You seem to have the typically British gift for understatement. I noticed about 20 years ago that manufacturers were in a race to see who could design the ugliest car. They outdid each other yearly. I think that race has finally passed, but we are in a new age of ugly.

Some consolation:

1. When you're driving it, you don't see the exterior.

2. Power and fuel economy are coexisting to and extent never seen before.

3. As bad as that Toyota is, there are worse. The worst car I ever had to drive was a Dodge Caliber with the CVT. It was worse than my parents' K-Car. I've driven a Prius and it was better than either (but I'm still not buying one). Good cars are still out there, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Alfa 4C and current versions of the Lotus 7 come to mind. Scion FR-S, Mazda MX-5, and Porsche 911 are there as well. I wish I had the coin to try out the Ferrari 488, but I'll let others do that for me.

4. Forgo 4 wheels. Ninja 300. CBR500R. Ninja 650, Street Triple, Daytona 675R, R6, GSXR-600, CBR600RR, ZX-6R, GSXR-750, Speed Triple, Ninja 1000, ZX-10R, R1, GSXR-1000, CBR1000RR, S1000RR, and many more.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.