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At the end of every year, auto journalists are beset with a famine of newsworthy content. With the brunt of consumers focused on gift-giving — and their soaring credit card balances — very few are salivating over the prospect of financing a new car. To fill the gaping chasm that is their front page, columnists sometimes churn out reviews about cars nobody particularly cares about, like the Bentley Mulsanne and the new Merc Gullwing. Your local newspaper stands as a testament to this.

Can success kill you? It can if your name is Heath Ledger, Kurt Cobain, and Dodge Viper. As Pontiac folded under its own pointless rebadge jobs, stellar efforts like the Solstice GXP and G8 GXP were smothered in the collapse. The Viper, now under Italian ownership, is soon to have the sun set on it as well. The exorbitant cost of the Viper model couldn't be justified by the new management at Chrysler. Despite the marque's determination to ditch the model, the $100,000+ sports car peaked at around 100 units a month for the track-prepped ACR.

Getting excited about a V6 engine has always been similar to being second string on your school's basketball team. You can beam with pride that your on the team, and proudly wear your jersey. You'll get perks in class and a little more attention from girls, which is certainly something to get excited about — but you're still second string.