Unpopular cars you have a soft spot for
Discussion
h3nde said:
I'd like to think one day I can have the pleasure of driving if not owning a Honda Logo
What a machine
I adore them. Imagine one done up like a white ek9? What a machine
I have a weird obsession with the Toyota Yaris, even the Yaris Verso. The MK1 and MK2 Yaris were such clever cars, loads of little cubbies and thoughtful design features: the central speedometer, three (!) Gloveboxes on the MK2, sliding rear seats to increase rear legroom or boot size, flat floor in the rear (no exhaust tunnel). No supermini since has come close to the design brilliance of the MK2 Yaris.
Edited by Mercury00 on Friday 6th October 00:21
Jeenyus161 said:
I saw a Honda Concerto today. Nothing particularly special, but the owner had clearly cherished it - it was absolutely immaculate and it just made me think how much smaller it was than a modern equivalent. It also had a whiff of Rover at the back
(this obviously isn't the one from today...!)
A lad I work with had one for a few months and asked me if I wanted to buy it when he eventually sold it. Unfortunately I didn't have the space for it, but it would have made for a nice daily(this obviously isn't the one from today...!)
Ares said:
I had, and loved, a 530d GT. Hugely underrated car, and perfect when you have kids and/or sport equipment the lug about.
i am on similar page, I have a 320d GT, many people criticized on the styling and prefer the touring, but i found it is just the perfect balance for me, excellent interior space, and i prefer the styling of it over touring, i just never appreciate any BMW touring styling (on the other hand, i always found Audi have better styling on touring than saloon), I am glad BMW bring back the hatch back LuS1fer said:
The Mazda 5 - essentially based on an extended Focus C-Max so it handled well. 2 foldaway seats in the back.
The only failing was that the 7th "seat" in the middle row was only a fold out padded ledge.
Sliding rear doors made getting kids in and out a total breeze which also blew through, with the doors slid open in the summer.
A million times better than the Zafira (a new model of which we hired in the summer which was woeful and handled like a blancmange).
Still miss it for the practicality as all the seats folded flat to create a cavernous load bed.
it was quite popular in Asia and Japan domestic marketThe only failing was that the 7th "seat" in the middle row was only a fold out padded ledge.
Sliding rear doors made getting kids in and out a total breeze which also blew through, with the doors slid open in the summer.
A million times better than the Zafira (a new model of which we hired in the summer which was woeful and handled like a blancmange).
Still miss it for the practicality as all the seats folded flat to create a cavernous load bed.
it had the best equipment for it's segment, the sliding door is perfect for many Asia tiny parking space
Mercury00 said:
I have a weird obsession with the Toyota Yaris, even the Yaris Verso. The MK1 and MK2 Yaris were such clever cars, loads of little cubbies and thoughtful design features: the central speedometer, three (!) Gloveboxes on the MK2, sliding rear seats to increase rear legroom or boot size, flat floor in the rear (no exhaust tunnel). No supermini since has come close to the design brilliance of the MK2 Yaris.
While I agree that the MK1 and 2 Yaris are great cars (we have had one of each in the family) I'd suggest that the Jazz that replaced our Yaris does overall beat the Toyota for 'design brilliance', what with the magic seats (fuel tank placed under the front seats to maximise rear space) and cubbies all over the cabin (even more than the Yaris).Edited by Mercury00 on Friday 6th October 00:21
Both are solid choices though, I'd recommend either to somebody looking for a practical small car.
LuS1fer said:
The Mazda 5 - essentially based on an extended Focus C-Max so it handled well. 2 foldaway seats in the back.
The only failing was that the 7th "seat" in the middle row was only a fold out padded ledge.
Sliding rear doors made getting kids in and out a total breeze which also blew through, with the doors slid open in the summer.
A million times better than the Zafira (a new model of which we hired in the summer which was woeful and handled like a blancmange).
Still miss it for the practicality as all the seats folded flat to create a cavernous load bed.
Sounds exactly the same as our grand cmax which is a great handy carThe only failing was that the 7th "seat" in the middle row was only a fold out padded ledge.
Sliding rear doors made getting kids in and out a total breeze which also blew through, with the doors slid open in the summer.
A million times better than the Zafira (a new model of which we hired in the summer which was woeful and handled like a blancmange).
Still miss it for the practicality as all the seats folded flat to create a cavernous load bed.
Ved said:
Any warm to hot MK4 Golf. Had several and find them great cars to own, if a little fragile nowadays. V6 4motion didn’t sell too well but I really enjoyed mine.
I bought a Mk4 GTi a few months ago. It's the 2.0 8 valve which no-one seems to have a good word for. As a GTi it's completely dire - too slow, too heavy, a bit wallowy (despite new shocks all round, it was much worse before) and out of its depth on twisty roads. The build quality isn't quite what I hoped for either, there are bits of broken plastic in the door bins, under the seats etc which have presumably fallen off various parts of the interior, and the clutch pedal disintegrated in a pub car park the first time I took it on a long journey. But as a comfy long-distance motorway cruiser (which is what I bought it for) it's spot on, and a worthy successor to the Mk2 1.8GL I owned and loved a few years back. I reckon it's one of the nicest Golf shapes as well, in three-door form. Jeenyus161 said:
I saw a Honda Concerto today. Nothing particularly special, but the owner had clearly cherished it - it was absolutely immaculate and it just made me think how much smaller it was than a modern equivalent. It also had a whiff of Rover at the back
(this obviously isn't the one from today...!)
Developed jointly by Honda and Rover, the Concerto and 216 were basically the same car.(this obviously isn't the one from today...!)
I loved our Ford Galaxy, it was brilliant and covered so many bases.
It is easy to come on here and you end up thinking nothing less than the top of the line, special edition M, RS, AMG, R with knobs on will do and some posters are the car equivalents of those fussy little dogs that will only countenance the 3 quid a pouch gourmet dog food and sneer at anything less.
I can enjoy driving anything, sometimes the car, its straight line performance, the "Toys" and on limit handling arent that important, you have plenty of fuel, the sun is shining, you are going somewhere good, via a decent road, little traffic and that song you loved but had forgotten about just came on the radio, the fact you are driving a Transit shouldnt spoil that.
I am having a self imposed stint in our Citroen C1 and it is a great little car, I love my Merc CLS but this little thing does everything I need, costs nothing and is actually quite good fun for the short journeys I do, will get something else but am in no rush (good job really !)
Most of what a car is, and needs to do it to start up and cart you and your stuff to another place in reasonable comfort, even the hunblest £500 Fabia from Gumtree will do that, of course you can spend a million quid but it will still do the same thing and that chap in the ratty MX5 may well actually be enjoying his drive more, and he doesnt get mobbed by socially inept teenage boys with big cameras at every stop !
I like the random oddball stuff, the equivalent of the generic, aging, nondescript brown dog at he dogs home, the Lacettis, the Ssangyongs and all that stuff.
It is easy to come on here and you end up thinking nothing less than the top of the line, special edition M, RS, AMG, R with knobs on will do and some posters are the car equivalents of those fussy little dogs that will only countenance the 3 quid a pouch gourmet dog food and sneer at anything less.
I can enjoy driving anything, sometimes the car, its straight line performance, the "Toys" and on limit handling arent that important, you have plenty of fuel, the sun is shining, you are going somewhere good, via a decent road, little traffic and that song you loved but had forgotten about just came on the radio, the fact you are driving a Transit shouldnt spoil that.
I am having a self imposed stint in our Citroen C1 and it is a great little car, I love my Merc CLS but this little thing does everything I need, costs nothing and is actually quite good fun for the short journeys I do, will get something else but am in no rush (good job really !)
Most of what a car is, and needs to do it to start up and cart you and your stuff to another place in reasonable comfort, even the hunblest £500 Fabia from Gumtree will do that, of course you can spend a million quid but it will still do the same thing and that chap in the ratty MX5 may well actually be enjoying his drive more, and he doesnt get mobbed by socially inept teenage boys with big cameras at every stop !
I like the random oddball stuff, the equivalent of the generic, aging, nondescript brown dog at he dogs home, the Lacettis, the Ssangyongs and all that stuff.
I still have a very soft spot for the Montego GTi, my dad had one and as a kid I loved it. It got nicked in the end and though it was returned by the police in one piece my dad just couldn’t keep it, I remember being so sad about it going. No doubt it’s a case of rose tinted glasses but I’d genuinely love one. I dont think there are many left on the road mind, if any.
LeftAtOrion said:
I still have a very soft spot for the Montego GTi, my dad had one and as a kid I loved it. It got nicked in the end and though it was returned by the police in one piece my dad just couldn’t keep it, I remember being so sad about it going. No doubt it’s a case of rose tinted glasses but I’d genuinely love one. I dont think there are many left on the road mind, if any.
I had a blue Montego GTI, basically a lower spec MG Montego, I quite enjoyed mine, it was streets ahead of the Manta GTE I had before, but everyone wants a Manta nowadays because Rally Car and it was a lot cooler but the Montego was quicker, handled better and was comfier.
J4CKO said:
LeftAtOrion said:
I still have a very soft spot for the Montego GTi, my dad had one and as a kid I loved it. It got nicked in the end and though it was returned by the police in one piece my dad just couldn’t keep it, I remember being so sad about it going. No doubt it’s a case of rose tinted glasses but I’d genuinely love one. I dont think there are many left on the road mind, if any.
I had a blue Montego GTI, basically a lower spec MG Montego, I quite enjoyed mine, it was streets ahead of the Manta GTE I had before, but everyone wants a Manta nowadays because Rally Car and it was a lot cooler but the Montego was quicker, handled better and was comfier.Matttrakker said:
Sounds exactly the same as our grand cmax which is a great handy car
Indeed - the rear sliding doors are the key - you could open the doors and get kids and child carriers in and out without having to wrestle with the door or the gap. I think more cars need sliding doors. You can also sit in there and treat it as a bus shelter
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