The 50 Worst Cars of All Time

time.com ^ | Dan Neil,

[shove_it]

... the Model T was a piece of junk, the Yugo of its day...

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

“Vega shouldn’t be taken seriously.”

As far as looks go...I liked the vega. But you are right in that they were rust prone. There are damned few to be seen even here in Arizona.

I saw a Vega once in a pick-a-part junkyard in Tucson (back in 1997). I guess you gotta know where to look. My husband said they were cool if you installed a real Chevy smallblock and gearbox in them.

[gogeo]

Its alot more fun talking about the bad beater cars w have had growing up. Ever notice that young kids all seem to have nice cars now...

I clearly remember the first time I drove through the student parking lot at the local HS and noticed most of the vehicles were newer and nicer than mine...

[-YYZ-]

That Pontiac LeMans was an Opel Kadet built by Daewoo in Korea. That was not a particularly good time for Korean cars, and Daewoo in particular was the worst of them. Complete and utter crap.

The Chevy Sprint/Pontiac Firefly (nee Suzuki Forsa - or was it “Swift” originally?) was OK for what it was, a very basic 3-cylinder fuel-efficient commuter. However, GM was still selling a 3-cylinder version of it after Suzuki had moved on to a 4-cylinder for their version. As usual with these things, the Suzuki version was built better.

[-YYZ-]

“Ding ding - what’ll it be, sir?”

“Check the gas and fill up the oil, please.”

[Bogtrotter52]

I am not a gearhead at all....but I know what I like and that is VW’s specifically. I had one when I lived in Juneau Alaska from 2000-2004. Now here is the unusual part of the story. I am a paraplegic. The VW was a 69 with autostick I bought from a person in Sitka. It took me a couple of months to figure a way to rig hand controls in it. It also used to take a good ten minutes to get myself and my wheelchair into it. But, A: I love a challange and alot of people told me it would never work. And B: no one I could find on the net ever heard of it being done. Lots of fun with that car. But back to the Vega. From a how it looks point of view I think the Vega station wagon was a beauty. I have heard of putting other engines in them. I seem to remember the Vega had a aluminum block engine that was a piece of crap. if I am wrong I am sure that some Freeper gearhead will let me know.

[gogeo]

Not the effete hydramatic wimps we have become, most of whom do not know a clutch from a Clinton...

Well, they can both be fun to stomp on...

[Bogtrotter52]

“Its alot more fun talking about the bad beater cars w have had growing up.”

I recall decades ago in National Lampoon magazine they had a fake ad for a Revell model car. “My First Car”, which came complete with miss-matched tires, coat hanger radio antennea, and chrome goodies like a chrome oil filler cap. All they missed were the clear plastic pillow-puff Fingerhut seat covers and a half case of oil in the trunk. LOL!

[Spruce]

The torque-steer on that thing would require arms like Popeye!

[gogeo]

...but that early Chevy Nova...

Try 30+ years before that...

[gogeo]

That’s funny, I don’t care who you are...

[reagan_fanatic]

Any list of the worst cars without the Vega shouldn’t be taken seriously

When I was a teenager, my buddy and I carpooled to work. He'd pick me up at 3:30 in the morning in his '74 Chevy Vega.

In the wintertime, even after it had a half hour to warm up, he'd have to put the gas pedal completely to the floor just to get up over 30 mph.

There were times I probably could have walked to work faster.

[Blue Highway]

you mean the musclecar era Nova... That’s even stranger as they can be hot rodded to be any gearheads dream car. Never knew they ever came with a 4. Smallest engine IIRC was a 250 6 cylindr

[TChris]

The author's preoccupation with how inherently eeeeeevil cars are, vis-a-vis the environment, "the common good" (he actually condemned the Hummer H2 for its hostility to the "common good"), etc., makes it clear that his standards for judging the relative merits of anything, are worthless.

[hunter112]

Yes, should be renamed Fifty cars of which we disapprove.

I agree, the guy has some serious biases, but at least he's crystal clear about them. However, he's pretty darn funny if you work through the list. My favorite, about the 1975 Triumph TR7: "The thing had more short-circuits than a mixing board with a bong spilled on it."

That made me laugh out loud, but I appreciate a well-tuned snarky remark now and then.

[Blue Highway]

Any reason why the US version was built in South Korea by Daiwoo of all companies? The Europeans were smart enough to have their version built competenty. I think the European version won Motor Trend car of the year and other awards a for a few years. The Pontiac version wasdefinately not the same as the Opel.

[6ppc]

I was going to vote for the Ford Pinto in the 1970’s

I owned two of them and found them to be quite reliable...however me being a young and dumb teen-twenty something, I totalled both of them before they reached 40k miles.

BTW...the first WASN'T MY FAULT! I t-boned and totalled a Mercury Marquis that pulled across my lane and stopped before getting all the way into the median. Cops said my skid marks were 128 feet before impact. Also, I wasn't wearing my seat belt...the steering wheel looked like a pretzel and I escaped with a laceration to my shin.

At least I was never rear ended!

[Greg F]

I owned two of them (Pinto’s) and found them to be quite reliable...however me being a young and dumb teen-twenty something, I totalled both of them before they reached 40k miles.

____________________

That seems to be the consensus, you are the second Pinto owner that has posted they were reliable cars. I withdraw the nomination.

[A. Patriot]

I had a Fiat 850; my first car. Back in the late ‘60s, it cycled like this...The car would break-down. It was towed to Tony’s. He’d have to order the part. Three weeks later, he’d fix it, and take my money. A week later, it was something else and we’d begin again. A friend who knew of all my problems with the car, nonetheless bought it from me for a few cases of beer and a bag of weed. The next day, I introduced him to Tony.

I had one of these in college. Tiny little engine. The roof leaked around the windows. I worked on it myself and didn't drive it very far. The engine & trans mounts were not very sturdy.

[Blue Highway]

the only time I would agree they sucked was 1974 on. With all the emissions crap they added, they killed the musclecar era.

[Titan Magroyne]

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