What car changed your mind?

We all have ideas about what we like in a car. Small cars. Slow car fast. Giant V8's. Pre electronic controls. Convertibles.
But sometimes a car comes along that changes the way we think, I've got two and and want to hear about yours.
1. I always thought I liked slow autocross cars. HS level stuff. It was cheap and after driving a few faster cars and riding in a lot of them, I was convinced that I could get everything I needed out of a slow car. But then I rode in a national level CP car. The absolute violence of that car was amazing. From the time the clutch left the floor the car was in a state of complete chaos for the entire run. Accelerating, braking, turning, everything on the absolute edge of grip of 14 inch wide slicks. That car changed my world.
2. I do not like automatic transmissions. I will grudgingly accept one if it's the only thing available, and I do understand their place in the world, but I'm like a mopey teenager who is convinced the world will never understand my pain when I'm forced to drive one. Then I bought the R63 AMG. The seven speed in that is really good. In sport mode it's GREAT. It will hold a gear to 7k on acceleration and will hold gears above 3k while decelersting so that you're in the meat of the power when you get back on it mid corner. It allows you to control the dynamics of car almost as well as a manual. And yet, put it in comfort mode and it's limousine smooth all day long. It turns out I don't hate automatics, I just hate badly programmed automatics, which is most of them, bit not all of them, which has opened my mind to trying others and forming opinions individually about them.

Im still a v8 guy and have always been, stick or auto is fine for me but i was very anti import/4 cylinder anything until a friend tossed and ebay turbo and a tune on his civic and proceeded to outrun me by a full second! (Dragstrip. My capri's 12.90 too his 11.70)

That car is what led me too do my first 2.3t swap and while i still prefer v8 noises it gave me a new respect for both 4 cylinders and boost.

I never cared much about minivans until I bought one with a 5spd. Once they had one foot in the door with me i learned to love pretty much all of them.

Funnily enough, it was my Dodge Intrepid back in the day that taught me the fun-to-drive factor from a progressive powerband was more fun than a huge swell of torque that dropped off depressingly before upshifting. There's something great about an engine that feels like it could really benefit from raising the rev limiter.

I hate to drag the Answer out so early in a thread, but it really was a mind changer. Growing up in PA, I got used to needing 4x4 or front wheel drive, high ground clearance for snow, and room to haul all kinds of useless weight around. When I moved to California, and was rounding out 3 months without a vehicle, I'd resigned myself to buying something broken and having a project. Not the best situation when you're living on your friends couch. So to the list of Craigs I went, searching for something cheap without back fees, and 2 days later I got the call. Until this point, I hadn't been exposed to Miatea greatly. Sure I tried to convince my grandfather to buy a 96 new when he wrecked his Lincoln, but I was 9 and it had popup headlights, still the coolest thing ever. But I'd never driven one, I often made fun of them as my truck was covered in mud.

I'd never been big on manual transmissions. I'd driven trucks around jobsites, thrown around a couple "race" cars, but never had one for a DD before because "there are too many hills around here" as I was told. So to say I was a bit out of my comfort zone would be an understatement when I got a ride 45 minutes away to the owners house. Pull up and see a scratched, dented, and worn out looking BRG, and it started to grow on me immediately. Before the test drive was over, I handed him a $100 bill and said I'd be back Saturday with the other 11. Which lead to my first real time driving by myself in CA, driving a manual without a dump bed, and being in a vehicle I was pretty sure I could bench press. Fun times. I only missed 2 shifts though, both went 1-2-5 because of how tight and unmarked the wooden Nardi knob was.

Months go by, and I get a job driving for people. This job required trips up into the mountains, then back down to the bay. The first set of switchbacks I hit spooked me a little, the tires were really worse off than they looked. By the time I came back down the mountain you couldn't pull me out of that little hairdressers cars. Sliding around the bends, ripping off in second gear up hills and past trucks. It was just fantastic and I've been chasing the feeling since.

I still have to hand it to the previous owner of that car though. They handed me a folder with every single receipt that the car had acquired since they bought it, err, found it in a field and decided to throw money at it. Receipts totalling 8 thousand dollars over 7 years, everything from a new differential (torsen by happy accident) to alternator belts. I put 50k miles on the car, only maintenance other than oil changes was a clutch and flywheel kit I bought from ebay to add lightness. Then some jackass I was letting drive it while I was living on the island blew up the transmission and it went to the great car graveyard of Novato.

To this day, well, I guess it's only been about 4 years but still, when I get in my 93, even now with the blacked out cloth interior, I can feel the worn old leather from my BRG, and it's just like being back out west, until it rains. California told rain to berk itself, and I really wish PA would do the same.

In 2010 the biggest auto media buzz was all about the Leaf and Volt; at the time I couldn't have been less interested these in plug-in "appliances." I was even afraid that as this tech became more mainstream it would spell the end of fun driver's cars. Tesla has shown us that electrification doesn't mean the end of performance, and my current daily driver--a Soul EV--is probably the best car I've ever owned for commuting.

The DCT in the E92 M3 sold me on this transmission tech; the PDK in the latest-gen Porsche models made me actually want to own it.

I never wanted a diesel truck. I drove a few for work and was left unimpressed. When I started thinking bout bigger boats, bigger tow vehicles came with the territory. I was looking for a 460 gas F250, preferably a short bed. I found a deal on a '96 7.3L Powerstroke long bed.

I love that truck. I like the clattery noise of the diesel. I like the tractoriness of it. I like the fact that it feels like I'm idling doing 60mph. I will never own another pickup without an 8' bed. Why on earth would I not want this much storage and utility?

My '00 A6 BiTurbo with 6 speed manual transmission. I don't need high horsepower for a daily driver. It turned my into an ass for one. Then my '91 Miata finished the change. It taught me that driving at 9/10ths on the street with 119 hp is more fun than using 240hp of twin turbo fun.

Of course, I too, love manual transmissions, but my 8 speed ZF in my Grand Cherokee is pretty sweet. Pop it into Sport mode and it'll hang gears and do zippy downshifts.

In reply to revrico: Ditto.

I went to my first autocross a few years ago and before the event I sounded like the biggest ass of the place. After all I had 300 hp, AWD, brakes the size of dinner plates.... I was gonna OWN these guys in their "cute cars". That day I learned a lot. A DFL finish will do that to you.

Now I have a CSPish Miata and have learned to respect small and nimble over big and lumbering.

I had big v8 rwd things, followed by tiny FWD things. Never a convertible, never a rwd car that turned corners. I was CRX shopping for an autox car. Then I had to pick up a miata and bring it to an autocross to help a friend out. This was the worlds worst Miata, leaky, rusty, bouncy, downright scary on the highway and awful on course. From the moment I turned out ofthe parking lot with the top down I was hooked and 3 weeks later I bought one and have had four since.

nderwater wrote: The DCT in the E92 M3 sold me on this transmission tech

Yep.

As soon as I can justify it, I want a BMW/Porsche with that gearbox as a DD occasional track car.

My old mini showed me that you don't needs lots of HP to have fun. I still like, and am building a V8 swap car, but I must own another mini one day.
It's all about momentum baby!

I was at the Car and Driver Superfour Challenge in 2003. All the top tuners brought four-cylinder cars to run around a course that had a 1/4 mile drag, a road course section and a run up to 130 mph and then to a full stop. There were no real rules, although they probably had to be technically street legal. Ours was Larry Webster did almost all the driving. Anyhow, at the end of the day, Larry pulled up to the line in a stock Z06...and demolished the entire field in one run. I started taking Corvettes seriously at that point. I didn't want one, but they had a lot more speed in them than I'd appreciated.

I was a muscle car guy until 1981 or so, when dad bought a new Civic 1500 DX hatch with a 5-speed manual because gas mileage. That car taught me that light and tossable could be waaaay more fun than just mashing the gas and feeling the acceleration. I think it taught dad that, too.

In high school I had the juvenile mindset than anything less than 8-cylinders/RWD was slow junk. A short drive of my friend's dad's Saab 900 turbo opened my eyes somewhat, while a ride in the back of another friend's brother's GLH-T really sealed it for me.

I too considered Miata to be a "hairdresser's" car, until after I was serious about autocross and saw the times they were putting down.

The latest one was minivans - although we'd owned an '00 Villager years ago, neither of us liked it, but it was mostly functional for people-moving. We sold it before the kids were driving, because by that point we rarely took everyone to one place together, or if we did it was rarely more than 10-miles away. However, 3-years ago we rented a Grand Caravan for a trip to DC, and last spring a T&C for a tour of the Southwest. Those trips convinced me how well these vans eat up miles, with reasonable MPG, while also offering versatility...so I bought a used one last fall.

A Fusion Hybrid Titanium rental car changed my mind about hybrids. My previous experiences were with a 2G and 3G Prius, which I found quite underwhelming and a bit unnerving to drive with the steering not providing much in the way of feel. The Fusion wasn't that much improved in the feel department, but a little bit more heft and a better chassis turned it into a very confidence-inspiring vehicle in the twisties. I happened to be stuck in traffic in Northern Virginia with the Fusion, and being able to crawl forward in EV mode with a relatively seamless transition into and out of EV mode turned me into a believer. As it happened, about a year later I found myself needing another car, and a C-Max found its way into our driveway.

Well, I learned how to drive a manual in an 83 Lynx wagon with an Escort GT engine in it when I was 9 it would get rubber in third. As a teen only wanted V8 and RWD. Then to preserve my life by taking a 78 CJ with bias mud tires off the road for the winter, picked up an 85 RX7 GS. To this day it is on of the most enjoyable cars to just get in and drive.

Pinnacle of my cars was an E30 M3, now I try to make my Fox Mustang handle and go like the M3. It will be a challenge but I'm up for it.

Keith Tanner wrote: Anyhow, at the end of the day, Larry pulled up to the line in a stock Z06...and demolished the entire field in one run.

....and thus was born the legend of the C5 Z06.

It probably knocked down similar highway mpg's to those heavily modified 4-bangers as well.

As a young man in the late 50's two cars from my area defined my dream cars. A 57 Chevy with a slight rake in front, Olds spinners, scavenger pipes with the name "White Lady" written behind the front wheel wells. Also a baby blue 57 Ford convertible with tube grille, lakes pipes, turnpike cruiser fender skirts, and continental kit. Then one day I was standing on a corner of route 6 in New Bedford Ma , my home town, and down the road came a red big Healy with a gentleman with one of those driving hats on. The way it sat on it's suspension and moved down the road made me a sports car lover since then.

After going from an import enthusiast to HPDE to W2W racing, I finally realized that NA torques>boosted torques>no torques. Driving a slow car fast is a lot of fun, unless you are trying to race with guys driving a fast car fast.

Other than the obvious Tesla P85D regarding electric cars and autonomous driving. I'd had another possibly more shocking one as of late.

The Jeep Renegade. The rebadged FIAT Panda, though still slow, feels plucky when fitted with the 2.4L. It offers utility that earns the first generation scion xb and Honda element legions of owners who wouldn't want to drive anything else, in spite for their vehicles' shortcomings when it comes to visual appearance and anything regarding performance or spirited driving. When fitted with the optional dual removable panoramic sunroof panels (which each weigh about 5 lb and are only as difficult to remove as the average convertible soft top is to fold down) the renegade offers a near wrangler open air feel. Reinstall the panels, put the windows up and your again properly insulted from the elements. As an added bonus of utility the rear most removal roof panel is over a section of seating that can fold flat for hauling larger cargo, this also lends itself to hauling longer or taller cargo. I thought that I'd loathe the renegade and after spending some time with one, I'd seriously concern dailying one.

Im with most people here, miata opened my eyes and changed my world. Oh and my first ride in a real turbo car, a 400whp mkiv supra, and ive been turbo obsessed ever since

71 Challenger. My buddy's brother just got done re-paintig it and took us for a ride. 0-100-0 quicker than I could contemplate. Its never been the same.

I hated imports until I bought a Subaru. I haven't owned a V8 or American car since.

P85d is a wicked machine. I hated electric cars before I drove that, now I kinda want one.

Minivans. Used to think they were garbage. Rented a couple and I actually see the appeal and kinda wanted one over an SUV, but the wife wouldn't allow it.

Trucks. Never used to care about them, even after I bought my older Lincoln Navigator. Started towing to race events with the Navigator and now I've started looking at all the really nice trucks I could have.

Miata. Never really thought much of them at all. Never really liked the look of the NA. Bought a really cheap one on a whim, had it for ten years and did a lot of stuff with it.