Some cars were truly perfect from the start — and then they got successively worse. So why mess with perfection? Because it's what automakers do. Here's your picks for the ten best vehicles that were better the first time around.
This is Answers of the Day — a 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!
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10.) 1970 Toyota Celica
Suggested By: Ian Jennings
Why It Should Have Been Left Alone: Often seen as a Japanese Mustang, the first-gen Celica was Toyota's smaller, lighter, and RWD homage to the American Muscle Car. With a Camaro-esque C-pillar and rear fender treatment as well as Mustang taillights and rear window slats, the original Celica was an attracvie machine, especially compared to the FWD boy-racer appearance of the most recent 2006 models.
9.) 1967 Mercury Cougar
Suggested By: humjaba
Why It Should Have Been Left Alone: From the electric shaver front grill all the way back to the electric shaver taillights, the first Cougar was another good lookin' car. Directly based off the contemporaneous Mustang it was a car with soul and power. More recent iterations were big, heavy, boring, or FWD and led to the demise of the brand.
8.) 1966 Ford Bronco
Suggested By: Smells_Homeless
Why It Should Have Been Left Alone: From the mind of the same man who gave America the Mustang, the Bronco was Ford's first compact SUV. It started life as a no frills, simple SUV, for the everyman. It eventually became an overly complicated suburban cruiser for the everymom. Case in point: 1996 Eddie Bauer models came complete with lighted sunvisor mirrors and a "vented front bumper."
Photo credit: Hoobly.com
7.) 1986 BMW M3 E30
Suggested By: Vorsprung
Why It Should Have Been Left Alone: The only body panels shared between the original M3 and it's lesser 3-Series brethren were the hood and sunroof. It was available as both a coupe and convertible, with the convertibles built completely by hand at BMW's Garching plant. It was in production for eight years, finally throwing in the towel in 1992. It was powered by a 2.3 liter inline four, producing 215 hp. Once again, it was designed for direct driving pleasure. The ultimate driving machine.
Photo credit: Toronto Prelude Club
6.) 1983 Volkswagen Golf GTI
Suggested By: ikaiyoo
Why It Should Have Been Left Alone: Called the Rabbit GTI for its debut on American shores, the first GTI produced only 90 horsepower, but it created a legend and is worshiped to this day by the Volkswagen faithful. The car's tiny dimensions made it easy to dart in and out of city traffic, and the engine was just asking for upgrades. The car is, was, and will be a great platform for tuning, and that's part of what's kept it around for so long.
5.) 1970 Datsun 240Z
Suggested By: luisthebeast
Why It Should Have Been Left Alone: Cheaper than its Jaguar, Porsche and BMW competitors at the time, the first Z was a good one. It showed the American public that Japanese carmakers could go not just toe-to-toe with their European rivals, they could beat them. Also, it proved that the Japanese were capable of making a low cost, high volume sports car that was relatively reliable and fun to drive. In 1998, more than 25 years after the first 240Z hit American shores, Nissan dealers re-purchased the cars, restored them, and sold them in a nationwide campaign. If that's not proof that they got it right the first time, I don't know what is.
Photo credit: MX-5 Miata.net
4.) 1989 Mazda MX-5 Miata
Suggested By: Jackie
Why It Should Have Been Left Alone: The Miata was Japan's successor to the MG-B abandoned by the British. Small, light, quick and dead reliable, the Miata singlehandedly got small roadsters into the hearts and minds of everyone, not just performance auto enthusiasts. Sure, it got labeled as a hairdresser's car, but we know the truth. The NA's are the best, and there's no two ways about it.
3.) 1991 Nissan Sentra SE-R
Suggested By: Jeb_Hodge
Why It Should Have Been Left Alone: When I was born, I came home from the hospital in a first-gen Acura Integra, but there was a B13 SE-R waiting at home. For years, Dad's car was a red Sentra, and I loved it. I loved it so much, I melted crayons into the back seats. He eventually traded it in, for a B15 2002 Spec V model. While that car was good (I learned to drive in it) it wasn't nearly as light or tossable as its grandfather. While the original was Japan's answer for the E30, the latest generation is an answer to the question: "how far from purpose can you go?"
2.) 1961 Jaguar E-Type
Suggested By: donfuy
Why It Should Have Been Left Alone: Jaguar should never have dropped the big V-12 lump in the front of the E-Type. They should never have gotten rid of the headlight covers, whatever the safety regs said at the time. And big rubber bumpers? Hah. We don't need no stinking big rubber bumpers. Jaguar, how could you have done this to us?
Photo credit: Zgzp's space
1.) 1959 Austin/Morris Mini
Suggested By: peter314
Why It Should Have Been Left Alone: There is no car that so accurately describes what we're trying to do here. When your genius car stays relatively untouched for 41 years, keeping the same dimensions and only gaining about 150 pounds during that time, you've clearly got a winner on your hands. The problems come ven somevon decides eet ees time to build zee bettah Mini! BMW, I got news for you. There's nothing "better" about a Mini SUV, no matter how small. That's just wrong.