@Tonsty's blog!

Right. Time for quite a subjective topic. Today, I want to talk about cars that, in my humble opinion, are largely underestimated or unknown for various reasons. It’s all too common for a car to never get rid off its initial reception by journalists and motorists. I wonder why. Why would we care what a journalist in 1984 thought, if we are looking to buy today?

So, what type of cars am I talking about exactly? I’m talking about cars that weren’t a particular sales success, or even if they were, they still were despised of by the general public. Yet, I think all of these cars are worth a consideration.

Right, off we go. The cars aren’t listed in any particular order, actually.

1. Renault Avantime

Avantime in Grand Air mode

Ok, so this thought-provoking Matra-produced time capsule might have its issues with built quality and fuel consumption, but it might very well flirt with the title of Last True French car. What I mean with that? The French car industry, while getting better and better, is doing so by copying the Germans. What fun is a Peugeot or Renault when it doesn’t squeak or break down?

For less than 10.000 euro, this is in my humble opinion a unique chance to own a piece of history. With only 8.557 ever made, it’s a truly exclusive car too. And with that gas guzzling old-school 3.0 V6, at least you arrive in the French Riviera in style and in (or should I say, ahead of) time. And when the airco breaks down, grab the opportunity to enjoy the great “grand air” feature. All windows (and that’s quite a lot of glass!) including the roof opening with the touch of a single button. Cricky! Check out this beauty.

2. Porsche 924

1983 Porsche 924 with optional 15 inch alloys, inspired by the 924 Turbo design (but different bolt pattern).

It’s not very often the ‘lowly’ 924 gets any love. Now, I know I’m slightly biased as this was my very first car and the designer is a Dutch man who -a few years later- also penned the amazing BMW Z1. Setting bias aside, there really is a lot to like about this little ’80 sports car.

Yes, its engine may be based on a VW LT one, and yes, it may have drums as brakes in the rear, and yes, with 125 bhp it’s not really fast in a straight line. However, the transaxle setup with near perfect weight distribution front-to-back makes for a nicely driving car indeed. If, for whatever reason, you’ve never owned a rear-wheel-drive car and you are looking to change that (and you should!), Porsche ownership can start for as little as a few hundred for a banger, but please spend a little more and get a nice example for anywhere from 1.5 to 3 grand. Look for a 1980 or later model to get fully galvanized body and electronic fuel injection, like this one. Good 924′s are a dying breed, get one while you can!

3. Honda Accord Type-R

Honda Accord Type-R

Now this one is a bit of a stretch. But I thought it’d be a nice idea to include one car suggested by someone else. In this first installment, that “someone else” is the one and only, wait for it, @MajorGav from PetrolBlog. His answer to my -rather vague on purpose- question what was the first car coming to mind when I said underestimated, reasonably priced used car was:

“Genuinely, the first car that came to mind was the #Honda Accord Type-R. Really not sure why!”

So, there you have it. A car maybe so much underesitmated, that I merely realized it had existed. Now, I must confess that closest thing I’ve ever owned was a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid. I think not even the steering wheel is shared, as it came from the last generation Civic. Nevertheless, we can easily understand the suggestion when looking at the specs. A big naturally aspirated 2.2 liter 4 banger producing two-hundred-and-twenty horsepower (old trick to make it look more, even eighty-two horsepower sounds quite much, really), roughly 1300kg, 0-100 in 7.2 seconds.

More likely than not, it’s going to be hard to find a good example that hasn’t fallen victim to the “lets cover the car with peck, drive through the nearest Halfords and see what’ll stick to it”-type of “tuning”. But if you do find an unmolested example, you’re probably in for a tight steering fast saloon at the very least. And it has four doors and a boot, talk about practicality.

Yours for roughly 8000 euro, it sure beats having to travel in a Toyota Aygo or Kia Picanto. And it’s bound to be more fun. Again, grab one while you can.