’s obvious. Mach 1 at sea level is 761 mph. A 2022 Mustang Mach 1 will only go 168 mph with the handling package. Deceptive advertising at its worst. https://www.phillongford.com/the-all-new-2022-ford-mustang-mach-1.htm#:~:text=When%20equipped%20with%20the%20Handling,mph%20time%20of%204.2%20seconds.

It’s essentially a new car for $8,000.  Not bad.  NP from me.

It’s essentially a new car for $8,000.  Not bad.  NP from me.

This one definitely didn’t get enough love: the second-gen Ford Fusion wagon. It didn’t get enough love because Ford—reportedly for fear it would cut into Edge and Explorer sales—didn’t bring it to America.

One more to add: the W124 Mercedes-Benz E-class. Aside from rupturing head gaskets and biodegradable wiring harnesses, these were everything to be expected from a Mercedes—the last midsize Mercedes designed and engineered to an engineering standard, not to a price.

I remember that one of these was sacrificed (for $3500 or $4500) to Cash for Clunkers.

I’ll defend RoRo, I agree with him--it was a good-looking car.  And absolutely nothing else positive can be said about it.

It’s a cool car, but around here (SE Michigan) with the roads filled with SUVs which would run it over without feeling a bump, that would be practically (and safely) unusable. I imagine the same would be true in California. So thank you anyway, but ND from me.

My honorable mention: second-gen (or even first-gen) Mazda MX-6 and Ford Probe. Preferably in LS and GT (2.5L V-6) trim, with the five-speed.

So far, three people don’t like this car.

One more you can add: Detroit City Airport (now known as Coleman A. Young International Airport). This was supposed to be the main airport for the City of Detroit, and was to be expanded to the point of leveling two complete subdivisions (a small cemetery within its block ended those plans). The declining surrounding…