The 10 Worst Cars - Ever!

[blujax01]

According to Edmunds, 10th to 1st. My personal remembrance in parentheses.

10) 1971 Ford Pinto - (complete with flaming gas tank.)

9) 1975 AMC Pacer - (Sun tea anyone?)

8) 1979 Olds Cutlass Supreme Diesel - (*cough*cough*)

7) 1982 Cadillac Cimmarron - (Pimped out Chevy Cavalier)

6) 1958 Edsel Corsair - (The one that started the tradition of "worst cars" lists)

5) 2003 Saturn Ion - (The beginning of the end)

4) 1971 Chevy Vega - (Toyota's salesman of the year)

3) 1987 Yugo - (ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

2) 1974 Mustang II (See "1974 Pinto")

1) 2001 Pontiac Aztek (Well, if I were rallying on the Serengeti, maybe)

I could add my 1983 Ford Escort GT. I think the GT stood for "Garage Time"

 

[johnsonl]

Oh, but those Vegas would move with a junkyard 350 small block in 'em!

 

[bobsdad]

Don't forget the early Pontiac Sunbirds

My wife drove a '76 that had to come from the factory with the rust built in! When we were young and didn't have money for entertainment, we could sit on the front porch and watch it rust apart at the curb. I'm not kidding.

 

[David LaPell]

What about anything made by Lancia, the Ford Fairmont, my mother had one and when you would put it in park it would stay there after the linkage snapped. How about the Aries K? (My favorite was the Dodge Rampage pickup version).

 

[CW Spook]

I owned both a Pinto and a Vega....never had a problem with either of them that I can recall. They were both fairly well tricked out with accessories and were actually kinda cute cars.

 

[Rule3]

Mrs Rule had a Green Pinto when we first met. The car would not die even in upper WI and MN. It would always start in 20* below. It went through several Sisters at UW Madison, it finally died quietly on the side of the road and turned into a small pile of rust particles

The Vega was a cool car and made Mr Nader famous, you could always tell one was coming down the street it had that sewing machine noise. Car was actually very much ahead of the times in some ways.

You mention the Green house car (Pacer) Mrs Rules other Sister had a Gremlin, man that was junk!

 

[CW Spook]

The Vega was a cool car and made Mr Nader famous, you could always tell one was coming down the street it had that sewing machine noise. Car was actually very much ahead of the times in some ways.

I believe you're thinking of the Corvair, which is the one that made Nader infamous. You're right, though. In some ways it was a very advanced vehicle for Detroit. I remember the great F1 champion Stirling Moss making a fool of a Corvair critic/prosecutor in the hearings they had on its safety.

 

[HalfStack]

I used to have a Corvair. Darn thing don't have enough power to get up the hill. I had to back up, wait for the light to change and get a running start.

 

[HOOSIER44]

My 1977 Dodge Aspen began rusting on the showroom floor...

 

[jframe]

Well, nobody has mentioned my personal favorite piece of ****: Suzuki. As a Ford and Suzuki parts dealer who has spent seven years with Toyota, and five years with Nissan before that, Suzuki is without a doubt the biggest piece of junk I've had the priviledge of making money off of in my entire 24 year parts career. The guy that works next to me made the statement the other day that every Forenza should come with a transmission range sensor and complete set of gaskets and new cylinder head in the trunk. Guy comes in for touch up paint the other day on a Grand Vitara, and after he left we decided it didn't matter if we could get him a touch up stick or not; he's gonna need a complete timing chain setup pretty soon anyway.

 

[Marshwheeling]

I believe you're thinking of the Corvair, which is the one that made Nader infamous. You're right, though. In some ways it was a very advanced vehicle for Detroit. I remember the great F1 champion Stirling Moss making a fool of a Corvair critic/prosecutor in the hearings they had on its safety.

I have not been able to stand Nader since he did his hatchet job on the Corvair (I guess that would be, like, forever). At the time, I thought it was the best thing GM was building. I had three, and they were all great cars, especially in a Minnesota winter.

 

[cass]

1974 Pinto. I couldn't keep the rubber timing belt from slipping. My local mechanic recommended I trade it in on a used lawn mower.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra a real piece o ........... rubbish! I will never own another Oldsmobile

 

[jlrhiner]

Id sure like to have one of those *** 58 Edsels.

 

[jag312]

What? No mention of the Renault Dauphine?

 

[mball]

My cousin taught me to drive in a Corvair. That would be early-mid 60's. I always remember them having a nice oil patina on the back end.

 

[Sebago Son]

Corvairs!

I have not been able to stand Nader since he did his hatchet job on the Corvair (I guess that would be, like, forever). At the time, I thought it was the best thing GM was building. I had three, and they were all great cars, especially in a Minnesota winter.

I actually had a dozen or so Corvairs during a 10 year period when I was actively collecting them. Everything from a pristine 1964 80 HP Model 500 through a 1967 110HP Monza to a 1968 140HP Corsa. Never owned, but I drove a 180H Spyder.

I loved them all but my favorite was one of the Uber-Rare 1969 Convertibles. A pal of mine had a Crown-Conversion Corv-8 with a 327/325 HP and a 4 speed. I always thought these were great cars.

My submission for the worst car ever would have to be the 1986 Hyundai Excell. Might caught fire... TWICE!

Drew

 

[Arik]

Only Suzuki's I like were the Samurai and the Sidekick/tracker.

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

FIAT=Misery

The only car I ever owned that I truly despised. I can't remember the Fiat model name, probably have repressed it from my memory. It was actually a very handsome looking sporty 2 door. Within 6 or 7 months after buying it new, it had every catastrophic electrical failure known to modern automotive engineering. I dumped it and bought a Triumph TR4 and a Triumph Trident 750cc bike. Life was good again.

Cheers;
Lefty

BTW

Every American auto I have owned has been nothing less than excellent and I'm happy to say I never owned any of those on the 10 worst list. Just lucky I guess.

 

[zoom6zoom]

I have fond memories of the Pacer. The captain of the cheerleading squad at my HS had one and lived down the street from me. If she saw me walking home from track practice, she'd pick me up and I'd have to squeeze into a car full of cheerleaders. A hardship I gladly accepted. Sadly, the thing never did break down on a back road.

My college GF had a Gremlin. Fun car, you could do donuts in the snow without worrying about smacking the back end into anything.

If yu start adding foreign cars to the list, the American ones won't make the top ten. A friend of mine had a Renault "LeCar" which was an absolute piece of rubbish.