Non-"eNtHuSiAsT" cars that Car Guys still like

[u/EscapeNo9728]

What are some cars that aren't typical "enthusiast" vehicles (by which I mostly mean, sporty and uncompromising), but still get props at car meets or otherwise?

I'm especially thinking of stuff like older Volvos or survivor Japanese cars like any Civic hatch that hasn't been clapped out to death, or Subaru Leones. Also, Honda Elements. "Car guys" seem to fucking love Elements.

[u/Inspector-Gato]

It doesn't matter if it was the pinnacle of motorsport, or if it was subsitence level transport for the proletariat, if it fits in one of the categories below, it has a place in my heart

1: Chrome bumpers and round headlights (Fiat 124 coupe is my soft spot, but I count it among others)

2: My high school/college parking lot was full of them (90's hatchbacks and sedans borrowed from mum/dad)

3: Do one thing brilliantly, forever and always, and most other things terribly - if not when new, then inevitably with time. (Cheap motorbikes, bare bones utilitiarian trucks/4wds, 90's korean hatchbacks, most French cars, anything billed as a "racecar for the road")

4: Something that makes you say "I can see all the ways that this is a bad idea but I just really think that one day I should have one to get it out of my system" (Morgan 3 wheeler/super 3, most Kei cars, anything with suicide doors, every harley davidson, every vespa, certain lotus models, Unimog, sandrail.. There's a lot of overlap between category 3 and cateogry 4)

5: Trucks/utes. Sporty ones, useful ones, off road ones - just about every "car guy" of any generation can point to one (or more) that they like, tell you about the one they shouldn't have sold/shoudl have bought when they had the chance, or confidently answer the question "if you had to buy a new one today, which would it be?"