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Classic Cars 50 Worst Cars of All Time
298 messages, Last post on May 11, 2009 at 1:53 PM
You are in the Classic Cars Forum. Your Host is mr_shiftright
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Replying to: andre1969 (Nov 14, 2008 5:00 am) On that note, I can't recall the last time I saw an early Tempo or Celebrity etc. |
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Replying to: texases (Nov 14, 2008 6:57 am) |
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I had a 1974 Honda Civic at college, while my friend had a 76 Chevette. Both were new cars, presents from benevolent parents (who in my case were short-stopping the purchase of a previously owned and repeatedly wrecked Spitfire). His car seemed bigger than mine...so we'd take his car more often... but the Civic was a much more refined product. We all called the Chevette (since it was red) the Russian Industrial Product, or the RIP (or the R-I-P). It wouldn't move away from the curb on an uphill grade with 4 people in it (automatic); we had to get out and move it to level ground. It roared, it shook, but it was cockroach-tough. It would run, no matter what we broke or tore. and Mario was trying to kill it out of hate.. None of us knew exactly what to think of the Civic. Most people didn't even know Honda made cars in those days. It was seen as something of a joke, in those years. A girl friend's brother smilingly told me that my Civic's tires were exactly the same size as those on a forklift where he was working that summer. He had a Chevelle. It would be several years before Hondas were viewed with any respect. Size, not quality was the issue. American cars were junk, and Japanese cars were better- That seemed to be common knowledge. However, it branded you as wierd to own a Japanese car - sort of like announcing at Christmas dinner that you're a vegetarian. People tolerate you and recognize that you have (in your own mind) good reasons for what you've done, but you're clearly not a normal guy and you shouldn't be dating my sister, Bud. Still, the Civic was reliable, comparatively quiet, and -other than being more humbling to own than a Chevette, it was great. It used no gas at all, even during the horror-days of $1.00 a gallon gas. I drove it as fast as it would go, but usually alone since friends used to American mammoths found it too small for comfort. (Certainly my driving skills and speed were not a factor  ). Looking up at Semi tires was. But, back to the Chevette. We all felt that the Chevette was a disgrace to Chevy. Recall that it was during our high school years that the greats of the Muscle Car Era were on the scene. The Road Runners, the Chevelles, the Camaros, the Cuda's. When one saw a Chevette painted in the same red as a 69 Camaro, it made the strongest of American men want to cry. 
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Replying to: lokki (Nov 14, 2008 9:18 am) The starter kept failing so he had a remote starter button hooked up to house wiring between the seats--self-same seatbacks being propped up with a 2 X 4 by the way. It did run every day though. |
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Nov 14, 2008 8:53 am)  My stepdad's mother used to have a Chevette. It was red, and as I recall, was actually a REAL red similar to what's on my '85 Silverado, compared to that orangish stuff they would sometimes try to pass off as red. Now that I think about it, it may have been an '85 as well. The real tear-jerker though, is the car that Chevette replaced. She used to have a Chevelle hardtop coupe! Either a '71 or '72, can't remember now. Now it wasn't anything fancy, no SS396 or anything erotic like that. But still, the disgrace of going from something like that to a Chevette!  I haven't seen her in years, so I don't know what kind of car she has now, or if she even has a car at all. For all I know, she might still have that Chevette. It would be a fitting punishment for her. She could be pretty...umm, let me not get started. Oh, on a similar note, my stepdad's first car was a '69 Chevelle hardtop with a 396. His second? A 1981 Escort. That kind of stuff must run in their family.
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Replying to: andre1969 (Nov 14, 2008 9:41 am) 
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.....since I've been spending winter times in the dry Arizona climate that there are a number of old compacts and economy cars from the '60s and 70s running around doing daily driver duties. It's not that unusual to see an old Maverick, Nova, Hornet or Fairmont being used as a DD, usually by someone who looks like he's had the same car for 3 or 4 decades. There's a '65or '66 Valiant around the corner from here that has an auxiliary cooling fan mounted right on the front grille. I can't remember the last time I saw a T-car around here. |
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Replying to: blnewto (Nov 13, 2008 5:24 pm) Now in my opinion, no worst car list would be complete without mentioning the Yugo! I knew someone that used it as a to and from work car, and it did serve that purpose, but the last time I saw any Yugos was at an art display at Union Station some 20 years ago. The theme was turning Yugos into art, so the front of one was done up as a mantle over a fireplace, and one was turned into a giant toaster.
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Replying to: dpalka (Nov 14, 2008 6:41 pm) |
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