Taste is a funny thing, as it moves in cycles. After all, if you took someone from 2007, put them in a time machine and warped them to the present day, they might be alarmed to see that Nickelback is now ironically cool, people are wearing sweatsuits again, and IPAs are every-freaking-where. It’s the same thing with cars. Although it can be easy to poke fun at a car you don’t like, one day, you might wake up and realize you don’t detest the car you hated anymore.
I’ll give you an example. When the Bentley Flying Spur was fresh on the market, I wasn’t a fan. It looked like it had been at the bottom of a canal wearing cement shoes for a week, and it was substantially more expensive than the Volkswagen Phaeton on which it was based. It lacked the stiff upper lip of its Arnage big brother, instead trading on flash and arguably diluting the Bentley name. Now though, things are different.
Perhaps its because much uglier luxury sedans have since been made, or because depreciation hit the 2005 Flying Spur like a can of Twisted Tea, but I find myself mellowing to the old Flying Spur. It’s a big, fast, all-weather businessperson’s express, and it’s hard to hate on that overarching concept much. Plus, the Flying Spur line has outlasted that of the Arnage and Mulsanne, and it feels more traditional than say, the Bentayga.
So, what’s a car you hated but have since come around to? It could be something that you once considered a shitbox, something you once considered a cash grab, or something else entirely. Regardless of differing circumstances, we’d love to hear your picks in the comments below.
(Photo credits: Bentley)
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I never hated it, but now I really want a 79 Lincoln Mark V. I don’t like Ford at all besides the classic Mustang and trucks…Lincoln is not Ford but it’s still a Ford product. I have really grown to like the Mark V and really want a comfy land yacht
Late to this but, ironically, the Bentayga.
Bentley has always been the “sporting super luxury” brand. All modern Bentleys are on platforms and use engines jointly developed by Porsche and Audi (ahem, sport and luxury). The MLB Evo platform is staggeringly good, and all the SUVs on the platform drive exceedingly well. You’re basically getting a Cayenne Turbo with one of the nicest interiors ever put in a car. Sounds exactly like a Bentley to me.
Yeah, it’s a little lumpy and odd looking, but all VAG Bentleys have been, and 20 years later we look back and love them. I think Bentley did the hard work for us by ruining it with the facelift. The original already looks better.
I think Clarkson described VAG Bentleys best when he said “I hate the Bentley Continental, I hate the Bentley Continental… God, I love the Bentley Continental.”
Also, I don’t know what it is, but my area is stuffed full of luxury trucks. The BMW and Mercedes drivers seem willfully ignorant of other cars, the Cullinan and Range Rover drivers apparently want to kill everyone around them, but the Bentayga drivers are always minding their business, taking traffic in stride, going about their day. Obviously it’s an obscene object, but like Aston, I find it hard to hate a Bentley.
I’ll take mine in Mulliner spec purple and white, thank you.
1978 Toyota Carina (A40-series). These seemed so boring when my preschool teacher drove a light brown one back in 1983, but now the thought of a rear-wheel-drive sedan with subtly boxy bodywork seems pretty cool.
Other than that, not much – I guess I am just a rigid person (or I am always right from the beginning).
The 370Z… I really did not like the look of it when I first saw it, and much preferred the 350Z, but I’ve somewhat recently flipped my opinions of the two. I suspect I’ll have a similar reaction to the new Z in ~20 years, but right now it just gives me knockoff GTR vibes… and not in a good way.
GX470. They look as if someone extruded a car through the silhouette of one of those samurai castles and then melted the front with a heat gun and called it a day, but now, having driven one and appreciated the insane time-capsule like durability of the damn things, I’m a fan.
When they came out I was like WTF Honda Element. Then I met my to be wife years ago, she had an Element at the time. At first I was pre-hating on it, then I realized, pretty quick, this is a pretty good vehicle at a lot of things. Reliable, mostly easy to work on and cheap to own.
We sold it a few years back due to rust, trans going, AC needing a lot of repairs was near 200k. Still miss the Element. A 2019 CRV replaced it, replete with the 1.5T gas/oil dilution.
The boxiest of all Volvos: 7xx/9xx. I had begun driving as the 940s were ending production. Mechanically behind the times (4cyl, at least), and with a styling that didn’t seem to age well during its long run, these had no appeal whatsoever. Not that any Volvo would have then, but the boxiest Swedes stood out. …because they stood out.
Fast forward a few decades, and I began a quest for an old, safe, reliable station wagon to serve me. Yeah, that screams Volvo. I peered around the P90 cars (as they are known), hoping for a 245, lusting after an 855, knowing all the while, that I really should include the in-betweeners. When a clean one owner, low milage 945 popped up nearby (with full service records), I scheduled what would be the cars first and only showing. Figuring it could be a while before something more appealing popped up in this condition, I’d drive the 9’er wagon, and upgrade (ostensibly) later.
A year and a half later, I’m quite content–no plans to switch. But it took several months to really warm up. Sometimes you only need to give an ugly car a chance.
I have made peace (sort of) with the Miata. I still don’t want one and the styling isn’t my thing, but I no longer have a grudge against it like I did for a while. “I Hate Miatas” really should have been “Goshdarnit, Some Miata Owners Are Genuinely Very Annoying” anyway. Most of my beef was with mansplaining weirdos who happened to own Miatas, not the car itself (which does its job well, but just doesn’t suit my wants and needs).
Will I appreciate pretty much any car when that car makes someone happy, though? Yeah.