My driver’s ed went pretty well, but then I’d also been driving regularly since age 12. My uncle’s only 4 years older than I am, and we basically grew up like brothers. He was more than happy to let me drive.

I almost called out the Focus, but it hit Europe in 1998 and I couldn’t spoil my list. I’m also happy to give you the last version of the Mercury Cougar (the CDW-27 front-drive one that I think was the Puma in Europe) was a genuine looker then and now, too (and also hit in ‘98 IIRC). The last Buick Riviera was a bit…

The X-Type was actually a good car, though. I mean, even Jeremy Clarkson liked it when it came out. They shared about 35% with the Mondeo; skeletal structure, reworked versions of Ford’s 2.5 and 3.0 V6, and the MTX-75. Sheet metal and interiors were completely different and rather nice. They got Bilstein suspension…

I maintain the 2000s weren’t that bad as auto design goes. We started to see angles and lines again, actual shapes to the headlights and taillights again, hints of soul again that the blobs of the ‘90s were lacking. There were a few quirky and interesting things tried in the 2000s-not all hit the mark, but at least we…

A fine example of the 2000s spirit of adventurousness in the auto industry!  Ugly, didn’t work right, but they tried.  

Of course. The Big 3 were all in the shit through the 2000s. Ford only dodged bankruptcy by realizing they were in the shit and taking active steps to sort it (hiring Alan Mulally, for instance). I was at Ford in the mid-2000s, and honestly, I think Ford was in the worst shape of the 3 when they hired Mulally. Turned…

Damn you for reminding me of the HHR! I actually looked at one of these loathsome things in 2006 when I was shopping for my first new car. I never even bothered with a test-drive. I got in one at the dealership, sat there for a moment thinking how much I hated it, and got out. Played with the seats for a minute to see…

And then they wonder why people shout ACAB...  

Worst car of the 2000s? It was an era in which we tried a lot of interesting things, not all of which worked. The Dodge Nitro was such an entry. It was hideous to look at. The interior was the worst of Daimler’s edict to cut 40% out of Chrysler development costs. It was big outside but felt small inside. I don’t know…

As a member of the class of 2000, I have fond memories of the 2000s, including the automobiles. At least in the 2000s we started to see angles and lines again, actual shapes to the headlights and taillights again, a hint of soul again. There were a few quirky and interesting things tried in the 2000s-not all hit the…

Your post encapsulates the problem, but not in the way you think it does. This perception that Lincoln’s just warmed over Fords refuses to die and continues to get perpetuated by people that apparently have never sat in a Lincoln or a Ford (and yet somehow never manage to give Acura/Honda or Audi/VW the same…

Agreed. At 35k this is interesting and compelling. Push past 40k and it’s much less compelling. In 2019 I went for a 2 year old Jaguar XE R-Sport over a new Civic Type-R because for 10k less money I got a supercharged V6 and a very nice car inside and out instead of an economy car with some neat tricks up its sleeves.

Had this car come out in 2019, I’d have given it very strong consideration and may well have bought one. As it was, I was considering a Civic Type R or a Miata, along with a 2 year old Jaguar XE R-Sport with a supercharged V6. As it went, the Jag was my first test drive of the day just by virtue of where the dealers…

Resurrecting the nameplate is not odd at all.

The assessment that the Blackwood was ill-conceived is in error. The Blackwood was a failure, but was very well-conceived. Ford recognized there was a market for luxurious pickups, and Blackwood was their first attempt at tapping it. Yes, Blackwood failed. Mark LT rectified some of Blackwood’s most egregious flaws,…

We need to be retesting people’s actual driving skills every time they renew their license. The cars are safer. The roads physically are safer. But it’s like somehow Zoom has completely erased drivers’ ability to engage with their surroundings. I mean, most people weren’t that good at driving anyway, and holy hell has…

About 20 years ago, one of my best friends and his dad flew from Michigan to New Mexico to buy one of these and drive it back. Friend’s father has since passed, but friend still has it and plans to restore it. Apparently there’s quite a strong community behind these things, and there’s a significant amount of it that…

Sad part is that she lives here, too.  

And yet somehow the roads in the city are better than the roads in Oakland County.  The freeways in Oakland County are better than Detroit’s freeways, but overall Oakland County’s roads are appalling.  

So FSD doesn’t work well on snowy streets? Believable. Telsa maybe should have done some more work on it before releasing it to the public? Yeah, for sure!