These Are the Perfect Cars You Say Were Ruined by Their Successors
It turns out that relentlessly chasing perfection can force some car companies to miss what’s right in front of them.
Perfection, baby—automakers are always chasing it. Thing is, they don't always know they've achieved it until decades later when consumers start feeling nostalgic for the models of yesteryear. It's commonplace now to pine for cars with retro styling cues, less refined driving characteristics, or simply a manual gearbox.
Tuesday, we asked you to tell us what perfect car you feel was ruined by its successor and there were a lot of great responses in the comments. Between vehicles shifting from car to crossover or being ruined by the introduction of CVTs and bloat, there were a lot of people who loathe some of the decisions made by big auto. Let's talk about some of your favorite picks.
Mitsubishi Eclipse
A few of you like Nathan King agreed with our suggestion of the Mitsubishi Eclipse. As a 1G and 2G owner myself, I can resonate with the sentiment of the Tyrese Gibson-era Eclipse being the downfall of an icon. Plus, it's a crossover now.
Toyota MR2
Interestingly, some of you like Ryan Hughes think that the Toyota MR-2 peaked in its second generation. The third-gen, or poor man's Porsche, just didn't have the same appeal as the previous car. I can deal with impractical as long as it's paired with some other reason to own it (I loved the MK5 Toyota Supra, after all).
But the third gen MR-2, otherwise known as the MR2 Sypder? Well, it wasn't particularly quick, nor did it have the same charisma as its predecessor.
Subaru Legacy GT
Next up is Merovingian1685's response: the Subaru Legacy GT. As a previous owner of a fourth-gen myself, I can attest that they were once fun to drive and full of character thanks to a modified version of the EJ25 shared with the same-generation Subaru WRX STI. Hell, the unicorn Spec B even made use of a six-speed manual. Nowadays, the seventh-gen is more about capable comfort.
The Subaru Legacy Touring XT does have a bit of pep with a 260-horsepower turbocharged 2.4-liter but is unfortunately neutered with a CVT being the only transmission option.
Chevy Blazer
And how about the Chevy Blazer? That's Harry Balzogna's answer (risky click, I know). The once-capable off-roader has turned into more of a grocery-getter as of late, and will eventually become an EV (albeit with a sporty SS-trimmed model). It's still more fun to reminisce about the K5, though.
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang was mentioned by ScooterPie and backed up by John Cheyney, among several other commentariats. The complaints targeted at the pony car weren't even about the Mach-E (which I know a lot of you have an issue with its naming). Instead, they were about the Mustang II ruining the older lineage, and others complaining that the tech found in the next-gen S650 (namely the screens) may make it undesirable. I don't know about you, but those cool digital Fox Body gauges have me feeling a bit of nostalgia.
I could spend all day going back and forth talking about the almost 100 comments that you readers left on our actual QOTD post, but that's enough for now. If you have a minute, pop on over to the previous post and read through the replies—there's some great justification about some of your favorite generations of cars, and lots of hate for those not-so-favorite ones.
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