10 Worst Cars of the Millennium

Car talk ^ | 04/18/02 | Click & Clack the Tappit Brothers

[yankeedame]

What's the Worst Car of the Millennium?

The motoring public has spoken!(with actually comments by those casting their vote).

And...the winner is...

Well, you'll just have to check for yourself!

And, if you ever owned one of thse top ten heaps of the millennium, please accept our humble condolences.

10th Place: The VW Bus

"If everyone had to own one of these as a first car as I did, there would be no traffic jams anywhere. At least half of us would be so turned off by the experience of owning a car, that we would seek alternate means of transporation."

"There was no heat-- unless, that is, the auxillary gas heater caught on fire."

"The bus had no heat, blew over in the wind and used the driver's legs as its first line of defense in an accident."

"It was a death trap on the highway- you could never go fast enough. The chances were good that you'd be hit from the rear."

9th Place: Renault Dauphine

"Truly unemcumbered by the engineering process."

At the time, it cost about half the price of a Volkswagen...which was half the price of everything else. How could Renault do this? Simple. It had half as many parts."

"This car topped out at 45 mph. Since the minimum speed on the Florida Turnpike is 40, patrol cars would follow me, waiting for me to hit a hill so they could ticket me."

"From a historical perspective, it's a shame that the French spent their Marshall Plan dollars on automaking."

"A side impact by a bicycle totalled my Dauphine after only one year."

8th Place: Cadillac Cimarron

"GM thoght they could take a Chevy Cavalier, slap some Cadillac stuff on it, add an extra $5,000.00 and sell a bundle. Tragicaly enought, they pulled it off- for a while."

"Hands down, worst car for the money spent. Yugos were junk, but at least they were cheap. This heap had Caddy price tag!"

7th Place: Dodge Aspen/ Plymouth Volare

"This car began to rust while it was still in the showroom."

"After the floor boards rusted out the rear, they would fill up with water and freeze. I ended up putting soda crates on the floor in the back to keep people from falling under the car."

"The only useful purpose this car served was as the model for the car used in National Lampoon's Vacation"

"Owning a Volare was total ego death- the theme song, the vinal Landau roof, the inability to pass another car on the highway."

6th Place: Renault LeCar

"I'm convinced that the body for this car was supplied by Reynold's Aluminum."

"Our LeCar couldn't climb a hill fully loaded, so the passengers had to get out and walk up."

"I left it unlocked, and it was finally stolen. The insurance check paid for a textbook."

5th Place: Chevy Chevette

"An engine surrounded by 4 pieces of dry wall!"

"Plywood floor, printed circuit 'wiring', and no redeeming qualities. It was a 'Saturdy Night Special' from the word go."

"If I got on the Interstate without being run over, the car would creep towards 55. About an hour later, I'd reach it. Then, the shaking would begin."

4th Place: AMC Gremlin

"It was entirely possible to read a Russian novel during the pause between stepping on the gas and feeling any semblance of forward motion."

"The car had all the quality and safety of a cheap gardentractor."

3rd Place: Ford Pinto

"Dad had a baby-poop-orange pinto the year that car thieves hit our street. Although a dozen cars were stolen in one night, ours was there the next morning, on a strangely empty block."

"Remember that great Pinto bumper sticker,'Hit Me and We Blow Up Together'?"

"The car would do 75mph in 2nd gear, shaking apart and sounding like a bat out of hell. In fourth gear, the top speed was 70mph. What's wrong with this picture? You do the math."

2nd Place: Chevy Vega

"When the read end went on my Vega, the Chevy dealer accused me of racing it. Racing who? My grandfather in hs wheelchair?"

"Burned so much oil, it was single handedly responsible for the formation of OPEC."

"My Chevy Vega actualy broke in half going over railroad tracks. The whole rear end came around slightly to the front, sort of like a dog wagging its tail."

And the winner of the worst car of the millennium is...

THE YUGO

"I once tested a Yugo, during which the radio fell out, the gear shift knob came off in my hand, and I saw daylight through the strip around the windshield"

"Any time we made a right hand turn, we all had to lean to the right to prevent the drver's side rear tire from scraping against the wheel well."

"The Yugo's first stop after the showroom was he service departmnt:'Fill 'er up and replace the engine!' "

[yankeedame]

Got this off of AOL today. Realize it's not "new" but still though an oldies it's still a goody! (Frankly I wounder by a Datsun B210 wasn't on the list. That sure would hve gotten MY vote!)

P.S. Not sure how to cut-and-paste a multipage article, so keyed this whole thing in by hand...So please forgive any typos and/or other techno boo-boos. Thanks!

[tacticalogic]

How can you have a "10 Worst Cars" list, and not have a Trabant on it?

[Mike Fieschko]

keyed this whole thing in by hand

wow, a true labor of love

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"Not sure how to cut-and-paste a multipage article, "

If you're really interested in learning, let me know. It requires you to download one small MicroSoft utility and I could teach you in one lesson.

[Fish out of Water]

index bump

[shaggy eel]

,,, can't agree with the slagging given to Renault's R5 or "Le Car" as it was marketed in the US as. There were over 500,000 of them made for world consumption and they served their purpose quite well. The hot version, called the Gordini, was something I never had the pleasure of driving. From the time that model left the showroom floor it was a collector's item.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"My vote would be for the 1981 model cutlass...truly a piece of garbage "

Wow. I'm surprised. I worked in the assembly plant that made the '81 Regal and Cutlass vehicles and I always thought they were pretty good cars.
At least our Weekly Quality Index was very high.

[Ford Fairlane]

I have to dispute the comments about the Gremlin. While admittedly UGLY, it was available with the AMC 360 V8 as an option. A friend of mine has one & loves to outrun kids in their Mustangs & Camaros. (The even UGLIER Pacer was also available with this engine)

[Bogey78O]

Datsuns were fun. My mom and dad owned one of the really small ones. For fun my dad and his friend would pick it up when my mom got in it. To get it moving he'd open up the door and push it like the Flintstones.

[BornOnTheFourth]

OMIGOSH, that's funny!

My first car was a 65 MBG, it was sooooooooooo fun--both days it worked! (right, Dad???)

[aomagrat]

I had a '71 Pontiac Firebird. It got about 5 gallons to the mile. It would overheat while cranking.

[AppyPappy]

My sister had a Volare Station Wagon

Yup

[Bogey78O]

A guy I know put dual quad carbs in an old muscle car. Can't remember what type. When he floored it you could see the gas gauge crawling towards empty.

[RJS1950]

Add the Plymouth Cricket to that list, much worse than a Chevette.

[GaConfed]

Just bought an 86 Cimmaron. Don't have any problems yet except it needs a new muffler. It will flat out get on up to about 80 mph in a great big hurry. Thought I was in a 67 Chevelle with a 396 there for a minute.

[Dialup Llama]

At Laguna Seca I actually saw them race, not the Chevette, but the model that was smaller. They went abt 80 mph.

[Malcolm]

Glad the Vega was on there. My mother had a '73 wagon, and both the motor and transmission had to be replaced in the 10 year period she owned it. The Escort she replaced it with was a lemon, too; it burned up due to a fuel leak. She got a Grand Am, which was so good, (relatively speaking, of course!), that I got one later as well. Grand Ams are ugly, but apparently its the only model that Detroit can make that is somewhat tolerable.....

[LibWhacker]

I remember the Fiat used to be called the Fiasco. Must've been for a good reason.