QOTD: Surprise Winner, Oscar Edition?

by Matthew Guy

Published: February 10th, 2020

In case you missed it, the 92nd Academy Awards were splashed all over television and social media last night, with a film by the name of Parasite taking home multiple Oscar trophies. This surprised many and was generally considered an unexpected choice.

Few of us around these parts can be considered movie buffs, despite our occasional “TTAC at the Movies” post, but we do know our cars. This leads us to today’s question: what cars can you recall as being extremely surprising … for reasons good or bad?

The natty Dodge Spirit R/T shown above is top of mind thanks to a Slack conversation with this site’s discerning Associate Editor a few days ago. When launched, your author recalls buff books of the day marvelling at its speed, if not its style.

I seem to recall Car & Driver using one of them as a chase vehicle for some sort of supercar test and being surprised to see it in their rearview mirrors, keeping up though the twisty sections of Hocking Hills or wherever Yates, Bedard, & Co. were on that particular day. A total of 224 turbocharged horsepower stirred by a five-speed stick in a small(ish) sedan is nothing to sneeze at today; in the early ’90s, it was remarkable.

What makes it into the golden envelope for your pick as one of the most surprising cars ever built?

[Images: Chrysler Corp, via source]

#Dodge #DodgeSpirit #QOTD #QuestionOfTheDay #R/T #Spirit

Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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2 of 38 comments

ToolGuy on Feb 11, 2020

I had a one-year employee lease on a '98 Z24 and was pleasantly surprised - not refined, but a fun little car. Drove an HHR for a week during a body shop repair - was surprised by the dreadful driving dynamics of that vehicle. (I understand the packaging appeal to some, but ugh.) Was *so* happy to get my G35 back. Saw a Lincoln Blackwood this week - I was surprised at the time (2002MY - only) and am still surprised by the spectacular failure of that vehicle (total U.S. sales 3,356).

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Fleuger99 on Feb 11, 2020

I loved my 1993 Ford Probe GT (AKA Mazda 6 underpinnings). Nice interior and the V6 engine had good performance for back in the day. It also looked great and was pretty reliable.

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