Jalopnik's passing the decade mark tomorrow, and so are some great cars. First to my mind is the third-gen Acura TL; a crisp six-speed manual option and NSX seats sprinkled just enough spice on Honda's luxury lineup to be interesting without ruffling the feathers of beige buyers. What else was awesome from that era?
The 2004 TL couldn't keep up with its rear-drive German rivals, and the TL Type-S that came out later didn't bring much more to the table... leaning on red interior lighting and a negligible power boost to justify its "performance" badge.
But speed ain't everything. The car was more comfortable than a 3-Series, cheap to run, and is still plenty of fun to drive. I mean, up to about 7/10ths of its limit at least. Maybe 6/10ths. You burn less gas if you stay below the VTEC-threshold anyway.
Ten years after its introduction, the car's casual elegance has aged gracefully and its cabin is still a more pleasant place to travel in than a lot of vehicles I've driven since. What other cars are around ten years old that you appreciate as much?
Images: Andrew P. Collins