Fine, fine…the Eagle Talon isn’t actually on today’s list of cars no one talks about anymore. That’s a list for another time. In any case, there are indeed many easy-to-buy, hard-to-keep-up fun cars we’ll forever hold in our memory palaces. This week, Reddit is reminiscing about a bunch of them. Here are nine not-really-discussed “fun cars” that got over 100 upvotes on Reddit.
Mini Cooper John Cooper Works (JCW)
Having owned two Cooper Ss myself, I’ll reiterate one commenter’s assertion that these are some of the best-worst cars you might experience as a driver. From a performance and user perspective, they’re quite a thrill. Of course, a used Mini Cooper S and its beefed-up, slightly more refined (yes, it’s both) JCW sibling almost guarantee frequent and spendy upkeep.
Chevrolet Cobalt SS Turbo
A storied “poverty” tuner car, the Cobalt SS Turbo was an affordable stunner. GM stopped making them in 2010. You can still find GM Performance Parts tuner kits that take it to 280 hp. Dealers can install and reflash the ECU for you. One commenter joked in another Cobalt SS Turbo thread that it’s a moving oxymoron: GM’s legendary engineering with a Fisher-Price interior, giving it a “rattlebox” occupant experience. The rarest Cobalt SS Turbo is the Rally Yellow sedan, of which only 39 were made.
3rd-Gen Toyota MR2
In the middle of the “fun cars” pack, the 2000-2005 two-seater convertible is known for its easy maintenance and cheap replacement parts. As a Toyota, it shares many components with the common Corolla and the compact, egg-shaped Yaris. They tout excellent build quality still today. My dad has a 2002, and it’s just lovely. For one, it always starts. It has something of a heavy, smooth ride with nimble steering and easy SMT clutchless manual transmission. The shifting is a bit slow and jolting, sure. Fans and followers place the MR2 with the Miata and MG. Some folks will most assuredly curse me for mentioning it here for market reasons.
Dodge Neon SRT-4
Another economy-performance car, the SRT-4’s power was mated with cheaper build quality. As one commenter puts it, “…everyone stage 3 tuned them and blew the motors faster than they could pull used ones out of the totaled ones…”
Lincoln MKZ
The MKZ was Ford’s midsize four-door luxury sedan. Like most modern sedans, it was sunset as SUVs and trucks took over the U.S. market. It offered an AWD, 3.0 turbo, 400-hp option. As one Redditor put it, though, its transmission was (is) considered to be made of tempered glass.
Ford Fusion Sport
This one earned nearly 400 upvotes in about 17 hours. While its 2.7L twin turbo came with an AWD option and boasted 325 hp, reliability was the Ford Fusion Sport’s downfall. It suffered the storied Ford transmission recall, and owners were plagued with frequent repairs. No doubt, it belongs on the fun cars list; it was keeping them in certain driveable condition that drove them to junkyards. A closely related mention is the Taurus SHO. We worked on a few at the shop and had similar opinions of their quality. The last one I saw a few years back had a small section of main wiring harness disintegrate. Sadly, it totaled the car.
Chevrolet Sonic RS, Buick Regal GS Turbo, Ford Explorer ST
These were the OP’s picks. Like the other mentions, these are all fun alternatives to more recognizable, perhaps more expensive, models with setbacks considered. In the OP’s case, I’d argue these cars fall into the “once easy to get, financially questionable to keep” category.
Over and over, it seems, weight, slight underperformance, interior quality, or general build sent these fun cars into quiet fanhood.
You can read the many other fun cars mentioned in the full thread below:
