Every single year, lots of new trims make their way onto the automotive market. Some of them, like the new Z06 trim of the Chevrolet Corvette, are clear indications of how special a variant of a base car can be. On the other side of the coin, we have cars like the 2022 Chevrolet Malibu RS. Did you know that RS stands for Rally Sport? That got us thinking, what’s the lamest trim you’ve ever heard of or owned?
It’s rightly ridiculous to put a “Rally Sport” badge or anything that even alludes to it on a front-wheel-drive sedan with 160-horsepower and a CVT. But there’s no way that it can be the worst offender. In fact, there are multiple classes of hilarious trim names and types that we can call out for their absurd aspirations.
For example, sometimes it’s companies chasing after a trend that looks most ridiculous. Recently, a cacophony of automakers have come out with their own version of the ‘murdered out’ theme that gained popularity in the aftermarket years ago. Nissan and Chevrolet both sell Midnight editions, Mazda has a Carbon trim with no carbon fiber, Subaru features an Onyx Edition with no actual onyx, and many others offer similarly dark trim features to prove that they’re cool and hip.
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Another class might be abhorrently long names. Considering that length we’ll name just a couple as good examples. The Land Rover Range Rover Sport Dynamic Black P400e Hybrid is certainly a mouthful that some dude is going to have to clarify to his local auto store parts rep in ten years when that car is worth about $17. And don’t get us started about Range Rover’s Autobiography editions.
As far as we know, there’s nothing as long as the BMW Individual M760i xDrive Model V12 Excellence THE NEXT 100 YEARS though. Much like the Rangey, we expect them to depreciate to the point that some very wealthy Taco Bell managers will be trying to keep them running in the near future.
And then you have America’s favorite category, pickup trucks. Where should we start – RAM’s Limited Laramie Longhorn, Ford’s King Ranch, something else? There’s a ton to pick from.
I personally have a problem with trims that are very little more than appearance packages but sound like hardcore changes were made to the vehicle to make it legitimately more capable.
Still, we’ve only scratched the surface. What about cars like the Toyota Avalon TRD or the BMW X3 M Competition. They drive around as living, breathing (not really), examples of an oxymoron. So you tell us. What are the lamest trims you’ve ever heard of or owned?
