Volkswagen Golf

Volkswagen Group design chief Andreas Mindt says the industry's push toward mean-looking cars is nonsense, and that most buyers would rather their car looked happy than intimidating. The ID. Polo and ID.3 Neo are his evidence.

Ford built the Mk3 Focus RS for just three model years, and people still argue about it. It had 350 horsepower, a trick all-wheel-drive system that could shuffle torque across the rear axle, and a Drift Mode that actually worked. It also had a head gasket problem worth knowing about.

EDM stands for European Domestic Market: vehicles, parts, and styling built for sale in Europe, to European regulations. It is the European cousin of JDM and USDM, and the differences (engines, transmissions, lighting, and models we never got) are exactly why enthusiasts chase EDM cars.

Stand in any new car dealership and do a slow scan of the lot. Then do the same thing at the dealership next door. The silhouettes blur together. The crossover proportions are interchangeable. The front ends all have versions of the same aggressive grille flanked by the same split headlight treatment. The colors are white, gray, silver, black, and maybe one brave soul in red. You couldn't tell a Nissan Rogue from a Hyundai Tucson from a Chevrolet Equinox at fifty yards and that's not an accident. It's the output of a specific set of industry forces that have been running in the same direction for twenty years...