Guilty Pleasures: 7 Cars We Want to Hate, But Actually Love

Admit it, we all have things that we love but don’t want people to know.  Maybe you’re a lumberjack that enjoys the occasional bubble bath. While we will always advocate for high horsepower and quick cornering speeds, every once in a while we come across a car doesn’t tick any of those boxes. Sometimes these are eco-cars that make us think “hell, I kinda want one”. Other times, these are little oddball cars that other people would laugh at. Regardless, we still love them. Here are seven car that we want to hate, but really love.

7) Range Rover Evoque Convertible

Photo courtesy of https://www.autoblog.com/2016/08/24/2017-land-rover-range-rover-evoque-convertible-second-drive-review/

Convertibles aren’t very popular among car enthusiasts. Most convertibles tend to lack chassis rigidity, which results in worse handling. The absolute worst part about not liking convertibles is that they are pretty hard to dislike. Feeling the wind in your hair on a warm sunny day is a pretty spectacular feeling. This is why we like the Range Rover Evoque Convertible. If you’re going to do something wrong, you might as well do it right. Right? It may look a bit weird, and it most likely won’t handle nearly as well, but the Range Rover Evoque was never meant to corner anyways. It’s meant to be a luxurious midsize for going from the shops to the country club in style. And what says style better than having the top down?

6) Prius Prime

Photo courtesy of https://electromotivela.com/shop/toyota-prius-prime/

We don’t condone Priuses, let’s get that straight. But… If we had to get a Prius, we’d get this one. It’s not fast (or any Priuses for that matter), but it’s loaded with technology. The interior actually looks pretty good too. It has a fairly Tesla-esque touchscreen in the center console, and it features more aggressive lines than the previous Prius. Just know if you ever see one of us buy one of these, it probably was out of necessity.

5) Fiat 500 Abarth

Photo courtesy of https://www.caranddriver.com/fiat/500-500c-abarth

This little nugget is one of my personal favorite cars. Not only is the Fiat 500 Abarth small and agile, it sounds beautiful. I have to admit, I’m a bit biased on this one. Not too long ago, I was riding in my friend’s supercharged Mini Cooper S that’s no slouch. We pulled up to a light next to a 500 Abarth and it took off so much faster than you’d expect from a chicken nugget on wheels. The stock exhaust burbled and like a proper race car, and it really put a smile on our faces. The best part? We stopped next to it later, ready to compliment their car, and realized that it was an old couple who were easily in their 70s driving it.

4) Honda Fit

Photo courtesy of https://www.caranddriver.com/honda/fit

Ever since I saw a lowered Mugen Fit, it’ve been obsessed with it. I’ve wanted to own one ever since. I wouldn’t even need to modify it too much to enjoy it. All I would want to do is throw a Civic SI engine in it and maybe throw in a supercharger. The only problem is, the car doesn’t exactly look sporty. I would probably still look like a clown, but the looks I would get from people would be pretty hilarious.

3) BMW Isetta

Photo courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isetta

Remember how funny Mr. Bean was when he was driving around in a Mini Cooper? Imagine if he drove one of these around? The pure comical potential makes me want to throw caution to the wind and import one of these from Germany. I think it would be funny to drive through town in a modified Honda Fit, I would be the talk of the town if I rolled up at the grocery store in a car whose entire front section opened up.

2) Reliant Robin

Photo courtesy of http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/top-gear-jeremy-clarkson-reveals-he-faked-famous-reliant-robin-rolling-scene-a6810016.html

Since there’s a bit of a theme to the last few guilty pleasure cars, I can’t help but throw another funny little car. This one got on my radar when Jeremy Clarkson was tossing this thing sideways across a soccer field on Top Gear. I would love to put something like a Yamaha R1 engine and do wheelies in a car that literally looks like a boxy Croc shoe.

1) Camry XSE

Photo courtesy of http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/gallery-2018-toyota-camry-xse-photos-gallery-1.3268544

The last one, and my personal favorite one, is on the list because I think it’s actually a great car rather than a great gag. I remember seeing a Camry XSE driving down the road thinking “What car is that? It looks amazing!”. Toyota really stepped up their game in the styling department (the GR Super Sport Concept for example). Their new cars are much more aggressive and the interior styling is much improved. As mentioned before with the Prius Prime, it also features a ton of technology. Price-wise, its not so reasonable. The XSE V6 (the only one I would get) starts at $35,000 and goes up to a little over $40,000 with some options. Either way, it’s still good value if you value styling more than prestige.

About Lei Yang

Photographer and Car Enthusiast Founder of Project DRIVE