Danville Street Sighting - 2001 Qvale Mangusta

I've had a subscription to Motor Trend magazine for over fifteen years. One of the first issues I remember receiving, November 2000, featured a nine-way comparison of sports cars. It was the first time I ever saw mention of an unusual Italian car called the Qvale Mangusta. In my Need For Speed-fueled childhood the Porsche 911 Turbo, Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper, Ferrari 360, BMW Z8, Mustang Cobra R, Shelby Series 1, Pontiac Trans Am and the like, made total sense to me. But the test also featured a red car with very odd styling and a bubbly retractable hardtop. It had a 4.6 liter Ford V8 producing 320 horsepower, a five-speed manual and a small back seat.

Oakland Street Sighting - 2001 Isuzu VehiCROSS Ironman Edition

Have you ever had guilty pleasures, the kind of thing you like but either don't want to admit or don't understand why you like it? This is one of mine, the Isuzu VehiCROSS. These little 2-door sport-utes are as much a fashion statement as they are an off-road vehicle. Many today see the VehiCROSS as an exercise in absurdity and the ugliest thing this side of the Pontiac Aztek.