I’ve owned a LOT of cars. Variety is the spice of life.
The smartest cars you can buy:
1988-91 Civic Hatch. Perhaps the 2005 hatch too. Or an old CRX if you don’t need the seats.
The GMT800 truck platform is THE, penultimate, best thing on the road. Not the fastest, not the sexiest, not even the strongest but it’s still the smartest buy out there.
The first generation Mercedes Benz ML (320, 500, 55, etc). Strong, they perform like cars, and they are safe and reliable with a decent AWD system that doesn’t break every damned season.
The faves though do have some quirks. Some personality disorders and even some craziness.
E46 BMW in any trim level.
Second gen Toyota Supra.
Second gen RX-7.
First gen Toyota 4Runner.
The exotics that suck, but no one will fault you for owning..
an air cooled 911.
The 944, the 928 Porsches. The 914, of course but we all knew that was a quirky fun car. No question.
The first gen Lotus Esprit. Also the Europa.
The Lancia Scorpion. No doubt.
the C4 Corvette with the 4+3 trans.
There are others that I haven’t owned, but I look forward to it. My next passion in life are trucks. I haven’t had a truck in my collection for YEARS and I’m so sick of cars that I think it’s time to shift my attention.
Well, I was thinking more along the lines of cars that were quirky, flawed, or even lemons that you loved in spite of their shortcomings.