Forbidden fruit: The 13 most amazing cars you can’t buy in the U.S.!

Cars

Forbidden fruit: The 13 most amazing cars you can’t buy in the U.S.!

By Andrew Ganz

http://www.leftlanenews.com

For many of us, the Internet has opened up an entirely new world full of cars we never knew about. While deciphering some automakers’ convoluted Japanese lineups isn’t for the faint of heart ( Mazda Bongo Friendee anyone?), there’s still plenty to covet sold overseas.

The Leftlane editorial team put our heads together to come up with a baker’s dozen list of cars and trucks we’d love to see for sale in the United States. To keep things even, we’ve picked an additional 13 vehicles sold here that we wouldn’t mind sending on a one-way journey to another market.

Why aren’t these cars sold here?

While it used to be easy to place blame on emissions and safety regulations for some vehicles that weren’t offered to consumers in the United States, recent realignment of European, Japanese and Australian standards has made that almost a non-issue. Some changes might be necessary, but they’re generally pretty minor in scope.

For example, the Fiat 500, a model that would have appeared on this list last fall, received new bumpers and some small powertrain tweaks to make it in the land of the Chevrolet Suburban.

In reality, most cars on this list are kept away from our shores because of what automakers perceive as limited potential for profitability given the effort necessary to homologate a model – or an entire brand. We’d love to see everyone driving a BMW M5 wagon with a stick and a diesel engine, but car nuts are regrettably a pretty miniscule portion of the world’s population.

What’s on your list?

By no means is our list exhaustive. Use the comments section below to share with us what pieces of forbidden fruit you’d like the opportunity to buy!

Forbidden fruit: The 13 most amazing cars you can’t buy in the U.S.!

Alfa Romeo Giulietta. We can’t think of many Alfa Romeos we wouldn’t want in this market (maybe the flabby 166), but the Giulietta is definitely our favorite current offering. Unlike most other recent Alfa Romeos, it is as good to drive as it is to be seen in.

We’ll trade: Goodbye Dodge Caliber. Sure, the Alfa competes in the premium class, but its mission in life isn’t that different.

Audi S5 Sportback. A scaled-down version of the Audi A7, the S5 is a midsize sedan with a J.Lo booty and running shoes. We can’t imagine many Audi S4 buyers who couldn’t easily be convinced to step up to this style icon.

We’ll trade: Auf Wiedersehen BMW 5-Series GT. Kardashian butt be gone!

Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback. Americans are lining up to buy the Chevrolet Cruze in numbers GM’s compact car division has never seen. But we’re stuck with a four-door model, not the stylish five-door designed to better compete in Europe. We think this would be a hit here, since it offers almost four-door styling with added practicality.

We’ll trade: Sayonara Toyota Corolla. Really, would we be happier to get rid of any other compact car?

Citroen C6. Undeniably a flop, the C6 is old-school French carmaking at its best. A hydraulic suspension system gives it a floating-on-clouds type of ride that befits the dictatorial types Citroen wanted to see in the C6. But it turns out that most heads of state wanted, well, just about anything else.

We’ll trade: Sayonara Toyota Avalon. If we’re going to waft, we might as well do it in style.

Citroen DS3. Citroen revived its storied DS moniker a few years ago in an effort to create the kind of passionate vehicles it hoped would resonate with upmarket consumers. And the DS3 most certainly hits the mark. Way more stylish than most three-doors, the DS3 is also a hoot to drive.

We’ll trade: Goodbye Chevrolet Sonic. Can we have a DS3 Freedom Fries Edition?

Ford Ranger/ Mazda BT-50. Aimed primarily at Asian markets, the Ranger and its BT-50 sibling are the kind of small pickups we think most buyers could appreciate in this market. Rather than continue to develop its current Ranger, Ford has decided to put all its eggs in the bed of its full-size F-Series lineup. GM, on the other hand, looked to its Asian engineering offices to develop a small pickup that will be built and sold here as the Chevrolet Colorado.

We’ll trade: Goodbye Ford Ranger (U.S.-spec). All our Ranger has going for it is a cheap price.

Holden Commodore SS V-Series Redline Edition wagon. Wagons ho! We don’t blame you for wanting the Cliff’s Notes to that long name. Think of this as the wagon version of the Pontiac G8 GXP and you’re on the right track. Yeah, it has pretty much everything we’ve ever loved about cars: Rear-wheel-drive. A honkin’ V8. A six-speed stick. Rear-wheel-drive. And it’s a wagon!

We’ll trade: Sayonara Acura TSX Wagon. We bid you adieu with an actual tear in our eyes because you’re a good little wagon. But someone from team station wagon had to go and you are still the rookie.

Lada Niva. Strong like drunken bear, this comrade is. A leftover relic from the Cold War era, the Niva is like a first-generation VW Golf that got too close to some nuclear waste. Trivia fact: The Niva was sold in Canada for a short period.

We’ll trade: Sayonara Suzuki Grand Vitara. Truth be told, we forgot these existed until we saw a line of them at the Enterprise lot.

Opel Astra GTC. GM’s Opel unit might not be able to make money, but it certainly seems capable of making cars worth coveting. Astra combines a high-tech front strut system designed to quell torque steer with a sexy three-door body. Toss in Opel’s 276-horsepower 2.0-liter four and now you’re talking…

We’ll trade: Farväl Volvo C30. We want to like the C30, but its high price and bland interior have never offered inspiration.

Peugeot RCZ. With looks to kill and the same 1.6-liter turbo engine used in the MINI Cooper S, the RCZ is a reminder that French automakers can still produce stunning machinery. The RCZ is as much a concept car for the road as anything we’ve seen in recent history.

We’ll trade: Auf Wiedersehen Audi TT. The RCZ takes much of its styling from Audi’s TT (and its R8, but we’ll keep that one). But with a much lower price of entry, the RCZ would bring a much-needed dose of accessible style to our market.

Subaru WRX STI Cosworth CS400. It might look like a WRX with a few bolt-ons, but the CS400′s big news is in its name: 400 lb-ft. of torque (not to mention 395 horsepower). The fine folks at Cosworth, who know a thing or two about boosted small displacement engines, massaged nearly every aspect of the hardly tame WRX STI to create a real monster.

We’ll trade: Sayonara WRX STI. We’ll keep the standard ‘Rex since it’s soft enough for day-to-day use. But if we’re going hardcore, why not go all the way?

Toyota Land Cruiser 70-Series. Toyota’s uber-strong Land Cruiser 70-Series shares little with the big (but no less impressive) eight-seater luxo-model sold in limited numbers here. With several body configurations available, the 70-Series is a living link to the original FJ40 that is still coveted by off roaders today.

We’ll trade: Sayonara FJ Cruiser. The FJ Cruiser is but a weak facsimile of the real McCoy.

VW Scirocco. For VW fanboys the most obvious choice on this list, the Scirocco is basically a prettier albeit less practical – VW GTI. An R version with 261 horsepower is the usual object of enthusiast lust. Rumors about the Scirocco’s arrival in the U.S. have swirled since it was reborn a few years ago, but VW likely correctly concluded that demand would be too weak to justify its existence.

We’ll trade: Auf Wiedersehen VW GTI. While we love you for your abillity to haul people and cargo in comfort, we’re shallow enough souls that we have selected sexy supermodel instead.