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Determining the gender of a car can be difficult - except when it comes to the extreme ends of the scale. Globe Drive columnist Peter Cheney looks at 16 vehicles that have earned their reputations

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New Beetle Cabriolet: the curvy shape and dash-mounted flower vase made the New Beetle popular with women. The cabriolet version upped the ante. (The man in the photo is removing his surfboard and walking to the beach rather than ride in the Emasculator GT.)

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Range Rover Evoque Posh Spice edition: designed with input from former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, this special edition Range Rover has been described as a "rolling handbag."

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Fiat 500 - Its small size and elegant curves conjure up Audrey Hepburn on a sunlit day in Rome. Nice, but not for the man with any doubts.

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Mini Cabriolet - although the hardtop Mini is stylishly metrosexual, the convertible version takes you deep into Chick Car Country.

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1975 Ford Mustang II - the Mustang II's limited macho factor plunged below zero after it was featured on the Charlie's Angels TV show.

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Dodge Neon - why the Neon became known as a chick car is one of the universe's great mysteries. But the evidence is behind the wheel, wearing mascara and heels.Peter Cheney/The Globe and Mail

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Chrysler PT Cruiser: only a women's washroom has a more a female-oriented demographic.

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VW Golf Cabriolet - the hardtop Golf was a boy-racer favourite, but with the top removed, it was magically converted into the Estrogen Express.

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Ford F-150 Dually Pickup Truck - a pickup truck can erase doubts about a man's orientation. Adding an extra set of rear wheels is like pectoral enhancement surgery.

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Sixties Muscle Car - cars like the Plymouth Road Runner take a man back to the time before emission controls, stunt driving laws and sexual equality changed the world.Peter Cheney

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Aston Martin Vanquish V12 - James Bond epitomizes the heterosexual, free-love-era male. This is his ride. Bond's powers do not come with the car. Men buy it anyway.

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Corvette ZO6 - the Corvette has always been the automotive equivalent of an unbuttoned shirt over a hair-covered chest. The Z06 is for the man who wants to make sure that his chest is hairy enough.Peter Cheney/The Globe and Mail

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Hummer H1 - Until Arnold Schwarzengger started driving one on the street back in the 1990s, the Hummer was known as a military vehicle. After that, it became known as a three-ton compensation device.

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Dodge Viper - with a presence that conjures up a swollen, V10-powered torpedo, the Viper's constituency skews strongly male.

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Ford GT500 Mustang - the GT 500 comes standard with a supercharged V8 and a cue-ball shifter. The option list does not include a flower vase.

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Shelby 427 Cobra - some drivers believe that a convertible top automatically turns a vehicle into a chick car. The 427 Cobra's big-block V8, manual steering and utter lack of creature comforts (what, you expected side windows?) lay waste to that theory.Peter Cheney/The Globe and Mail

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