1995 Mitsubishi 3000gt Base Coupe 2-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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Here are a few of our automotive guilty pleasures

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. The world is full of cars, and just about as many of them are bad as are good. It's pretty easy to pick which fall into each category after giving them a thorough walkaround and, more important, driving them. But every once in a while, an automobile straddles the line somehow between good and bad — it may be hideously overpriced and therefore a marketplace failure, it may be stupid quick in a straight line but handles like a drunken noodle, or it may have an interior that looks like it was made of a mess of injection-molded Legos. Heck, maybe all three. Yet there's something special about some bad cars that actually makes them likable. The idea for this list came to me while I was browsing classified ads for cars within a few hundred miles of my house. I ran across a few oddballs and shared them with the rest of the team in our online chat room. It turns out several of us have a few automotive guilty pleasures that we're willing to admit to. We'll call a few of 'em out here. Feel free to share some of your own in the comments below. Dodge Neon SRT4 and Caliber SRT4: The Neon was a passably good and plucky little city car when it debuted for the 1995 model year. The Caliber, which replaced the aging Neon and sought to replace its friendly marketing campaign with something more sinister, was panned from the very outset for its cheap interior furnishings, but at least offered some decent utility with its hatchback shape. What the two little front-wheel-drive Dodge models have in common are their rip-roarin' SRT variants, each powered by turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engines. Known for their propensity to light up their front tires under hard acceleration, the duo were legitimately quick and fun to drive with a fantastic turbo whoosh that called to mind the early days of turbo technology. — Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski  Chevrolet HHR SS: Chevy's HHR SS came out early in my automotive journalism career, and I have fond memories of the press launch (and having dinner with Bob Lutz) that included plenty of tire-smoking hard launches and demonstrations of the manual transmission's no-lift shift feature. The 260-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder was and still is a spunky little engine that makes the retro-inspired HHR a fun little hot rod that works quite well as a fun little daily driver.

Mitsubishi showing off 473-hp Lancer Evo X Concept Final at Tokyo Auto Salon

We know from the head of Mitsubishi USA that the special edition Lancer Evo X coming next June will be a five-speed GSR model with more horsepower, a tweaked suspension and some additional fancy "bits and pieces." We didn't expect to be this, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Final Concept with an ECU tune and new HKS turbo making its 2.0-liter engine good for 473 horsepower. That's 183 more ponies than the stock model. Based on a five-speed GSR, on top of that power boost it gets larger intakes and intercoolers, an upgraded cooling system and exhaust, an adjustable suspension from HKS and 19-inch Rays forged wheels. The finish is a mix of matte and gloss black, and chrome trim. Actually, we still don't expect the special edition we'll get to mimic the Evo X Final Concept; rather, we think this black beauty is a full-fat showcase for the Tokyo Auto Salon, where the Evo X Final Concept will be shown. It's a tantalizing could-have-been, and now that we've seen what Mitsu can do with the Lancer Evo when it cares just a little, we hope our that end-of-series special isn't too disappointing by comparison.

Mitsubishi Concept G4 leaves us feeling blue

To say we were unimpressed by the 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage that debuted in New York earlier this year would be one heck of an understatement. So pardon us for not oohing and aahing over the Concept G4 that we're seeing for the first time here in Shanghai. It is, basically, a Mirage sedan. Try to contain your excitement.
Mitsubishi states that it intends to roll out the production version of the G4 Concept globally, powered by a 1.2-liter MIVEC engine mated to a continuously variable transmission that should at least be good for some substantial fuel economy gains. The Mirage, after all, is rated at 37/44 miles per gallon city/highway. We're also told that the car will be very lightweight, and that this should aid in making this thing not drive like a total dud.
We'll wait and see how the relatively sharp lines of the concept transfer to production form, but given that we already know what the Mirage looks like, we have a pretty good feeling that we'll be just as underwhelmed the second time around. Have a look below for the press blast.