@SeraphimDawn  
Well, they aren’t necessarily traditional performance cars, but there are a few good ones either out now or upcoming: the GTI, Focus ST, and Fiesta ST seem like decently attainable hot-hatches, the Miata is supposed to be a good little roadster, the 500 Abarth is apparently lots of fun to toss around, we’re finally getting the Civic Type R next year, Hyundai is starting up a performance division, and Kia, of all companies, is building a RWD, 300+HP, twin-turbo V6 sedan. (As strange as it feels to say, I’m very curious about the Kia.) And then there are the LX-platform cars, though not all of them are really performance oriented.
 
Still a far cry from the days when every manufacturer was putting out three different easily affordable performance models, but at least the market isn’t totally devoid of them.

@Flying Pancake  
Only when fuel price goes up again.
 
I miss those days when consumer level brands frequently made affordable sports and performance cars. Nowadays most sports cars are relegated to the luxury brands.

@SeraphimDawn  
They really screwed up the non-LX platform sedans; the Dart and Avenger never got anything to make them stand out to either enthusiasts or people who normally buy Corollas, and the Sebring/200 was either crap, or just mediocre and completely forgettable (supposedly the AWD V-6 200 was good, though I never even knew it existed until it was being discontinued.)
 
I don’t hate crossovers necessarily; some of them are decent, practical vehicles, like the Soul or the Element, sometimes they’re non-traditional but decent SUVs, like the Cherokee, and sometimes manufacturers use the “crossover” name to sneak wagons into the US market, like the Flex. The ones I can’t stand are the giant piles of forgettable mediocrity like the Captiva, Equinox, Journey, and the like. They don’t do anything well, they don’t look good, why do people buy them again?
 
On the plus side, eventually “crossover” will suffer the same fate as “wagon,” “minivan,” and “SUV” before it, and people will want to avoid them just because of some stigma attached to the name. Hopefully whatever comes next will be an improvement. Maybe Utes?

@Flying Pancake  
FCA is failing on the sedan market. All except for the Charger and Chrysler 300 are to be discontinued. I personally think discontinuing the Dodge Avenger was a mistake.
 
 
I really don’t buy into the SUV craze. Crossovers, I think, are cancer to the automotive market.

@SeraphimDawn  
The funny thing is that, with all the crossovers on the road now, the Aztek would probably have sold like hotcakes if it were introduced a few years later (and not crap).
 
And, yeah, I really like Dodge right now. FCA may not have the best reputation for reliability, and there are some definite crap models in their lineup (why is the Journey still a thing?) but the Charger and Challenger are good looking, classically American, reasonably practical cars with performance ranging from “pretty solid” to “completely insane.” Dodge is the only brand that can say that right now, and I respect them for it. The only thing I wish they’d do now would be either bring back the Magnum, or just drop all SUV pretense and make the Durango a wagon.

@Flying Pancake  
Now Dodge pretty much fills in that niche Pontiac once held.

@Flying Pancake  
I just wonder how and who got the Pontiac Aztek POS approved?  
That shit literally killed the Pontiac brand and soiled it’s reputation.

@SeraphimDawn  
Yeah, that would have been a great use of Pontiac, instead of squandering it’s identity with anonymous (albeit good) cars like they did. Maybe bring back the Firebird as a simpler, better looking Camaro, bring back the Solstice to fight the Miata and/or use the platform for a RWD hot hatch, maybe resurrect the Safari nameplate as one of the “lifestyle” SUVs/crossovers that are so popular when targeting younger drivers, and de-content the SS, give it some actual styling, and introduce it as a GTO or Catalina to fight the Charger.
 
The rationale behind the convertible ban story was that new rollover safety regulations in the 1970s would have no exemptions for convertibles, meaning that they’d be effectively banned. (And convertibles of the era weren’t exactly great in regular crashes either.) That law never came to pass, though apparently there was enough concern about it to influence the design of cars of the era. I haven’t been able to find a 100% reliable source on this, though, so it could just be hearsay.

@Flying Pancake  
I miss Pontiac.  
GM should revive the brand, for the young consumers. Which was what they originally planned on doing with the brand.
 
 
Also, what? Convertibles being banned? Need background on this.

@SeraphimDawn  
I’m not entirely sure if it’s true, but what I’ve heard is that T-tops only came into existence because there were concerns that convertibles were going to be banned. Once it became apparent that they weren’t, manufacturers stopped bothering with T-tops. Really a shame though; I very rarely see a convertible that looks good, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a T-top car that doesn’t. We do still have a couple cars with Targa tops, like the Corvette here, so at least that’s almost as good.  

 
EDIT: Oh, and it looks like the Trans Am had T-tops right up until the end.  
 
Gosh, I miss Pontiac.

@Flying Pancake  
Speaking of T-tops. What happened to those?
 
 
The 1988 Pontiac Trans Am looks awesome.

@SeraphimDawn  
To be completely fair to the Mustang, the late ’80s and early ‘90s was a pretty terrible time for car styling in general. And I will give that body style points for T-tops, two-tone paint, and having a hatchback; all of which the next one lost while keeping the blandness (the wheels are kind of neat, though):  
 
But really, either of them is lightyears better than the Probe that was almost that era’s Mustang.

@Alex Vostox  
Funny how Ford decided to make the Mustang look like their 86’ Ford Taurus.
 
I still see a lot of people driving the same generation of Mustangs Sunset is posing in front of.

@SeraphimDawn
 
Ya. Totally agree.. Even 1990s Japanese car lookin’ better than that.

I believe this Mustang is the mid-95 to 2005 model.  
It was in 2005-6 when Mustang regained it’s retro 1960s look.
 
 
@Alex Vostox  

 
1987-1993 one looked like a rental car.  

Kinda sucks that the art styles are mixed, but never the less mixing with one of my favorite 90s car from the Midtown Madness series is cool enough for me :3

Best human, with best sports car  
I can die happy

At the car show, guys would ask if she came with the car, and she had to be like, “Oh you. (giggle)”  
Alternate comment:  
This isn’t what she had in mind when it came to “riding a mustang”, but this was good too.

1990s Mustang is the WORST Mustang design.

I own this exact same car colour and everything except convertible.

Ooo a collab

ALL OF MY YES!!!!!

It makes sense she would drive a pony car.

Mustang Sunset  
Ride Sunset, ride

@OptimusPrimevil  
She was using a fancy computer in The Science of Magic short so driving a car would be a piece of cake for her