I think Nissan might be my favorite Japanese company right now because they have those designs that scribble in the margins and are super weird as well as the normal boring stuff. Sure, sometimes it doesn't work - Murano Convertible - but I appreciate that they're willing to go out on a limb and juggle chainsaws sometimes. Sure, the Altima is a pretty typical boring sedan, but then they go insane and make the Juke, and then go even crazier and shove a GT-R drivetrain in there, and I appreciate that in a company.

I call it the Seal School of Business. You're never going to survive and unless you get a little crazy.

I'm beginning to grow rather fond of the Juke's design. I'm sure there's a psychological reason for this, but I see them a lot and now I kind of like them.

The suspension doesn't play by the rules! It's a loose cannon!

The best thing about this Insight is it used to be Leslie Knope's car on Parks and Rec, and it's such perfect car casting: What else would a municipality buy to look green but also be really cheap?

I do a tiny cheer every time I see a late model J-body wrecked.

When I see rust I think Lancia, so a Lancia Beta Berlina from the '70s?

Jonathan Swift was making a bit of a crude joke in order to insult the groups referenced in that section - the deism movement I think it was called - but in a foreign language so it wasn't immediately obvious.

"Wait, a Corolla? Seriously?"

Seriously, and my expectations weren't even very high. I was expecting a reasonably competent compact sedan, which would get me to work while my bumper was being repaired. Nothing earth shattering, nothing exciting, just competence. I got a car with an odd, cheap feeling interior, sweatpants-wearing transmission and an engine that sounded like a distressed cow. It was slow, uncomfortable, cramped and not even that well put together. It was crap, and I couldn't wait to return it and get my superior car back...

...Which is a car based on the Corolla platform, so they clearly could have made it something good. So why didn't they?

The 1991 Chrysler 300 concept.



It had a Viper engine.

If you're going to do differently colored seats, you need an interior design that divides them up a bit better.



I'd actually like to see that color scheme in something like an Aurora.