These Are The Cars You Secretly Want To Own, But Are Afraid To Admit You Want

Welcome to the Jalopnik confessional, where fellow Jalops took to the commenter's booth and indulged fellow readers with their deepest, darkest desires — in the form of a car. 

On Sunday, we asked you to share a car you secretly have always wanted to own, but are afraid to admit to. The cars you've all been harboring as potential one-days, "if and only if..." for various reasons as well as to avoid unending shame were not as incriminating as one might have imagined. Where are the Chevrolet HHRs, Chrysler PT Cruisers and Pontiac Azteks, folks?

But shame no more. With these secrets out in the open, one has to wonder, will these readers finally go out and buy these cars? Was ripping the band-aid off the first step in finally embracing the darkness? As HakosukaDreaming mentioned in a comment, maybe it's time to finally just go for it. For me, we just purchased a truck, so a Ram 1500 is out of the question. But as for the rest of you, that doesn't mean you can't finally purchase yours.

Miata.

A Mazda buff for 35 years, i have always wanted one but never really had a reason. Now I am old enough and well enough off to easily have a toy car. But nearly every Miata I see is driven by a guy who is old enough and well off enough to finally enjoy a toy car (and often a toy third wife in the other seat).

It is a whole vibe around me, a rolling stereotype.

And I can't be that guy. So I drive an elderly Mazda3 and an even more elderly Ford Ranger.

From Mob Barley

A Prius.

All of them from the 2nd generation through the current one have actually been fantastic to drive if you understood them, and the current generation actually looks good, and the one before it had a fantastic interior.

The car guy and mechanic in me has never let me quite pull the trigger on one, but I've come close twice when I had jobs with long commutes.

AND

The designers hit it with the new Prius. It finally has a clean and sporty shape. I'm shocked a 'sport' model has yet to be introduced to grab the remnants of the street sport compact crowd. But now, it would be superfluous for me to have one as a super efficient vehicle to keep fueling costs down. I went full EV already.

AND

Yea they really nailed it with the current prius. I went EV in 2019 but I wonder if the current prius had come out 5 years earlier if I would have gotten one instead of what I got (prolly not, ngl, but it would have been tempting).

A TRD prius of this gen would be pretty cool, but again it starts a conversation that kind of ends with, "why not just get an ev then?" since even if you breath a little fire into the prius to appeal to the folks that want a faster car, basic EVs will still be quicker. Like, say you get the 0-60 time even a whole second faster, a basic awd (non gt) kia ev6 or hyundai ioniq 5 will still be a second quicker... and cost about the same or even be cheaper. Yea I get that not all folks can support an EV for their daily needs, but it makes the pool you're fishing in that much smaller.

From MustangIIMatt, Former Autoblog, and Atomic

1971-3 Mercury Cougar XR-7. They caught my attention when I first noticed cars (age 7 or 8) and I fell in love with the sequential rear turn signals. The car just looked beautiful to me then, and I still like it.

From Joe Stricker

A 1970s era C3 Corvette. I absolutely love the styling, the flip up headlights, the body lines. Why am I afraid to admit it? The C3 had a reputation for being all style and no substance. This reputation dogged the C3 in the late 70s all the way up to its demise in 1982, a period of time also known as my formative teen years. They seem to represent 70s excess, disco music, and poor fashion choices all rolled into automotive form. But even with all of this baggage I still secretly want one.

From J-Wins

The current Model 3 Performance is a legit great performance car for the price and it's actually pretty lightweight compared to even gas cars that have the same sort of performance. All of its EV competition is 600-1000 lbs heavier. Just add some proper brakes and cooling and it'd be a monster. But I would never get one for obvious reasons.

From fabey

Hummer H1 and Mustang. I have a (probably entirely unfair and unwarranted) image in my mind of the kind of people who own them, and I don't want to be those people.

From lawdawg314

Easy: Cybertruck

In no way, shape, or form does this vehicle fit my persona or lifestyle. IMO, the design works.

From Joseph Rodgers

GAZ Volga. Russian cars just have a unique character to them. I know the build quality is awful, parts will be a nightmare to get, and anything Russian has been lately viewed in a negative light by the rest of the world.

From Giantsgiants

Nissan Juke Nismo. A small "hi performance" hatchback/SUV (I prefer to think of it as a hatch) with 184 HP, and up to 215 for the RS model. But the AWD version uses a CVT, and the manual is only FWD. To me, the front view of the car looked like a giant bug from a 1950' Sci fi movie, which I thought was cool.

From Scourge of Richland

I come from a Mazda/Honda/Nissan family and I've always had confusing thoughts about the late 90's Buick Park Avenue

From bcfls

A Challenger. Yep. Little background on my tastes. I love classic cars, old Toyotas are my kryptonite. I also love Porsches and older BMWs. I've owned 911s (before the older ones went crazy expensive), 944s, e-46 and e-92 M3, S2000, and I guess you could say more driver focused cars.

But I drove a friends Hellcat a few years back and man just something about big ass V8 under the hood and that meaty six speed transmission that is just so fun. Super comfortable with those huge lazy boy seast, great for long drives and the sound is just amazing (he had an aftermarket exhaust on it and had it was cammed out). I think it just makes you feel like a big-ol' kid haha.

Close second would be a Bullit Mustang. A 2008 or a 2019 model year would be the ones I would go for.

AND 

Dodge Challenger SRT 392 Scat Pack 6-speed, preferably in in Plum Crazy purple. I'm not that guy and don't want the attention, but man I want that Hemi engine roar. Burnouts for days.

From Rio and Commentariat

Oooh this is a good one. While I've pretty much moved on from the whole idea of "guilty pleasures" and being embarrassed about what I like, I do actually have an answer for this and it's the Infiniti G37 hardtop convertible.

As long as I breathe I will never ever allow myself to be lumped in with the VCue Boiz, a subset of enthusiasts so widely and consistently disreputable that they have actually been banned from multiple car shows. One of my partner's ex-coworkers, who is openly a "technically it's ephebophilia" kind of guy, drives a G sedan. Their stereotypes are quite well earned.

As for the cars, the G series hasn't aged as well as I thought it would. The Zs are quite a bit better but I'm still lukewarm on them. I don't like the sound of their engines, and I've read plenty on how the G is just a tarted-up Z and not a true luxury grand tourer experience. But I love folding hardtop convertibles, and there are a couple of these around my town sitting right on a nice set of wheels, not too big or ostentatious, and every time I see one it just does something for me. The grand tourer is my favorite type of car, and imagining myself in one of these doesn't always feel so wrong.

From HakosukaDreaming

A 1978 Ford Thunderbird Diamond Jubilee Edition. I think there's a reason Ford finally sold Thunderbirds by the hundreds of thousands this year, plus it's not quite as big as they used to be but still a big 70s boat that's got way too much velour and vinyl.

From 1969fmkr

I think the real answer for most people is: Minivan.

AND

Minivans. I needed them and didn't want to like them but they are really the perfect family hauler. I have had three of them. Now that the kids are grown and off on their own, I no longer need them and got rid of the last one... But, I still want one.

AND

Chrysler Pacifica. I'm not a minivan guy... but the minivan worshippers are right. Minivans check all the boxes – AND can haul away those boxes the easiest thanks to the genius stow n go seats. But... I'm not a minivan guy lol.

From bc222, Old_SLAAB_Guy, and PLAN-B 77