1974 AMC Gremlin, 68th Street and Second Avenue

Good lord. A cursory bit of research into the Gremlin finds Webster's defining it at the time of its release (April Fool's Day 1970) as 'a small gnome held to be responsible for the malfunction of equipment.' This is kind of like the American equivalent of the Austin Allegro- not much fun to drive and not much fun to look at. That said, it's an icon. An iconic car in the same way that leisure suits and woodette vinyl furniture are. It's the apex of poor taste,  and this almost makes it lovable. The fact that this one, with its rattlecan paint job, innumerable dents, and tasteful duct tape trim squats on a relatively smart street on the Upper East Side makes it all the more amazing. I walk past this car almost every day, and I never see it move, and I never see a ticket on it. I think most people up here (including traffic wardens apparently) would rather not acknowledge it exists.

2009 Aston Martin DBS, 61st Street and Second Avenue

I've never seen one in the flesh before, and it's spectacularly good looking. Apologies for the poor quality photograph, but cosmetically this is a wonderful compromise between the DB9, which is so pretty as to almost be feminine, and the Vanquish, which is a car that seems almost overblown. This is the best looking model in the Aston Martin range today and possibly the best looking car they've ever made.

2010 Porsche Panamera Turbo, 47th Street and Park Avenue

This is a seriously expensive and fast Porsche, and people have decried its woeful looks. Having never seen one in person, I was surprised how different my impression of it was. It's certainly not good looking, but not really as bad as people say. More than anything else, I just think that Porsche shouldn't be doing this sort of thing. I agree with Richard Hammond that you should only be able to walk into the dealership, say 'I want to buy a Porsche,' and the man says 'certainly sir, what color?' What I'm looking forward to is a revival of the 928. That was the last time Porsche moved in a new direction that was even remotely cool.