18. Toyota Sera
At first glance, the Toyota Sera looks like a generic Japanese compact from the early ’90s. But when you open the door, you see why this little car is so special. Toyota based it on a regular Corolla platform and powered it with an ordinary 1.5-liter four-cylinder, technically making the Sera quite common. However, the design and technical solutions of the cabin, doors, and roof are unique.
Toyota needed special tools and machines just to fabricate the door mechanisms and make the specially curved glass. They introduced the Sera in 1990. It stayed in production until 1996 during which time they built over 16,000. Unfortunately, they sold almost all of them exclusively in Japan.