The Most Digestible Crapwagons of 2015

Chris Tonn
by Chris Tonn
the most digestible crapwagons of 2015

A new year has arrived, and with it the “celebration” of eight months with The Truth About Cars. As is custom, I’m looking back over the most popular pieces of the last year for easy clicks on a hangover day.

2006 Citroën C6


Certainly validating my well-honed Francophile eBay search is the forbidden-fruit Citroën C6 I looked at in May. Our friends at Jalopnik were lucky enough to drive this very car. I’m jealous.

2000 Porsche Boxster


Our next most popular Crapwagon was a cheap early Boxster. I argued that cheap Porsches are perhaps the most expensive vehicle one could ever buy.

2002 Lexus IS300


Next comes the beige. Quick followup on my BMW-fanatic friend and our trip to buy a Lexus: We got halfway into the five-hour drive and the seller called. He couldn’t find the title. My friend bought another BMW.

2000 BMW M Coupe


Fourth on our countdown, but number one in my heart, is a clownshoe. I’ve made no secret of my love for MGs — the BGT hatch especially — and the BMW M Coupe is the steroid-addled spiritual successor to the heavenly MG Sebring racers. Someday…

2003 Volkswagen Passat W8 4Motion


In July, the Passat W8 4Motion wagon was remarkably popular, or at least quite popular to hate. Oh, for the days when driving a Volkswagen was socially acceptable.

2014 Dodge Challenger SRT8 Off-Road


A really odd Crapwagon graced our virtual pages for Black Friday, and plenty of you took time out of rioting in malls to click this off-roadish Challenger SRT8. Them Duke boys best be gettin’ a vinyl wrap for this Chally.

1992 Volkswagen Corrado SLC


VW was all over TTAC this year. A couple weeks ago, this Corrado caught my eye, and apparently that of many of our beloved readers. It costs too much for what it is, really, but car lust isn’t always rational.

2000 BMW 540i


Just a week ago brought us our last car in this rundown: a poor-man’s M5. Looks like I was high on the final selling price as $5600 looks rather palatable.

I want to thank the Best & Brightest for welcoming me to TTAC. I’ve slowly grown to understand what this place is, and I hope my writing has grown to meet your expectations. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to reach out.

Now excuse me while I chug another coffee.

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  • Kevin Jaeger Kevin Jaeger on Jan 01, 2016

    +1 This series by Chris is great. I love the mix of quirky niche collectible with insane affordable performance vehicles. It is not just entertaining but he keeps adding to my list of considerations for my next toy.

  • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on Jan 02, 2016

    I think this series works because: 1) It's older cars, which is what we like here. 2) It's usually rarer stuff that's kinda obscure, which is the other thing we like. 3) Half the time it's German, so it gives us a chance to vent and rag on all the awful costs of old German cars.

    • See 3 previous
    • Wumpus Wumpus on Jan 04, 2016

      @Quentin Best guess is that any old M-series is going to be a moneypit. Too much hoonage and missed maintenance. The M-coupe may be the best of the lot.

  • Crtfour I live in East Tennessee where most of the time driving is pretty low stress. But for work I have the misfortune of passing through Atlanta every 3-4 months. And passing through downtown you have to change lanes and merge so many times I still can't seem to keep it straight. On my last trip I ended up in an exit only lane ; the lane next to me where I had to get into was stopped so I was blocking the exit lane with this guy behind me blowing his horn and flashing his lights. I finally managed to get over finally allowing this guy to floor it and be on it's way. I consider myself a good driver with the exception of passing through there.
  • Pishta Those 80 B2000's were very Ford Courier like but the 81's had a completely new for Mazda dash. Less pods, more integration in one window. These didn't get the F motor until 84(?) only with the B2200 option. Single wall beds had lost of rust through issues. The 80 Quad headlamp grill was very rare, I dont rememeer seeing but one growing up.
  • FreedMike So it has transited out of existence here...
  • TheEndlessEnigma Self fulfilling prophesy. Ford spends virtually nothing on sales and marketing for the Transit....then scratches their collective heads not understand why it doesn't sell to their assumed objectives. If you do not market the vehicle, it will not sell. Pretty simple to understand really. Ford sure is working hard to make itself a niche automobile company, trucks and SUV's only. But that's OK, Kia/Hyundai/Toyota/Honda and yes even Volkswagen & Nissan are more than happy to sell to those customers Ford is apparently happy to walk away from.
  • NJRide I would think this segment would have a following but I guess not enough of a price difference with larger vans and probably too unrefined to be a sort of minivan alternative
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