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10 Worst Cars of All Time
thestreet ^ | 6-2012 | ted reed

Posted on 06/13/2012 9:59:05 AM PDT by doug from upland

DETROIT MainStreet) -- For me, it is the Chevrolet Vega.

I was living in Toledo, Ohio, in the late 1970s and working as a reporter for The Toledo Blade. One day, I was preparing to drive a friend's Vega. I sat down in the driver's seat and put my foot on the floor in front of me, about to step on the gas. And guess what happened?

It's not a tough question if you were ever in a Vega. My foot went right through the rusty floor. And for the ensuing three decades, I have had my own story about the worst car ever made.

Events like my Vega experience make a big impression on drivers, says Edmunds.com Editor-in-Chief Scott Oldham. "Everyone I know who had a Vega has a story like that," he says. "Even now, GM(GM_) is still paying for the ill will towards the Vega. A lot of the people who bought Vegas won't buy a GM car, and their kids and grandkids won't buy GM cars either."

Yet as bad as the Vega was, it is not the worst car ever, according to Edmunds.com. About two dozen Edmunds.com staffers spent a couple of months refining a list of the 100 worst cars ever. They started with individual lists of bad cars, compiled them and put the cars in order, accompanied by lots of discussions, emails and meetings.

Our list is limited to Edmunds' top 10. We will tell you right now that the Vega is ranked as only the fifth-worst car ever built and that the competition to be the worst car ever was extremely intense:

10th-worst: 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Diesel The Cutlass was once among the best-selling U.S. cars. In the late 1970s, GM decided to take advantage of its popularity and develop a diesel version. The 4.2-liter Olds diesel engine was sold only in the 1979 Cutlass.

Unfortunately, GM hadn't yet mastered diesel technology. "GM was trying to market a technology that wasn't ready for prime time," Oldham says. "The cars never really ran properly. They were underpowered. They blew up. They broke. It was a warranty disaster for GM."

The engine "reached 90 horsepower before shattering into shrapnel," Edmunds.com wrote.

The failure of the Cutlass diesel "turned Americans off to diesel," Oldham says. "It is one of the reasons why diesel is still a bad word in this country."

Ninth-worst: 1957 Trabant Capitalists aren't the only people who sometimes make bad cars.

Edmunds.com calls the 1957 Trabant, a two-cylinder, two-stroke engine compact from East Germany, "one more reason why communism is evil."

The car was common in its home country, given the lack of competition, and was sometimes exported. It was East Germany's answer to the Volkswagen Beetle, and in some ways it was comparable, with the major difference being that the Beetle was a worldwide success and the Trabant was a spectacular failure.

"Over the years, the Trabant has become an underground poster child for bad global cars," Oldham says. "It was produced for a long time, but never got better, never [embraced] any technology improvements" despite 30 years in production.

Eighth-worst: 1982 Cadillac Cimarron The 1982 Cadillac Cimarron was a symbol of what was wrong with GM in the 1980s, an effort to compete with BMW by redecorating the front-drive, four-cylinder Chevrolet Cavalier and calling it a Cadillac.

Edmunds.com called it "a self-inflicted wound that nearly killed Cadillac."

The car was an embarrassment from the start, Oldham says, and "the press was all over it." It underscored the difference between BMW and Mercedes, on the one hand, which understood what luxury car buyers wanted, and Cadillac, on the other hand, which did not.

Cadillac "was on the downswing, almost to the point of extinction" until cars such as the CRS and SRX began to revive the brand, Oldham says. Now, Cadillac is trying to further redefine itself as a viable competitor with the ATS.

Seventh-worst: 1958 Edsel Corsair Ford's(F_) Edsel brand became a symbol of a manufacturer's failure to judge the market.

Not to say the every Edsel was bad, but the styling wasn't what people wanted -- the marketing of a brand that allegedly competed with Buick and Oldsmobile was way off and the production was often flawed. Edsel was "the legendary flop of all automotive flops," Edmunds.com says.

The 1958 Edsel Corsair "was rejected by the marketplace," Oldham says. "It was reviled for being unattractive, starting with an unusual vertical grill" and horizontal tail lights, opposites of what car buyers wanted.

You simply cannot make a list of the top 10 bad cars and not include an Edsel.

Sixth-worst: 2003 Saturn Ion Saturn got off to a good start. Many reporters trooped to Spring Hill, Tenn., in the late 1990s as GM showed off the new symbol of its ability to compete. Every company with the slightest connection to Saturn felt it had something to brag about.

But by the start of the millennium, Saturn needed to be refreshed. Unfortunately, it came out with the 2003 Saturn Ion.

Oldham recalls that he drove one of the first Ions, at a GM press event. "I was astounded by how bad it was in every way. I said, 'I think this is the worst car I've ever driven and GM should be embarrassed,'" he recalls. "And history has proven me correct."

The Ion was uncomfortable and noisy and production quality was poor. It was tough to drive and had "a stupid interior to match," Edmunds.com says. "Kick it and your foot could get stuck in the gaps between the plastic body panels." Moreover, the competition was extremely tough at the time because Toyota(TM_) and Honda(HMC_) had excellent products in the small-car market.

The Ion "was far behind the competition on the day it was introduced," Oldham says. "It was the second-worst car of the millennium and was so bad it killed Saturn." Saturn, once an inspiring symbol of the U.S. auto industry's ability to compete with the Japanese, shut down in 2009.

Fifth-worst: 1971 Chevrolet Vega The Vega preceded the Ion as a symbol of GM's failure in the small-car market.

It wasn't just the rust. The Vega had "an engine that couldn't hold oil in a car built with contempt for its buyers," says Edmunds.com. "It's the car that invited Americans to buy Toyotas and Hondas." Perhaps fifth-worst car of all time is too good for the Vega.

Oldham expresses some sympathy for the automaker. "GM was running the world back then, but there was an oil embargo at the same time as there was increased regulation. It was a tough time for the automobile, a tough time globally. U.S. automakers weren't ready for the fuel crisis, and new safety regulations came in simultaneously. They had to build small cars that their hearts weren't in."

"The Japanese were poised to pounce," Oldham says, and that is what they did.

By the way, Oldham mentioned that John Pearley Huffmann, who wrote Edmunds.com's story on the worst 100 cars, is also a former Vega owner. "He wanted the Vega to be No. 1," Oldham says. "He said he had one and he could watch it rusting around him."

Fourth-worst: 1987 Yugo The Serbian-made Yugo shows up frequently on worst-car lists. Edmunds.com ranks the 1987 Yugo as the fourth-worst car ever made, but Oldham says it was a contender for No. 1.

"The Yugo was terrible in every way -- terrible quality, terrible performance, and it fell apart around you as it went down the road," he says.

The 1987 Yugo was a Serbian-made version of the Fiat 127, under license from Fiat.

For a time, it was sold in the U.S., with 141,511 sold here between 1985 and 1991 -- "a Serbian-made version of the Fiat 127 that couldn't possibly be as awful as its low price suggested," Edmunds.com says. "But it was!"

Third-worst: 1955 BMW Isetta Perhaps you did not expect to find any BMW products on this list. But BMW "built the atrocious, single-cylinder, 12-hp, one-door Isetta for 7 years," Edumunds.com writes. "The whole car was a crumple zone."

Ranked as the third-worst car ever, the Isetta was in the running for worst ever. "It's such a ridiculous automobile," Oldham says. "It has one door, five horsepower and is very narrow in back, almost like a three-wheeler. We can't understand why anyone would want one."

In particular, Oldham says, he cannot understand why the Isetta has become a collector's item that sells for around $50,000.

Historically, the car reflects an effort by a German manufacturer to get back on its feet after World War II. "Fuel was hard to come in Germany at that time, and they made a very small, very economical car," Oldham says.

Second-worst: 1974 Ford Mustang The Mustang is an iconic car with a rich past, but Ford stumbled in 1974 and created one worthy of being called the second-worst car in history.

Certainly in retrospect, the concept of a Pinto-based Mustang does not make a lot of sense.

"The car was popular in its day, but it was almost immediately looked upon as a mistake for Mustang," Oldham says. "When you look back at Mustang history, which is very glorious, [this car] should not have existed and should not have been called a Mustang. It was not attractive, not powerful in the least and didn't measure up to its name."

In Ford's defense, Oldham says, the 1970s were a difficult time for U.S. automakers trying to adjust to rising fuel cost, intensified regulation and tough competition from Japan.

"Thankfully, Ford didn't turn away from what Mustang should be," he says.

The worst: 2001 Pontiac Aztek Our winner is not only extremely ugly, but also has a singular distinction: it destroyed an 84-year-old automaker.

"Only hours before we went live [with the list] did we settle on where the top three would settle out," Oldham recalls. "We decided that none of the other 99 cars on the list had such a negative impact on such an established and successful brand. The Aztec became such a punchline for a bad car that Pontiac was damaged goods. After the Aztec, GM couldn't save Pontiac no matter what they did."

The car is hideously ugly, Oldham says, adding: "The joke is that the styling is its best feature."

-- Written by Ted Reed in Charlotte, N.C


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: aztec; cimarron; vega; yugo
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To: Puppage

My first car was a 74 Pinto Wagon. Drove it over 200k before it died. One of the most reliable cars I ever had.


61 posted on 06/13/2012 10:37:59 AM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: doug from upland

I would replace the 1974 Mustang with any year Chevy Chevett.

I owned both and the Chevett was the worst by far. It was like a Yugo only worse. I went through starters, alternators and breaks like there was no tomorrow. My girl friend (now my wife) had one too and she had just as many problems with hers. They were rolling death traps.

My 1974 Mustang had T-tops and a hatch back. It was 6 cylinder and ran great. Sure the body style wasn’t worthy of the Mustang name but it was a good car dependability wise.


62 posted on 06/13/2012 10:38:02 AM PDT by History Repeats (If Obama had a son, he'd have his picture hanging on the wall of the Post office wanted board.)
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To: Darksheare

Neah. The Smart has a normal wheelbase, two doors, a little room in the back and isn’t nearly as cute...


63 posted on 06/13/2012 10:38:16 AM PDT by Little Ray (FOR the best Conservative in the Primary; AGAINST Obama in the General.)
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To: Joe 6-pack

Mustang II - I had one trying to keep up with me on the highway. (Somewhere out west, in the 80’s) As we passed 100 MPH, the Mustang II started to lose ability to stay in his lane. At 105, he gave up and dropped back. They had the power (302 V8) to go fast, but not the suspension.


64 posted on 06/13/2012 10:38:27 AM PDT by tpmintx (Problem: The people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who VOTE for a living.)
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To: doug from upland

The Trabant kind of looks like the 62 Austin A40 I had in England, but that was a great car!


65 posted on 06/13/2012 10:39:13 AM PDT by DonkeyBonker
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To: doug from upland

My ex’s Vega didn’t last long enought to rust, she drove a Cimarron and didn’t like it, thankfully. She said it was nothing like my Cadillacs, so she got a Buick Century which was another GM loser.


66 posted on 06/13/2012 10:39:42 AM PDT by razorback-bert (I'm in shape. Round is a shape isn't it?)
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To: Vinnie

Indeed. Where is the Renault 14?


67 posted on 06/13/2012 10:40:12 AM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: Little Ray

It is still entirely a crumple zone.
Waiting for my father in law to discover that fact in his.


68 posted on 06/13/2012 10:41:10 AM PDT by Darksheare (You will never defeat Bok Choy!)
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To: Andy'smom
I had a used Vega - the oil fell out of the engine. The author is right, I have never owned another GM vehicle.

A fraternity brother of mine owned a Vega that simply drank oil.

I distinctly remember being in the car once when, in frustration, he drove into a service station and sarcastically told the attendant "fill up the oil and check the gas."

69 posted on 06/13/2012 10:41:50 AM PDT by Scoutmaster (You knew the job was dangerous when you took it)
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To: doug from upland

The poor old Vega died of sabotage from the workers. I know one owner had the engine torn down and found several oil passages not drilled out. The engine just fried it’s self within a few thousand miles.


70 posted on 06/13/2012 10:42:05 AM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have to be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: gorush

Worst car I ever owned was a 1975 Fiat 128. Oh, dear Lord!

On the way home from the dealer all the fuses blew. I didn’t hold on to very long.


71 posted on 06/13/2012 10:42:11 AM PDT by Wordkraft (Remember who the Collaborators are.)
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To: ScottinVA

Wife had a two tone brown ‘81 Caddy Seville like this one. It was a tank, with the big 4-6-8 engine system, which had been unplugged.
A bit of transmission trouble saw the car back at the dealer’s, where the mechanic hooked up the 4-6-8 system.
Driving at 60 on the freeway, the car shifted into 4 and immediately lost power. Wife pushed the gas pedal down and all eight pistons reported for duty with a huge bang and a cloud of smoke. She thought the motor had blown up...


72 posted on 06/13/2012 10:42:47 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: doug from upland

The last car my father owned was a little Yugo. He loved it.


73 posted on 06/13/2012 10:44:27 AM PDT by Zionist Conspirator (Ki-hagoy vehamamlakhah 'asher lo'-ya`avdukh yove'du; vehagoyim charov yecheravu!)
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To: razorback-bert; doug from upland

My brother had a Buick Century station wagon.
Somehow the thing literally farted all of the oil out on the highway and slammed to a stop.

No problem he thought, he had a spare engine!
He goes and gets somebody to tow it back, where he finds out: Hey, the seals are still intact. What the heck is going on here?!
He throws a bunch of oil into it and starts it up.

It ran fine after that until he sold it.
Never did find out what it did or how it did it.


74 posted on 06/13/2012 10:44:27 AM PDT by Darksheare (You will never defeat Bok Choy!)
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To: basil
not only the worst, but the most dangerous car ever made, the Chevy Corvair

The Corvair was a fine little car and no more dangerous than a VW Bug.

75 posted on 06/13/2012 10:46:07 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (The Internet Never Forgets)
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To: doug from upland

I had a brand new 1973 Vega GT in college and liked it a lot. It was comfortable and a lot of fun to drive. My roommate had a 1972 Pinto that was also pretty nice. We lived in a trailer 3 miles out of town and used to race back after class. The Vega had more power but there weren’t that many straightaways. Usually whoever was first stayed in the lead.

On another note, as a teenager, I had a girlfriend who had a 1967 Corvair convertible. She loved it and we had a lot of fun in it. Never spun it as far as I know.


76 posted on 06/13/2012 10:46:21 AM PDT by MtBaldy (If Obama is the answer, it must have been a really stupid question)
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To: doug from upland

Hey, thanks for posting this. I loved it.

As for the article itself, I have a couple of bones to pick with the author...

“The Ion ... was the second-worst car of the millennium and was so bad it killed Saturn.”

I don’t think so. Saturn had a GREAT new re-designed lineup of vehicles the last two or three years it was alive, and would have done very well. I drive a 2008 Sky Redline roadster - GREAT CAR.

We all know who killed Saturn, and half the people in the country were stupid enough to vote for him. Saturn was murdered because it was not a union shop.

He killed Pontiac, too, not the Aztec. Pontiac survived many years after the introduction of that beast. The Solstice, G6 and G8 were good cars, and would have paved the way back.


77 posted on 06/13/2012 10:47:15 AM PDT by HeadOn (With my last breath, I will pull the lever against the liberals. NEVER GIVE UP.)
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To: KarlInOhio

I had my older Saturn in for some maintenance so I wandered around the dealer floor and sat in the Ion. Who the F thought that it would be a good idea to have the instrument panel at the dead center of the dashboard. All the interesting traffic is either in front of me or to my left, so you make me look down and to the right to tell how fast I’m going?


More and more automakers are going to this type of setup. Much easier to make left/right hand drive cars with this configuration. you can blame those that drive on the wrong side of the road for this.


78 posted on 06/13/2012 10:49:30 AM PDT by cableguymn (If your policies are pushing the economy in to headwinds.. TURN YOUR POLICY AROUND!)
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To: gorush

Quote: “What? No Omni, Gremlin or Pacer?”

How dare you insult the great Dodge Omni, my high school car!! Do you have any idea how hard I worked to scrape the rust off and how much duct tape I used to tape aluminum pans over the rusted out parts of the floor boards?

The door handles kept malfunctioning and they work to open the doors. I always had one functioning door, usually in the back seat. I would crawl into the back of the car to get out, looking pretty silly, or I would exit the car ala Bo and Luke Duke, which the chicks dug (ok, not really). Anwywho, one cold day I arrived at high school to find that all the doors had malfunctioned. No problem, I thought, I will just roll down the window and hop out. Buuuut, the windows were all frozen shut. I sat in the car for twenty minutes trying to roll down the window in futility. Finally, I gave up and tried to figure out if I should honk the horn to get someone to let me out (occasionally the outside handles would work if the inside ones did not). This approach, unfortunately, would leave me facing endless embarassment all day in school as everyone was inside school and me honking would make me look like a maniac. Option B was driving home and getting my Mom to let me out, drive me to school and write me a sick note to cover for being late as I was sure as to why I was late (this was before the days of cell phones). I went with the Mom and home option only to find nobody was home. It came to me at that moment that perhaps it was time for a new car.


79 posted on 06/13/2012 10:51:38 AM PDT by FlipWilson
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To: gorush

Almost bought a Gremlin; got a Javlin which turned out to be a lemon. In the process of retoring a 1966 Marlin.

We liked the AMC dealer in Moorhead, Minnesota!!


80 posted on 06/13/2012 10:51:54 AM PDT by Maine Mariner
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