What Car Made You Do a Double Take at a Used Car Lot?

I love driving past used car lots. It’s basically a spectator sport for me, which is thrilling and exciting, and full of hope but, also, disappointment. Every now and then, I’ll run into something unexpected, like a Chevy SS or Jeep Wrangler Unlimited LJ. When that happens, I usually spend the next few miles nursing my sore neck and shoulders due to the force of the whiplash. So, I want to know what car has made you do a double take as you drove past a used car lot?

It doesn’t have to be a model that caused as painful an ordeal as the one I described, as long as it surprised you in a way that made you question your own judgement. Made you wonder whether that was a silver Chevy SS you saw, or just a lowly gray Malibu. Because if it really was an SS, then you’d be wrong to not turn back and peek into the cabin to check for a manual transmission, or, at the very least, ask what the price was. Right?

Read more

• These Are Your Guilty Pleasure Cars

• The 15 Most Successful Formula 1 Cars of All Time

• These Cars Should Never Have Been Killed Off

How wrong I was when that happened to me late last year as I passed a used lot. I even did a triple take, but I still didn’t go back. One of the other big blunders of my life — which has been, and, I assume, will continue to be, full of them — was casually dismissing an E36 M3 in Dakar Yellow at a local used dealer. I was fresh out of high school at the time, just a foolish kid who thought the five-speed manual transmission in that particular M3 would be a hassle to drive. I was starting college soon, and figured I should find a more practical used BMW.

I passed on that M3, but still look in the very same lot when ever I pass by. I like to imagine the BMW will be there all these years later, waiting for me to come to my senses. I guess I look in every used car lot for that unicorn, stealing glances through the rows any time I see a hint of yellow. And I often look for that silver Chevy SS, because there might just be a stick shift in there. What about you? What car forces you to do a double take any time you drive past a used dealer?

More from Jalopnik

• Don't Expect Used Car Prices to Collapse Anytime Soon

• NYPD Arrests Cyclist For Uncovering Obscured License Plate, Lets Driver Go

Sign up for Jalopnik's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.