Repair-It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfJjH4oZDTA

This was a special treat considering I am on a Southwest flight, wasn't sure how my $8 wifi would work, and, well, it's the SS!

He mostly did a good job but I think screwed up on two things, and they are related:
1) He says the car is not significant enough to warrant more than a 5. It might have been a bastard child in the lineup but this car rolled off the assembly line just before Holden stopped making vehicles in Australia. Forever.

2) This is more a perspective issue but no matter what you think of the styling, price, or name, they did not intend to sell many of these. You really can't call it a failure without sounding ignorant of facts.

Other than that, I think he captured why I love these pretty well. I am definitely in that sleeper category of car enthusiasts.

This is insightful and true:

I feel like the big reason "enthusiast" cars fail is because many enthusiasts would rather buy used

Actually this kind of invites an interesting discussion, maybe. Is there such a thing as an enthusiast and non-enthusiast buyer? That is somewhat rhetorical because I don't think the answer is as simple as "well of course, enthusiasts buy Camaros and Mustangs and Challengers and non-enthusiasts buy Corollas and CR-Vs and Pilots.". I think plenty of non-enthusiasts buy late model cars like the aforementioned. I bet there are a lot of people driving around in a Mustang GT or Camaro SS who can't recite every spec about the car and haven't been lusting after one for years and plan to keep it "forever.". These are your non-enthusiast buyers and I think there are a lot of them. It's why there are used vehicles, even fun ones like these. Frankly, they have the cash to buy new cars like these which are totally impractical as a family car (for the most part).

Meanwhile I think the more critical enthusiasts may actually tend to be used car buyers. That puts new car design in a bit of a tough spot.

kevm14 wrote:This is insightful and true:

I feel like the big reason "enthusiast" cars fail is because many enthusiasts would rather buy used

This is supported by the resale values of the SS in the used market.

I bet there are a lot of people driving around in a Mustang GT or Camaro SS who can't recite every spec about the car and haven't been lusting after one for years and plan to keep it "forever.". These are your non-enthusiast buyers and I think there are a lot of them.

Yes, but for a non-enthusiast to want to buy, there has to be something besides performance. Like good looks (Camaro, Mustang, Challenger). Plenty of people buy cars just because they like how they look or how others perceive it. Again, looks and prestige. Enthusiasts are the only ones that care about specs, except for maybe mpg.

So, if you want a car to sell so it can show up on the used market, looking good helps. High MPGs do too, but we are less interested in that category.

Also, unfortunately, those looks and performance will make for a higher used price... Turns out, rare ugly performance cars, and nice looking popular performance cars both maintain resale... So middle of the road aesthetics and performance might make for the cheapest used car for us.