Which car were you most surprised to see go into production? – Jalopnik

The wonderful world of cars consists of a handful of timeless legends, a slew of unremarkable but highly functional cars that sell in the millions, the forgettable ones, and then there are the mavericks. Okay, so that’s a gross simplification, but it’s not inaccurate. For today’s question, I want to focus on that last group, the misfits. These are the cars that make you raise an eyebrow and say, “what the heck is that” or “who drew that design?” It could be a certain trim level of a model you never expected to see production, a car designed for the unique needs of another country yet somehow made it to the US, or even an unusually wacky design that somehow made it through development without being scrapped.

Whatever the reason behind the surprise, we want to know which cars you, the Jalopnik loving audience, were most surprised to see in production and why.

I was surprised that the original Acura ZDX made it into production. Acura isn’t the brand I think of when I think of automakers taking huge risks. Sure, the original NSX could be considered risky, but otherwise Acura’s models are usually based on extremely sensible Honda products and reflect that sensibility, just with a more luxurious result. However, the first-generation ZDX wasn’t particularly sensible at all, thanks to the coupe’s dramatic roofline, polarizing styling and hidden rear door handles.

Acura’s corporate style went through a questionable phase with its shield-like front grille eventually being seen more as a beak than a shield, and the ZDX is no exception. I have to say I don’t hate the ZDX, in fact I quite like that Acura let loose and created a distinctive, not exactly logical vehicle. It wasn’t a particularly bad car either. It had Honda’s 300-horsepower 3.7-liter V6, Acura’s signature Super-Handling All Wheel Drive and a beautiful interior. But the ZDX was still a bit too left of center to suit Acura’s largely pragmatic buyers, and over the course of its four-year production run, Acura made just 7,200 examples of the bold ZDX. I love the rare occurrence of seeing a ZDX in the wild, especially in its glorious metallic brown paint color, but like I said, even in the car-crazy region of Southern California, a ZDX sighting is a rare occurrence.

And you? Which car were you most surprised to see go into production? Let us know in the comments section.