QOTD: Cars to Calm a Crisis?

This Question of the Day took form as your author drove into the hills, away from the city, in a fruitless search for awe-inspiring meteors. What a bust. And something sauntered past in the dark, too, so that wasn’t great for the ol’ nerves.

On the trip up to that spooky secluded roadway overlooking a fog-cloaked valley, yours truly got to thinking about the Toyobaru Twins and their low sales numbers, and the fact that a successor is nearly upon us. Who’ll buy such a vehicle in today’s hostile buying climate for small, sporty coupes? A few possibilities come to mind.

First, there’s the young, childless, unencumbered driver who puts fun before all else, and pegs the 86 or BRZ as their best bet for cheap-ish, non-Miata thrills.

Then there’s the established thirty-something that has a family and nearly everything he/she needs, but for whom the urge to cut loose a bit hasn’t died. Chances are available cash won’t be sufficient to fund a new buy, though. That leaves the buyer going through something of a midlife crisis. The kids have moved out (or are at least funding themselves somewhat), but a Corvette’s out of the question.

What type of driver will the marketing materials show? We wait.

But the trail of brain crumbs that brought us here is worth mining. Regardless of your current age or financial situation, put yourself in the shoes of that third driver. The comfortable, married, middle-aged middle-classer. The type courted by so many automakers. You’ve managed yourself well, there’s already a compact CUV and a full-size pickup in your driveway, and there’s still enough fiscal breathing room left over to add a non-extravagant amount of fun to your existence.

We’ll place a cap of $50,000 on this buying exercise. So no C8. Rather than risk it all on a steamy affair with someone half your age or a sudden foray into dangerous thrill-seeking, a car will be your chosen method of dousing that midlife crisis. What gets the buy? Keep in mind that the vehicle needn’t be new.

[Image: Ford]