Smart Car
Posted on 06/13/2012 9:59:05 AM PDT by doug from upland
COMMENT FROM AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE 50 WORST CARS =
I was in the audience at the Detroit auto show the day GM unveiled the Pontiac Aztek and I will never forget the gasp that audience made. Holy hell! This car could not have been more instantly hated if it had a Swastika tattoo on its forehead. In later interviews with GM designers — who, for decency’s sake, will remain unnamed — it emerged that the Aztek design had been fiddled with, fussed over, cost-shaved and otherwise compromised until the tough, cool-looking concept had been reduced to a bulky, plastic-clad mess. A classic case of losing the plot. The Aztek violates one of the principal rules of car design: We like cars that look like us. With its multiple eyes and supernumerary nostrils, the Aztek looks deformed and scary, something that dogs bark at and cathedrals employ to ring bells (cf., Fiat Multipla). The shame is, under all that ugliness, there was a useful, competent crossover.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1658544_1658540,00.html #ixzz1xh3n8hhB
What? No Omni, Gremlin or Pacer?
Smart Car
I can’t believe that the Gremlin didn’t make the list.
Where is the AMC Gremlin? The Chevy Chevette?
The 1960 Pontiac Tempest station wagon should be in the top 100 worst. Faulty clutch design. My parents must have had it replaced a half dozen times.
“I can’t believe that the Gremlin didn’t make the list.”
I was just thinking the same thing, along with it’s follow-up, the Pacer.
I had a used Vega - the oil fell out of the engine. The author is right, I have never owned another GM vehicle.
I predict that the Government Motors Chevy Volt will be vying for a spot on this list.
I think it is funny that the main character on the AMC TV show “Breaking Bad” , Walter White drives a Pontiac Aztek.
Oh yeah. And my mother got a Vega to replace her Pontiac...
I remember my mom having an AMC Gremlin, an AMC Pacer (front doors massively heavy), and a Chevy Vega. I do remember she blew the engine on the Vega.
I’m surprised the explode-on-contact Ford Pinto wasn’t in the line up.
The Trabant in the photo kinda reminds me of the Nash Metropolitan. Weird Al had a Metropolitan featured in his music video, “It’s All About The Pentiums.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpMvS1Q1sos
I think those that see them as a blight on the Mustang name (which they are performance wise) will look at them and despise them for what they were, but had their performance been up to par, I don't think people would be criticizing the way they look..at least the notchback. The fastback did admittedly, look like a glorified Pinto.
Chrysler’s K Car?
Didn’t you love those ‘Vettes - those Shovettes that you had to push off the road when they died?
How about the Ford Tempo?
On a quiet night, outside our student residence we would sit, hold hands and listen to the Pinto rusting.
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