Honda Accord

12,000,000 buyers are usually wrong, but not this time


There is a veil of sameness draped over the Accord that comes from racking up 300,000 to 400,000 annual sales, year after year. Who would imagine that such an exceptional car could be hiding in plain sight, mimicking a lowest-common-denominator family appliance? Many Accord owners are unable, or do not care, to spot what makes their car better than the rest. Most just get in and drive. But that hasn’t stopped Honda from treating its bestseller like a flagship. Indeed, they are one and the same. 

Mazda 3

The Mazda 3 is as humble a pigeon as you could imagine, part of the cityscape, nothing apparently fascinating or flamboyant about it. But did you know that the pigeon is one of just six species that can recognize its reflection in a mirror?

The 3 likewise harbors hidden talents, including its ability to illustrate the difference between style and design. Style is how something looks. Design speaks to how something works. Unlike most small cars, the 3’s interior is not simply in thrall to the former.

Mazda 6

It’s pretty much impossible to talk about car design without sounding pretentious. This is probably the main reason professional car designers tend to wear turtleneck sweaters and space-age eyewear and jackets with too many buttons (or, occasionally, none at all); a uniform of mild ridiculousness to match this vocation of affected divination. So when Mazda tells us that the 6’s “Kodo” design language represents the muscular beauty of an animal pouncing, or that it takes its inspiration from the living athletic forms of nature, our first instinct—if we can manage not to snicker—is to smile and nod politely. Yes. Sure. It’s a fine-looking car—can we leave it at that?