Hot take

"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv) 03/27/2020 at 16:07 • Filed to: Rant

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Incoming rant alert!

Automotive “top ten worst/ugliest/most uncool/unreliable etc.” lists are bad. All of them. There are a lot of bad opinions on lists of this sort, and many similar lists as well. A lot of people develop their idea of what looks good/is good based on what’s normal to them, and when they see something different that doesn’t conform to that idea, they automatically declare it ugly, uncool, or bad. They don’t stop to consider whether the design is interesting, clever, well-proportioned, or anything like that, they just think that it’s different and therefore bad. (which is a problem not limited exclusively to car enthusiasts, but it seems to be common in the car co mm unity )

Also, a lot of these lists are just copying answers from other lists. I’ve seen the AMC pacer and Gremlin on several lists of unreliable cars, despite those cars actually being reliable, which I think is proof that they’re just copying each other’s notes. This is why I’ve decided I don’t like lists like that. They’re just uninformed clickbait articles defaming cars that the author didn’t take the time to actually develop their own opinion about. It’s important to develop your own opinions about stuff rather than just blindly accepting the opinions of random yahoos with keyboards, since you never know what kinds of things you might actually like after taking the time to think about it. When I finally realized I should form my own opinions about things rather than just blindly believing everyone on the internet, that’s when I discovered I like station wagons and microcars and Trans Ams and all sorts of other cars I used to think were uncool. So I firmly believe that lists such as that are bad. AMC Gremlin for your time:

Poor Gremlin. I don’t think you’re ugly.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:11

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Counterpoint, my opinion is always the correct opinion.

Grindintosecond > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:15

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I’d love to have seen an IMSA GTO gremlin.

InFierority Complex > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:16

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I’m sorry, this is the internet. You are not allowed to like things.  W e as a collective will decide what you are supposed to like.

Jim Spanfeller > Future next gen S2000 owner 03/27/2020 at 16:16

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I disagree with what you say, but I respect your right to be wrong ;)

Chariotoflove > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:18

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Top ten lists are created to get readers to nod in agreement or reject violently, but above all to get them to click! Sometimes the worse the takes the better.

Jim Spanfeller > InFierority Complex 03/27/2020 at 16:18

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But what if I want to like PT Cruisers?

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:22

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My Opinion: reliable cars can still be terrible.

InFierority Complex > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:24

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People can say what they want about the PT Cruiser but I’m convinced that they have one of the most happy and welcoming car communities.

For Sweden > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:24

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The only good list is the minimum equipment list

Jim Spanfeller > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 03/27/2020 at 16:29

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My Opinion: even terrible cars can still be fun. 

ranwhenparked > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:30

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All the revulsion toward the Gremlin always came down to “it looked weird”, which has nothing at all to do with reliability. Actually, the survival rate seems to be way better than the Vega and Pinto, considering how many fewer Gremlins were sold. And when was the last time you saw a Cricket? 

ranwhenparked > InFierority Complex 03/27/2020 at 16:33

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They became a victim of their own success, once they were everywhere, the styling was no longer unique, Chrysler didn’t do enough to keep the product fresh, and the market didn’t warm up to the “high roof 2 box compact monospace” quickly enough to maintain interest after the first few years.

The Kia Soul is essentially in the same segment today, and sells to a lot of the same people. Retirees on a budget who have hip and knee problems and need something easy to get in and out of, with a hatch for hauling mulch bags and flats of annuals.

glemon > Chariotoflove 03/27/2020 at 16:35

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Absolutely, but now that have gotten so bad they read like they were written by a non-native English speaker who is required to create 5-7 lists every hour or they won't get paid.  Which sadly is probably true.  Yet still I click.

GoodIdeaAtTheTime > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 03/27/2020 at 16:35

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My Prius is terrible. Reliable as shit. Not fun to drive or look at in any way. The Xterra it replaced was way more engaging, and didn’t get lost in the parking lot . I do like the 60 mpg around town though.

GoodIdeaAtTheTime > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:36

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Then like them. Aside from some reliability issues (not that big of a deal) they are all around fun.

Nom De Plume > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 03/27/2020 at 16:36

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They are at times the most terrible for being hard to pinpoint what mild alkaline discomfort contributes to this assessment.

Chariotoflove > glemon 03/27/2020 at 16:39

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For sure.  Letterman’s top tens had way more thought put into them than the average in today’s internet journalism.

jimz > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:42

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you’re just not going to find much love for ‘70s-80s cars from people who had to deal with them back then. At least amongst the average person. All they remember about cars of the era were cantankerous, slow, rust-prone shitboxes. Even the good ones could be a pain in the ass a lot.

gearheads might have a more charitable opinion, especially when we can imagine ways to “resto-mod” one with modern powertrain and suspension components. And decent rustproofing...

I’d give my eyeteeth for Ford to release a crate version of the new 7.3 V8 + 6 speed auto with wiring and PCM. Can you imagine having one of these and being able to shitcan the wheezy 351 or 460 and drop in that 430 hp 7.3 and have a nice, reliable, smooth engine that starts every time with no fuss?

Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer > InFierority Complex 03/27/2020 at 16:47

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The car everyone loves to hate, e xcept everyone I’ve ever met who had one wishes they still made them, and would buy two. I even considered it as a work vehicle due to cheapness and my love of small wagons. That’s when I wound up with my HHR panel (chevy pt cruiser). That said, I’ve never met a fellow “car person” who didn’t have a white-hot hatred of them.

Jim Spanfeller > ranwhenparked 03/27/2020 at 16:49

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Ah, the Cricket! That’s a car that I think deserves to be given a second chance. They had a bad reputation back in the day, but a lot of the things people complained about back then, like it’s complete lack of sound deadening, I don’t think would be nearly as big a deal for enthusiasts today. A lot of us like noisy cars and weight reduction (which the lack of sound deadening helped), and even people who complained about the noisiness acknowledged that the Cricket had excellent handling and was fun to toss around. One guy even had some success rallying one, and the engine was said to be a decent tuning platform. So even though the Cricket wasn’t great at its original intended purpose, I think it could be a fun weekend toy today. But last I checked, there were only about 16 or so running, driving Cricket sedans left in the world, and no running Cricket wagons left :(

As for the Gremlin, I know it’s both loved and hated for it’s looks, but I’ve seen it on lists of unreliable cars as well, even though it’s not an unreliable car. I think someone at some point mistakenly labeled it as a lemon, and then the myth spread.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:53

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I do not disagree!

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 18:34

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The Pacer is generally considered to be better looking but in person they are just so strangely proportioned. I thought I liked them until I saw one in the flesh. Reminds me of a fish bowl.

That said, it is at least unique, intentional, and not too busy. I just think it is way too wide to be attractively proportioned. The RX7 did that rear end way better.

ranwhenparked > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 18:45

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It was a weird looking cheap small car that had a reputation in the ‘70s and ‘80s for being kind of a wheeled virginity shield, especially when it hi t rock bottom used car territory. For a lot of people, that was enough to assume it must have been really shitty in every way, including reliability.

But, it had the thickest/heaviest gauge sheet metal of all the subcompacts, which meant it rusted through slightly slower, and had that bulletproof straight six. Fuel economy was OK, too, about the same as a Beetle, despite way more power and creature comforts (standard or optional) and it was exactly the same exterior length and only slightly more expensive than the elderly VW. It was also the only subcompact to get a passing score from the IIHS when they started crash testing in the 70s.

At the time, it was definately the most sensible choice in the segment, if someone bought on totally rational, by the numbers, decision making, without considering emotion or brand loyalty. I’d say even over Datsun and Toyota, since those corroded into dust in a single winter in any place that used road salt.

Jayvincent > Jim Spanfeller 03/28/2020 at 09:13

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Racing Gremlin for your enjoyment!