# What car just says "car"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022 "2004-07-20T16:58:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/1 "2004-07-20T16:58:11Z")
We have the “Ricer” thread currently in the Pit, and we’ve had “What’s the hottest looking/coolest/fastest car” type threads in the past. What kind of car do you think is the plain brown wrapper of cars? White-can-labled-with-block-letters-“BEER”-type vehicle. Nothing fancy, no bells or whistles, no attention grabbing features. I’m going with my wife’s car, a [1992 Buick Century.](http://www.discountautopa.com/eBay/44651/44651.JPG) This is not a shot at her or Buick. I’m driving a 95 Jetta, so I’m by no means street rodding. I was just thinking the other day how plainly dull our cars are (…except I have a sun roof 🆒 ). ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/2 "2004-07-20T17:09:16Z")
1980s Cavalier base models. ---
**Author:** ![Blackclaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Blackclaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackclaw)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/3 "2004-07-20T17:15:47Z")
Most cars today are fairly generic looking. Late model Chevy Malibus do tend to appear especially bland to me. With the exception of the Celica, I can tell any Toyota apart from any other. Is there really any physical difference between a Camry and a Corrola? Bland bland blah cars… ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/4 "2004-07-20T17:15:48Z")
[The Eagle Premier.](http://auta5p.car.cz/katalog/eagle/premier_02.jpg) Although I don’t remember it looking that long. So that’s a long, standard “car.” Alternatively, any of the late 80’s - early 90’s boxy Volvo sedans. Definite cars. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/5 "2004-07-20T17:47:33Z")
Toyota Camry or Honda Accord. Nothing screams “generic sedan” more than those two at the moment. Get a neutral color like white, silver, or beige, and you’ve got the freeway equivalent of cammo. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/6 "2004-07-20T18:50:54Z")
Another vote for the beige “I am a generic car, and do not want to stand out” Camry. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/7 "2004-07-20T19:02:52Z")
Dodge Neon, no matter what color it is. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/8 "2004-07-20T19:14:54Z")
To me, it’s the 70’s Dodge Dart. [http://www.dodgedart.org/brochure/73dg1.jpg](http://www.dodgedart.org/brochure/73dg1.jpg) No doubt it’s because that’s the first car I remember my family having. And it lasted a long time, and was the one of the first cars I ever drove. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/9 "2004-07-20T19:24:43Z")
I’ve got to go with the Camry/Corolla/Accord crowd here. Our parking lot at work is littered with Toyotas in various pale colors at the moment: 2 people own Camrys, 2 own Corollas and there are a couple more Corolla rentals floating around as well, and my Mom, bless her heart, currently drives a '97 Accord in the ever-popular Old Person’s Metallic Beige. Visual Quaaludes, the lot of them. Going further back, whenever I think ‘generic car’ my mental image defaults on the mid-'70s [Dodge Dart](http://www.dodgedart.org/) and Plymouth Valiant. In fact, most of Chrysler’s output from the '70s through the late '80s were complete snoozers, particularly the Aries/Reliant ‘K’ cars and their many spinoffs. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/10 "2004-07-20T19:26:06Z")
Damn you, **Revtim** , for edging me out, there. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/11 "2004-07-20T20:05:05Z")
Ford Taurus. Not small enough to be a compact, not big enough to be a full-size, not edgy enough to be noticable. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/12 "2004-07-20T20:40:52Z")
My folks traded in their light blue Plymouth Reliant for a beige Dodge Neon. Talk about no imagination. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/13 "2004-07-20T21:21:56Z")
My 1994 Ford Escort Wagon. Extremely generic. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/14 "2004-07-20T21:28:30Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Ford Taurus. Not small enough to be a compact, not big enough to be a full-size, not edgy enough to be noticable. Another “Awwww, you beat me to it!” here. I used to have a 1993 Taurus. In tan. With tan interior. That car could absorb personality and style out of anyone in a 50-foot radius. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/15 "2004-07-20T23:34:56Z")
I am the proud driver of a beige 1998 Toyota Corolla. It runs great, has super gas mileage, and gets me where I want to go. I love my nondescript car. I don’t need my car to stand out in a crowd. I can stand out enough on my own if I feel like it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/16 "2004-07-21T00:46:04Z")
The AMC Pacer of course. Oh wait… You said car…not greenhouse right? ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/17 "2004-07-21T01:20:09Z")
The type K? Maybe the Caprice. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/18 "2004-07-21T01:39:59Z")
Here’s another vote for the ubiquitous, bland Toyota Camry. I imagine it comes in a white, cardboard box with " CONTENTS: ONE CAR" written on each side. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/19 "2004-07-21T01:50:31Z")
1990s and early 2000s-era Korean econobox sedans. Any of 'em just scream “GENERIC!” Really, they don’t scream anything. They’re just … there. The Kia Spectra is an outstanding example of a plain, plain looking vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Peter\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022/20 "2004-07-21T03:24:01Z")
Topic reminds me of a car I saw regularly about 12 years ago. I never did figure out the make/model because all the badging had been taken off. It had strips of electrical tape in varying thicknesses on the trunk in the form of a bar code, and the word “car” in block letters. Clever, wished I had thought of it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-car-just-says-car/256022.md?page=2)