The wonderful world of cars consists of a handful of timeless legends, a slew of nondescript yet supremely functional cars that sell by the millions, the forgettables, and then there are the misfits. OK, so that’s a gross oversimplification, but it’s not inaccurate. For today’s question I want to focus on that last group, the misfits. These are the cars that make you raise an eyebrow and say, “what the hell is that” or “who signed off on that design?” It might be a certain trim level of a model that you never expected to make it to production, a car that was designed for a different country’s unique needs yet somehow made it to the U.S., or even an uncharacteristically zany design that somehow snuck through development without being axed.
Whatever the reason behind the surprise, we want to know what cars you, the doting Jalopnik audience, were most surprised to see make it to production and why.
My answer is the first-generation of the Acura ZDX
I was surprised the original Acura ZDX made it to production. Acura isn’t a brand that springs to mind when I think about automakers that take huge risks. Sure, the original NSX could be considered risky, but beyond that Acura’s models tend to be based on supremely sensible Honda products, and reflect that sensibility, just with a more upscale result. The first-generation ZDX, though, was not particularly sensible at all, thanks to its dramatic coupe roofline, polarizing styling, and hidden rear door handles.
Acura’s corporate styling went through an iffy phase with its shield-like front grille that ended up being perceived more as a beak than a shield, and the ZDX is no exception. I should say that I don’t dislike the ZDX, in fact I quite like the fact that Acura let its hair down and made a distinctive, less-than-logical vehicle. It wasn’t a particularly bad car either. It had Honda’s 300-horsepower 3.7-liter V6, Acura’s trademark Super-Handling All Wheel Drive, and a lovely interior. But the ZDX was still a bit too left-of-center to court Acura’s predominantly pragmatic buyers, and over the course of its four-year production run, Acura made just 7,200 examples of the bold ZDX. I love the rare occurrence of spotting a ZDX in the wild, especially in its delicious metallic brown paint color, but as I said, even in the car-crazy region of Southern California, a ZDX sighting is a rare occurrence.
What about you? What car were you most surprised to see make it to production? Let us know in the comments section.
