The 10 Most Interesting “Boring” Cars

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Over the years, we’d be willing to bet that many of the cars on this list have zipped by you on Omaha roads without earning even the slightest glance.

However, behind their rather unassuming looks, the cars on this list are hiding some peculiar performance specifications under the hood.

This is our definitive list of the 10 Most Interesting “Boring” Cars in no particular order.

1) 2003-2008 Subaru Forester XT

2003-2008 Subaru Forester XT

You may know the Subaru Forester in its forest green and khaki form, driven by grandpas on fishing trips and soccer moms alike. But in 2003, Subaru introduced a sportier, turbocharged version of the Forester to the United States, called the Forester XT.

Looking under the hood of this car may leave you thinking you’re looking at the much smaller and sportier Impreza WRX from Subaru. With a similar turbocharged 2.5-liter DOHC boxer engine, the Forester XT practically is a WRX in SUV form.

The only tell-tale sign you may be looking at a Forester XT from the outside is its signature hood scoop, which directs outside air directly onto the top-mount intercooler.


2) 2008-2010 Chrysler 300 SRT-8

Chrysler 300SRT8

With virtually no distinguishing visual features compared to other Chrysler 300s, the Chrysler 300 SRT-8 is a rather inconspicuous muscle car.

Hiding a 6.1-liter Hemi V8 engine behind its tame exterior, the Chrysler 300 SRT-8 has 425 horsepower that can accelerate it from 0–60 miles per hour in just 4.9 seconds—pretty impressive for a late 2000s Chrysler.

In 2011, the name “SRT” replaced SRT-8, and the Chrysler 300 SRT was available in the United States until 2015. This generation received a few styling upgrades over other trims that made it stand out more as a performance car.


3) 1998-2011 Lincoln Town Car

Lincoln Town Car

The third-generation Lincoln Town Car would be about as dull of a car as you can get, if it weren’t for the engine and drivetrain layout hidden underneath its flat, uninteresting body panels. Not to mention how few updates were made to the design over a 13-year span.

Under the hood of these cars is a torquey, 200-plus-horsepower 4.6-liter V8 engine sending power to the rear wheels only.

That’s right, grandma could spin a few donuts in the bingo parking lot if she really wanted to. Though its horsepower numbers were quite disproportionate to the number of cylinders in its engine, the Lincoln Town Car has all the V8 sound and tire-shredding capability of any Mustang or Camaro.


4) 2008-2009 Pontiac G8

Pontiac G8

Besides a few cosmetic vents and a quad-exhaust out the back, the Pontiac G8 may not stand out to the untrained eye. Never judge a book by its cover though, because turning away at this car’s tame appearance would leave you missing out on one of the coolest Pontiacs in history.

That’s actually because this car isn’t all Pontiac. It’s a rebadged Commodore from the Australian brand Holden.

The base model G8 came equipped with a 3.6-liter V8 making 256 horsepower and sending it to the rear wheels. If you got your hands on the ultra-rare GXP trim, you’d get a 415-horsepower, 6.2-liter LS3 V8 engine instead.


5) 2014-2017 Chevy SS

Chevy SS

The Chevy SS came along a few years after the demise of GM’s Pontiac brand to fill in the hole left by the end of the Pontiac G8. Another rebadged Australian Holden, the Chevy SS is also a rather subtle-looking muscle sedan with a V8 under the hood.

This time, all examples of the car came equipped with the 6.2-liter LS3 engine, again making 415 horsepower.

The Chevy SS was available on an allocation basis only, and allocations for dealers were based on their sales volume of the Corvette and Camaro. Only 12,860 units of the Chevy SS were sold during the vehicle’s entire lifetime.


6) 2004-2009 Volvo S60 R

Volvo S60 R

From the brand that’ll tell you about its crash test ratings before its horsepower numbers came a surprising performance car in the early 2000s.

The Volvo S60 R gained an extra 132 horsepower over the base S60, bringing its total to a whopping 300 horsepower.

Additionally, the R came equipped with all-wheel drive as opposed to front-wheel drive, adjustable suspension, and big Brembo brakes. Plus, it was loaded with quirky Volvo features like headlight washer jets and wipers and the iconic “spaceball” manual shifter.


7) 2010-2019 Ford Taurus SHO

Ford Taurus SHO

The SHO trim was offered at some point during every generation of the Ford Taurus, but the fourth generation SHO produced a shocking 350-horsepower through a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 Ecoboost engine.

The SHO version of the Taurus had extremely minimal differences between other Taurus trims, making this hefty sedan a bit of a sleeper.

Its 4,388-pound curb weight certainly hinders performance, but a Performance Package could be added that exchanges the spare tire with a mobility kit for weight savings, and other features like upgraded brake pads and an Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel.


8) 2004-2006 Saab 9-2X

SAAB 9-2X

The Saab 9-2X is another rebranded car joining the list. Based on the Subaru Impreza WRX from the same model years, the 9-2X was a Saab-styled Japanese sports car in Swedish badging.

Offered in wagon form, a close-up view of the doors, interior, or rear hatch, and you’d be fairly confident you were looking at an Impreza.

As for power, the engine fitted to the 9-2X is in fact the exact same engine as in the WRX, a 227-horsepower turbocharged flat-4. Saab did make improvements on Subaru’s foundation, by upgrading the suspension and steering for a snappier feel.

Additionally, Saab’s version has much nicer interior materials, including more noise-cancelling insulation for a more refined driving experience.


9) 1994-1996 Chevy Impala SS

Chevy Impala SS

After a 25-year hiatus, the SS surname returned to the Impala in 1994. The Impala SS quickly became one of the best examples of an American automobile company figuring out how to deliver high horsepower from a large engine while meeting new emissions regulations.

Previously, cars in the 80s were fitted with massive V8s that somehow hilariously produced less than 200 horsepower. The Impala SS came along with a 260-horsepower, 5.7-liter LT1 V8 engine sending power to the rear wheels.

In classic police cruiser style, the Impala SS could be slammed into gear with a column shifter until Chevy switched to a floor shifter for the car’s final year in 1996.


10) 2006-2008 Mazda Mazdaspeed6

Mazda Speed6

The Mazdaspeed6 carries very few exterior upgrades over the regular Mazda6, most notably of which was its taller hood which allowed Mazda to stuff in performance upgrades.

This normal-looking sedan packed 270 horsepower under the hood produced by a 2.3-liter I4 engine. That power was sent to all four wheels and a limited-slip differential at the rear.

In the United States, the Mazdaspeed6 had an extremely short 3-year run, and any examples on the road today would certainly be gems to the informed enthusiast.


Wrapping Up – The 10 Most Interesting “Boring” Cars

With a new era of vehicle styling being ushered in (read more about that here), we think it’s safe to say that design choices are getting bolder and bolder with every year that passes.

The super sleepers on this list may be a thing of the past, but that could make them the collector cars of the future.

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