Rare Body Styles of Mundane Cars

"Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available" (whoistheleader2)
01/27/2020 at 10:30 • Filed to: Rare Body Styles of Mundane Cars, Oppositelock

Inspired by my post on the short lived Altima Coupe, I noticed something.

As the 90s waned and the 2000s bloomed, cars were getting more and more expensive to build. Less and less cars were offered in multiple body styles because they cost more to design, build, and certify for the road. The last of the body on frame passenger cars were also dying off, soon to be replaced with unibody sedans and SUVs, which were more difficult to modify.

As a result, less manufacturers built lower volume body variants, even as people shifted towards the extreme practicality of SUVs. That era produced quite a few forgotten body variants of normal cars, some of which will be listed here.

Malibu Maxx

This generation of the American Icon was ruined not by Daewoo, but by Opel, by rebadging its Vectra C model. However, this brought about the Maxx hatchback sedan variant, which had a sliding rear seat to increase either leg room or cargo space on demand. However, it remains hideous , though in a new way, regardless of its utilitarian design. It would have been so much better as a true hatchback, and most people took heed.

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The mid 2000s saw a resurgence of stepside pickups during the retro craze, with Chevy and Ford taking the lead . Some did this better than others, and Toyota had no past truck to draw from with this style of bed. When they decided to offer this trendy bed configuration, it just didn’t turn out well. Not many were made because the regular truck already looks pretty good and those taillights just aren’t flattering.

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This generation of Ford Focus had all the bases covered, whether it be sedan, coupe, 2 and 4 door hatchback, or 4 door wagon. The take rate on the two door hatchback and wagon was pretty low, but the coupe is the most forgotten of all. These cars are just hardworking reliable commuters and family haulers, but the coupe is almost nonexistent on the roads today. Unlike the Ford Explorer two door, the rarer models seem to have been the first to leave the road.

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There were quite a few low volume coupes in this era, but this has to take the cake for obscurity; Dodge’s short lived experiment in targeting the remainder of the personal luxury coupe market was a complete flop . It wasn’t even based on the sedan but was related to the Mitsubishi Eclipse! The only reason I know these exist is because of an RCR and a recent spot in the wild. Even old Murilee Martin can’t resist its beigey goodness, though his had the much more common automatic.

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There is also one for sale near me with a manual! Who exactly is this for?

2001 manual Dodge Stratus Coupe! Destined to be a junkyard gem one day! I am preserving this image online for future generations to marvel/make fun of

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What is your pick for the most obscure early 2000s body variant?

DISCUSSION (38)

functionoverfashion > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
01/27/2020 at 10:39

The stepside bed is funny. I always thought of it as fashion-over-function, because you lose a lot of volume from the bed without any perceptible advantage. Except now I have one (the ‘61) and I use the steps all the time. In fact, I use them way more than I ever use the full volume of the bed.

Ash78, voting early and often > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
01/27/2020 at 10:41

I’d call the IS300 Sportcross even more rare than the Malibu Maxx (not as a proportion of the total of each model, but in an absolute sense).

But my real answer is ENVOY XUV:

Kinja'd!!!

jimz > functionoverfashion
01/27/2020 at 10:43

yep. Step-sides were the original style of truck bed because they were easier and cheaper to manufacture in the ‘30s and ‘40s. The box could literally be a simple box and you just welded the fenders onto the sides.

Once the fleetside/styleside bed took over, step-sides were nothing but appearance pieces.

and the funny thing is that the Tundra “step side” completely missed the point; the exterior of the bed was the same width as the cab up front and it still had wheelwells poking into the cargo area. You gave up capacity for practically nothing.

412GTI > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
01/27/2020 at 10:43

I remember spending a lot of time in the Malibu Maxx when I was young as my neighbor had one as a company vehicle. What a strange shitbox. It had some cool features like the rear glass roof and that sliding seat you mentioned, but man did that thing age in the 50k miles she put on it.

shop-teacher > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
01/27/2020 at 10:56

A buddy of mine had a Malibu Maxx for a long time. It was shockingly roomy!

Boxer_4 > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
01/27/2020 at 11:00

The Stratus coupe shared quite a bit with the 3G Eclipse. In fact, I believe the doors can be swapped between the two so long as the door glass is changed.

I forgot that the earlier Stratus coupes actually looked kinda decent. The facelift did it no favors.

Also, regarding the Maxx; GM has had an occasional thing for hatchbacks for Chevroletin that class over the years . I’ve been meaning to write about that.

PyramidHat > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
01/27/2020 at 11:03

Had a Malibu Maxx for a few months when I was in PA on assignment. Not bad but it shouldn’t have been for three months.

Maxima Speed > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
01/27/2020 at 11:03

Came here expecting the Suzuki SX 4 Sedan to be on this list.

Kinja'd!!!

Ash78, voting early and often > Maxima Speed
01/27/2020 at 11:08

Weird is that I see about 3 of the sedan for every one of the hatch. But both are still pretty rare. That’s an eccentric choice in cars.

Ash78, voting early and often > functionoverfashion
01/27/2020 at 11:10

I’ve always heard the style thing (for the modern versions) but also that some cargo just needs a more compact, flat-bottomed storage area without having to mess with wheelwells. Small pallets, I guess, or a series of crates.

Yes, you get more space with a fleetside, but it’s “awkward space” a lot of times.

Maxima Speed > Ash78, voting early and often
01/27/2020 at 11:11

Interesting, wonder if its a regional thing for me. I have only seen two SX4 sedans in person in my life time but SX4 hatches are much more common.

Ash78, voting early and often > Maxima Speed
01/27/2020 at 11:12

I despise anything this size being “forced” into a sedan -- the Versa, Fiesta, you name it. Certain cars were just supposed to be hatchbacks.

Maxima Speed > Ash78, voting early and often
01/27/2020 at 11:15

I agree, they serve no purpose.

functionoverfashion > jimz
01/27/2020 at 11:18

It’s funny, mine still has small wheel protrusions into the bed, maybe 2" or so. It strikes me as unnecessary, but I guess I don’t know what it looked like with the factory wheel setup.

I think the Tacoma stepsides are especially point less. You take an already-tiny bed and make it even smaller ... for what?

functionoverfashion > Ash78, voting early and often
01/27/2020 at 11:19

It is nice for cleaning out dirt, etc. not to have big huge wheel well intrusions. I do still have little bump-outs but it’s not much.

functionoverfashion > Maxima Speed
01/27/2020 at 11:19

I don’t think I’ve ever seen an SX4 sedan?

Maxima Speed > functionoverfashion
01/27/2020 at 11:21

They are super uncommon for me.

Dusty Ventures > Ash78, voting early and often
01/27/2020 at 11:26

Excellent addition to the list. GM got weird with their “adjustable cargo compartments” there for a bit

Milky > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
01/27/2020 at 11:32

Has any other car of fered both? Especially such a mundane car?

Kinja'd!!!

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Ash78, voting early and often
01/27/2020 at 11:38

I was going to include both but ran out of time/space. Good pick!

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Milky
01/27/2020 at 11:40

Oh! I saw a hardtop that day and forgot to include it! What strange proportions it has!

Ash78, voting early and often > Dusty Ventures
01/27/2020 at 11:51

I have to say, their execution with the Avalanche’s cargo area was pretty cool. Hardly anyone ever used them for stuff like this, but it was a lot of what the Honda Ridgeline and new Rivian truck are doing, and this was 10-15 years ago :

Kinja'd!!!

punkgoose17 > Ash78, voting early and often
01/27/2020 at 12:01

The SX4 sedan has good proportions and a large trunk.

punkgoose17 > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
01/27/2020 at 12:05

The 2013-2014 Hyundai Elantra Coupe I’ve seen 1 once in real life.

Kinja'd!!!

foghat1981 > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
01/27/2020 at 12:20

The Tacoma had a stepside as well. If I recall, the taillights weren’t any different, so it didn’t suffer the same oddball-ness of the Tundra.

How about 1st gen Mazda6 hatch? The wagon may actually be more rare, but you definitely don’t see too many hatches (maybe that’s b/c the were so similar, they don’t stick out).

AlfaCorse > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
01/27/2020 at 13:07

I had an friend of a friend with a Malibu Maxx SS, I think it was the only SS wagon I ever saw. I don’t know if I would really call the Malibu a re badge of the Vectra though, it is substantially different. You could maybe getaway with calling the Aura a Vectra rebadge.