Car Lust

Pontiac GTO Judge

Has there ever been a badder, more intimidating, more colorful name for a car than "Judge?" With apologies to Boss Mustangs and Plymouth Road Runners, I think "GTO Judge" is the unquestioned champion in this category.

Pontiac's dead-serious GTO had kick-started the muscle car revolution in 1964. Big, fast cars were around before the GTO--the Chrysler 300 letter-series cars were among the most famous--but the combination of the 389-cubic-inch Pontiac V-8 with the attractive intermediate-size Tempest body proved irresistible. The Ford Mustang sparked the pony car class later that year, and suddenly performance cars were hot. Nearly every carmaker had a muscle car in its lineup--even AMC got into the game with the S/CRambler--but in a sea of Cyclones, Chevelles, and Chargers, the GTO stood out as the first, the most famous, and one of the best-selling.

Alfa Romeo BAT 5, BAT 7, and BAT 9

I don't normally combine two cars into one Car Lust, much less three, but the Bertone-designed Alfa Romeo BAT 5, BAT 7, and BAT 9 concept cars are almost impossible to separate. The result of a challenge from Alfa Romeo to the Bertone design studio to develop highly aerodynamic cars without sacrificing Alfa's Italian panache and design heritage, the Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica (BAT) cars offered three different interpretations of the Alfa Romeo of tomorrow.

I'll tackle the aesthetic triumphs of the BAT series below, but first let's make it clear that the aerodynamic experimentation was a big success. The BAT 5 is the shortest and stubbiest of the three, ringing in with a coefficient of drag of .23--slightly better than notoriously slick fuel-sippers like the 1999-2006 Honda Insight (.25) and 2004-2009 Toyota Prius (.26). The BAT 7 is longer and even more extreme, and it sports a sensational .19 cd--as far as I can tell, slicker than any production car made and in line with the most advanced prototypes. The BAT 9 was designed to bring the BAT styling cues into a more conventional shape; while I haven't been able to find its drag numbers, I'm sure they are impressive for the era.

People love angry cars ...

Some people do, at least. My question is this--where in this article is the mention of overblown action movie quotes?

For those who aren't aware, we've been honoring the most over-the-top, ridiculously angry cars we can find (1, 2, 3, 4). I'm a little disappointed because the article uses as its example the current BMW 5-series--which I was planning to feature as our next angry car. Oh, well, the cat's out of the bag.

--Chris H.

1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon

Submitted by Brian Miller

For my graduation from high school, I received a car. Wait, let me back up. Before I graduated from high school, my mother drove a 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon to her job every day for 10 years. Don't ask where she got it, suffice to say it was not new. The Olds was parked in the back yard during an ill-fated interlude with a Chevrolet Cavalier--an interlude that ended up a complete failure. The Olds had 90,000 miles on it when parked after having served us well--the helm awaited the hands of the new teenage driver, me.

After I turned 16, and the automatic transmission was repaired after disintegrating from two years sitting unused in the backyard, I took over the keys to the Olds. It didn't take long for a leaking oil pan and my own obliviousness to the engine's need for oil to catch up to the Olds. After a long drive out to the remote reaches of the Eielson Air Force Base neighborhoods, the old Olds spun a bearing and we limped home 25 miles. Knock-knock!

Angry Cars--2006-2007 Subaru Impreza

Car: 2006-2007 Subaru Impreza, WRX, and WRX STi

Condition: Angry, slightly cross-eyed

Possible Motivation: You can see in the Impreza's eyes its deep-seated resentment at wearing its fourth different face in five years. And after all that change it gets saddled with an Edsel-like horse collar grille? I'd be angry too.

Defining Overblown High-Testosterone Action Movie Quote:
Subaru Impreza: You're a disease - and I'm the cure.
(from Cobra again)

--Chris H.

Suzuki Alto Works

It has been some time since we last featured a Kei car, so why not go with a definitive example of the breed? Boxy, tall, and tiny, the Alto Works boasts surprising interior space despite its minuscule footprint. Yet, like the most interesting Kei cars, the Alto Works makes its biggest splash with its glitzy high-performance hardware and tempest-in-a-teapot aggressiveness.

Like all Kei cars--not to be confused with the ubiquitous Chrysler K-cars of the 1980s--the Alto Works was limited to its tiny exterior dimensions, a 660cc engine, and a maximum of 64 horsepower. On the surface, perhaps, this doesn't sound like a formula for a particularly interesting performance car--until you work light weight into the formula.

$25,000 Challenge Results

We had some fantastic responses to the $25,000 Challenge last week; I shouldn't be surprised by the number and quality of responses we get to these classifieds challenges, yet I still am. Given the current value of most of the cars we discuss on this blog, it's not a huge surprise that $25,000 paid for quite a bit. Is it wrong that I'd rather spend the average cost of a new family car on an old Citroen? If so, I don't want to be right.

These cars are certainly much nicer than the ones we found in the $5,000 Challenge (challenge, results). Unfortunately, because I gave this a little longer than a week to run, most of the Craigs List links are dead. So, I'll do my best to sum up, breaking things up this time into various categories and awards. I'll work in my finds where it makes sense, but your choices destroyed mine this time around.

Angry Cars--2005-2008 Audi A4

Car: 2005-2008 Audi A4

Condition: Angry

Possible Motivation: Perhaps the car is angry that its once-elegant nose was replaced by a massive, gaping black schnozz? Insecurity about one's looks can often breed great anger.

Defining Overblown High-Testosterone Action Movie Quote:
Audi A4: You have the right to remain unconscious. Anything you say ain't gonna be much.
(from Lethal Weapon 3)

Photo Courtesy Of: Flickr user Autodetailer

--Chris H.

Angry Cars--2006-2008 Dodge Charger

Car: 2006-2008 Dodge Charger

Condition: Angry

Description/Possible Motivation: The Charger's gaping maw and enraged eyes seem to be straining to obliterate critics who described a four-door Charger as heresy.

Defining Overblown High-Testosterone Action Movie Quote:
Supermarket Killer: Get back! I got a bomb here! I'll blow this whole place up!
Dodge Charger: Go ahead. I don't shop here.
(from the 1986 movie classic Cobra)

--Chris H.

Ford Tempo

Full disclosure here--I don't like the Ford Tempo, or its Mercury Topaz twin. Based on some of the other awful cars I like, including its Fairmont predecessor, I really should like the Tempo. I keep moaning on about how depressing it is that Detroit can't make a simple, inexpensive, reliable small car, but yet I don't give the Tempo--a car that filled that niche from 1984 to 1994--any of the respect it deserves. Mea culpa, Tempo lovers. Mea maxima culpa.

The Ford Tempo was a first-car staple in my generation--Tempos were ubiquitous in high-school parking lots back in my day, and two of my friends had Tempos as their first cars. Cookie the Dog's Owner already wrote two excellent posts on the phenomenon of first cars (Challenge, Results), and one of the most agreed-upon points was the fact that kids will love their first car regardless of what it is. I was one of the commenters agreeing fervently with that point, and yet the Tempo makes me question that assertion.

Can there be a more conflicted feeling than having a Tempo as your first car? On the one hand, you're excited that you own your first car; you want to race around in it, customize it, show it off to your friends, and take advantage of your new mobility. On the other hand, well, it's a Tempo. Small, ugly, and relentlessly slow, the Tempo married an agricultural driving experience with a lack of pretension and luxury that bordered on the Amish.

1970-1974 Dodge Challenger

The new Dodge Challenger is an undeniably nice piece of equipment. With a stiff rear-wheel-drive platform and two powerful Hemi engines shared with the Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300, and the late, lamented Dodge Magnum, the Challenger brings burly and belligerent American muscle to the performance car table. It is faster and more comfortable than the legendary original--and can actually change directions from time to time.

And yet ... and yet, it still doesn't hold a candle to the original.

Born in 1970 as Dodge's incredibly late entry to the pony car market dominated by the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro, and populated by the Plymouth Barracuda, AMC Marlin, Pontiac Firebird, and Mercury Cougar, the Challenger made up for its lateness with raw power and what passed at the time for luxury.

$25,000 Challenge

In the most current issue of Car & Driver, the C/D loonies picked seven used cars that provide near-supercar performance for less than $25,000. I love C/D's used-car features--their beater series years ago was classic--and this story is equally as compelling. Read it online here.

The article got me thinking--it's been some time since we did our $5,000 Challenge (challenge, results), and I'm wondering what our resourceful bunch of readers and contributors could find at C/D's much loftier price limit. No need to go for speed as they did; what's the most interesting used car you can find for less than $25,000 that you might actually drive?

By the way, a co-worker of mine and infrequent commenter on the blog just answered this question for himself; he just bought a beautiful used Audi S4 Cabriolet, exactly like the one that prompted this ode 11 months ago. My soul is consumed with envy.

--Chris H.

Alfa Romeo GTV-6

The 1980s were a truly fantastic time for European sports coupes. From my personal favorite, the Saab 900 SPG, to the technologically advanced Audi Coupe Quattro, the incredibly stylish BMW 635CSi, the more plebeian but still exciting 16-valve Mk. II Volkswagen Scirocco, Europe was pumping out fun, accessible, and generally useful sports coupes by the bushel load in the 1980s. The Audi had all-wheel-drive; some were turbocharged, several had four-valve-per-cylinder heads. Even the class nerd, the Renault Fuego Turbo, was distinctive and attractive its way.

Well, if the Fuego was the nerd, the Alfa Romeo GTV-6 was the popular kid. The Alfa brought to the table a more sculpted profile than the Saab, a more soul-stirring exhaust note than the Audi, more passion than the reserved BMW, a more exotic feel than the Volkswagen, and dramatically less suck than the Renault.

Ford Ka

In the last few weeks we've featured quite a few big domestic cars; so what better subject than a featherweight European hatchback with a domestic nameplate? I've always found European Fords somewhat jarring; it's this incredibly familiar nameplate on generally unfamiliar cars. GM at least differentiates their unique European-market offering with Opel and Vauxhall nameplates, and Chrysler tends to just import the same cars it sells in America. Meanwhile, European Fords, with their air of Continental sophistication and mystery, seem like the intoxicating and sultry cousins of the girl next door.

Anyway, modern, mass-produced cars don't get much more featherweight than the Ford Ka--either in terms of mass or its name. Its minimalist, two-letter, one-syllable name actually sounds a bit like an Australian pronunciation of "car" (Nicole Kidman to Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder: Let me out of the Ka, Cole, let me out of the Ka!").

1995-1999 Oldsmobile Aurora

This week has taken on a bit of a General Motors theme; Anthony Cagle started off by honoring the Chevy Nomad, I waxed ecstatic about the GMC Syclone and Typhoon, I perhaps unfairly castigated an old Oldsmobile-centric video, and even the Stutz Blackhawk Cookie the Dog's Owner featured yesterday was based on a Pontiac Grand Prix. Since Mochi Mochi's post for tomorrow also has a GM angle, I figure we should just go with it.

When GM shut down Oldsmobile in 2004, I thought it was a crying shame. Not only was GM ending Olds' proud run of 107 consecutive years of car production, but after a fallow late 1980s and early 1990s, Olds finally seemed to be getting its act together.

The division that had put out the 442, the Toronado, the F-85, the 88, the Cutlass, and the Rocket V-8 had by the early 1990s become a junk drawer for assorted character-less brand-engineered versions of General Motors cars. With Buick and Cadillac oriented towards the luxury car buyer, Pontiac oriented towards the performance market, Chevrolet as the value leader, and Saturn as the import fighter, Oldsmobile was left without a market, a purpose, or a unique car of its own. The once-proud name had become irrelevant.

Automobubbling

A reader sent in this 1932 Oldsmobile commercial, and I thought it was worth sharing. I won't be doing a full deconstruction, but I have a few thoughts after the jump.

GMC Syclone/GMC Typhoon

Dropping a hot engine into an everyday vehicle is a time-honored method of creating a hero car. The original Pontiac GTO is one such example, as is virtually every other 1960s muscle car. We've seen this practice continue today; for example, turbocharged rally-inspired engines have transformed humble Mitsubishi and Subaru compact cars into performance legends.

But of all the possible foundations for a world-beating performance car, where would the compact Chevy S-10 pickup rank? Certainly the cringing little S-10, the replacement for the unloved Luv, was a useful little truck, but it doesn't strike me as a vehicle with a great deal of untapped performance potential. I mean, really--what's a more unlikely base for a world-class performer? An Isuzu I-Mark? Perhaps a Chrysler Town & Country minivan? An Amphicar?

Kia Spectra5

When I first drove the Kia Spectra, I hated it. Hated it. At the time I was getting new test cars every week to evaluate, and most of the cars were expensive, flashy, powerful, luxurious, and alluring. The Spectra had none of these qualities. After the intoxication of sophisticated iron, the gawky four-door Spectra was a huge let-down--like drinking brackish water after developing a taste for fine Chardonnay. Even my wife's aunt, not exactly an automotive snob, said about the Spectra, "But it's a piece of crap!"

At the time I agreed. My tester was a gawky and awkward four-door sedan, not the subtly attractive five-door hatch/wagon, and the interior was nice but spartan. I had just turned in a Mini Cooper S Convertible that seduced me with its eagerness to run; the Spectra, on the other hand, kept me at arm's length with a truly heinous clutch with an absurdly high release point.

Once I dislike a car, I rarely change my mind; if novelty doesn't make a car interesting, familiarity rarely does. Strangely enough, the Spectra was the exception to that rule. After a few days, I had cleared my palatte from the Mini, adjusted to the odd clutch, and accepted the Spectra for what it was.

Phil Hill--Loss of a Great

Sad news today, as reported by Jalopnik--Phil Hill has died today at the age of 81. Hill was the first American to win the Formula 1 World Championship, taking the title in 1961 at the wheel of the gorgeous shark-nose Ferrari 156. Hill also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times and was as stellar a sports car driver as an open-wheel racer.

Hill was as known for his classy personality as his driving skill, and he brought his unique insight to the pages of Road & Track as a journalist for several decades. A legend and a gentleman, Hill will be dearly missed.

--Chris H.

1986 Saab 900 SPG

This is the big one, the big Kahuna, the lustiest of my Car Lusts. One year and nearly 300 posts into this blog, we've finally reached my favorite car. I've made a point of only writing about cars that genuinely inspire my passion, and in the process I've repeatedly bared my various automotive psychoses. Well, this car cuts right to the quick of everything I am. It is an inseparable part of my very soul.

Yes, it's a Saab 900--best-known for its center console-mounted ignition key switch, and slightly lesser-known for its quirky unreliability. To unbiased observers, the Saab 900 has a weak chin and a truly curious hunchback profile that looks oddly lumpen and mollusk-like. Like a stranger Renault Fuego, if that's possible. Sure, Saabs of this era were known for their durability and winter traction, but what makes them even remotely lust-worthy?

Happy Birthday to Us

A year ago, on Aug. 28, 2007, Amazon Car Lust sprung into being with the promise that "you'll get a reluctant glimpse into that dark place in my psyche that just can't get enough of Peugeots." As anybody who has been around for a full year of breathless odes to better-forgotten vehicles can attest, that promise has been kept in spades.

Thanks to all of you who read this blog, thanks to all of you who comment, and thanks to those of you who care enough to contribute. It's remarkable to me that we have evolved from essays about cars I like into a blog powered by a half-dozen contributors, each honoring the concept of Car Lust better than I could do myself. Thanks to all of you, and here's hoping the next year is just as much fun.

Still Better Than The Hindenberg

We have seen the future of hydrogen-powered vehicles, and the future is ... well, not now. This Reuters story reports on a 13-day cross-country drive completed by hydrogen-powered cars from nine different automakers. At first glance, this is a pretty encouraging story--hey, maybe hydrogen-powered cars are right around the corner! After all, if nine cars can drive from coast to coast on hydrogen, not only is that a great test of the in-car technology, but it's a testament to improvements in the much larger and thornier issue of fuel availability and distribution.

Well, no. The smoking gun is in the second paragraph--hydrogen filling stations are so scarce that the cars rode across much of the country on flatbed trucks, including one stretch from Missouri to New Mexico. If the object is to achieve zero emissions and infinite fuel efficiency on the back of a truck, well, a 1976 Chevy Impala would work just fine. Actually, unobtainum-powered cars of my own invention would get the same results too.

If the message is that cars can successfully run on hydrogen but the technology is impractical until we have an established hydrogen distribution infrastructure, well, thanks for the memo. In related news, the sun rose in the east this morning and is slated to set in the west this evening. The single biggest practical barrier to any alternative fuel, including hydrogen, is widespread availability of that fuel, so this empty PR exercise really didn't accomplish much other than reinforce that barrier and provide some easy punchlines. Anyway, Gizmodo already nailed the snark angle, so I'll leave it at that.

--Chris H.

2008 BMW M3

Given the ho-hum response to the AMG CLK63 Black Series post and to other fancy sports sedans on this blog, I'm guessing not many of our Car Lust regulars will be singing the praises of the 2008 M3. Given my obsession with sedans that perform like sports cars, though, I just can't ignore this car. Besides, I've been waiting for the V-8 M3 for years, for reasons I'll detail below. Don't worry, folks, we'll be back in the bad cars soon enough.

In the high-pressure world of international sports car racing, highlighted by the 24 Hours of Le Mans and similarly prestigious long-distance races, Porsche and BMW have a highly entertaining red-hot rivalry. The two proud German manufacturers have been engaged in a back-and-forth hammer-and-tongs battle for supremacy for some time, resulting in an arms race that would not have been out of place in the Cold War.

Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia

Chris Hafner: The Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia doesn't have much to offer the enthusiast. Even the normal Vanagon was a slow, lumbering, ponderous, wheezing vehicle; only comparison to the original VW bus--a legend of slow motoring--would make the Vanagon look fast or agile. The Westfalia camper package, with added weight and higher center of gravity thanks to its tiny kitchen applicances and a pop-up sleeper tent roof, was even less athletic. The best thing that could be said about a Vanagon Westfalia on a twisty mountain road was that it was slightly racier than an RV.

What the Vanagon Westfalia offered was a dream. Like a turtle that moved slowly but carried its shelter on its back, the Westfalia's self-contained habitat offered the driver some real options. Heading down to the supermarket to grab some groceries? Fine, but if you feel like continuing your trip to, say, the Rocky Mountains, you've got a built-in camping spot. Why drop the kids off at school when you could just keep rolling up to the Yukon Territory to do a little fishing and hiking with the family?

1970 Chevrolet Camaro

Is it really possible that not a single Camaro has appeared in Car Lust up to this point? That's hard to believe since I've lusted after virtually every Camaro made since the model's debut in 1967. Yes, I briefly had a mullet in the early 1990s. I wore it proudly, thank you.

The 1970 Camaro, though, in my mind is not a mullet car. At least it doesn't have to be a mullet car; to me, the 1970 Camaro is desirable because of its graceful, understated, almost European lines that stood in stark contrast to the aggressively blocky and testosterone-filled styling and graphics that characterized its Detroit stablemates at the time.

Chevy LUV

If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time--in which case, my most profound apologies--you'd think the Chevy LUV would be a natural for Car Lust. Consider the following:

• Notwithstanding its Isuzu origins, it's a 1970s Chevrolet, and I'm on the record as loving Chevrolets from that decade (Examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and more no doubt to follow)
• I like my trucks unpretentious; trucks don't come any less pretentious than the LUV
• I liked Nathan's Ford Courier, which was essentially the Ford flavor of the same minitruck formula
• Most telling, I have a fatal weakness for helpless little bedraggled cars; and the LUV is nothing if not helpless and bedraggled.

The LUV is the exception to all of those rules. I should like the LUV, and I'm powerless to tell you why I don't. My only guess--and admittedly I'm being incredibly inconsistent here--is that the LUV wasn't good. For one thing, compact pickups of the time only barely qualified as transportation. The early 1970s compact pickups lasted forever but were hampered by their incredibly tiny size and complete lack of grunt. Most of them made do with much, much less than 100 horsepower--the LUV only got up to 80 horsepower late in its production run--and four-wheel-drive was not as typical then as it is for today's compact pickups.

Lotus 340R

One of the many ongoing themes here at Car Lust is cars that strip away all unnecessary features--as well as some necessary ones--in the continuing pursuit for the holy grail of weight minimization. As we've discussed here ad nauseum, weight is the enemy of driving excellence. It stunts acceleration, softens handling, decreases fuel economy, and increases the emission of pollutants.

The vicious weight cycle is hard to break. If the car is too heavy, it needs a bigger, more powerful engine; this addition of weight and inertia forces bigger brakes and a more robust suspension, which in turn increases weight while further impacting fuel economy and emissions.

On the other hand, pursuing the virtuous cycle of weight reduction can result in hugely compelling mighty mites like the Caterham Super Seven, Smart Roadster, Ariel Atom, and Vauxhall VX220--small giant-killers with exotic all-around performance without leviathan size, horsepower ratings, or prices. The Lotus 340R is very much of the same spirit.

Renault Fuego Turbo

Somewhere in the few remaining rational recesses of my brain, I know that owning a Renault Fuego is an awful idea. Terrible reliability, expensive parts, and nonexistent dealer support aren't exactly a great combination in a used car. Standard Fuegos were bog slow, and even the hot-rod Fuego Turbo wasn't exactly fast. Its mollusk-like contours and dated detailing are also very likely to inspire much derision and abuse from your friends. Driving a Fuego is unlikely to win you friends or to influence people.

Happily, I have a long track record of suppressing those flashes of rational thinking. Because, you see, I love the Fuego. Like the Isuzu Impulse, the Fuego upon its 1980 debut was an early adopter of the smoothly rounded hatchback contours that would come to characterize so many of the great sports coupes of the decade. The Renault 15 and 17 that preceded the Fuego were typical 1970s wedges, but the Fuego was slick enough to cheat the wind with a .34 cd--a good figure today, stellar in 1980.

Datsun 240Z

When the Datson 240Z was introduced in 1970, it hit the automotive world like a thunderclap--an impact dramatic, stunning, and with a report that reverberated for years. In the 1960s, with the notable exception of the Datsun 510, Japanese cars were popularly disregarded as disposable, cut-rate economy cars with the visceral excitement of a tube of toothpaste. They had difficulty cruising at American interstate speeds and were considered cars for people who couldn't afford a nice, big, beefy American car.

The 240Z changed all of that and ushered in a decade in which the Japanese were to emerge as force with which to be reckoned. With its long, sinuous lines, silky 2.4-liter inline six, fully independent suspension, front disc brakes, and lightweight two-seat hatchback body, the 240Z was a serious sports car that looked and performed like a 7/8-scale Jaguar E-Type at a fraction of the price and with superior reliability. Or, alternatively, the 240Z was as pretty and advanced as the Toyota 2000GT but actually available to the public at large.

Best Road Snacks

A few of the recent comment threads have mentioned great road snacks--Mountain Dew and corn nuts among the favored snacks--but after today's mention of bologna sandwiches and ice-cold Coke in Cookie the Dog's Owner's Plymouth Belvedere post, I think it's time to discuss great road snacks. There are many reasons to love a long road trip--great roads, picturesque scenery, meeting great people, the chance to relax and listen to the music of your choice at high volume--but snacking ranks right up at the top for me.

I am an avid amateur in the fine art of road snacking but can't quite claim the professional stature of my cousins, aunts and uncles, who pile en masse into their Chevy Suburban with coolers full of food and begin eating when the trip odometer ticks off its first tenth of a mile.

These are my favorites, but I'm interested to hear what others prefer. Beware, just reading this will likely add five pounds and raise your cholesterol. I know that after writing it, I'm now wondering how I have managed to avoid morbid obesity and heart attack after eating all of this junk.

Point/Counterpoint: Harley-Davidson

Two of our Car Lust contributors, Rob the SVX Guy and David Drucker, have a difference of opinion on the lustworthiness of Harley-Davidsons, and so we're convening this point/counterpoint to debate the relative merits of their cases.

Rob is a Harley cynic, while David is a Harley true-believer. I doubt either will change each other's opinions, but I do expect a very interesting and thought-provoking debate.

Gentlemen, to your corners, and remember--nothing below the belt. Rob, you're up.

Rob: Harley what? Oh, sorry, I can't really hear that well. More on that later. My name is Rob, and I live in a city called Milwaukee. This city is home to one of the most iconic American companies of all time, a company that represents America, freedom, patriotism, and adventure. So why does it deserve any disgust whatsoever?

It seems upon purchasing a Harley-Davidson, you receive a packet that informs you on the next steps to becoming a true Harley-Davidson fan. The first thing you must do is make your bike as loud as humanly possible. This isn't to increase the performance of your bike, or save gas, it's simply to be obnoxious. Once you have gutted any remnants of sound dampening from your exhaust system, you can then cruise down the road blaring your Harley ownership at 110 decibels to everyone within eight blocks.

Peugeot 405 Mi16

For both good and ill, the Peugeot 405 was a landmark car for Peugeot. On the good side of the ledger, the 405 was extremely well-received in Europe, winning the European Car of the Year award in 1988, and establishing a sterling pedigree in international rallying. On the negative side, the 405 was the last car Peugeot sold in the United States before slinking out of this market with its tail between its legs.

With the 405 Mi16, at least Peugeot left on a strong note. The standard 405 was a nice enough sedan--a good driver and pleasantly styled in what would become the clean, slick early 1990s idiom, with just a touch of Peugeot character to keep the car from complete anonymity. The Mi16, though, gave American drivers a taste of the Peugeot performance that Europeans had enjoyed with the 205 Turbo but that never quite infused the still-lustworthy 505.

2005 Seat Leon Cupra R

Most in North America have never heard of Seat, outside of the normal connotation of a shelf for one's derriere, but Europeans know Seat as a long-established Spanish automaker, a relatively recent subsidiary of Volkswagen-Audi. The combination of Iberian soul with German engineering has resulted in a delectable line of cars crescendoeing in the truly desirable Seat Leon Cupra R--basically a Volkswagen GTI remixed to a slight but distinct Spanish backbeat.

The Leon is based on the VW Golf, with some of the technical flair of the GTI and its pumped-up, all-wheel-drive siblings--the Audi S3 and the Volkswagen R32. But unlike the slick, sophisticated Germans, the Seat isn't afraid to polarize. The styling is aggressive and attractive in an unconventional way; it's one of those designs that isn't elegant but continues to draw the eye, if for no other reason than to help the viewer decide if it's attractive or offensive.

1993 Porsche Boxster Concept

When the Porsche Boxster debuted in 1996, I felt like the only person in the world who wasn't exhilarated. It's not that I didn't think the Boxster was a terrific car. On the contrary, at its debut the Boxster was beautiful in design and execution, a redefinition of the open-topped sports car that combined the fun of a Mazda Miata or an MGB but with a much sharper performance edge. All of those things were and are true, and by any measure the Boxster is a fantastic car.

No, I was disappointed because my heart had already been claimed by the Boxster show car that debuted in 1993 at the Detroit Auto Show. Compared to that svelte knockout, the production Boxster felt like a milquetoast disappointment. At a glance the two cars look fairly similar, but the show car was just enough more sultry, just enough more edgy and daring than the elegant but straightforward production Boxster that the show car fired adrenaline while the Boxster merely provoked admiration. Slick, smooth, tightly wrapped, and with the air of the exotic, the concept Boxster recalled the Porsche 550 RS Spyder without obvious retro pandering.

James May has Car Lust

Says Top Gear's James May:

"The older I get, and the longer Top Gear goes on, the more I enjoy driving rubbish. The XK Jaguar is a wonderful thing, but an Audi for £65 makes me skip around like an imbecile. ...  I can't deny it for a moment longer. I actually like crap cars, and I think I'm going to ask if I can be fired."

Just when I think I can't love James May and Top Gear with any greater intensity, they go and do something like this. This is exactly what Car Lust is all about--the idea that it's not greatness in isolation that makes cars compelling. As I said last September:

"We now live in a world of near-universal automotive excellence. Exotics abound. More common sports coupes and sedans perform like supercars of past years. Family sedans boast 250 horsepower--all while modern technology marries decent fuel mileage and emissions with this scorching performance.

Even subcompacts are depressingly competent. I've driven the Chevy Aveo and Kia Spectra, both of which look on paper as if they are terrible cars. Neither are.

This is all tremendously exciting, I suppose, but I miss the terrible cars.

Cars are like people--beautiful, perfect people are interesting from time to time, but if that's your entire world, they get very dull. That's one failure of some car magazines, I think--they overdo the exotics to the point where they become mundane and commonplace. There is beauty and wonder in all levels of the automotive world."

This is part of the genius of Top Gear; they understand that Ferraris, Porsches, and Aston Martins aren't the sum total of interesting cars in the world. They understand the appeal of beaters. They understand that older rubbish cars can be incredibly interesting. They understand that beating the tar out of a defiantly indestructible Toyota pickup makes for great TV.

I'll close by paraphrasing the last sentence of my old September post--I may be sick and deluded, but at least I'm not not alone.

--Chris H.

Cars are like people--beautiful, perfect people are interesting from time to time, but if that's your entire world, they get very dull. That's one failure of some car magazines, I think--they overdo the exotics to the point where they become mundane and commonplace. There is beauty and wonder in all levels of the automotive world."

This is part of the genius of Top Gear; they understand that Ferraris, Porsches, and Aston Martins aren't the sum total of interesting cars in the world. They understand the appeal of beaters. They understand that older rubbish cars can be incredibly interesting. They understand that beating the tar out of a defiantly indestructible Toyota pickup makes for great TV.

I'll close by paraphrasing the last sentence of my old September post--I may be sick and deluded, but at least I'm not not alone.

--Chris H.

1974 Dodge Monaco

The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer, since nobody actually remembers or lusts after the 1974 Dodge Monaco for its own merits. No, the '74 Monaco is most famous for its role as the Bluesmobile in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, in which the humble Mopar full-size sedan became one of the most famous movie cars of all time and easily the most influential car in molding my questionable automotive tastes.

My love for huge American sedans, my passion for beaters, my odd predilection for 1970s Mopars, my belief that "Hold On, I'm Coming" by Sam & Dave is the best driving song of all time--these are all thanks to my early exposure to the Bluesmobile.

Lamborghini LM002

The Lamborghini LM002 is just about the only vehicle on Earth with the ability to make the military Humvee look wimpy. Yes, the Humvee can be ordered with armor, a swiveling minigun or grenade launcher, a natty camo paint job, and all kinds of other high-tech weaponry, but all of those baubles pale in comparison to what the LM002 packs under the hood--the wildly exotic V-12 lifted directly from the Lamborghini Countach. The LM002 has your weapons of mass destruction right here--450 horsepower worth.

The LM002 was Lamborghini's third attempt at a military off-road vehicle, following the unsuccessful Cheetah and LM001 prototypes. Only a few hundred LM002s were made, of which several were sold to the Saudi Arabian and Libyan militaries; Uday Hussein was one famous owner of a military LM002.

Rover P6 2000

As many of you may have guessed by the silence over the past few days, I've been traveling and away from the blog. Happily, reader Al Johnson was moved to request a car for Car Lust--and his request was so good that it stands on its own as a worthy post.

Al Johnson:

"You're correct that the Brits managed to make an unreliable car out of a bulletproof one, though a lot of reviewers at the time thought the Sterling's handling and ride were superior to the Legend. But can I nominate another car for Car Lust? I owned a first-generation Rover 2000 for several troubled years. Absolutely brilliant engineering, near-perfect ergonomics, phenomenal handling; it was the ultimate stealth car in a world where no one knew what a sports sedan was.

Sterling 827 SLi

This Car Lust was actually a request from David Colborne, who sent me an e-mail asking for some Sterling coverage with the irresistible lead-in: "I mean, these things were a worse idea than the Chrysler Maserati TC, if such a thing were possible." It's a good line, but no--it's not possible. The TC holds the crown for all-time bad automotive decision-making.

Actually, as ideas go, I thought the Sterling was a pretty inspired one. In the late 1980s Japanese cars were known primarily for their engineering and their reliability, not their flair or luxury. English cars excelled at sumptuous interior appointments and quirky charm. What better idea than to clothe reliable, well-engineered Honda mechanicals, in the form of the first-generation Acura Legend, with sophisticated English bodywork and an old-world wood and leather interior?

Subaru Forester XT

I've never particularly liked the Subaru Forester. I can't really pinpoint why--after all, I'm an AMC Eagle acolyte, and the Forester is really nothing more than a latter-day Eagle. Like the Eagle, the Forester is a tall, gawky nerd of a car, with a tall forehead, a geeky chrome grin, and a complete lack of muscle. But also like the Eagle, the Forester is extraordinarily useful, with all-wheel-drive traction and the usefulness of a wagon. Both would make fantastic camping rides.

My general coolness towards the Forester might actually stem from Subaru's insistence on calling the Forester an SUV. It's clearly not an SUV, it's a station wagon. It's a car chassis and engine, with a wagon back. It might be taller and have all-wheel-drive, but it's a wagon. I also get annoyed when Subaru refers to its Legacy Outback as an SUV, but to the virtually identical Legacy as a car. I realize it's all marketing semantics, but I don't have much patience for automakers insulting our intelligence.

Whatever the reason, I've always respected the Forester but never really embraced it. Until, that is, the Forester XT debuted, at which point the addition of a turbocharger and some of Subaru's rally mojo created one of the most incredible sleepers the world has ever seen.

Lincoln Mk. VII LSC

Call me a Lincoln-hater, but it's been some time since a new Lincoln last stirred my mind into anything even approaching interest. And no, the Lincoln Blackwood doesn't count. In fact, the last Lincoln that really piqued my lust was the mid-1980s Lincoln Mk. VII LSC.

The Mk. VII, like its over-ostentatious, elephantine predecessors (the appeal of which is described here), was a domestic personal luxury coupe, ostensibly competition for the fat and sassy Cadillac Eldorado, Chrysler LeBaron, and Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Unlike its predecessors and competition, however, the Mk. VII was modern, trim, and had some serious aspirations--nothing less than to be a legitimate rival for the BMW 6-series.

Chevrolet Corvette CERV III

I suppose it's inevitable that every car-crazed youngster will at some point fall in love with a Corvette show car. One generation fell in love with the Mako Shark, others became besotted with the XP882. I had the 1990 CERV III.

There's nothing obvious about the CERVIII that explains why it inspired me so. It is fundamentally just another futuristic show car replete with every conceivable electronic trick and gizmo--and like most completely unrealistic show cars, it had very little impact on its production counterparts. For me, though, it meant much more.

While I grew up with an innate love of Corvettes, that love was matched by a basic frustration. As powerful, sleek, and capable as Corvettes were, to me they symbolized a crippling lack of creativity. After the rapid innovation that characterized the Corvette's evolution from its debut as a cruiser in 1953 to a world-class sports car in the 1960s, America's sports car got stuck in a rut. Not in terms of capability, mind you--since the C4 Corvette debuted in 1984, Corvettes have consistently been fantastic all-around performers for the price. No, what bothers me is that Corvettes have been so formulaic.

Lancia Beta

My wife and I were walking along the sidewalk a few months ago when I came to a sudden, stunned halt, mouth open, gaping at a car parked on the other side of