Being able to appreciate cars from every corner of automotivedom makes for a true enthusiast. This starts out early in life when many of us don’t know any better — and that means we might have grown up falling head over heels for some ridiculous cars. Last week, we asked readers what lame cars they liked when they were kids. These were their very interesting answers.
Dodge Neon, and not even the SRT edition. The “Hi” advertising hooked me as the car seemed to smile into my soul.
Suggested by: Adam Duhamel
Pontiac Aztek. Cars were all amorphous blobs back then, but the Aztek had sharp lines and weird angles that always caught my attention. It wasn’t until I was an adult did I learn that I was supposed to hate it.
Suggested by: Eric J. Auchus via Facebook
Any Pontiac Grand Am GT lovers out there? That was my childhood dream car, for no reason really lol.
Suggested by: Vincent Smith
A 1988 Plymouth Sundance. If I tried real hard with a good running start, I could crest every hill at 45 mph!
Suggested by: Jared Frederick via Facebook
Dang we really gonna talk about this subject without talking about the Isuzu Axiom? I mean most of it was thanks to Spy Kids so...
Suggested by: Lil Xanos
My family’s Ford EXP. We had two of them through the years. A gold one, and a red one. I always thought they were the coolest looking cars. Only when I got older did I understand the cool look was the only thing about them worth anything.
Suggested by: Cody Funk via Facebook
When the 1996 Ford Taurus came out, I was instantly in love with it.
The reason? My dumb ass was convinced that the front of it somehow looked like the back of Metal Sonic’s car in Sonic Drift 2, my favorite game at the time.
I see now that they don’t look a damn thing alike. This makes me feel extremely dumb, but you said no judgement here.
I see now that they don’t look a damn thing alike. This makes me feel extremely dumb, but you said no judgement here.
Suggested by: Tim the KNinja
I hate that I loved it, but the 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart OZ Edition was, for some ungodly reason, one car I loved. A guy in our townhouse complex had one, and BABIED it. The yellow stood out to me.
Suggested by: Jacob Henryk Gerber via Facebook
I’ll never apologize for falling in love with the 1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera. My Aunt had one in red. For some odd reason, I fell in love with the hubcaps, the 3 slotted taillights, and the speedometer.
If I could find one that hasn’t rusted to hell, I’d scoop it up in a heartbeat.
Suggested by: SenDavis
I don’t know if it’s lame, but in 1974 I was obsessed with getting a new Gremlin with the biggest V8 possible when I was just learning to drive. I ended up with a used 1966 Corvair Corsa convertible which, while not super fast still wasn’t bad.
Suggested by: Alan Dahl via Facebook
I’m going to show my age a little here, but when I was a kid, walking through the neighborhood I always loved the Nissan Pulsar NX SEs. Likely for the tail lights alone because the rest of the car was biblically terrible. Leaking t-top roof, cramped interior with a pitiful layout, and a thrashy but slow drivetrain.
Still in 1987, this looked cool to this 6-year-old.
Suggested by: Potbelly Joe and 42 others
I used to walk past “Buy here, Pay Here” lots on my way to school and grew fond of the red 1989 Pontiac LeMans they had there. It seemed like a fun, funky little car and fit what I thought my first ride should be like. I had no idea at the time of the stigma it bore as a captive import (or even what that was) bearing the name of a storied classic.
Suggested by: Jerry Holloway via Facebook
PT Cruiser. I even had a 1:18 model of it, in yellow, with the woodgrain. What the hell I saw in this, I’ll never know. Maybe because it was retro, but I didn’t know enough about actual classic cars to have taste. Or maybe because there were a lot of stupid JC Whitney style add ons for it.
Suggested by: Garland - Last Top Comment on Splinter
The ‘89 to ‘97 Ford Thunderbird. I have always loved that car as a kid and as I got older, I ended up owning a ‘94 LX with the 46, finished in Teal Clearcoat with the tan cloth interior. I had the Bird for four eyars until the transmission went on it. i would love to own another one with the 4.6 or gor for the Supercoupe with the 3.8 supercharged V6.
Suggested by: Eric Lambert via Facebook
These came out right around the time I was getting my driver’s license and I wanted one so badly. I grew up skiing and fantasized about strapping skis to the top and heading out for the trails. I even had a brochure and cut out pictures to hang on my wall. I got a ‘93 Del Sol Si instead, which was the far better choice.
Suggested by: Hankel_Wankel