Top 10 Cars You'll Forget Ever Existed: Part II
Sadly, there are plenty of cars worth forgetting. That’s why after the success of the original, we’re back with another installment of the Top 10 cars you’ll forget ever existed… if you haven’t already.
First, there’s the Toyota Paseo. It came as a coupe during most of its relatively short U.S. lifespan, but there was a convertible offered with the 1997 model year.
The name means “walk” in Spanish and in many ways you might have been better off doing that.
You’re probably familiar with the Ford Bronco. Ever heard of a guy named O.J. Simpson?
Reasonably well known its claim to fame in a low speed chase on LA’s freeways, broadcast live around the country, the same cannot be said of the oval brand’s answer to Chevrolet’s S10 Blazer.
Known for being especially prone to flipping over, the Bronco II gathered critical press quickly. Ford sold it between 1984 and 1990 and took a decade to limp back into the compact utility vehicle segment with the Escape in 2001.
One of Chrysler’s many infamous badge swaps, the Breeze blew over without making any lasting impact.
It wasn’t actually a terrible car for the time. It also wasn’t terribly good. The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference, and that’s the only emotion the Breeze generates.
The car found its way into the obits section in the 2000 model year just as the brand’s flag it flew under was taken down from the flag pole.
Its counterparts, the Chrysler Cirrus and Dodge Stratus are equally… wait…. What we were talking about again?
The Oldsmobile Intrigue was built between 1998 and 2002. Later in its brief life, it came with a 215 hp V6, but that wasn’t enough to keep it or its brand on life support.
The Intrigue’s lease on life ended as a part of the larger shuttering of the Oldsmobile brand beginning an era of assisted suicide at General Motors.
Slotted between the IS and ES in terms of size, the HS was Lexus’ first dedicated hybrid.
Still sold in Japan, the brand didn’t wake up to how ugly its car was until after pulling it from the North American market in 2012.
The HS is bland looking and boring to drive. No wonder it was a poor seller in the U.S. — even with Toyota’s hybrid king reputation.
If you ever get the urge to surround yourself in someone else’s bad decisions, seek out someone selling one of these.
At 485 hp and a ludicrous 575 lb-ft of torque, BMW’s hybrid SUV was monstrously powerful. It’s also one of the coolest hybrids ever built, but that doesn’t save it from being completely irrelevant.
SEE ALSO: 2010 BMW X6 ActiveHybrid Review
The diesel gets better fuel economy. The wheels are butt-ugly. The list of reasons to forget it are longer than the car’s laughable lifespan.
By the time it exited production last year, the Routan probably felt like a baby begotten under impulse that neither parent really wanted.
Sold between 2009 and 2012, Volkswagen’s badge engineered Chrysler minivan made it four years before keeling over.
The only thing more shocking than the salvo of angry exchanges slung by the two brands is the fact that people fell for a re-badged Chrysler as a Volkswagen in the first place.
Yep. Lexus sold the first-generation IS with a badonkadonk. Unfortunately, the Japanese luxury car didn’t have the same catchy appeal as Sir Mixalot’s song about “rap guy’s girlfriends” and their round behinds.
If you’ve ever wondered what automotive writers dream about, this comes pretty close, except for the fact that it wasn’t packaged with a manual.
Predictably, the North American market rejected the SportCross like a cheerleader deflecting dorky prom dates.
If you owned a Millenia in the early ‘90s, you had something special. As a remnant of Mazda’s plan to build a luxury brand, the car came with a higher level fit and finish than anything else in the product line.
The secret luxury bargain didn’t last very long, though. Mazda gave the car a facelift in 1997 and cost saving measures as well. For example, its aluminum hood was replaced with a steel version.
Production ended in 2002 without a direct successor. Instead, the Mazda6 filled the gap.
One of the few models on this list we actually miss, we’re more saddened by the fact the luxury division never got took off. Just think of how good a Mazda premium brand would be.
The Dae-what who?
You might have seen a Daewoo or two cruising around and not thought anything of it. That’s partially because General Motors absorbed the brand and started selling the Lanos under the Aveo nameplate. Another brutally unsuccessful GM sub-compact, it has since been scrapped for the Sonic.
If there’s any reason to remember the Lanos, it’s for the car’s staring role in Pineapple Express. Skip to 1:07 to hear the line right away.
This may be the end of our top 10 but it’s hardly the end of forgettable cars. Our second installment, we already have more than enough cars to make a third.
SEE ALSO: The Original Top 10 Cars You’ll Forget
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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My brother has been driving a Paseo for god knows how many years. It's nearing 300K mark without any major repair done. It's stellar in reliability department if nothing else.
The BMW Activehybrids are a joke, and this is coming from a fan of the marque. Their only reason they even exist is to cater to Americans who are so blindly in love with the Prius. As the article says, the diesel versions are more fuel efficient and the drivetrain is less complicated than their hybrid equivalents. I hope those models (not only the X6, but all of the Activehybrids) go away and are long forgotten.