Sometimes it's hard to see the real qualities of a car behind all of its stereotypes.
I'm not saying these reputations aren't deserved. Yes, chicks do buy VW Rabbit Cabrios. Yes, bald men buy Corvettes. But there are great cars hidden behind some of these reputations, and they deserve some recognition.
10.) Porsche Boxster
Reader CO summed this up pretty well.
- Got a new Porsche!!
- Amazing!!! Which one???
- Boxster!!!!!
*silence.*
Just don't call it a '986' or you'll collapse under the weight of your pretentiousness.
Suggested By: CO, Photo Credit: Sam Smith/Jalopnik
9.) Mazda Miata
The Miata isn't the best car ever made. It's not the finest-handling sports car ever built. But for your money, good luck finding anything as fun.
Fortunately, the chick car reputation is dying off. Unfortunately, it's because of millions of stancebros grinding sparks through suburbs all over the country.
Suggested By: nth256, Photo Credit: Tobias Toft
8.) Subaru Forester
Forget the granola muncher lesbian reputation, this is a reasonably fun to drive, spacious family hauler. More than that, all those Impreza performance parts fit right on these things.
Suggested By: Johnny Was A Schoolboy, Photo Credit: Grant C.
7.) Chevy Corvette
I've driven a C7 and damn. Damn. As much performance as you'd ever want on the road, a GT-R with a V8 and burnouts. I just wish people other than the wax the paint with a diaper crowd bought these things.
Suggested By: willkinton247, Photo Credit: Raphael Orlove/Jalopnik
6.) Honda Civic Si
There's a great little car here, with usable space, readily available parts, fine handling, good fuel economy , and a gem of an engine. Can anyone see that past the boy racer image?
Suggested By: Chris_K_F, Photo Credit: James Henry
5.) The Fourth Gen F-Body
If you're wondering where the greasy murder redneck burnouts on your lawn reputation for the Camaro and the Firebird come from, look no further. They're the car of choice for anyone doing donuts on the Golden Gate Bridge and the interiors are made out of soda bottles.
But there's tons of performance in these F-Bodies and it's hard to beat their small block V8s for affordable performance.
Suggested By: Braking Bad, Photo Credit: Chevy
4.) Toyota Camry
It's the most boring car on the road, no doubt about it. But it doesn't have to be boring to drive. That V6 is much, much faster than you think, and you won't believe what one will do on a track.
Suggested By: dogisbadob, Photo Credit: Toyota Australia
3.) TJ Wrangler
Maybe reader brian1321 has spent too many miles in one of these things.
The TJ Wrangler is unfairly pigeonholed as a fantastic and capable off-road vehicle when it is so much more than that. What other car on the road can deliver farm tractor ride comfort, struggle for 18mpg, and try to wobble into a tree if the road is uneven? None. The TJ is in a class of its own. It just happens to be special education class.
Suggested By: Brian1321, Photo Credit: Jeep
2.) Minivans
There is only one reason why people buy minivans: they just had a(nother) kid and they think they need space. The reputation is true. But there are great cars here, as Ash78 found out.
The modern incarnation arrived in 1984 and quickly took on the role of family utility vehicle when wagons were becoming passé and SUVs were the realm of rednecks with gun racks.
Fast forward and the entire genre has been marginal since the mid-90s and has only seen a slight resurgence in recent years.
I had a brand new Town & County for a day last week and it was one of the best overall vehicles I've driven in a long time. It's 90% as quick, efficient, and nimble as most mainstream cars, with easily 3x the usefulness and comfort. Coming from VW/Audi, some of the interior quality was marginal, but the sheer square footage of interior made that forgivable at the $30k MSRP range.
My kids had never seen the inside of one before and nothing else could have elicited as much joy, surprise, and delight from a kid as having their own rolling business jet, a living room on wheels.
Suggested By: Ash78, Photo Credit: Lancia
1.) Full-Size SUVs
When it comes to reputations, these things are worse than minivans. Body-on-frame family haulers are littering the country's junkyards, and it feels like there isn't Suburban sold today that ever goes offroad, ever hauls anything more than soccer gear.
But that doesn't mean we can't appreciate a tall, roomy wagon with tons of suspension, plenty of highway power and towing torque.
It's more car than just about anyone needs, but you can still appreciate the capability still available in these waning days of cheap gas.
Suggested By: Atomic Buffalo, Photo Credit: Andrew Collins/Truck Yeah
Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
Photo Credit: Chevy