Is it aesthetics? Performance? Engineering? Sentimental value? Nostalgia? Weirdness?..
I could go on, there’s as many ways to enjoy a car as there are car owners and I find it very interesting what people value in what is ultimately a tool of conveyance that is elevated by social and personal values.
I always love cars that are just a little weird, they have features that don’t quite make sense, they have styling that just doesn’t fit in with other modern cars, and they certainly don’t blend in at the grocery parking lot. They emanate a certain incongruence with the world around them.
I had an absolutely slammed golf mk3 K2 edition with the coil overs corroded into that position, it had so much blowby you had to clean the MAF daily, and the radiator fan was connected to a switch on the dash, you also had to smack the dash occasionally to get the radio and gauges to work. I’m glad I don’t drive that anymore, but looking back it was more fun than bad. The Sceptre hot air intake and Borla exhaust actually sounded really good for an NA 4 banger.
Heated steering wheel does it for me, nothing worse than getting in your car and feeling yourself nearly get frostbite for 20minutes holding the wheel, driving gloves help but they can’t be too thick.