The Coolest Cars Americans Can Only Drive in Mexico

Photo: Toyota

Ever since I started working at Jalopnik, I’ve tried to coerce my fellow Jalops to visit the Rio Grande Valley. I’ve twisted their arms gently with the promise of absurdly cheap and delicious breakfast tacos or with inexpensive direct flights to Mexico City, which is the capital of the world as far as I’m concerned. These are just a few of the perks that living in the most untexan place in Texas offers.

But the best argument I’ve leveraged on them so far (other than the tacos) is the chance to see and, maybe, drive all the weird and wonderful cars I regularly see on the border. From the lovable Suzuki Jimny and other Japanese compacts, to Chinese imports that are becoming popular in Mexico. There are plenty of Ram and VW coup-utes, as well as Toyota HiAce vans and Honda BR-Vs.

So many little big cars that fit extended families and many friends who travel north to the U.S. during the holidays, or to shop in Hidalgo and McAllen. Any parking lot in these cities and in Brownsville — if you’re keen to see foreign cars and some SpaceX rockets — is full of Mexican market cars that Americans can only drive in Mexico, if they were so inclined. So, here are are just some of those cool cars that await Americans on the U.S.-Mexico border — the Mexico-market border, if you will.