Mitsuoka Orochi.

I once bought a 1987 Subaru XT with the turbo engine. Before I bought it the seller told me the (automatic) transmission was having issues and would eventually need to be replaced, but when I test drove it the transmission seemed fine.

I once bought a brand new Jeep Patriot.

A kei fire truck.

A lot, considering. At least according to Carvana.

Anyone who drives a decrepit old Jeep that belongs in the junkyard likely owns several of them.

Fun fact: Subaru was one of the first (maybe THE first?) automaker to include same-gender couples in their advertising, which greatly increased their popularity in the LGBTQ population.

Replace the stereo. It’s easy to do and not terribly expensive. You’ll get better sound quality to cover up the noise of the droning engine, and if you spring for something higher-end it’s really wonderful to hop into your car, connect to Apple Carplay or Android Auto, and have access to everything you enjoy on your…

Station wagons. In the US they’ve all but died out in favor of crossovers, but in Europe they’re alive and well. Seems like nearly every sedan model has a corresponding wagon variant.

I’d like a car that starts every time I need it to.

How did your first manual experience go?

I own a Subaru-branded bag clip. Like the kind of thing you use to keep your potato chips from going stale. I don’t know if it counts as “worst” because there’s nothing objectively bad about it, but it’s definitely one of the most unusual pieces of automotive merch I’ve ever seen.

A car with over 100,000 miles is a ticking time bomb.

Lotus Carlton. It’s a Vauxhall (or Opel depending on the country) Omega sedan with a twin-turbo I6 making almost 400hp. Top speed is nearly 180mph.

The Chevrolet/GMC GMT400 (a.k.a. 1988-1998 and some heavy duty models up to 2000) pickups.

Americans, maybe. But much of the rest of the world loves little cars like this. Not sure about the Mirage specifically, but small city cars are far from dead.

Some of the 1980s Dodge Colts (Mitsubishis everywhere else in the world) had a dual range “8 speed” manual transmission.

Old cars are safer.

During Cash for Clunkers DaimlerChrysler (that’s what Stellantis was going by that month... I think) had a program to match the government incentive on every new Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, or Ram. Whatever the government gave you, they’d throw in the same.

The Nissan NX. It was the successor to the Pulsar NX that is well-loved on Jalopnik. Based on the Sentra platform, it was available with the SR20DE engine from the SE-R plus all of the SE-R’s handling accoutrements, in addition to having larger brakes than the SE-R offered. It also came with t-tops and a sporty…