Posted on 05/18/2009 6:26:41 PM PDT by Eddie01
[snip]
Chrysler’s TC by Maserati (1989–91)
Arrogance, thy name is Lee Iacocca. In the late 1980s, the Chrysler chairman and perpetual huckster turned a friendship with Alejandro de Tomaso, then president of Maserati, into the most shudder-worthy example of corporate avarice ever to roll off an assembly line. Chrysler’s TC by Maserati was little more than a Milan-built K-car with a few pricey underhood components and some styling hackery, a wrinkly grandmother dressed up in custom running shoes and ill-fitting hot pants. The Maserati trident plastered on the grille just added insult to injury.
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at caranddriver.com ...
I’ll nominate the AMC Pacer for worst car of all time.
My parents and I were loyal AMC customers and even we did not consider a Pacer. I did think the Gremlin was cute but at 6’2”, it was a bit cramped.
Yes, it was an ugly car and it was kind of like driving in a greenhouse on wheels, but it got me where I wanted to go and in the mean streets of Boston, that counts for a lot.
I think the Pacer got a bad rap and for that, I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the AMC Pacer.
I had a Pacer and loved it, my husband hated it because he had to repair it..Great bucket seats....
The low drag coefficient is no lie. With that and the weight you can drive the thing in a gale and never know it. The window is that way not out of styling but because there's no room for the entire thing to go down into the door (too much curvature too). One of the best cars I've ever driven.
We were an AMC family too. I learned stick on my Dad’s “three on the tree” ‘68 Rambler Roug . Talked them into the all-wheel drive Eagle and toured Florida and Canada in an ‘81 Spirit. That 232cu in straight 6 was da’ bomb.
The article speaks disparagingly of the Subaru Justy. Great little cars. Best money I ever spent on a ride.
Outside the 25 year scope, but I nominate the Ford Fiesta, at least as sold in the US in the late 70s.
[on Chrysler Crossfire vs. Infiniti G35 or a BMW 3-series]
...both of which were more fun to drive than the Crossfire, and neither of which looked like a dog in the middle of a life-altering dump.
(Incidentally, whose bright idea was it to name a car after multidirectional gunfire, anyway? In what world do you want a car whose name implies that it might go off in any direction at any moment, killing innocent bystanders?)
And the sound is worse. The Honda’s petrol engine is a much-shaved, built-for-economy, low-friction 1.3 that, at full chat, makes a noise worse than someone else’s crying baby on an airliner. It’s worse than the sound of your parachute failing to open. Really, to get an idea of how awful it is, you’d have to sit a dog on a ham slicer.
Still, I think the Lincoln Blackwood is kind-of cool. Maybe I would buy one if I was a country music star.
But if you start discussing engines, don't ping me, lolol.
I still have my 96 SVX. Best car I’ve ever owned with over 170,000 miles on it, it still runs smooth. I remember going into a Toyota dealership about 2 years ago and looking at the Solara. Milage about the same, power about the same, comfort nowhere near the SVX, fun nowhere near the SVX. I decided I’d rather keep the SVX than even do an even exchange with the Solara (which wouldn’t even have been possible).
It is one really tough car that you can drive all day (from Kansas city to Kirksville, MO to Columbia, MO back to Kansas City and then on to Denver. I long drive that would only have been posssible in that car.
The strange bar in the window is actually reinforcement so the C pillar can be so small. Great visability.
Wish they still made this great car. If you ever get the chance to see the police chase video of the one in Kirkland, Washington don’t miss it. About 3 1/2 hours long with devestation to everything else including a golf course and a Tahoe that gets hit so hard that it drops it engine. Mad Max could have used one of these!
What?? No AZTEK????
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