I have gone over to the fuzzy, pink side...

[joeworf]

Waitaminit! That didn't come out right.
Actually it is kind of accurate. I just added a Suzuki X-90 to the stable to go with my other weird cars. It sort of looks like a "Barbie" car on steroids! Take a Miata, crush the ends in a bit, jack it up and VOILA! An X-90. It's red with the usual appointments (T-tops/4WD/miniscule trunk). It is classified as an SUV/truck and once you start driving it you're made very much aware of the fact. A bit coarse and a manual tranny but it only has a skosh over 100K miles and is pretty clean and done up in "Arrest Me Red" (although I doubt it would ever qualify for a speeding ticket unless it plummeted off a cliff). Man, I used to think the VX had a rough ride but compared to this little beast the VX is pure velvet. All that said, I really like the qurky sucker and will eventually tame and civilize it a bit. It joins the VX, a Chrysler TC by Maserati, a Plymouth Scamp Pickup, Dodge Rampage Pickup (twin sister of the Scamp) and a Chrysler Crossfire as part of a bunch of low-volume. generally-unloved-by-the-public cars. What can I say... I like the unconventional. (no Pontiac Azteks or Nissan Jukes, though... I'm not that far gone... yet).

[kach22i]

I just added a Suzuki X-90 to the stable ..........(no Pontiac Azteks or Nissan Jukes, though... I'm not that far gone... yet).

I'm considering getting another Geo Tracker, had one for 19.5 years, been missing it since the rust ate the electrical in the engine bay, and it died.

http://s184.photobucket.com/user/kac...?sort=3&page=1



Looking at VehiCross again as my S-10 4x4 is on it's last legs (strong but rusty).

An X-90 would be cool, I had a top which made the Tracker sort of look like one.

I like the Juke (Puke) very much, if I could only afford one.

You have excellent taste in cars in my opinion; life is stupid without Art.

[ipd]

No way. Juke is just atrocious--in the same Aztek/Multipla sense. The only reason the new Cherokee gets away with the "split headlights" look is because the main beams are disguised so well in the bumper.

http://www.autorivals.net/suvs/2011j...s2003aztek.htm

The x90 is a glorified del-sol with a lift kit, but sure...miata in a pinch. Crossfire is an abomination that should never have happened; you would have been better off just buying a proper SLK 32AMG. To this very day, I'm amazed that somehow with the Prowler as a predecessor & the SLK as the base platform--Chrysler managed to churn out something so hideously repulsive as the Crossfire. And the TC is a horrible version of a Le Baron; so essentially it's like a Cadillac Cimarron. The last time the "let's remake an import" worked for Chrysler was the Dodge stealth--and I stand by that (VR4 with a body kit, for you unwashed masses). Killing it and replacing it with the Avenger was the beginning of the end. Now a days, you couldn't pay me to own anything Chrysler other than a cummins turbo diesel.

The VX isn't even in the same ballpark. There's a reason why those others are horribly unloved--and deservedly so. The VX is misunderstood--but is an incredibly capable vehicle in its own right. In that respect, it shares more in common with the likes of a Mitsubishi Starion or GTO; the Jaguar XJR; and the Mercury Marauder.

I could have at least let you keep your man card if you'd bought an SSR.

[kach22i]

Cherokee is disliked by some because it reminds them of the VehiCross, which proves the plastic cladding wasn't the only thing some felt disturbing about this radical design.

The Juke has this curved windshield like a mix between a Saab 99 and a Porsche 911 (air-cooled).

Paint the X-90 flat rubber black with Plasti-dip if you have to macho it up. I have no problem with it's "too cute" design. Then again, I drove a zebra Tracker for two decades.

[ipd]

I'd say that a majority of small-to-midsize SUV's take design cues from the VX. Cherokee is hardly alone in that. I really love the DRL's on the new Cherokee. If i had one though (and I won't unless they make one that's AWD & 2 doors), I'd have to black out the main-beams so they blend into the bumper more.

[joeworf]

Was all that really necessary, HOC?? (Think relationship of HAL to IBM). You're beginning to sound like another less-than-popular member here, rook.
As someone appropriately noted in an earlier thread....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0la5DBtOVNI

[ipd]

You're probably right. I came across a little harsh there. I run with a lot of pent-up anger about a great many things--and I don't have the luxury of being around this platform long enough to not need the help of those who have been here a long while. You're right about those all being unpopular platforms with the public. I think that's where the similarities end though. The VX is far more capable (at being/doing what it was intended to do) than the other vehicles in that list & their own respective capabilities. That's why I think it's an unfair.

I had no idea i was that unpopular already. Usually it takes a few more months, and several months beyond that before people start to like me. I'll attempt to refrain from banter such as this, and keep my interaction here to purely technical issues.

[joeworf]

Okay, we'll have to agree to disagree about the other cars' assessments. I do appreciate your more measured response, but I will take mild exception about the TC (as well as the "abomination" status of the Crossfire) The Cimarron was a gussied up Cavalier. The TC however was, like the VX, a halo car and pre-dates the Le Baron.

From Hemmings:

A concept was shown at the 1986 Los Angeles Auto Show, where the car was erroneously billed as a 1987 model. Timing, it’s said, is everything, and production delays pushed back the introduction of the Chrysler TC by Maserati to the 1989 model year. While the loss of momentum over 24 months was bad enough, the TC came to market looking a bit too much like the regular Chrysler LeBaron convertible, which had launched in a version wearing strikingly similar bodywork during the TC’s delayed development. Instead of using the De Tomaso-bodied Italian halo car to sell LeBarons, Chrysler was faced with the unenviable task of explaining to buyers why the TC cost twice as much as the visually similar LeBaron it was parked next to.

[ipd]

I guess I don't see the TC as being very different--in spirit--from the Merkur, and--by sales debut--no different from the LeBaron. The intent was to make it different, but the execution failed miserably. And imho, it was never a halo car, as the Pantera was really the DeTomaso halo car, and I'd argue that either the Conquest or the Daytona were Chrysler's "halo cars" at that time (and the Stealth became the new Halo car in 1991).





Taste is a personal thing, for sure. For me, I'd take either the top or bottom, before I take the one in the middle.

/$.02 I promised to stop spouting my opinions everywhere on here, and I'm going to stand by that.

[joeworf]

Okay, I'm considering this post to be the proverbial "beaten dead horse" AFTER I make one last point! I have no intention of trying to justify my tastes to you and I'm fully aware of all of the aforementioned cars' shortcomings.... I just am trying for accuracy. The Merkurs were captive imports from Ford of Germany and were basically rebadged euro-spec cars, somewhat modified to meet U.S. regulations and standards Perceptions do not alter facts. The TC was conceived as a halo car for and by Chrysler. Pantera was for Ford. Both were initiated by "Lido". The TC and the LeBaron share virtually no exterior components (save maybe the windshield frame design). The TC was hand-built and the LeBaron was factory stamped. I probably would've chosen the Prowler that the XFire replaced, too (until I found out how uncomfortable they are and slow... BTW, the SSR wasn't a track burner either). The VX, XFire and TC had sticker prices collectively just south of 100k when new. I paid just north of 25K for the trio with a total of 234 thousand miles between them. 11K on the XF, 78K on the VX and 135K on the TC. I couldn't come close to that for your alternate choices. I'm content. If you want more info see below. I'm done.

And about that Dodge Cummins..

https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt...yfp-t-901&fp=1

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2...c-by-maserati/

http://www.allpar.com/model/tc.html

[kach22i]

By default I think it's fair so say that people which tend to like niche market vehicles often do not like many mass market vehicles just for the fact that is what they are (for the masses).

Vive La Dif·fé·rence

Let your freak flag wave baby.