#AceOfBase

These twelve calendar months of 2018 could be called the Year of the Truck, given the number of new models we’ve seen from major players. Even those that aren’t majorly reworked have gotten some measure of refreshment either in the form of a newly rated top engine (Ford) or snazzy color-keyed trim (Toyota).

We visited the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Work Truck much earlier this year but, at the time, there were few details in terms of powertrain or price. Those areas have since been addressed by The General, leading me to the question: does the least-expensive Chevy full-size retain its spot on our Ace of Base list?

Someone once uttered several unkind words about the name “Veloster,” claiming it to be one of the most convoluted and forced names to grace a car since the Mitsubishi Mini Active Urban Sandal.

I’m not sure I agree. After all, at least it is an actual name and not something plucked from an upset bowl of Alphagetti. The 2nd-generation Veloster bowed for the 2019 model year and, given Hyundai’s M.O. of high content and low price, we figured it’d be wise to inspect one for this week’s Ace of Base trial.

For some, dirt cheap wheels are all that’s required. Nothin’ fancy; nothin’ extra. Four tires and a steering wheel are the main requirements of these shoppers. Oh, and a warranty for worry-free driving. Anything further is just gravy. This outlook accurately describes about half of the Quebec market, by the way. Especially the gravy. Poutine is delicious.

Enter the Hyundai Accent. This entry-level Korean sedan has been finding its way into the hands of new drivers and frugal shoppers for 25 years now. As it turns out, even the base model of one of the cheapest new cars in America is laden with standard equipment.

There’s plenty of tasty European machinery available to customers on that side of the pond that isn’t currently (or was not) available in these parts. VW Scirocco R, Audi RS6 Avant, Citroën DS3 Racing … if you’ll excuse me, I need to lie down.

Not all the forbidden fruit is worth plucking off the tree, though. Think you’d ever see a modern Audi in this day and age with a plastic block-off plate where the radio is supposed to be? Well, you have now.

Look, there are people who buy cars simply for transportation purposes. Yes, I know it’s hard to believe, especially for folks like you and I who are of the opinion that a bright-green Dodge Demon is just the ticket for a daily office commute.

Small, largely style-free sedans have been the mainstay of the affordable end of the market for decades. Despite the wholesale abandonment of that segment by certain automakers, there are still plenty of players in the game. Call ‘em the Econ Majors.

Surprises are rare in the car world, given that most companies leak like a screen door on a submarine (or endlessly tease a new model *ahem, Challenger, ahem*), but it occasionally does happen. Last night in Park City, Utah, Hyundai took the wraps off a mid-cycle refresh for its Elantra, an event that was unexpected by all hands.

The 2019 model’s styling will surely be commented upon by a news author here on the site later today. Until then, it is worth revisiting the current model in an effort to understand how it continues to hoover up sales to the tune of about 200,000 cars annually.

The truck you see above has a measured length nearly as long as its full name. Its overall length? A hair under 250 inches. In fact, its wheelbase is eight inches longer than an entire Nissan Micra.

Heavy Chevys have been around seemingly since the dawn of Detroit, alternating between hard work and getting shined up for a night at the Tastee Freeze. Of late, GM (and other companies) have ladeled on the chrome in an never-ending quest to quench the thirst of luxury truck buyers. And, oh yeah — profits, too.

What about at the other end of the scale? Surely there’s room for a no-options two-wheel drive Silverado HD on the worksite. As it turns out, the thing is endowed with a lot more kit for a lot less cheddar than even your flinty-eyed author expected.

Ford has been touting the upcoming Ranger since the Detroit Auto Show last January. Promising a 2.3-liter EcoBoost four and a 10-speed automatic, model and trim specifics about the mid-sizer from Dearborn have been scarce. Until yesterday.

Given that peek behind the Blue Oval curtain, you know today’s Ace of Base selection was easy.

Yes, you’re right – the Raptor is as far from a base truck as The Onion is from real news. However, there’s an argument to be made that the Raptor is as much of an individual model as the Focus RS is a model separate from the workaday hatchback. That is the argument I am making here today.

Raptor pickups can quickly climb into pricing’s nosebleed section, stretching bank accounts of off-road fans and vacuuming their wallets clean. Is a no-options Raptor worth their time? Given that the majority of add-ons augment the truck’s performance not one whit, I think it is.

The machine you see before you isn’t a Jeep CJ from the ‘70s. Nor is it a Jeep CJ from the ‘80s. Despite its familiar shape, googly round eyes, and a front bumper sticking out like a spoilt child’s bottom lip, not one cent of the cash outlaid by customer will line FCA’s coffers.

It’s the Mahindra ROXOR – an off-roader from an Indian company, built in America, the Willys way. Got that?

Annual sales of this upright little Kia regularly crest 100,000 units, despite casting roughly the same shadow since its introduction 10 model years ago — though it did grow slightly in wheelbase and width during its 2014 restyle.

Its early marketing efforts, featuring life-sized animated hamsters that frequently haunt my dreams, were actually inducted into the Madison Avenue Walk of Fame. The people who decide such things deemed the hamsters such a hit they now reside along the Aflac Duck and Tony the Tiger as advertising superstars. Hmm.

With robust sales, the Soul is doing anything but spinning on a stationary hamster wheel, particularly in base trim.

You bunch of ungrateful whelps. “Give us affordable rear-drive performance!” cried all hands, weeping at the thought of departed rear-drive funbags such as the MR2 and Corolla GT-S. Toyota, ever the dutiful servant, shacked up with Subaru to create the chuckable 2,700 lb sprite you see above.

And how’d you repay ‘em? By waiting for the things to show up on BHPH lots, that’s how! Ingrates. This is the car everyone wanted and then promptly forgot, as illustrated by the fact it is outsold more than 2:1 by the antiquated Sequoia.

My rage is manufactured and over the top, of course, as everyone’s seems to be these days. Still, the 86 is a great car, especially in base trim.

GM churned out examples of the full-size, two-door Blazer well into the ‘90s, before relegating the nameplate to its littler brother. Traditionalists frothed at the time, just as we are now after viewing the 2019 Blazer. And the circle continues.

For ’94, Chevy offered the Blazer in a couple of different flavors. You know my pick, of course – base 5.7-liter V8 engine, 4WD, and a big ol’ baseball bat of a manual shifter sticking out of the floor.

For years, this place has been saddled with accusations of an anti-GM bias, yet a quick headcount of current contributors who have a product from The General in their driveway reveal more of our own dollars being willingly spent on a Chevy or GMC than most may think – including your author, who just traded away his 2010 Ram for a 2018 Sierra. More on that in another post.

The car shown here occupies a segment of the market where margins are razor thin and profits are cut to the bone. FCA has bailed and Ford is following suit, leaving Chevy to soldier on as the lone Detroiter peddling a Civrollantra alternative.

Spoiler alert: it’s not a penalty box.

In Monday’s QOTD (which garnered more comments than any other post in recent memory – for this, we thank you) I opined that a base Durango would be my selection given a sudden bank error of $34,000 in my favor and a command to buy something that’ll last me the next 10 years. I also enjoyed some of your selections, by the way.

Digging into the Durango’s build-and-price tool, I found more to like than expected. No, it’s not the best of its range (that honor is reserved for the gonzo 475 hp SRT version) but it certainly makes a case for itself compared to non-‘roided out Durango SUVs.