These Are The Cars Our Readers Are Always Excited To See

Scientifically, it's a known fact that every car person spends basically every waking moment of their lives with their eyes focused on the roads around them, hoping to spot cool cars driving around or parked in lots. Much of my weekends are typically spent driving around with the express purpose of carspotting, usually to great results — we really are spoiled by the car culture here in LA.

That led me to my question from earlier this week, where I asked our readers what sorts of cars they're always excited to spot. My example was the Bugatti Veyron, having just seen a great one last weekend. While many of you did chime in with examples of specific makes and models that excite you the most, the majority of the answers I chose to highlight are about types of cars broadly. Y'all really came with great answers for this one, and it's nice to see how aligned some of our readers are in their tastes. Keep scrolling to read all of my favorite submissions, and enjoy how (almost) all of the images are of cars I've spotted around LA within the past few months.

Anything Pre-war. If a car has a spare tire on the running boards, I'm like a 5 year old kid seeing Mickey Mouse.

Always exciting, considering the sheer level of knowledge and commitment required to even keep such a car on the road.

Submitted by: hoser68, Aldairion

I love pre-war stuff, I recently spotted the phenomenal old Rolls-Royce you see above.

I'm always excited to see Kei cars/trucks/vans. My dream car is an Autozam AZ-1 (MR drivetrain, 2 seater/door, and gullwing doors) but really any vehicle in that category gets my blood pumping.

Submitted by: Deepak V.

Autozams are definitely one of my favorites, too. I haven't taken photos of any good kei cars in LA lately so here's one from when I went to Japan last year.

I freak out anytime I see a gullwing. I'm in OC, so I end up spotting one every few months.

Submitted by: GT3_911T

Yesterday I spotted this gullwing in OEM Strawberry Metallic, my first time ever seeing the color in person. Just spectacular.

Basically anything not sold here when new.

Honda beat, kei cars, Holdens, even the alpha gtv I see randomly around town is always a joy

Cars that you cannot get easily in your home country. Be it kei-cars, or something like a Nissan Stagea, or Citroen Ami. Just anything that you can't easily get. I am not talking about the hyper cars like your Bugattis or Ferrari. You just need a f**k-ton of money and some clout and you have one... I am talking about obscure cars that discerning owners look for because it's fun or interesting.

Submitted by: JaredOfLondon, Sennamp4

This Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake is my favorite non-U.S.-market car in LA.

Any exotic, quirky, rare or classic car in the wild really, but bonus for if its on an highway or interstate as then it means that the car is most likely being used, more than just a garage queen out for a quick drive

I always get a kick out of anachronistic cars in the wild. Something like seeing a '70s station wagon loaded with kids and camping gear heading to Yellowstone.

Submitted by: Crashed Lambo, RWP

How about this patina'd original Cobra I saw cruising down PCH? Dude was living the life.

Dodge Vipers, especially the first gen. Any time I see one from the 90s the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and I feel like I'm 8 years old again. It's my dream car.

Submitted by: PlibbleDibble

That's exactly the feeling I get when I with Veyrons.

I always like seeing another Lexus RC as they are kind of rare.

But for me I am always excited to see a modded car, because I know its a fellow enthusiast. You can pull up to a nice Porsche at at light but they can sometimes be just the lamest of the lames who just have more money than actual interest in cars. You know the guys who when you say nice car don't even really want to acknowledge you. Where if you pull up to a modded GTI and say nice car most of the time they will appreciate it.

Submitted by: RC350F

Not all modified cars are good, but I do appreciate people who modify their cars.

Any well-maintained and relatively clean daily driver from the 80's or 90's. Cars that you wouldn't see anymore on the roads kept alive by gumption, grit and love. Supercars? Quirky cars? Imports? I sleep. A person still driving around a 1990 Toyota Tercel? That gets the nod from me. 

For me, the "crappier" the car, the better. I get unreasonably excited when I see a clean Ford Tempo or a Chevy Cavalier. I think it's because they're the last cars I'd expect someone to preserve. I immediately want to ask them how on Earth they've kept their car alive for so long.

Honestly, nothing specific really comes to mind. In general, though, a nice, clean, mostly stock older anything gets my respect, whether it's a classic muscle car or a well-preserved common car from my teenage years in the 1980s.

Pretty much any car that is older than 30 years and in excellent condition is nice to see. Most recently I saw a Karmann Ghia that was below a show car but definitely well over a daily driver grade. The pre-mid 1980s Mercedes Benz and 90s Japanese cars are my favs to spot. Early this year, I saw a 1972 Mercedes Benz 250C that looked stunning. No B pillar and such a simple/elegant side profile.

Any survivor car that isn't expected to be kept long term. Where I am, it's common to see 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gen 4Runner, older Rangers, S-10s and Blazers, and even 90s Accords and Camrys. But there's some guy in my neighborhood that still drives around in an early 90s Toyota Camry Wagon (the one with the two wipers on the back window.) I kinda freaked out when I first spotted this going the other way (my parents owned a sedan of the same era) and it still makes me smile when I see it periodically.

Cars from when I was really starting to get into cars, so late 1980s through the early 1990s. It's getting rare to see a decent condition 1990 Maxima or 1992 Mitsubishi 3000GT or 1993 Toyota Supra and those are cars I loved. I'm glad people are starting to snag these cars to clean them up as these were Peak Japan and deserve to be restored and taken care of. And I'd love to find a 1992-3 Maxima SE with the 5-speed with low miles as a daily driver. They were quite a bit of fun.

Submitted by: Alf Enthusiast, Mercedes Streeter,  BuddyS, Tex, LarriveeC05, Xavier96

I love a mundane survivor.

Cars I used to own. In my case, particularly gen 3 Integras and New Edge and Boss 302 Mustangs. They're a lot rarer than other ones I've owned.

My first car was a 2004 Scion xB that I got in 2008. I sold it in 2018 and warms my heart to see them on the road with their sharper edges than the smooth edged ones.

Submitted by: Arnold Rimmer, danthotto

I'm the same way, Mercedes W123s and Volvo 740s/940s always catch my eye. Yes, that's a W126 above, but it's the same super-rare color that my R129 was, so it counts too.

Saturn SL. Those things are like cockroaches. They'll survive the nuclear apocalypse. I once had a downstairs neighbor with an SL that was probably at least a decade old, if not much older. Anyway, the interior was basically down to the seats and the steering wheel, but he still drove it.

Submitted by: DynamicPresence

Those plastic body panels will outlast all of us.

Any lesser known, or less popular imported JDM car.

I recently saw someone driving an imported Mitsubishi FTO GP Version R and lost my marbles with excitement.

Interesting JDM stuff, as in not a HiAce, Delica, or Skyline GT-R, and any well preserved mundane car like the clean low mileage Chevette I stumbled on.

Definitely Nissan Skyline R34, especially 2-door sedan coupe version

It doesn't need to be GT-R trim (or even GT-R Nur, GT-R Z-Tune and GT-R CRS), either GT-T, GT-Four or even base GT trim is really fine on its own

* I head that GT-Four trim is even more rarer than GT-R trim, only around 3,500 units of GT-Four vs 11,000 units of GT-R, which means GT-Four trim population is only 1/3 of GT-R trim though I honestly dunno if 3,500 units only consist of GT-Four in 2-door sedan coupe bodystyle or already including sedan ER34 and Wagon WC34 bodystyle

Submitted by: Dano Nahabedian, Slow Joe Crow, Derry

I was shook when I spotted this JDM Honda Odyssey.

LC500 for me. Every time I see one, it's road presence shuts out everything else around it.

Submitted by: JahPaan

One thousand percent yes. A true show-stopper.

Old trucks.

Saying this because driving home yesterday I was behind a 1940's Ford pickup and right next to it was a Jeep Gladiator and it was absolutely amazing to be able to compare the two as they drove. Like, the ford looked to be about half the size of the gladiator and had a bet that looked bigger. The cabs were both at about the same height but the bed on the ford was low enough you could just about step into it and yet the old ford had almost as much ground clearance- if it had been running the same giant tires as the jeep it'd be the same.

I love seeing a hint that there's a way to get back from the insanity we're currently dealing with.

Clean old pickup trucks from the 50s-70s always catch my eye. And that 78-79 Dodge Lil Red Express Truck. They were cool when new and very few still exist.

Any 1970's pickup truck. That was the peak of truck design.

Submitted by: Buckfiddious, Jackpot, Anthony "ZombyWoof78" LaFata Jr

The '50s and '70s are my favorite eras for truck design, I think.

I love to see cybertrucks because my kids love sticking their thumbs down out the window when they pass.

Submitted by: Adam Withem

Good kids.