The 50 Worst Cars of All Time

Not a single Japanese car on the list from 1990-present?

HA!

That (early 90s) Subaru Loyale was as craptacular as they come.

That list ain't complete.

Natalie

Call it #51...

There's plenty of fodder left out there for, say, the Top 100 Worst. But I have to admit the ones they did pick all seemed pretty special. The worst cars I've ever owned (or my family, ditto), were simply crappy cars that rusted out amazingly quickly (thank you, Ford) or were pretty unreliable (thank you, GM) or had some glaring and stupid error (like the unserviceable '78 V8 Chevy Monza that a friend owned). Time managed to find 50 that were just plain bad ideas from the get-go or had spectacularly bad reliabiility (as opposed to the usual Detroit kind of unreliability). I liked the list.

My worst was a 69 Jag XKE Coupe. U-joints lasted 50,000. Then...., you had to make a decision. In order to access the U-joints you either had to pull the rear end or the engine. The power steering leaked like a sieve and it was prone to overheating. Back then (early 70's) you could get a rebuilt power steering unit for around 600.00. At the time I owned a machine shop and after two units @ that price I finally resorted to completely redesigning and re machining the unit using better seals.

I think the Plymouth Prowler was unfairly put on the list. It was a pretty neat car if you fit in it and were crazy enuf to buy one.

LOL you wanna explain that reasoning?

Natalie

We owned a 62 Corvair 700 with the 80 hp 6 and the 4 position (R, N, D, L) Powerglide selector. It coulda been a contender, but with 80 hp and about

2400 lbs to move through that 2 speed tranny, it just didn't move very fast.

Charles of Schaumburg

"F.H." wrote in message news:pqUFi.13741$bf1.8089@trnddc04...

This strikes me as another silly list compiled by an idiot with an agenda.

Anytime I see a list of "worst" cars that includes the Pinto, I know the author is not compiling a list of the worst cars, but rather a list of the most defamed cars. He even repeats the false story about the cost benefit analysis. What a moron.

In my opinion, the list has only a little credibility. I'd like to know the author's criteria for identifying a car as "worst."

If the guy had named the list the "Fifty Cars Most Hated By the Media, "or "50 Cars I Don't Like," or "50 Cars That were Politically Incorrect," or "50 Cars I Picked at Random Because I Am Too Lazy To Do Any Research," then maybe I'd just find it amusing instead of offensive.

It seems to me that the writer had a political agenda - SUVs were attacked not because they were "bad" but just because they exist at all. The author particularly seemed to have it in for British cars and ignored some of the huge Japanese flops. And some of the cars are so obscure as to be irrelevant. Does it really matter if Fuller Dymaxiom was bad - there were only three built. If you are going to start counting what are essentially concept cars, there are hundreds that could push everything else off the list. And I can't see how you can include the Model T on a list of worst cars. 50 cheapest and most rugged cars maybe, but worst? And does unpopularity make a car bad? Gremlins and Pacers were "unusual" to be sure, but "worst?" And if you are picking on the TR-7, you really should have banged on the Jensen-Healey - a less reliable and more expensive car of the same era (I owned one). For that matter, TR-7s were actually more reliable than TR-6s and had more room besides. And where are the SAABs? I know people love SAABs, but not many cars were less reliable than the original 99. Where is the Datsun F10? Surely no list of worst cars can overlook that rolling POS. Where is the original Toyota Toyopet - even Toyota admits it was horrible - it surely has to be on any list of "worst cars." And the original Accord belongs on the list as well. A co-worker owned one and in less than 3 years he had to replace the head gasket twice, both front fenders rusted out, and the transmission had to be rebuilt. My sister's '80 was only slightly better - the doors sucked out at anything over 60 and the car whistled like a banshee (still she loved the car).

I know lists like this are just based on opinions, but the author needs to make that clear. He was all over the map when it came to reason for including cars. Cars on the list I don't think belong:

1909 Ford Model T (come on - who think this is a "worst car") 1934 Chrysler/Desoto Airflow (marketing disaster, but not a bad car) 1958 Ford Edsel (another marketing disaster but Edsels were typical of the period otherwise) 1958 Lotus Elite (it was a race car sold for the street) 1958 MGA Twin Cam (there are many worse British cars of the era to choose from) 1961 Corvair (Only on the list because of Ralph Nader) 1970 AMC Gremlin (weird, but "worst?") 1971 Ford Pinto (when will these guys quit picking on the Pinto) 1974 Jaguar XK-E V12 Series III (if you bought one of these you knew what you were getting) 1975 Triumph TR7 (not even close to the worst British cars of the era) 1976 Chevy Chevette (dull maybe, but worst? no way) 1978 AMC Pacer (just weird) 1995 Ford Explorer (only on the list because the author hates SUVs) 2000 Ford Excursion (only on the list because the author hates SUVs) 2001 Jaguar X-Type (not a bad car at all - just not a Jaguar) 2001 Pontiac Aztek (does ugly make a car "worst") 2002 BMW 7-series (maybe a bad value, or too complicated for English majors, but not a "worst") 2003 Hummer H2 (only on the list because the author hates SUVs) 2004 Chevy SSR (weird, but worst?)

Cars that I think should have been on the list

Saab 99 Toyota Toyopet Crown (even Toyota admits they were horrible) Nissan F10 (just look at it)

1978 Honda Accord (only reason Honda survived these rattle traps was unbelievably great Customer service) Original Civic (at least as unreliable as any car on the list, and less safe that any car on the list) 1923 Copper Cooled Chevrolet (so bad GM bought them all back and sank them in Lake Michigan) Lincoln Versailles (if the Cadillac Cimarron makes the list, the Versailles should make it twice) 1995 Toyota 4Ruuner (no way this doesn't belong on the list if the Explorer made it) NSU Ro 80 (Wankel powered mosquito fogger) Original VW Beetle (if the Model T makes the list, this should be right there too) Citroen SM (makes any Jaguar seem reliable) Austin America (Google it) Pick a Fiat (almost any could make the list except the 128) VW Squareback and Fastback Audi 100 (so unreliable VW bought the company....) LeCar (how could this not be on the list)

Actually I think if I thought about it long enough I could come up with 100s of cars worse than any on the author's list of 50 (well except maybe the Dauphine - they were really bad, and built in large numbers too).

Ed

Then there was this slight problem of rolling over.

Compared to what - a 1961 Cadillac? If you are going to cite Corvairs as unsafe, you need to immediately add the VW Bugs to the list of 50 worst cars since they were far less safe. The only reason the author listed the Corvair is that Nader wrote a book. The book probably would have flopped except GM took it seriously and started investigating Nader - which got him publicity. I actually read the book when I was around 14 (it was new then and in our Public Library). I was not a Chevrolet guy (back then in my small town you were either a Ford, GM, or Chrysler "guy"), but even I at 14 knew Nader's attack on the Corvair was hyperbole. People were receptive to it because Corvairs were different.

From

"And now the question: Was the Corvair really unsafe at any speed?

"The answer: The 1960-1963 Corvair models targeted by Nader were at least as safe as comparable car models sold in those years. This conclusion, ironically, came from a 1972 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration."

From

: "Nader's thesis blames not the swing-axle design per se but the combination of weight distribution, swing axle with a single, inboard, constant velocity joint, and unusually critical tire pressures. The idea that the Corvair is inherently unsafe is neither universally accepted nor applicable to all model years.

"Award-winning U.S. motoring journalist David E. Davis, in an article in Automobile Magazine, draws attention to the fact that although Nader claimed that the use of a swing-axle rear suspension was dangerous, that Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen all used similar swing-axle concepts during that era.[2] However, vehicles from these manufacturers also received criticism for their poor handling.

"According to an account attributed to U.S. author Bob Helt, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ran a series of comparative tests, in 1971, studying the handling of the 1963 Corvair against four contemporary cars, a Ford Falcon, Plymouth Valiant, Volkswagen Beetle, Renault Dauphine and also a later 1967 Corvair (with a revised suspension design) was included for comparison. The account goes on to describe some of the test details, which included a review of national accident data, and a review of GM internal files and documents, and quotes parts of the original NHTSA report conclusion thus:

"The 1960-63 Corvair compares favorably with contemporary vehicles used in the tests,

"The handling and stability performance of the 1960-63 Corvair does not result in an abnormal potential for loss of control or rollover, and it is at least as good as the performance of some contemporary vehicles both foreign and domestic."

The Corvair is just another example of why I think this list of "50 Worst Cars" should have been titled "50 Cars I Heard Were Bad, But I Was Too Lazy To Investigate."

The author is a moron.

Ed

The GM EV1 couldn't be on the list as worst.

Lets see the reason why it was one of the worst. "battery technology at the time was nowhere near ready to replace the piston-powered engine. The early car's lead-acid bats, and even the later nickel- metal hydride batteries, couldn't supply the range or durability required by the mass market. The car itself was a tiny, super-light two-seater, not exactly what American consumers were looking for. And the EV1 was horrifically expensive to build, which was why GM's execs terminated the program" GM knew it will compromise their company with a car that barely needs any 5k mile service, oh and not to mention ruin their friendship with the oil companies =)

I never owned one but from a ecological standpoint it was a good car, people were offering money to GM to buy the EV1s from the lot instead of destroying them. Its true its not for the mass market and its only good for areas with no snow, expensive to build and poor battery life. The owners know that and they still like/want the car no matter what.

There are two American cars that are constantly held to ridicule that don't deserve it (at least in my opinion) - the Corvair and the Pinto. They have one thing in common, muckraking "journalists" that used them as strawmen to further their own careers. Ralph Nader defamed the Corvair in one chapter of a poorly written book and he became famous. Mark Dowie of Mother Jones News wrote a article (Pinto Madness) full of inaccuracies (or maybe just outright lies), and Pintos are remembered as especially bad cars. I owned two Pintos- neither burst into flames. Both were reliable. Both were cheap I considered them the equal of most small cars available in the US at the time. The only better small car available in 1971 in my opinion was the Datsun 510 and coming from a small town, Datsuns were not exactly available from the local dealers. Neither Nader nor Dowie were fair in their assertions and Dowie either out right lied in his article or was too stupid to understand the facts. Both did hatchet jobs. One wonders that if they had turned their evil genius towards Toyota, if Toyota would be so successful today. What do you think Nader would have written about the Toyopet Crown? Even Toyota admits it was a POS.

Ed

I knew one of the genius's (and he was) that conducted the roll over experiments. He was not a fame seeker by any stretch. I also have this indelible color snapshot in my memory bank of seeing a Corvair full of people on its roof on the old Interstate 15 at the lower end of the Cajon Pass. Probably interferes with my objectiveness as to Nader's objectiveness. One thing for sure, the Corvair was easily converted into a pretty good dune buggy.

Typical of the know it all press and the likes of C/R. Look at any of the buff mags of the day. Plenty of rave reviews of Fords and Mercurys but bad press for the Edsel. The two larger Edsel models were in reality tricked up Mercurys and the Ranger and the other smaller, less expensive Edsels, were Fords. ;)

mike

)

ED

Is that you Ralph? LOL

mike

Contrary to what many would have one believe, the EV1 was never intended for production by GM. It was built as an as limited edition experimental test vehicle and exempt from all Federal safety and emission regulations. Chrysler had the similar condition on its gas turbine vehicle of the day

GM was not allowed to sell the car, only lease it for a specie period of time. It could not be sold to the public, as built, even if GM wanted. Except for a few retained by GM for the historical value, by law they had to be destroyed or disabled so they could not be driven on the public roads again. I understand the Smithsonian Institution has one of the disabled EV1's

mike

In 1957 a friend of mine, Bob Krause, owed a Dodge dealership in Schnecksville near Allentown Pa. He ask me to buy one of the cars made in a Japan that he was going to start selling, because of my position in the car business back then, it would get good exposure. The deal was $600 and he would buy it back in six months for $600 if I wanted to sell.

The Toyopet was basically a goofy looking 4 door car build on a truck chassis. Toyota did not have a car capable of competing on US roads at the time. It was ghastly, under powered car that rattled and drove like............. well at truck. I sold it back is less than six month. He is dead now but his dealership, Krause Toyota in Fogelsville near Allentown. is the oldest Toyota dealership in the US, who knew? ;)

mike

This has nothing to do with this article, but it does have to do with cars. :-)

If you're talking about the Cajon pass between Victorville and San Bernardino, my husband's 1985 Cavalier couldn't take that incline any better than a semi in second gear. We *barely* made it up that hill each time, so he finally decided to ditch that thing and get the 1987 Corolla FX 16.

His most beloved domestic car was a Malibu that he didn't have by the time I met him.

He misses the FX 16 the most, though. He asked my mom to will it back to him, when she passes.

;-)

Natalie

That's it. The incident in question was on the *old* 15 (which I still use often). That hill is always interesting because we have so many idiots doing 80 in the far right lane going up the hill. If you are short on horsepower it can be a nerve wracking experience.

Yup - it was scary, especially when I was pregnant. I was afraid we'd get stuck there. (at that time, 1987, it was nowhere - dunno how it is now)

Natalie