What car(s) did you hate at launch but have grown to like as time has passed? Or vice versa

The new-gen Silverado. I absolutely hated it in the press photos. It was too large. Too ungangly. Too... everything.

After seeing a pearly-white one one at the dealer the other day, I nearly fell in love. It's a pity the interior is still so... GM'ish.
 

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I can't imagine liking the Cayenne at launch, but now..........I need one.

To the credit of the current model, it's been completely revamped, moved to a new platform, and its size and proportions are quite different from when it launched. :)
 
The NC and ND Miatas. Didn’t care for them when they came out. The NC seemed too bloated and the smiley face was too goofy, but its grown on me, especially if you get a later NC Club model. The ND style was also meh at first, I’ve come around to liking the roadster more since the RF came out. NAs are still by far my favorite though. Partially because I owned one (and will eventually own anyother one) and partially because I find the design has a lot of beauty in its simplicity. Oh, and pop-up headlights.
 
I still don't like the NC - it feels too numb, too modern and bodywork, as you say, looks bloated.

I didn't like the ND at first, and I still don't in many of the limited colours it sells in, but having driven DanRom's 2.0 up the twisties to the 'Ring I love the way it drives. My only criticism is the rather vague electric power steering but other than that I'd say they've perfected the recipe.
 
ND with NB steering would be perfect.

Fixed. NC is too modern in its feel. NB always feels light, agile and nimble.
 
I never hated the Škoda Superb, nor any of the large saloons, but I just thought of them as boring cars. I always liked small and nimble cars, or cars that were otherwise rated as fun by the likes of Evo Magazine. However, when I had a chance to drive a first-gen Škoda Superb 2.0 TDI, I was addicted. The space, the torque, the comfort, the leather seats (it was a higher-end model as it had an umbrella in one of its doors)...

Sure, the interior looked outdated even by the standards of its time and very much VW-ish, and I still can't wrap my head around why'd VW choose the Audi PL45 platform (i.e. one with a longitudinally placed engine in an font-wheel drive car) for the Passat (which this car essentially is), nor do I have a need for such a car, but it broadened the spectre of cars that I find interesting.

Also, I never found the Citroën BX particularly interesting, but now that my dad has one, and realising it's the most 80's Citroën of them all, I love it, for its space, comfort, its quirkiness, the memories I have with it... And the memories thing applies to my dad's Yugo, which was a car I was embarrassed of at first, but it's the car I actually learned how to drive on (not in driving school, but afterwards), and I had some fun times with it. Today I appreciate how easy and simple it is, and how everything can be fixed or replaced for peanuts. It also has a very important story behind it.

With the MX-5 NC, I liked them when they came out (but then, I was a child back then), stopped liking them when I read more about them in Evo Magazine and online, but I like them once again for the fact that it seems to be the most reasonable Miata for its money.
 
I'm going to second/third/fourth the Bangle-era BMWs, especially the coupes, and give credit to Chris Bangle for singlehandedly shaking up ("disrupting") the world of automotive design to the extent that the entirety of the late-2000s aped the elements he introduced.

Same goes for the single-frame horse-collar grille on the 2004 Audi A6, designed by Satoshi Wada—the logical step of all of these wide, narrowly-defined bumper/grille spaces, and a template for the entire industry and its proliferation of ludicrous grilles everywhere.

autowp.ru_bmw_630i_coupe_1.jpeg

autowp.ru_bmw_z4_2.0i_roadster_1.jpeg

autowp.ru_audi_a6_3.0_tdi_quattro_sedan_8.jpeg
 
I can see the Audi, but the Bangle-Butt BMWs can all die in a fire.
 
Cannot unsee. :blink:
 
Every Subaru released in my lifetime with the exception of the Tribeca. Hideous when they come out, look better as they age.

Exactly. They make cars that look great after they've been replaced. The '05-'07 WRX has aged remarkably well in my eyes.
 
I'm going to second/third/fourth the Bangle-era BMWs, especially the coupes, and give credit to Chris Bangle for singlehandedly shaking up ("disrupting") the world of automotive design to the extent that the entirety of the late-2000s aped the elements he introduced.

Same goes for the single-frame horse-collar grille on the 2004 Audi A6, designed by Satoshi Wada—the logical step of all of these wide, narrowly-defined bumper/grille spaces, and a template for the entire industry and its proliferation of ludicrous grilles everywhere.

autowp.ru_bmw_630i_coupe_1.jpeg

autowp.ru_bmw_z4_2.0i_roadster_1.jpeg

autowp.ru_audi_a6_3.0_tdi_quattro_sedan_8.jpeg
Change a few proportions on the Audi, do a -1 on the name and you have a beautiful car! >_>
 
BMW E60/61 was a car I absolutely loathed when it came out and replaced the lovely E39. Then I got used to it. I ended up actually liking the wagon. Now it's just another used 5 series with questionable aftermarket wheels. The drivers also seem to think they don't need to use indicators as long as they have the fog lights on.
 
Add me to the list re: the E60 5-series. I used to derisively refer to it as a Pontiac when it released. Appearance wise, it really has aged well.
 
About the E60 5er, I first liked them as a child, as I was a big BMW fan when I was age 9-14. Then learning more about BMW's history and Bangle's designs, I started to dislike them greatly. But then, in a certain discussion on car design on Instagram a few weeks ago, somebody claimed that the E60 aged really well, and I couldn't really argue with him.
 
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The newer accords. I was in the market for one but didn't think they were good looking, and the sales reps are fucking robbers in tweed jackets.

After some time now I started to change my mind. They look great especially at night, and their interior is Audi-esque which is great.
 
I'd say the same about the current generation of Civic. I really didn't like the look when they first came out, but I saw one the other day next to a new Corolla and thought, "These two are competitors?" The Honda looks so much better, no matter how many fake vents Toyota puts on the Corolla.
 
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