50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

[V153]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

Here's one: Fairmont

 

[scipper77]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

I'm surprised at how many recent cars are listed. I'm sure its a case of writers who are too young to know anything about the older cars besides what they read.

Also, weren't US automakers known for making there worst cars in the late 70s through the mid 80s? (ironically when all of the long running good boat motors began production).

I have head that the original vw beetle was pretty bad. Of course it was one of the best selling cars of all time.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

I have head that the original vw beetle was pretty bad. Of course it was one of the best selling cars of all time.

My parents bought one of the first fuel injected ones. A convertible. It literally didn't make it home from the showroom.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

My mother had a Gremlin when I was in high school. If I wasn't in trouble at the time, she would let me use it. I loved that car. The back seat would fold down, which when you were 17 years old, with a girlfriend, was wonderful. It would also run forever on $3 worth of gas. Imagine that.

I also had a Gremlin and it was a blast to drive! 258 inline 6 and a 3 speed standard could smoke the tire off the line. They were easy to work on and parts were cheap. The only thing you didn't want to do was take it out on snow or ice, learned that the hard way.

 

[greenbush future]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

Any American car made between 1976 and 1986 was for the most part a 100K car at best, and if you didn?t pay attention to what day it was built, you could be stuck with a real dog. Fridays were the worst days for sure; half the assembly line workers were wasted, and think about it, you never see em on the road???
I owned a Chevette, and a Corvair, both were rather junky, but the Corvair was cool for $300 I paid.

 

[Av8nBill]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

Just for the record, my 1980 Chevette had 167,000 miles on it when I sold it. I saw it putting down the road three years later...

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

I see no mention of the Ford Tempo- biggest POS I've ever worked on. Oil pans leaked, head gaskets leaked, A/C evaporators leaked, could NOT keep them aligned and the 4 cylinder vibration was the worst of any 4 cylinder I ever drove. Horrible, horrible cars.

My grandmother still drives her 93 Tempo she bought new.

Has had some of the problems you mentioned. One things for sure though, the engine it that car is a simple all iron 2.3L push-rod motor, built like a brick $*** house. From what I understand, the 2.3 HSC engine started life as an industrial engine. Her biggest problem with the car now is keeping the body rust free.....

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

I have head that the original vw beetle was pretty bad. Of course it was one of the best selling ars of all time.

I had 2. They were fun to drive. They were so light you could go 4 wheelin'. Biggest issue was the lack of heat. I had a fancy one, '75 I believe. It a heater blower motor with a little knob on the dash..

 

[redfury]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

Meh, those lists are always too short. Should have been the top 100...it wouldn't be hard to fill up a list that long.

My VW bug had a gas heater in it ( 1970 ), so it was a great winter car...I've been fortunate that the majority of the "dud" cars I've owned were simply because they were at the end of their useful lifecycle.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

Another one for the list was the late 70's, early 80's Plymouth Volare'. I bought a low mile one owner one (cheaply) off a women who I worked with who was retiring. I bought it to use as a winter transportation car when I had my other car stolen. Wow, was that car crap. The slant 6 cylinder motor was ok, but the rest of it was awful. It couldn't handle...the fit and finish were a disaster...definitely a complete rattle trap. I always think that car was not sold by Chrysler but given away as door prizes for bingo nights.
It makes me really appreciate...well just about any car built today!!
BP

 

[DJ]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

Very slanted to "ECO".

Come on, the Model T??? Get Real.

iboats wouldn't be here if we didn't have "transportation freedom", for one.

We wouldn't HAVE boats.

We wouldn't have brand choice.

I expected no less from TIME and I was right.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

Very slanted to "ECO".

Come on, the Model T??? Get Real.

iboats wouldn't be here if we didn't have "transportation freedom", for one.

We wouldn't HAVE boats.

We wouldn't have brand choice.

I expected no less from TIME and I was right.

Good take!

The article would have probably fallen 'flat' if the writer(s) had to justify their choices.

 

[57crestliner]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

DJ,Rocky, Agreed. The Model T? Heck, even better is the EV-1. Leased, every one of them. Called them All back in. NO exceptions. People offered insane amounts of money to keep the one they had. No dice. Every one was scrapped. Lots of theories about that one,
Guess I missed out on this list, had none of 'em.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

The EV-1 was a concept car that didn't really have a production line. It was a vehicle meant to evolve technology and it served its purpose for that. I worked for Hughes/GM/Delco during that time and was in the garage next to the EV1 at the GM proving grounds in Arizona when i was working on collision avoidance systems. It had a lot of the state of the art designs in it.

 

[mommicked]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

A friends mom had an AMC Pacer in the 80s. He would ride slouched down in the car so he wouldnt be seen in it! I always thought it would be cool to put a hot, quiet motor in that car and dust off some unsuspecting hotrodders. Can you imagine being beat by a rolling goldfish bowl!

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

The Aztek gets my vote for the most ugly!

No doubt. Great write up on that one!

 

[45Auto]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

Had they allowed them to stay in use they would have been required to maintain parts for them as they are for all production cars.

You think that there's some legal requirement for a manufacturer to make spare parts? How long do you believe that they are required to keep them after production ends?

Any references?

 

[DJ]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

EPA says seven years. There is a bill "afloat" to make that ten.

CA (CARB) is looking at ten also. CARB is already 8/80.

Let me qualify that to "emission parts". Door handles are exlcuded.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

EPA says seven years. There is a bill "afloat" to make that ten.

CA (CARB) is looking at ten also. CARB is already 8/80.

Let me qualify that to "emission parts". Door handles are exlcuded.

One of the few 'consumer advocacy' enactments that I applaud!

In todays climate it can be argued that this keeps jobs, and promotes the 'recycling' of older cars. Nothing more frustrating than having a treasured car become worthless because the parts are gone. Corvettes, Mustangs and Corvairs are the lucky exceptions...they have developed their own after market industry!

Happy boating (and driving)!

 

[45Auto]

Re: 50 worst cars of all time 1899-present

Yeah, I forgot about the emission-related stuff. Not a whole lot of that on an electric car that I'm aware of!