Question of the Week: What Irrational Car or Truck is the Easiest to Rationalize?—WINNER’S UPDATE: A Practical Look
WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:
We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our winner will rest on their laurels and accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store.
This week, we asked: What irrational car or truck is the easiest to rationalize?
Thanks to everyone who threw their hat into the ring! You certainly rationalized the irrational this week. We were certainly sold. This week, we’re awarding the prize to the nomination that most stood out to us, which came from BaT member @Wanted_Man—a first-time QotW winner! Congratulations, Wanted_Man. Check your email to claim the prize.
The GMC Syclone achieved hypercar numbers during its time, but suffered where actual truck duties mattered—payload and towing capacity. For perspective, Chevy’s 454SS made far more sense as a usable workhorse pickup, and even its Typhoon sibling was more functional. But if owning one means choosing “home delivery,” then so be it.
Now, let’s take a look at some other popular nominations from this week:
“It’s a Reliant Robin. One less tire to replace.”
“Renault R5 Turbo. There are no back seats. It has the engine inside with you. Good luck finding front tires. But. It is easy to park in the city (if you dare) & of course it is blazingly fast when prompted. A compact Supercar that can be driven everyday.”
Impractical trucks are great, and @CarDogThreePedals also mentioned the Viper-stuffed Ram SRT-10:
A regular cab Dodge Ram SRT-10.
Image: Car and Driver
– Plenty of power for on ramps and passing.
– So much torque that you rarely have to downshift.
– So much power that you will not want to drive it in the rain or any slick conditions, saving you untold money on car washes.
– Nearly theft-proof with the stick-shift.
– Few will ask to borrow it because of said stick-shift.
– Realistically, only a two-seater saves you from car-pool duties.
– With the V-10 comes heavy-duty components. Everybody knows that vehicles with heavy-duty components last longer.
– It’s two-wheel drive, so it’s cheaper on insurance.
– The full-size pickup truck short bed is quite functional and has a low lift-over height in comparison to those four-wheel drive jobs that never go off-road anyway.
– Driving this as intended will make you smile for days and quite possibly make any petroleum stock you own go up in value.
Save the irrationality for another day. Life’s too short….
@djimbe writes:
Image: Grassroots Motorsports
A Miata. They’re bad in the snow, they can’t carry a lot in addition to 2 people, rear-facing kid seats are a right PITA (those days were a decade ago, but I still remember), and small cars in today’s USA climate with giant trucks and SUVs make them dangerous. Seriously, if you choose to drive a ridiculously large truck, please look down once in a while; someone might be down there instead of out over your expanse of hood.
Boy, a Miata is good fun and cheap to buy and own, though. It’s always the answer, as I think you know…
“600 hp grocery getters. Specifically the E63 wagons. Who wants their ice cream to melt? No one. That’s my rationalization.”
“Land Rovers out of warranty of any age or model.
“They’re so practical! They do it all! Luxury and utility! Classy and understated! The Queen drove these! We’ll never get snowed in again! And look how reasonably priced they are used!”
It’s a very easy rationalization. One which I’ve now made more than once.
Then you go down the rabbit hole of cooling systems, head gaskets, electrical gremlins, corrosion, and general British-ness.”
That’s it for this week’s Question of the Week! Thanks to everyone who participated, and congratulations once again to our winner, Wanted_Man. We’ll be back with a new question soon.
ORIGINAL POST:
Welcome to the BaT Question of the Week! For those unfamiliar, here are the rules: we ask an automotive-themed question, and the author of our favorite answer from the comments is awarded a $25 credit to the BaT Gear Store.
When it comes to vehicular desires, logic often flies straight out the window—practicality, reliability, and cost be damned. But even when thinking with our hearts (or whatever part ocauses us to lust after certain automobiles), we at least try to maintain a facade of reason. If not for others, then for that little part of our own brains that knows deep down that Car A costs more to maintain than its worth, or Car B isn’t comfortable for more than a 50 mile drive, or whatever exists on in the “con” column. Whatever the situation is, some cars are just easier to make sense of, even when they don’t make sense, so this week’s question is:
What irrational car or truck is the easiest to rationalize?
Give us your answer it in the comments, and leave a thumbs-up to any nominations that grab your attention. We’ll announce the winner on Monday.
“The GMC Syclone. Who doesn’t need a truck that can’t haul anything and can do 0-60 in 4.3 seconds, in the rain?”
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Wanted_Man commented on Question of the Week: What Irrational Car or Truck is the Easiest to Rationalize?—WINNER’S UPDATE