# What's the most interesting car you saw today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 21, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889 "2014-05-21T02:35:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 368
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7347 "2025-05-08T15:48:46Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > prone to paint peeling, like many Mopar products of the period. Yeah, my mom’s old Voyager had that same problem. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7348 "2025-05-10T22:19:50Z")
The OG Jeep Gladiator. This truck wore the Gladiator name before Jeep revived it for their current Wrangler based pickup. Based on the grille this looks like a 1960s model. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54510636638_b494c257ec_b.jpg "Jeep Gladiator") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/66423490@N08/54510636638/) ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7349 "2025-05-11T16:44:32Z")
I know it’s the tail wagging the dog, but the first thing I think of when I see Jeeps of that era, the ones so shaped in the photo above, I think ‘Tonka Trucks’. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2025, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7350 "2025-05-11T17:01:50Z")
[![](https://images.classic.com/vehicles/a1a77cba5294f166276ef7f1c1f10a25edba44f6.jpg?ar=16%3A9&fit=crop&w=600) ](https://images.classic.com/vehicles/a1a77cba5294f166276ef7f1c1f10a25edba44f6.jpg?ar=16%3A9&fit=crop&w=600) [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/1960%27s_Tonka_Truck.JPG/2560px-1960%27s_Tonka_Truck.JPG) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/1960%27s_Tonka_Truck.JPG/2560px-1960%27s_Tonka_Truck.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7351 "2025-05-11T20:24:04Z")
On my drive home today at a light I spotted a Mark 1 Austin-Healey bugeye Sprite, in red. It pulled up behind me at a stoplight and all I could see in the rearview mirror was the top of the windshield and the head of the driver. Not my picture, but this is what it looked like in my mirror [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/MhAYyAL.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/HvXRcdb) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7352 "2025-05-12T00:05:09Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > I know it’s the tail wagging the dog, but the first thing I think of when I see Jeeps of that era, the ones so shaped in the photo above, I think ‘Tonka Trucks’. As suggested by @Joey_P, they did market Jeep toys in the Sixties. [![](https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/aaauction/51/640351/H1170-L164606785.JPG) ](https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/aaauction/51/640351/H1170-L164606785.JPG) Fords, too, and ISTR Chevy/GMC as well. I think the pickup I played with, handed down from my brothers, was a Tonka Ford but it could have been a Nylint Ford. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7353 "2025-05-12T01:04:44Z")
In Ventura CA this morning, Pizza Man Dan’s Pepperoni-vette [![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54513194859_0d22cf78a0_z.jpg) ](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54513194859_0d22cf78a0_z.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7354 "2025-05-12T01:23:43Z")
That paint job/wrap is not so a-pie-ling to my eyes ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7355 "2025-05-12T04:05:29Z")
Yeah that looks like measles or mumps or some skin condition. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7356 "2025-05-12T15:21:36Z")
I’m hard pressed to imagine someone topping that. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7357 "2025-05-12T15:26:17Z")
ISWYDT, & I must say, it’s an extra-cheesy pun. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7358 "2025-05-12T15:29:50Z")
I was thinking the pep-vette folks probably offer the fastest delivery in town. Even at 30 minutes or less Domino’s wouldn’t stand a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7359 "2025-05-12T16:38:45Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Yeah that looks like measles or mumps or some skin condition. It looks like my face when I was in high school. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7360 "2025-05-12T20:56:22Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Yeah that looks like measles or mumps or some skin condition. I had an old Hyundai Santa Fe where the clear coat started peeling after many years of parking in the sun. I used to joke that it had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7361 "2025-05-13T01:34:12Z")
Nothing that a little Noxzema or Clearasil won’t clear up! ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7362 "2025-05-14T16:10:25Z")
Today I saw a 1998-2001 Mercedes SLK roadster, driving slowly in the middle lane with its hazard lights on and the roof only partially retracted. Or rather it appeared the roof was retracted, but the trunk lid was stuck open in the position it goes to while the roof it retracting (see the photo below). I’m guessing the driver tried to put the top down at a red light, and something broke, and the trunk got stuck in that position. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Slk_mb170_offen_%28cropped%29.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Slk_mb170_offen_%28cropped%29.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7363 "2025-05-16T10:34:16Z")
Not a car so much as a boat. But it mainly caught my attention because I can’t say I’ve ever seen a boat this big in a Menards Parking Lot and, probably moreso…I like the song. [![](https://i.imgur.com/dZoYzmk.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/dZoYzmk.jpeg) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6lnoM25D-js/maxresdefault.jpg "Peace Frog") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lnoM25D-js) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7364 "2025-05-18T22:23:13Z")
A [Fiat X1/9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_X1/9). I was aware that car existed, but I’m not sure I’ve seen one in real life before. And that reminded me, yesterday I saw an old Fiat 124 Spider. Apparently everyone’s got their old Fiat sports cars out this weekend. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54527681042_c0b9acfef0_b.jpg "Fiat X1/9") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/66423490@N08/54527681042/) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2025, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7365 "2025-05-19T07:42:55Z")
Nice X1/9! Those things are so tiny _ **small!** _ when you see them out on the roads, which are very rare sightings these days. From the body and bumpers and wheels I’m guessing that’s a 1984-1986 X1/9. If so then it sold in the US as a Bertone X1/9. Fiat produced and sold the X1/9 until 1981, and then from 1982 on Bertone produced them and badged them as Bertone X1/9s. The car is near and dear to my heart because my first USMC paychecks went to buying a 1979 Fiat X1/9, which was the first car I ever bought. Here, I’m on the right with my brother in San Francisco. [![](https://i.imgur.com/wwSkf5S.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/wwSkf5S.jpeg) I loved this car and it was very reliable; I bought it new in San Francisco and put 90,000 miles on it before starting a family (wife + kid) and selling it in 1985. It was fun to drive! ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2025, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/7366 "2025-05-19T11:01:16Z")
Chevrolet Corvair A 2nd generation Chevrolet Corvair Monza Convertible — this one’s a beauty. 1967? Or 1968? [![](https://i.imgur.com/p1wlpQb.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/p1wlpQb.jpeg) 1965-1969 were the model years for the 2nd gen Corvair. I believe this one is a 1967, or maybe 1968, and she is in great shape. The 1st gen Corvair was produced for the 1960-1964 model years. The Corvair was Chevrolet’s attempt at building an RR layout car: rear engined, rear wheel drive. It resulted in tricky handling because of its uncommon weight distribution, with about 36% of the car’s weight on the front axle and 64% on the rear axle. The tail-heavy feel of the car challenged the average driver more accustomed to front-engined cars who did not take into account the car’s different handling characteristics. If the driver was not careful during a rapid weight transfer, s/he could suddenly find the heavy tail end of the car whipping around and the car spinning out, a phenomenon known as trailing throttle oversteer or snap oversteer — a problem that can also happen in a front engined car and even in a mid engined car but is more likely to happen in a rear engined car. This 20 second video demonstrates it ➜ [https://youtube.com/shorts/q6hqs19FMDU](https://youtube.com/shorts/q6hqs19FMDU) ■ . Famously, due in large part to this problem, consumer advocate Ralph Nader published his 1965 book titled, “Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile”. Chevrolet had over 100 lawsuits pending in connection with crashes involving the Corvair, which was the initial material for Nader’s investigations. Nader said during subsequent Congressional hearings that the Corvair is “the leading candidate for the un-safest-car title”. Nader’s book was a nonfiction bestseller from April through July 1966 and resulted in the creation of the Department of Transportation in 1966 and the predecessor agencies of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 1970. Chevrolet mitigated these handling concerns with modifications to the rear suspension and even to tire pressures, but it was too late, and the Corvair’s lifespan was cut short. US production plummeted: 1965 = 235,468 1966 = 103,743 1967 = 27,253 1968 = 15,399 1969 = 6,000 (Source ➜ [Chevrolet Corvair Production Figures 1960-1969](https://www.corvaircorsa.com/prod.html) ■ ) By 1970, the Corvair was done. [[Album] A 2nd generation Chevrolet Corvair Monza Convertible — this one’s a beauty.... ![](https://i.imgur.com/7KIfKtY.jpeg?fb "A 2nd generation Chevrolet Corvair Monza Convertible — this one’s a beauty....") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/skaG3Bd) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889.md?page=367) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889.md?page=369)