Worst cars ever

[BiteMeElmo]

Worst cars ever.

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!!! :-D

 

[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 :-D 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]

bad cars

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! +o(

 

[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.

 

[donk]

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.

They all came here to die, see chevettes, acadians and K-Cars all over the place.

Do you know of anyplace else that has K-Cars as taxi's? Maybe it is because we are rugged?

 

[Super Amputee Cat]

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.

Ever hear the term "Bad Roads Keep the Yuppies Away"? Well I remember the leader of one small comminity in the west who took pride in the state of their roads during the 1980s knowing that at least as long as they didn't improve the roads, the elitists in their Beamers wouldn't move in and drive up taxes and traffic congestion and destroy their way of life. Surely that helped keep housing contruction down in the hinterlands of many cities that were otherwise vulnerable to being the next trendy place to live by the elitists.

But now, with the explosion of 4-wheel drive SUVs, that term no longer is true, and you'll find the affluent in the places they were blessedly denied entry because they dind't want to scratch up their blessed Beamer.

While it's true that a driver can promote aggressive driving, SUVs promote aggression in a much greater proportion than all other cars types (except maybe pick-ups). And the bigger the SUV, generally the more aggresive the driving. When ever I see someone driving too fast, weaving in and out of traffic, cutting people off, not using turn signals, squealing tires, yada yada, yada, more often than not, it's an SUV driver. Much more in fact, than the ratio of vehicles that SUVs make up as a percentage of all vehicles. I'm not saying that all SUV drivers are aggresive, just a significantly greater percentage that virtually all other car types.

Think of the Chevrolet Vega, for example. It seemed like all of them just disappeared from the roads around 1982.

I actually saw a Vega recently. It was actually in a showroom of a new car dealership in a small town near where I live. There it was among all the new Chevy pickup trucks and Impalas. It was like stepping back in time to 1974.

 

[Seabishop]

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...

Ditto for the 91 Tempo. My used one was dead by 1999. They were made until the mid-90's but I barely ever see one anymore.

 

[Gedunker]

I actually saw a Vega recently. It was actually in a showroom of a new car dealership in a small town near where I live. There it was among all the new Chevy pickup trucks and Impalas. It was like stepping back in time to 1974.

Did it have the aluminum engine block, with the handles for easier replacement?
My brother's Vega did. I had to drive to it college once when my VW crapped out. The driver's side door was jammed closed and you had to climb in an out like a NASCAR driver. Total POS, IMO.

 

[Plannerbabs]

The Pontiac Aztek has got to be up there somehow. It's so...angular.

 

[SlaveToTheGrind]

The Pontiac Aztek has got to be up there somehow. It's so...angular.

In my opinion; one of the ugliest cars ever...

...along with the Honda Element

 

[SkeLeton]

Geee.. personally I've never been on a crappy car; but my parents owned a few old and used (trashed) cars when they were young.
There was one where the windows leaked and the floor had holes (they called it the aquarium )

The Edsel sure is one of the worst cars ever, it's ugly and it was a sales fiasco.
There's also a new Chrysler that looks sort of like an old car on steroids and personally I find it fugly...

 

[Richmond Jake]

Vega

My friend and neighbor owned a Vega when we were in high school. I recall that he blew 4 engines in about 18 months. Finally, he intentionally rolled it in the intersection of the two major streets of our small town then ran from the scene and hid in my parents backyard. For some reason the authorities never caught up with him.

 

[Cardinal]

Geee.. personally I've never been on a crappy car; but my parents owned a few old and used (trashed) cars when they were young.
There was one where the windows leaked and the floor had holes (they called it the aquarium )

The Edsel sure is one of the worst cars ever, it's ugly and it was a sales fiasco.
There's also a new Chrysler that looks sort of like an old car on steroids and personally I find it fugly...

I've got to disagree. I like the styling of the Edsel. Although it sold poorly, it was a solid car, and many are still around today.

As for other bad cars...

A friend of mine had a Chevy Citation back in college. About 1988-89 it was running pretty badly, and his mechanic informed him that only three cylinders were firing. He drove it another couple of months until it died. He glided into a parking lot, which happened to be a used car lot. The guy there offered him $50 for it, and he walked home.

 

[giff57]

A friend of mine had a Chevy Citation back in college.

I had one of those too. It got to where it would blow oil up into the air cleaner at highway speed. After about 60 miles it would choke itself out. Started using it just around town, went for a few more years and finally died. ....yes a POS. Had a Chevette for a while, paid $200 for it. Manual transmission, I dumped the clutch one day and ended up in the back seat, the drivers seat had ripped loose from the floor. Drove it for a week using just the parking brake, as the Master Cylinder had went out. Those were good times.....

 

[giff57]

Speaking of Chevettes, I could dig this one

 

[Repo Man]

Ditto for the 91 Tempo. My used one was dead by 1999. They were made until the mid-90's but I barely ever see one anymore.

Did you ever notice that all of a sudden you don't see anymore of a certain car. I used to drive a 92 Plymouth Laser and I used to see Lasers/Talons/Eclipses from that era all ovcer the place. I even lived on a block where 3 people had them. Now I never see them anywhere. Same with Ford Escorts. It is like they reach a certain age and then all die.

 

[mendelman]

Same with Ford Escorts. It is like they reach a certain age and then all die.

Well, only for the pre-1997 Escorts/Tracers

There are still tons of post-1997s all over the place.

I agree with you and Dan, there does seem to be a time when certain cars just disappear from the roads. My vote is for the Chevette. They were as thick as carrier pigeons, then one day, niente.

 

[donk]

Speaking of Chevettes, I could dig this one

A few of the locals down by my parent's use a pinto frame and body for a similar vehicle. They even drive it in the Canada Day Parade.

 

[Dan]

...along with the Honda Element

Most of the Elements I see are driven by stocky wimmyn with short grey hair, with a similar stocky womyn with short grey hair in the passenger seat. Ugly, but popular among the stocky womyn crowd.

 

[Super Amputee Cat]

Did you ever notice that all of a sudden you don't see anymore of a certain car. I used to drive a 92 Plymouth Laser and I used to see Lasers/Talons/Eclipses from that era all ovcer the place. I even lived on a block where 3 people had them. Now I never see them anywhere. Same with Ford Escorts. It is like they reach a certain age and then all die.

Escort? Are you kidding me? I see them all over the place, particularly those built during the early 1990s.

Well, only for the pre-1997 Escorts/Tracers

There are still tons of post-1997s all over the place.

Actually, it's pre-1991 that were bad. The early 1990s Escorts were very good, reliable cars that get great gas mileage. I have a '93 with 112K miles and it's still running strong. In fact, I submit that the 1991-96 era was the best for Escort, because the later models were redisigned without the cavernous hatchback. With the back seat down, you could fit more in a hatchback of those early '90s models than some small SUVS.

 

[SlaveToTheGrind]

Speaking of Chevettes, I could dig this one

http://www.autospecialtyperformance.com/images/autos/dcp_0017_b.jpg

A pro-street Chevette. I always see a few pro-street Vegas or Monzas when I go to car shows. And I always have to ask the question WHY?


From www.barrett-jackson.com this 1938 LINCOLN ZEPHYR V-12 COUPE STREET ROD sold for $432,000. If you like classic, rare or expensive cars, this site lists hundreds sold at auction.
http://www.barrett-jackson.com/images/carjpg/2004bjcca/2/682/2004BJCCA2_682_34.jpg

There are even some Volvos for those Volvo loving Cyburbanites.
$14,796http://www.barrett-jackson.com/images/carjpg/2003bjcca/2/45/2003BJCCA2_45_34.jpg
$18,360http://www.barrett-jackson.com/images/carjpg/1/18/18395va1/18395VA1_34.jpg

 

[ludes98]

From www.barrett-jackson.com this 1938 LINCOLN ZEPHYR V-12 COUPE STREET ROD sold for $432,000. If you like classic, rare or expensive cars, this site lists hundreds sold at auction.

I try to attend the Barrett Jackson in Scottsdale every year. I was at the auction for that car and it was exquisite. The auction is getting a little too popular and I happen to like many pre-WWII vehicles, which are now going to a different auction held the same weekend. The big sellers this year were 60's and 70's muscle cars. A lot of nice ones were going for 100K-150K. You don't see many Chevettes or Tempos at the auction. Some cars are not intended for collecting or greatness.

 

[BIH80]

Ford Festiva = Suicide on wheels

http://www.festivamotorsport.com/resource/customerpictures/images/anthonys881.jpg

Moderator note:

User suspended 24 hours for image leeching. Image changed to a url

 

[Jaxspra]

Ford Festiva = Suicide on wheels

http://www.festivamotorsport.com/resource/customerpictures/images/anthonys881.jpg

Have we forgotten the Pontiac Fiero?? That thing is plastic with an engine in the rear. My Dad bought me one in high school ( I think he liked the idea of no backseat :-$ ;-) ) and I remember pulling into the parking lot on numerous occasions with the back end blowing out smoke :-$ !!! Talk about embarrassing. It was a great looking little thing and drove great when it ran, but it definately qualifies for one of the worst cars ever.

 

[BIH80]

Have we forgotten the Pontiac Fiero??

I remember the Fiero! The psueo-Lotus. Hahaha. The one below is pretty nice, in an '80's kinda way.

I bet the engine being in the rear makes a good back heater during long winter drives.

http://www.vikingautobrokers.com/photos/inventory/1987_pontiac_fiero_gt/1987_pontiac_fiero_gt 001.jpg

Moderator note:

User suspended 24 hours for image leeching. Image changed to a link.

 

[nuovorecord]

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!!! :-D

From Click and Clack...

Q: Why do Yugos have rear window defrosters?

A: To keep your hands warm while you're pushing it!

 

[abrowne]

The Toyota Echo is one of the ugliest cars of the day. It looks as if it were rear-ended and never fixed. The entire axis is tilted forward in a really bizarre way. This is all a shame, actually, as the chassis and other systems within the car are top notch. But once again, Toyota bastardizes a perfectly good car by plastering a monstrously ugly design on top of it. The Corolla is practically analogous with "Hi, I'm boring, but probably won't vomit on you. I may, however, discuss my bug collection or whatever events in my childhood caused me to prefer nondescript, anonymous, champagne-coloured micro sedans."

I'm babbling now, but to sum up: Toyota should contract out its design work to Nissan or Mazda. Take dangerous weapons (T-squares and CAD) out of the hands of fools (Toyota's designers)!

 

[Runner]

First that came to mind for worst car was anything made by AMC, particullarly the Gremlin or Pacer. The Ford Pinto is not far behind. Then I remembered the worst of the worst; anything made by Hummer while used as a non-military vehicle...

 

[Jaxspra]

First that came to mind for worst car was anything made by AMC, particullarly the Gremlin or Pacer. The Ford Pinto is not far behind. Then I remembered the worst of the worst; anything made by Hummer while used as a non-military vehicle...

My grandpa used to have a limey colored green Gremlin...even then we made fun of that car!!