“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women are merely players; They have their exits and their entrances.” Billy Shakes was talking about human being in his play “As You Like It,” but it’s equally true for cars as well. Sometimes a car makes a big splash, creates a lot of fanfare, and then is suddenly swept aside by time or short attention spans or low sales or all three. For some of us, these cars live on in our hearts, if not on our roads or in our garage, and these are the cars I’d like to ask you about today.
I’ll put all the best answers together next week, but that’s Monday Erin’s problem. Right now, I just want to hear your stories. What low sales, sort-of-a-flop car do you harbor a secret love for? Do you think the Pontiac Aztek was simply ahead of its time? Was the blocky, Boomer-coded Cadillac XLR actually good? Or are you more of a Chrysler’s TC by Maserati fan? I want to hear from you!
Honda e is a fantastic car
I recently visited my friends in Germany, and they are the coolest. Not because they provide a free place for me to sleep in Germany (well, not only because of that), but because my buddy went out and bought a then-new Honda e a few years ago, and has kept it in showroom condition despite hauling around two growing boys on narrow European streets. I loved the e when it first came out, as it was an absolutely adorable city car with tons of promise for customization and nifty technology, like side-mirrors replaced with cameras. It looked like a first-generation Civic, but from the future. Who doesn’t love that? And I wasn’t alone. Jalopnik was ecstatic. The Honda e Is The Electric Car I’ve Been Waiting For, we proclaimed. We wondered if this was the latest cool car from Honda, and bemoaned its lack of U.S. release, despite never being designed for the States. Just four short years later, the Honda e disappeared from the shores lucky enough to see it in the first place, mainly Europe and Japan.
Sales were pretty sad. Less than 13,000 were sold between the two regions over four years (one of which went to my buddy in Frieburg, Germany), so Honda understandably scrapped the car. The company doesn’t exist to lose money on products that don’t sell, after all. Now when I get to visit Germany, I’m excited to see my friends, their kids and, of course, their car. The world moved on from the Honda e, but I never did. What car is like that for you? What are you still holding on to, long after the sales have stopped? Sound off in the comments.
