10 Coolest Cars for Less Than $18,000

1. 2013 Dodge Dart
MSRP: $15,995

The last time most Americans saw a Dodge Dart, it was in the final stages of its devolution from chromed-out, tail-finned '60s dream boat to a browned-out, ugly compact that had its V8 muscle reduced to a costly option. After nearly 36 years of dormancy, the Dart is being revived with an Italian makeover. The folks at Fiat stretched out an Alfa Romeo and shrugged off the big-box muscle for four-cylinder 2.0- and 2.4-liter engines and 160 horsepower. Since "cool" is largely about artifice anyway, Dodge has tricked out the Dart's options with 12 available exterior colors, 14 interior color combinations, three types of wheels, rear LED lighting and dual exhaust. It'll look race-ready, but its combined 31 miles per gallon of efficiency and 13 cubic feet of cargo space in the trunk are more suited for weekend traffic than the track.

-- Written by Jason Notte in Boston.

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Jason Notte is a reporter for TheStreet. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Esquire.com, Time Out New York, the Boston Herald, the Boston Phoenix, the Metro newspaper and the Colorado Springs Independent. He previously served as the political and global affairs editor for Metro U.S., layout editor for Boston Now, assistant news editor for the Herald News of West Paterson, N.J., editor of Go Out! Magazine in Hoboken, N.J., and copy editor and lifestyle editor at the Jersey Journal in Jersey City, N.J.

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