I’m a big proponent of de-guilting guilty pleasures. What’s the point in enjoying something if you never actually get to share it with anyone else? Ridiculous. We all have them—and now it’s time to share.
We have them in the automotive world. There are just those cars that are so bad and it doesn’t matter because we love them no matter what. Maybe it was just a notoriously awful car you had the misfortune of driving. Maybe it’s something that everyone else thinks is ugly but you actually kinda like. Maybe you were just a really big fan of Manor Marussia in Formula One and their sad, slow presence at the back of the grid means racing will never be the same.
For me, it was my first car—a 1989 Grand Prix Turbo. Which sounds cool, sure. Except it was a hand-me-down’s hand-me-down. It had been put in the ditch and tooled around for 400,000 miles before I even laid my hands on it. None of the electronics worked, so driving to school on a cold Michigan morning meant layers on blankets on layers. The power steering was perpetually a mess. I have scars from just trying to sit down in that goddamn car.
But I still love it. It’s got a special place in my heart, not just because it was the first car I drove solo, but because it was just fun. Despite the fact that there was an impossibly long laundry list of problems and things-gone-terribly-wrong, it was a pleasure to throw that thing around back roads on the scenic route home… until the steering wheel fell off. And then one of the tires. And the doors just kinda… stopped opening.
I know you’ve got ‘em. Now it’s time to share ‘em. This is now a judgement-free zone: hit me with the best of the worst cars you love!