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Here are a few of our automotive guilty pleasures

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. The world is full of cars, and just about as many of them are bad as are good. It's pretty easy to pick which fall into each category after giving them a thorough walkaround and, more important, driving them. But every once in a while, an automobile straddles the line somehow between good and bad — it may be hideously overpriced and therefore a marketplace failure, it may be stupid quick in a straight line but handles like a drunken noodle, or it may have an interior that looks like it was made of a mess of injection-molded Legos. Heck, maybe all three. Yet there's something special about some bad cars that actually makes them likable. The idea for this list came to me while I was browsing classified ads for cars within a few hundred miles of my house. I ran across a few oddballs and shared them with the rest of the team in our online chat room. It turns out several of us have a few automotive guilty pleasures that we're willing to admit to. We'll call a few of 'em out here. Feel free to share some of your own in the comments below. Dodge Neon SRT4 and Caliber SRT4: The Neon was a passably good and plucky little city car when it debuted for the 1995 model year. The Caliber, which replaced the aging Neon and sought to replace its friendly marketing campaign with something more sinister, was panned from the very outset for its cheap interior furnishings, but at least offered some decent utility with its hatchback shape. What the two little front-wheel-drive Dodge models have in common are their rip-roarin' SRT variants, each powered by turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engines. Known for their propensity to light up their front tires under hard acceleration, the duo were legitimately quick and fun to drive with a fantastic turbo whoosh that called to mind the early days of turbo technology. — Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski  Chevrolet HHR SS: Chevy's HHR SS came out early in my automotive journalism career, and I have fond memories of the press launch (and having dinner with Bob Lutz) that included plenty of tire-smoking hard launches and demonstrations of the manual transmission's no-lift shift feature. The 260-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder was and still is a spunky little engine that makes the retro-inspired HHR a fun little hot rod that works quite well as a fun little daily driver.

Chevy Sail 3 lands in China

Shanghai General Motors took 32 cars to this year's Guangzhou Motor Show, with its Chevrolet Sail 3 leading the way. After putting almost 1.4 million of them into Chinese hands, the third generation of the Bowtie's entry-level sedan wants to "take the nameplate and the segment to a new level." Its new architecture sporting a 1.4-inch longer wheelbase supports a growth spurt of two inches in length and 1.8 inches in width. The exterior also gets "eagle eye-shaped" headlights and "dual-c-element taillights." Under the hood will be either a 1.5-liter DVVT or a 1.3-liter VVT, each of them more powerful and more frugal than previous offerings. Both can be paired with a manual or an automatic transmission, and qualify for listing in China's National Energy-Saving and Eco-Friendly Vehicle Catalogue, as well as a 3,000 renminbi rebate ($490 US). You can read more about it in the press release below, and get more info on the Chevrolet Camaro RS Limited Edition, Corvette Stingray Coupe, Buick Regal GS and Excelle XT also introduced at the show. Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac Take Center Stage at Guangzhou Auto Show - New Chevrolet Sail 3, Camaro RS Limited Edition and Corvette Stingray Coupe make China debut - Buick showcases customized Regal GS and Excelle XT - Shanghai GM announces new telematics strategy featured in upcoming Cadillac product GUANGZHOU, 2014-11-20 – Shanghai GM is displaying 32 vehicles from the Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac brands at the 12th Guangzhou International Auto Show, which begins today and runs through November 29 in Guangzhou. Among the products that are making their China debut are the third-generation Chevrolet Sail 3, Chevrolet Camaro RS Limited Edition and Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Coupe. In addition, Buick is showcasing a customized Regal GS and Excelle XT, and Shanghai GM is announcing its new telematics strategy that will be featured in an upcoming Cadillac product next year. Chevrolet Sail 3 Entry-Level Family Car Since its introduction 15 years ago, the Sail has been a driving force in the entry-level family car segment. Nearly 1.4 million Sails have been sold across China. The third-generation Chevrolet Sail, named the Sail 3, will take the nameplate and the segment to a new level when it goes on sale nationwide by the end of this year. Built on Shanghai GM's new-generation small car architecture, the Sail 3 has adopted Chevrolet's new design language. It has a sculpted yet slim exterior with a youthful, dynamic feel.

Chevy Cruze CNG available from Crazy Diamond Performance

Anyone out there who can somehow find a second way to link Pink Floyd to natural gas vehicles gets a prize. Because so far, we have one Michigan-based company called Crazy Diamond Performance (Shine On You Crazy Diamond being a longtime Floyd fave) that's setting out to convert Chevrolet Cruze vehicles to run on compressed natural gas (CNG). All in the name of cheaper fuel and domestic security, of course. Crazy Diamond says it can offer a converted CNG-powered Chevy Cruze for a price as low as $26,000. That four-cylinder version has 130 horsepower and an 8.5-gasoline-gallon-equivalent capacity that provides a full-tank range of as many as 250 miles. Pony up another $2,000 or so and the peppier, turbocharged CNG Cruze can be yours. The company says it will provide a 100,000-mile powertrain warranty and is trying to get EPA certification for its conversions. The selling points are cheaper fuel (CNG is about half the cost of regular gasoline in some parts of the country) and homeland security (CNG reduces dependence on foreign oil). The only production passenger vehicle CNG in the US is the Honda Civic CNG, which sells in very limited numbers. Check out Crazy Diamond's flyer here. Featured Gallery 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LTZ: New York 2014 View 13 Photos News Source: Crazy Diamond Performance via Hybrid Cars, Green Fleet Magazine Green Chevrolet Natural Gas Vehicles CNG