By Peter Tanshanomi
On the Internets, “chick car” is perhaps the ultimate automotive insult. Probably every car currently in production (other than maybe the Ariel Atom and Se7en) the has been derisively labeled a “chick car” by some forum fanboi at some point. V6 Mustang? Chick car. Miata? Chick car. Corvette? Yes, I’ve even heard that called a chick car.
But which ones really are chick cars? TrueCar has analyzed registration data and come up with statistical findings that establish once and for all which cars really are the domain of the fairer sex.
Here’s the list, as published by USAToday:
| Volkswagen New Beetle | 56.1% |
| Nissan Rogue | 53.5% |
| Hyundai Tucson | 53.0% |
| Volkswagen Eos | 53.0% |
| Volvo S40 | 51.9% |
| Honda Cr-V | 51.3% |
| Kia Sportage | 50.5% |
| Toyota Rav4 | 50.4% |
| Nissan Sentra | 50.1% |
via USAToday
Kamil Kaluski
I wonder if these results don't understate the degree of girliness. Are married couples more likely to have vehicles registered in his name? That's true in our house.
The Altima is registered to my wife…
The Uberbird is registered to NO MAN…
The absence of Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna would support your theory.
Yes, I was surprised at the lack of minivans on the list. I know a lot of couples that have them (I'm in that demographic) and they are largely Mom driven.
The presence of a 305hp, 6MT, track-pack having V6 Mustang has me rather confused.
"Butbutbutbut…it's the girl car! You have to get the GT or your man-bits wither and fall off."
I can't wait to hear reports of people absolutely destroying their 412 hp Mustang GTs…
I have the 4.0L, 210 hp truck engine in my Mustang and my man bits are still intact.
I told my father in law to keep an eye out for a wrecked 3.7L Mustang. I'd like to do a transplant. A pre-2010 body with some real PAH!
Go for the supercharger kit! I suppose the epic whine sort of gives up the sleeper effect, but still, worth it.
Heck, I want that car with just the 3.31:1 axle option. I have a hard time scoffing at a V6 that makes 100 HP more than my V8.
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL22/565773/171254…
FINALLY!!!!! We Miata owners didn't make the girlie car list.
Yes, that's mine in the pic.
Only Autoblog Mouthbreathers denounce the Miata as a chick car.
Don't worry, the Miata will come up for consideration in the "gayest" car list (BTW, I'd have no ego problem at all driving a Miata).
Me either.
Well, okay, to be fair, I might be doing my part to enforce the aforementioned stereotype there, but seriously, I would rock a NA Miata so hard.
Even a purple one. Perhaps especially a purple one, because I enjoy defying expectations.
The V6 Charger didn't either, which pleases me greatly.
Phew! I thought I was going to find my wife's Impreza on that list.
The real test of whether or not it is a "chick vehicle" is determined by which side of the vehicle the fuel door is located. "Chick vehicles" have the filler door on the passenger side of the vehicle. Reasoning is that when refueling the vehicle on the side of the road, the vehicle is between the driver and traffic.
So nearly every European car is a chick car? I never thought of the HMMWV or the Bugatti Veyron as chick cars, personally, but SSurfer321's fuel door test clearly proves me wrong. Perhaps I should buy a manly vehicle like the Hyundai Tucson, Honda CR-V, Kia Sportage, or Toyota RAV4, all of which have the fuel door on the driver's side! Wait, something about that list sounds familiar…
I'm a little surprised you didn't just go with the assertion that the fuel door will be closest to where the man will be sitting because only men pump gas.
My usual rule is that if the fuel door's on the right rear flank, it's a decent car; if it's on the left rear flank, it's a bit shite; if it's on the front fender or the rear end, I want one.
Well, it holds at least as much water as SSurfer's test.
How about under the license plate or in the taillight? =+)
That's the majority of cars with the filler on the back, so yes!
I thought it was so that it would be more convenient for your passenger (a man) to honor his obligation and pump gas for you.
Where would the Subaru Legacy Outback show up? Bear in mind that an old Car Talk survey rated this the most lesbian car in the US, the Miata the gayest, and a Dodge Caravan the most heterosexual.
Awww, RIP VW Cabriolet, the Eos is a pale, something to your whatever you were.
What it was is just about the best car I've owned – reliable, economical, good handling, abusable and very appealing to the ladies. On the other hand, the Eos appeals to gay men with bad taste, a very small subsegment.
Bitch basket. I know, I know.
It just always bothered me that VW only built two generations of Cabrio, and facelifted the other two, pretending they were 'new'. That spoke volumes about the target demographic and their concern (or, rather, lack thereof) about substance rather than merely style.
They were as good as the Golves they were based on, though, and that's not bad (aside from electrical gremlins and transmissions, naturally).
I haven't paid attention to the gender of Liberty drivers, but there's one in my town with the CRD diesel engine that I do notice.
Statistically, women are more likely to buy cars with manual transmissions, in part because women still tend to make less per hour than men do, and on low-end cars (the ones most likely to have manual), stick is still usually cheaper.
now that definitely makes sense but i have one question: Where are these manual-driving women?!?! Maybe I'm not old enough since most of the ladies I know are driving late model Pontiacs that daddy bought them.
Hey, my mother has a New Beetle.
With a five-speed manual.
And the 1.8T.
Hauls ass, it does.
I envy your family.
My mother didn't want the turbo because, ya know, it got worse gas mileage. and why would anyone want a five speed with an engine that got worse gas mileage…
she ended up getting a taurus when her 230k sable died because it was a light green that she loved….
The light seafoam green on the second-generation ('92-'95) Taurus is a bit awful, and I don't understand why anyone would've chosen it. My mother's previous car was a '95 Contour in Tobago Green – darker and with a hint of blue, it shone almost silver under a streetlamp, but it was definitely a light-medium green in the sun. (That Contour was a complete base model aside from the cassette player and alloy wheels – MTX-75 with no tach, sticky manual door locks.)
Mum gets an average of 28 or so right now, even driving short trips around town more often than not; we've managed mid-thirties per gallon on the highway. The 2.0 can just about do that, but it's also gutless, to the point of being downright painful when mated to the earlier four-speed Slushbox From Hell.
this Taurus is an '05 and it's a light green that sounds like the Tobago you describe, except I've never noticed any hint of blue.
We never had any real world gas mileage experience with either engine (we're a ford family through and through – the iconic bug was being considered because of shape only) and i'm sure the gutless 2.0 puts up better EPA numbers than the turbo – and it would still get her from point A to B, which is all she cares about.
Plus she kind of lost interest in bugs when a friend bought a brand new one in bright green (color she wanted)
Ahh, good old Cyber Green. Good if you want all your friends calling the poor car "Aphid", I suppose.
Oh, the much-later Taurus green – that was the one that was as grey as it was green? I suspect the only remotely interesting colour that year was red. Still, at least it wasn't Mossy Rock Greige.
One of my friends drove a bright red New Beetle with that exact combo. Traded it up for something much more masculine…an NB Miata.
I make fun of him for it, but it's a sweet little car, and he at least autocrosses it.
My sister, 22, had to wait to get a new car because the 6-speed GTO's were harder to find…
I'm proud of that girl sometimes.
just rub it in, will ya 😛
well, 22 you say? two years older than me…. hmmmm…. Where you (well, actually she) located at?
Just kidding, i don't think I could date someone through hooniverse. Bad things would happen if the relationship went sour, BAD THINGS. I'm envisioning the A-team but with the uberbird or the clunk-clunk-bang ford wagon… and it scares me….
My Mom, bought a new '88 Accord with a 5-speed and drove it til the day she died, at the tender age of 79 years old. My brother sold it, with 68,000 miles for $4K in 2008 to another older woman who loves driving a "stick shift".
I think this is mixing chick cars and mom cars, which should be two different categories. Around here (Georgia), the CR-V is definitely the mom car of choice. It seems to be the mom car of choice for moms who don't want a minivan because that would be too obviously a mom car.
Well, I'd still drive an S40 if the price was right. And I'm open to the two VWs with the right transaxle (even though I'd probably just end up in a Golf GTi/TDi if I was feeling down with the People's wagens).
Oh, and I'd drive the hell out of an S13 SE-R.
Shoot. After all those comments, I’m just surprised nobody said anything about Minis…. even if they are extremely fun to drive, which is virtually the main (if not only) defense for Miata’s, and they’ve been mentioned. At least Miatas are RWD and have their own racing class under several sanctioning bodies.
I think Mini escaped that tag by entering other peoples' racing classes, and kicking ass and taking names. Even spanking many supposedly superior RWD cars.
God I hate admitting that.
I was shocked, SHOCKED, that the mini was not on the list.
I totally am loving this site. definitely going to need to put this on the list.
ive alwways wondered if the new 2010 kia forte is a " chick car" !!! but the kia sportage is a pretty manish car.
Bad list, you missed the Miata, s2000, mr2, prius and land cruiser to name a few.