I find lots of hair gel...
Posted on 09/09/2007 6:36:38 AM PDT by shove_it
“With all that glass it couldn’t have had a blind spot.”
With all that glass, I bet it just roasts the driver on a nice hot sunny day down in Phoenix. Or Detroit for that matter.
I had a '74 Spitfire Mk IV that I loved, the day I graduated from high school I drove it from Midland, Texas all the way through Mexico City and on to Cancun and took a ferry to Cozumel. About every 300 miles I had to pull over and pull the top off of the Strombergs and give the jets a good tightening because they kept vibrating loose. I could actually watch the temp guage start going down when the carbs started putting too much fuel down the ole' intakes and I knew it was time. That was a fun car, even with the dreaded Lucas Electric that my senior shop class ripped out and rewired with a custom wiring harness as a great learning project. She was testy but taught me everything about internal combustion and suspension etc. that I ever needed to know. The way she handled it was like the road was at my fingertips. You couldn't find a more predictable car as far as under/oversteer goes. I could take corners at 45mph using the clutch and acc. pedal.
When I left for college I wasn't allowed a vehicle for two years so I "loaned" it to my best friend (the one who went to Mexico with me) who was out driving it one night in Odessa and was rear ended by a Peterbilt auto hauler and killed immediately. The Spitfire was a total goner too and was buried in an oil pit near San Angelo. I still have the wood steering wheel hung in my office today.
If I had to pick the worst article ever written about the worst cars ever built, I might have to put this at #1. How the hell can you judge a vehicle on it's 'green' merit...total garbage. I can think of so many cars that were both mechanically and aesthetically more remorse than any of the ones he listed. What about the Opel GT? Or the K cars? Remember the first '80's resurgence of the 442? Talk about a POS!!!!!! Or the Camaro 6cyl. turbo...or the LeCar or even worse...how could you omit the Dodge Omni or the Ford Fiesta yet put Hummer up there???.
I also had a Fiat X 1/9 and I was able to squeeek 200,000 miles out of that thing. But it was a love/hate relationship let me tell you. But I have a '74 in the back garage waiting for a new timing belt and a paint job before I take it on the backroads here in Atlanta.
There is no doubt this has Time's ugly liberal fingerprints all over it.
lol.
I believe, the year it was named "Motor Trend Car of the Year," that a french organization owned "Motor Trend," although I admit I'm not interested enough now to verify that curious tidbit.
Yep, and we've never used the interstates to help repel an invasion. Indeed, we're now seeing that asset used against us to *facilitate* an invasion. Betcha Ike never even considered that possibility.
Yep, and we’ve never used the interstates to help repel an invasion. Indeed, we’re now seeing that asset used against us to *facilitate* an invasion. Betcha Ike never even considered that possibility.
______________________
No way he did. He did “Operation Wetback” and deported the illegals that were in the country at that time. Put a good general (?) in charge of the operation.
Let me tell you a story about Henry Ford.
Ford was accepting bids from battery manufactures that met his exacting specifications to the letter and was lower cost than other bidders. Meticulously detailed drawings for the battery container were included in the specifications. The drawings indicated exact dimensions for the size and shape down to the exact location and size for each of the screws that held the wooden box together. The bidders wrote this off to Henry Ford’s eccentric personality and submitted bids in total compliance.
Henry Ford was showing the President of Exide around the Ford manufacturing facility after Exide won the battery contract. After visiting several parts of the Ford assembly line, the president of Exide told Henry he wanted to see how his batteries entered into the assembly process. He saw the Exide battery inspection after arrival. He also noticed the wooden battery shipping container being carefully disassembled into its component parts.
He was later absolutely astounded to observe that the wooden boards that made the box the battery was shipped in became the Model T’s floor board.
I find lots of hair gel...
Thanks for your replies. You FReepers are splendid!!!
I thought if they released it in the states it might have resurrected the Opel nameplate...
Pontiac Lemans:
The Pontiac version to me seemed cheaper, and reminded me of another GM dud, called the Chevrolet Sprint:
You talking about the Chevy Nova that became the Geo Spectrum?
Couldn't have been too bad as it was basically a rebadged Toyota Tercel. I had an 81 Tercel which was a different car than it was 86-88 but I did drive a friends 86 Nova and I didn't think it was that bad.
Not one Japanese car on the entire list. Not one 1974 Toyota Corona falling apart before out eyes. Not one Honda CVCC left to rust overnight. Not one. The bias is simply stunning. They call the Explorer, Prowler and SSR among the worst cars ever made. The Prowler is underpowered and the SSR is overprices, but among the worst ever made? And yet, not one POS Japanese car when they first hit American shores.
I can assure you, Japanese cars were a complete joke when they were first hit the USA. I don’t remember one worth a damn before the mid to late ‘70s. And even those cars had horrendous body rust issues.
And yet TIME can’t stand to put even one single Japanese car on the list of the 50 worst of all time.
Right... The continuing bias and anti-Americanism is rampant.
You’re talking about a much later version; it’s been a LOT of years, so I can’t remember the exact model year, but my best recollection is that it was a ‘70 Chevy Nova, in kind of a nauseous green. No connection with Toyota back then. The steering input was only loosely correlated with the direction it would go, and I think I might have been passed by a kid on a scooter...not a motor scooter, mind you, but one of those you’d push with your foot. Just thinking about the piece of junk gives me shivers! :-)
One problem with naming the Taurus - the original really helped redefine the family sedan, which was a good thing. It was the trouble-prone version, though....
By Gen III (1996), they were actually pretty darn reliable and the parts issues you speak about were gone. Of course they had a don’t care or hate it styling by then, which didn’t help things any....
The amazing thing is how even recent model year Impalas have that parts commonality problem. If you need to replace a half-axle, you sure as heck better know dimensions and the exact number of splines... VINs won’t even guarantee the right part.... The parts are dirt cheap, but a pain in the but....
Of course, those were the days when people worked on their own stuff and the emphasis was not so much on making a product with no 'user serviceable parts' inside.
I remember tube testers for TV/Radio in just about any major grocery store and virtually any hardware/general merchandise store.
People read Popular Mechanics and built their own.
Times sure have changed.
According to Webster's, any statement which through omission gives a misleading impression is in fact a lie.
In my 30 years of driving I've had over a dozen cars (maybe 15 or 16), and I was trying to remember which one was the worst...until I read your post, then I remembered.
Yes, should be renamed Fifty cars of which we disapprove.
Yes, and cylinder liners made of used beer cans. I had to add oil between fillups.
“I was trying to remember which one was the worst...until I read your post, then I remembered.”
Fiat. My first-my worst.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.