Worst cars ever

[BiteMeElmo]

Fortunately, I've never driven or owned any of these cars, but I imagine some members of the Throbbing Brain have. Discuss.

Worst car I ever owned was a 4-cylinder Mustang. Bleh.

[JNA]

Me thinks we had covered this before, had we not?

[SlaveToTheGrind]

Most anything from the 1970's.

[Big Easy King]

The worst car ever was the Yugo!

A high school buddy owned one. One morning in front of our high school, he closed the driver's side door and all the glass windows fell out and shattered on the ground! That was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen!!!

[mendelman]

I have yet to own a "worst car ever" car. But my parents, geez!

Fords from 1980-1985 were the worst ones my parents owned - 1983 Lincoln Continental, 1984 Ford Tempo, 1985 Ford LTD Country Squire wagon

[biscuit]

Worst car I ever owned was a 4-cylinder Mustang. Bleh.

A high school friend of mine drove one that had the well earned nickname "the Crapstallion." What a total POS.

From my limited experience it seems like Ford made a lot of real stinkers throughout the seventies and eighties.

[Cardinal]

Most anything from the 1970's.

Are you nuts!? The mid-sixties to mid-seventies were the golden decade for Detroit muscle. Think of the Barracudas, Chevelles, 442's, Talladegas, Firebirds, etc. They were incredible. It was only after the twin blows of pollution control and gas shortages that the auto industry collapsed. As new car models began to replace the older ones, starting about 1975, we started to get into the "bad car" era. By 1978 it was in full force.

[BKM]

The AMC Spirit I drove in high school was probably too obscure to be on this list, but THAT was an amazingly scary car. Talk about roll over/high center of gravity.

[SlaveToTheGrind]

Are you nuts!? The mid-sixties to mid-seventies were the golden decade for Detroit muscle. Think of the Barracudas, Chevelles, 442's, Talladegas, Firebirds, etc. They were incredible. It was only after the twin blows of pollution control and gas shortages that the auto industry collapsed. As new car models began to replace the older ones, starting about 1975, we started to get into the "bad car" era. By 1978 it was in full force.

The start of the 70's brought the look for the muscle car downhill. Firebirds (Trans AM from 1970 on) and Camaros after the 1969 model year were ugly. Mustagns started their nosedive around 1970. 'Cudas were still okay in the early 70's as were some of the GM lines. My favorite muscle car, one which I will never own:

[FueledByRamen]

The start of the 70's brought the look for the muscle car downhill. Firebirds (Trans AM from 1970 on) and Camaros after the 1969 model year were ugly. Mustagns started their nosedive around 1970. 'Cudas were still okay in the early 70's as were some of the GM lines. My favorite muscle car, one which I will never own:

I disagree. Cars didnt start looking bad until around 1974



(obviously the 80s where the bad times for the Vettes)

Oh and that article said that the EDSEL was one of the worst cars ever....maybe it wasnt visually appealing, but those were some of the BEST MADE CARS FORD EVER PUT OUT! I laugh when I see an Edsel in mint condition drive by a 1992 5.0 broken down on the side of the road. Ford went DOWN in the mid 70s and is just now coming back. Sorta like GM....In fact...American Cars in general. I had a friend who had a 1989 Bronco II (one of the worst cars ever) and yeah, it blew Terrible car. He traded for a 1989 SeVille...now that was pimp!

[Queen B]

I never have liked the looks of the fast back mustang and what did they bring back this year. YUK.
I did have a Pinto Wagon.

[SlaveToTheGrind]

I never have liked the looks of the fast back mustang and what did they bring back this year. YUK.
I did have a Pinto Wagon.

I only like the fastback in the 1965 and 1966 model years. After that, no thank you.
The new 2005 Mustang:

[B'lieve]

Hey, I drive a Delta 88 (it's a 1990 model, though). It's not the numbah one best car out there, but it runs just fine. What was so bad about it?

EDIT: Saw the slide show, it was the badly designed diesel engine in the early models.

[Chet]

When I was a kid my dad had a Pinto in the exact same orange color as that article.

BEK - I did have a Yugo in college too.

[Super Amputee Cat]

In terms of environmental detriment, contribution to pullution and sprawl, and promotion of aggresive driving I would say the worst type of car (or light truck) ever is the SUV.

[SlaveToTheGrind]

In terms of environmental detriment, contribution to pullution and sprawl, and promotion of aggresive driving I would say the worst type of car (or light truck) ever is the SUV.

How does driving an SUV contribute to sprawl? I can see higher pollution since you get less gas mileage than say a Civic. The agressive driver argument is one you can't sell me on. Drivers can be agressive in any vehicle.

[Big Easy King]

BEK - I did have a Yugo in college too.

Did the glass windows fall out of your Yugo like my buddy's did?

[Repo Man]

Having an SUV doesn't contribute to sprawl at all, it is just easy to lump SUVs into anti-sprawl rants. i.e. "Suburban soccer moms in their monster SUVS weaving in and out of traffic" It is merely a tactic by those who hate SUVS to try and associate them with another percieved evil; sprawl. I actually find that the biggest jerks on the road drive suped up Honda Civics (too much Fast and Furious) and BMWs.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why the 91 Ford Escort missed the Worst Car list. I had one for about 2 years and let me tell you it was the biggest hunk of crap ever. It liked to spurt out oil all over the place...then get fixed and be fine for about a month...then spurt more oil. I remember driving from Green Bay to Milwaukee and having to stop every 20 miles to add another quart...

[Planderella]

Never owned one and don't ever intend to, but the El Camino is a pretty hideous car.

[Cardinal]

While not a bad car, they were no Ranchero.

1957


1972

[mendelman]

don't forget these:

[ludes98]

Never owned one and don't ever intend to, but the El Camino is a pretty hideous car.

My first car eerrrr truck, was an El Camino!!! Fond memories of that car. I didn't like the later models, but I like the late sixties models. I would love to own a 68' or 69'. It was manufactured from 59'-87'. Not a bad run for a car that was never too popular. It was often imitated - Ford Ranchero and Subaru Brat to name two, not to mention that the concept has basically transformed into SUV/Trucks like the Avalanche.

[Cardinal]

It was often imitated - Ford Ranchero and Subaru Brat to name two, not to mention that the concept has basically transformed into SUV/Trucks like the Avalanche.

The Ford Ranchero pre-dated the El Camino by two years. Chevy copied. Chevy sucks!

[Dan]

I swear, some car models have expiration dates.

Think of the Chevrolet Vega, for example. It seemed like all of them just disappeared from the roads around 1982. Chevrolet Chevettes all went bye-bye around 1990; it was is if one year, there were lots on the road; then the next year, none.

The most recent victim of the disappearing car seems to be anything on the Chrystler K-car platform. All the Aries and Reliants disappeared around 2000.

There's also the car models that refuse to die, like the "box GM" sedans of the late 1970s. Still extremely popular in inner city neighborhoods and blue-collar Buffalo neighborhoods. Also, in college towns with large hippie populations, ugly 1970s-era Japanese compacts can still be found on the road in great abundance.

[Rem]

An oft laughed at Australian car is the Leyland P76 (there are devotees too though - a bit like Volvos - sorry Volvos). It was released in the early 70's and production stopped within about two years, due mainly I understand to quality control problems.