[kidd]

In the early 1980s American Motors Corporation (before it was absorbed by Chrysler) and French-maker Renault teamed up to make some really awful cars ...

I agree completely. I had a 1984 Renault Alliance. A complete POS. Had to have the front axle replaced three times because of a poorly designed CV joint...I spent more on repairs than the original cost of the car in less than four years.

[MatthewViti]

What about the GEO Metro and the Ford Festiva?

[virgil]

I had a coworker who had a Renault Alliance back in the 80s. One very cold midwest day while on the highway, the transmission fell out in pieces. There was a trail of parts for several hundred feet.