I think I've changed my mind.

Way back when Pontiac first changed the style of the Grand Am from a box-with-angles to something much sleeker, I remember complaining that it was really quite an ugly car. In particular, I thought the way they'd redone the nose gave it a 'snarling' appearance that I just didn't like.

A couple years later...it had grown on me to the point that I bought one

So I know what you mean. Sometimes, a new aesthetic takes time to grown on you...

 

i always thought the Prius was kinda cool looking. its distinctive front end is unmistakeable even from a distance.

plus most of the people i talk to think is cool looking. of course looking INSIDE the car may have swayed their opinion just a bit.

 

I have to admit, my initial reaction to the '01 Prius was, "Hrm...kinda funny lookin'." I mean, in the end, it's just a sedan with a short nose. If you don't catch it at the right angle, it doesn't look all that distinctive at all.

My initial reaction to the '04 Prius was, "Hrm...damned funny lookin'." It's definitely growing on me, and I'd already half-sold myself on the car despite its looks before I got used to them, because I understand and appreciate the trade-offs that produced those strange looks: short nose because the HSD is smaller than a traditional engine, sharply angled for aerodynamics; relatively high apex for the roof to provide decent headroom; sharp drop off toward the back for aerodyamics.

Since the result is a car that is externally compact yet internally spacious, I can learn to live with it :-D

 

I never looked twice at the Classic since it did look like an ordinary sedan. The '04 made me go "ooooooh, futuristic-like!" (such observations at objects/vehicles/buildings, etc are due to being an uber-geekess..I can't help it! lol). The other day while defending the Prius' looks to somebody that thought it was ugly, I noted that it's kinda like a slightly longer Acura RSX, the way it would be if they made the RSX into a sedan.

 

Same with me on my first new car - '78 Celica GT hatchback. Thought they were wierd looking and ugly when I first saw them. Thought it looked pretty nice by the time I bought one
[[Broken External Image]:http://celica.henryvo.com/pictures/1978.jpg

Mine was gold.

 

Exactly. By 1978 aesthetics, that was a funny-looking car! My parents had a Chevy Chevette at about the same time, and man, did we think it was funny-lookin' at the time!

 

I tried to look up the specs, hoping for 0-60 numbers but the best I could find was it had a 2.0 L , 90 HP engine. Never lacked for power. But then, it replaced a 1969 Volkswagon Squareback Still the 90 HP did OK, I have always been a rule follower, so frequent speeding wasn't my thing, but I did get it over 110 once taking my cousin's bird to the vet early one Sunday morning.

 

wow you must have really loved that bird~!

 

OMG! My mother's first car was a 1970 (ugly orange) VW Squareback! Every once in a while I'll still see one drive by (there's a powder blue one, and a beige one around here, and once I even saw another orange one!). I have to admit that the car took a beating, and kept on going. It never really did die... I think it was immortal. We called it Chucky. :lol:

 

Unfortuantely the bird made it to the vet, but didn't live. I figured I had to try since my cousin was only about 8 and I got overly enthusiastic about getting to the vet. I bet in the end I saved MAYBE 5 minutes. If the bird had the stamina to live, those 5 minutes wouldn't have made a bit of difference. Not the smartest thing I've ever done, but not inherently unsafe given the road and the traffic.
I don't think I've been over 80 since then and that was on the road from Montpiellier to St. Topez so it was legal. It was ALL the little diesel rental could handle! The same can not be said for the black dot in my rear view mirror that became a little black dot on the horizon in no more than a few minutes. Low and Italian, that's the best I can do! It was behind me again after going through a toll booth about a half hour later. Must have had to stop for gas Blew off into the distance again.

 

At least mine was red. You are right, that orange was, well, hideous. Mine was 5 years old when I bought it from my uncle. I guess we can infer that your mother and I are about the same age It does seem that the older I get, the more adults I meet whose parents are my age In fact, my skating coach's (all of 19) mother and I were living in the dorms at the same college for a year but didn't know each other. The really bizzare thing is that the college is in So Cal, I moved to VT 25 years ago and they moved here 2 years ago from the mid Atlantic. Small world.

Tough little cookies to be sure. Not a lot to go wrong. Want heat? Pull up on the lever to open the duct, no fan. Want more heat, drive faster! Want it cooler, crank down the windows and ... drive faster It was advanced in some ways for it's time and certainly for it's class. When most people were worrying about flooding their carburator, this thing was an injected flat 4 with the engine over the rear (drive) wheels. It wasn't real powerful, but it could STILL beat my uncle's diesel Mercedes off the line. At least until he got the turbo diesel.

 

Wow, that is a small world. I think I saw a red one once, but it wasn't a real nice red... kind of had a brownish tint to it. It was as hideous as the orange. No taste in color over here, I guess.

LOL, boy do I remember those days of 2/65 air conditioning (or did it have 4 windows? Wow, I don't remember)! And the heater always took at least 20 minutes to start to heat the car up! Was just getting warm when you parked at your destination. ROFL! But let me tell you, lack of power it may have had, but don't argue that it couldn't haul mass quantities of STUFF! Awww, the stories I could tell..... Chucky was both the best and worse car we ever had. I almost miss it. Almost.

I am impressed that yours was quicker off the line than your uncle's Merc! Too bad he later got the turbo.... just had to go and burst your bubble, didn't he? LOL :mrgreen: :lol: