Weird Car Tastes

[Intrepidation]

I've been thinking this topic up for a while. Who do you know personally that has a strange taste in cars that they like/dislike love/hate?

My girlfriend for example, hates the Mini, but loves, of all things, the Scion xB. I have no idea why to this day. She hates the Magnum, but loves the Charger. She loves the Mustang. She like her Geo Prism but hates Chevy..even though I told her that her logo has a Chevy emblem on it She does love the Corvette however, and is OK with the Cobalt (because I like it, and the commercials were cute). She doesn't like the Caliber cuz it looks too much like a mini Magnum, but likes the Neon SRT-4. She likes the 300, loves the PT, but hates the HHR.

This is very conflicting and makes very little sense to me. SO does anyone else have a similar story?

[ocnblu]

Women, what're ya gonna do?

[Drew Dowdell]

My sister has what seems is an affinity for old Nissans with valve tap issues. Every vehicle/nissan she's had, have sounded like they are 4 quarts low on oil. Not to say that they aren't 4 quarts low on oil.....

I am kinda strange in the fact the I like the bustle back cars, <85 Seville, 85 Continental, 81 Imperial> and the 79-85 E-body coupes that everyone else seems to hate.

I really like the long hood/short deck squared off design like on the E-bodies and Mark VI/Thunderbird/Cougar.

[Hudson]

My sister has what seems is an affinity for old Nissans with valve tap issues.  Every vehicle/nissan she's had, have sounded like they are 4 quarts low on oil.  Not to say that they aren't 4 quarts low on oil.....

I am kinda strange in the fact the I like the bustle back cars, <85 Seville, 85 Continental, 81 Imperial> and the 79-85 E-body coupes that everyone else seems to hate.

I really like the long hood/short deck squared off design like on the E-bodies and Mark VI/Thunderbird/Cougar.

I like design...and not necessarily what others would see as "good" styling. I, too, like the long hood/short deck design that Ford was famous for from 1964 into the early 1980s, but they're AWFUL to drive (ever driven a Mustang II or and LTD II over a road with peaks and valleys?).

I like the bustle-back Continental and Imperial but never liked the Seville (tiny trunk, perhaps). I like the Cadillac valiant attempt at an entry-level luxury car (believe that one) but never liked the Cavalier. I like AMC products and ESPECIALLY the Pacer wagon. I like the Yugo and many Fiats.

Yes...I'm odd like that.

[Sixty8panther]

Well... strange is a relative term. All the cars you mentioned

are new and pretty conventional. The HHR, Mini, even the

SRT4 are pretty commonplace cars.

When I hear "strange cars" I think of bizzare stuff like a 1940

Hupmbile Skylark, 1968 Cadillac Flower Car, 1942 DeSoto,

1960s Peel P50, 1930 Cord L29 Town Car, 1954 Citroen 2CV

1911 REO flatbed truck or maybe a 1961 Tatra 603.

THOSE are unique cars.

If I'm ever indepndantly wealthy I'm going to find a rough 1920s

Stanley Steamer motor and have it restored, then I'll install it in

a Clevelend Runabout Roadster and make it look period correct

so I can have a "Cleveland Steamer".

Peel Rally on the Island of Man:

Edited May 5, 2006 by Sixty8panther

[Clownzilla]

I have always thought those Suzuki X90's looked neat (although I don't tell anybody that ). Also, the Isuzu VehiCross! Different, but I think they were the best looking SUV made! Too bad Isuzu could not pull it through further!

[Intrepidation]

Well... strange is a relative term. All the cars you mentioned

are new and pretty conventional. The HHR, Mini, even the

SRT4  are pretty commonplace cars.

When I hear "strange cars" I think of bizzare stuff like a 1940

Hupmbile Skylark, 1968 Cadillac Flower Car, 1942 DeSoto,

1960s Peel P50, 1930 Cord L29 Town Car, 1954 Citroen 2CV

1911 REO flatbed truck or maybe a 1961 Tatra 603.

THOSE are unique cars.

If I'm ever indepndantly wealthy I'm going to find a rough 1920s

Stanley Steamer motor and have it restored, then I'll install it in

a Clevelend Runabout Roadster and make it look period correct

so I can have a "Cleveland Steamer".

Peel Rally on the Island of Man:

hah, well she doesn't know enough abou cars to know the truely straange ones Not yet anyway

[Enzora]

Dodge fans . . . they just make no sense.

[scharmer05]

She hates the Magnum, but loves the Charger.

good girl.....hold onto her

[Intrepidation]

good girl.....hold onto her

[avant1963]

I think you need to be a little "unique" to really be into a car like the 1963 Studebaker Avanti - And that would be me...

Some pics of my Stude:

[DetroitNut90]

Every morning I see this 70-ish year old woman drivning a neon green Scion xB with hot pink rims, rear windows, and neons underneath it. The rims are the size of party platters and the exhaust pipe is bigger than my head that makes some awful noise.

My friend has a thing for the Subaru B9 Tribeca. I think that it's the ugliest car on the road, but he can't get enough of it.

[Intrepidation]

Every morning I see this 70-ish year old woman drivning a neon green Scion xB with hot pink rims, rear windows, and neons underneath it. The rims are the size of party platters and the exhaust pipe is bigger than my head that makes some awful noise.

My friend has a thing for the Subaru B9 Tribeca. I think that it's the ugliest car on the road, but he can't get enough of it.

That lady has mental problems or something...and maybe your friend likes the Tribeca cuz it puts a smile on his face with it's own smile

[Intrepidation]

I think you need to be a little "unique" to really be into a car like the 1963 Studebaker Avanti - And that would be me... 

Some pics of my Stude:

That's a very nice car!

[91z4me]

That's a very nice car! 

But is it pink? Maybe my color settings are messed up?

[ToniCipriani]

Anyone who thinks the Camry is beautiful is retarded.

Notice I italicized the word. I'm talking about those who have dreams over it.

They're OK cars (when the tranny doesn't blow up) as bread and butter sedans to use and dump within a few years, but certainly not a thing to lust over.

[Cory Wolfe]

Dodge fans . . . they just make no sense.

Um... weird taste in cars? All I know... not me, brother... not me.

[DetroitNut90]

That lady has mental problems or something...and maybe your friend likes the Tribeca cuz it puts a smile on his face with it's own smile

If she was like 50 years younger, her car would be perfectly acceptable around Balto-DC.

And as to my friend, he said that if Detroit would make cars that look that good, then they wouldn't be in the hot water they are in now....best laugh I've had in a long, long time.

[Hudson]

I like the Studebaker Avanti, but I prefer the later Avanti Avantis. More power, better handling, available convertibles and sedans....mmmmm....

[Charger4U]

Well anyone with a softspot for five dorr hatchbacks..

[balthazar]

Stylistically, I like cars with unique, uncommon or extreme proportions. For instance; instead of the 'ponycar' long hood/short deck look, I prefer short hood/long deck. Only complaint I have about my 18-foot long '59 Invitca is that it's not the 7-inch longer Electra 225 (all in the rear deck).

I like the concept of the El Camino, but would take that concept in a Cadillac flower car instead. Proportions is also what strongly attracts me to my COE: it's very snub-nosed & tall.

As for tastes: give me my choice of any brand new car for free and I will sell it immediately and mechanically refurbish a 'patina-ed' '58 Series Sixty Special or a '56 Seville (with Sabre Spokes) and drive either happily for years. Better yet, make that new car a mercedesbach and I will build the Tucker model prototype with center seating and steerable front fenders with the cash.

[Croc]

I think the Tribeca is great. It looks really sharp in black, and the interior is best in class. Honestly, I can put up with a unique exterior if the interior is kick-ass. Add a great engine to the mix, and boom, you've got me sold.

[Charger4U]

I think the Tribeca is great.  It looks really sharp in black, and the interior is best in class.  Honestly, I can put up with a unique exterior if the interior is kick-ass.  Add a great engine to the mix, and boom, you've got me sold.

[Sixty8panther]

I like the Studebaker Avanti, but I prefer the later Avanti Avantis. More power, better handling, available convertibles and sedans....mmmmm....

I think the exact opposite. The original Studebaker Avantis

are very cool, the later Kit-car ones are pale imitations and

don't get me nearly as excited.

Balthazar:

How about building a 1-off replica of the 2003 Cadillac SIXTEEN

concept but making it a dual cowl phaeton instead.

[balthazar]

Nah- too new. Besides, tho I love the Sixteen from the 'B-pillar' forward, the rest doesn't smite me as hard.

[Sixty8panther]

Nah- too new. Besides, tho I love the Sixteen from the 'B-pillar' forward, the rest doesn't smite me as hard.

Well, technically there's no B-pillar on the 16, but I know what

you're saying. That motor is where it's at.

Edited May 6, 2006 by Sixty8panther

[Intrepidation]

Well, technically there's no B-pillar on the 16, but I know what

you're saying. That motor is where it's at.

I LOVED THAT CAR!!!!!!!

[Hudson]

I think the exact opposite. The original Studebaker Avantis

are very cool, the later Kit-car ones are pale imitations and

don't get me nearly as excited.

I'm not talking about the Firebird and Mustang based ones. I'm talking about the REAL Avanti Motor Corporation cars...the Avanti II and the later models when they dropped the "II". They're not kit cars, they're actual Avantis. Edited May 6, 2006 by Hudson

[bobo]

Some of the finest vehicles ever made:

Citroen 2CV, already mentioned by 68:

Cadillac Seville Opera Coupe. It's been a while since this beauty has graced the pages of C&G:

Corbin Sparrow. While Corbin Motors is dead, the car is still available from Myers Motors as the MM NmG.

[balthazar]

I dunno- going to Chevy power takes a lot of the charm out of the Avanti II for me. That, and I much prefer the round headlight bezels on the early Studies.

[Cory Wolfe]

Well anyone with a softspot for five dorr hatchbacks..

Nah... anything I like isn't weird. If you don't like something that I like, you're the one with weird tastes. Not me.

I think the Tribeca is great.  It looks really sharp in black, and the interior is best in class.  Honestly, I can put up with a unique exterior if the interior is kick-ass.  Add a great engine to the mix, and boom, you've got me sold.

How do you define "kick-ass" and "best in class?" Imitating certain female reproduction organs?

Heh... the exterior is a turn-off, and the interior is even more of turn-off. Not because of what it imitates, but just because it's even uglier than the exterior. That swooping design is way too..... swoopy and weird. How the controls and vents are placed on the... uh... swoop is even weirder. Looks random, IMO. Ugh...

[Croc]

BV...I honestly have no clue what you are talking about.

Kickass gets defined as good ergonomics, good quality of materials, pleasing to the eye, practical, feature value, standard safety features...I could go on.

The Tribeca fully loaded tops out at 35k and is an amazing value. And yes, it looks fine in black. It's a very practical vehicle that gets god gas mileage and has a lot of features.

[Cory Wolfe]

BV...I honestly have no clue what you are talking about.

Kickass gets defined as good ergonomics, good quality of materials, pleasing to the eye, practical, feature value, standard safety features...I could go on.

The Tribeca fully loaded tops out at 35k and is an amazing value.  And yes, it looks fine in black.  It's a very practical vehicle that gets god gas mileage and has a lot of features.

I... I don't get it. What exactly don't you understand? The imitation? Or the swoopiness?

Compare that, to this:

It cleary imitates that.

It is cleary swoopy and the way in which the radio/hvac controls and vents were placed onto the silver swoop... looks completely and obnoxiously random, especially the vents.

Ugh...

[trinacriabob]

I don't know if they are weird...maybe just different.

I have friends who like trucks and HATE cars. I'm the other way around. In fact, I may be narrow minded: Cutlass Supreme coupe to Cutlass Supreme Brougham coupe to Regal coupe...that's it. I have exclusively driven GM mid-size coupes and they have served me exceedingly well.

Weird? no. Rigid and "Old School" (courtesy of PB)? Maybe.

[Croc]

OK BV...so it might resemble a cross-section of a uterus...big deal. But to say "it looks like a vagina" is a bit of a stretch...as that's not what vaginas look like in the flesh...only in anatomy books.

[Charger4U]

Nah... anything I like isn't weird. If you don't like something that I like, you're the one with weird tastes. Not me.

Youre right BV i dont know what i was thinking..

[Cory Wolfe]

OK BV...so it might resemble a cross-section of a uterus...big deal.  But to say "it looks like a vagina" is a bit of a stretch...as that's not what vaginas look like in the flesh...only in anatomy books.

I didn't say it looked like a vagina... just "certain female reproduction organs". I didn't specify which part. I specifically meant the uterus and fallopian tubes, though... Silly Croc.

[Croc]

True...you didn't specify.

Still, though...who looks at a dash board and goes "yup! there it is! uterus and fallopian tubes!" ??????

You are one weird kid, BV, one weird kid...

[Charger4U]

True...you didn't specify.

Still, though...who looks at a dash board and goes "yup! there it is!  uterus and fallopian tubes!" ??????

You are one weird kid, BV, one weird kid...

Thats the pot callin the kettle black!!

[Flybrian]

BV, the vagina is on the outside...

...at least moreso than it resembles Subaru's 'aviation heritage' as if it really had any to speak of.

[Cory Wolfe]

True...you didn't specify.

Still, though...who looks at a dash board and goes "yup! there it is!  uterus and fallopian tubes!" ??????

You are one weird kid, BV, one weird kid...

Well.. don't blame me. Until the Tribeca, cars didn't have dashboards that looked like female reproduction organs. I'm just noticing the obvious and making fun of it. I can't help it... Anytime I look at it, I am instantly recommended at. Weird? Ofcourse, but not because of this...

[Drew Dowdell]

BV, the vagina is on the outside...

...at least moreso than it resembles Subaru's 'aviation heritage' as if it really had any to speak of.

I thought Subaru's heritage was in fork trucks and backhoes.

[Drew Dowdell]

Well.. don't blame me. Until the Tribeca, cars didn't have dashboards that looked like female reproduction organs. I'm just noticing the obvious and making fun of it. I can't help it... Anytime I look at it, I am instantly recommended at. Weird? Ofcourse, but not because of this...

This is just the proof....

[Sixty8panther]

I dunno- going to Chevy power takes a lot of the charm out of the Avanti II for me. That, and I much prefer the round headlight bezels on the early Studies.

Yes, exactly. Nothing wrong wiht Chevy SBC power but it does

take away form the charm. I did not know that they made

Avanti II ragtops. I was more refering to the Mustang based

ones that look horrible. The Firebird based ones were not that

bad. There's a navy blue daily driver Fire-vanti in my area.

[Guest YellowJacket894]

I didn't say it looked like a vagina... just "certain female reproduction organs". I didn't specify which part. I specifically meant the uterus and fallopian tubes, though... Silly Croc.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Until you posted that, BV, I never actually realized how effeminate the B9 really is.

Well, if I wanted to go on a loooong voyage over the estrogen ocean, I now know what to choose: the Tribeca.

The Edsel has nothing on that.

[Hudson]

Balthazar:

I've got a special place in my heart for Studebakers, but the Chevrolet-engined Avantis (this is tough for me to say) are better cars. I just wish the "real" Avantis remained in production long enough to get the LT1 or even the LS1 engine.

Loewy's original is a classic design, but I do think the square headlight benzels and thicker bumpers improved the styling. I didn't like it when they removed the turn signals from the front corners and I especially didn't like it when the "AVX" came out based on the Firebird. There was just something about that larger body that appealed to me.

Yes, exactly. Nothing wrong wiht Chevy SBC power but it does

take away form the charm. I did not know that they made

Avanti II ragtops. I was more refering to the Mustang based

ones that look horrible. The Firebird based ones were not that

bad. There's a navy blue daily driver Fire-vanti in my area.

The never made an "Avanti II" convertible because the convertible came along after they dropped the "II" part of the name. I believe the convertible was introduced in 1983 and the sedan came along in 1990.

[Sixty8panther]

The sedan was just... awkward and ceap looking. Still if I

ever saw one on someone's lawn for $300 O.B.O. I'd buy

it and drive it just for $hits & Giggles.

[04monteintimidator]

alot of people would say i have weird taste in cars simply because i love the way my monte looks... so i apologize for liking big heavy, curvaceous, eye catching designs such as this:

but i guess im just weird like that...

by the way... to add to my strange taste in automobiles... i HATE hatchbacks, and ugly cars such as the new eclipse, the new civic and the Toyota Solara/Pontiac G6

[Hudson]

The sedan was just... awkward and ceap looking. Still if I

ever saw one on someone's lawn for $300 O.B.O. I'd buy

it and drive it just for $hits & Giggles.

When I saw the pictures of the Touring Sedan, I had the same opinion. When I saw the car in person, I had quite a different opinion. I was in an Avanti dealership in 1990...and I fell in love. I've seen one other one in person since but I didn't have $14,000 for what amounts to a toy. If I did, I'd be an Avanti Touring Sedan owner today.