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Classic Cars 50 Worst Cars of All Time
298 messages, Last post on May 11, 2009 at 1:53 PM
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Replying to: dpalka (Nov 14, 2008 6:41 pm) At that same time my dad knew a guy who bought a new Chevy Beretta that was an absolute lemon, every electrical glitch known to man, and the drivers door hinges actually broke and the door fell off, when parked in a grocery store parking lot. This is why people started running to Camcords. |
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Don't know if the Cadillac Cimmaron would qualify as one of the worse cars of all time, but I do know that once people found out that they were buying a Chevy engine under a Caddy body, that was all she wrote for that model.  I still wonder what genius came up with that idea? 
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Replying to: dpalka (Nov 17, 2008 6:23 pm) American manufacturers have pretty much produced what Americans want to buy - large SUV's while gas was relatively cheap - crappy little fuel economizers when it's not. It has to really frustrating trying to predict what a fickle public will be interested in a few years out. A good example is the EV1, which many people demonize GM over now. GM jumped into it with there own money under the illusion that California would come through with their part of the equation and have public recharging stations available along with incentives for private industry to do the same, and the federal government would follow suit later on. None or very little of that ever materialized. I remember seeing maps in the LA Times of where these public charge stations would be located. Time moved on, fuel prices stayed low, which led to the outcome that is now history. |
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Replying to: dpalka (Nov 17, 2008 6:23 pm) Unfortunately, the end result was essentially a $12,000 Cavalier. Eventually they started putting Chevy V-6es in them, which made them better performers, but it was still just a gussied up Cavalier. Quality-wise, I wouldn't call them the worst car of all time. After all, it was 1982 and a lot of cars were horrible. Both foreign and domestic, truth be told, so it wasn't just the Big Three, although they certainly did take "horrible" to new heights in that era! But I think it was just a symbol of how far Cadillac had fallen. Cadillac had started slipping in 1971, and I'd say 1982 was when they hit rock-bottom. The Cimarron was crap. Anything with the 4.1 V-8 or Olds Diesel was crap, and those two engines covered just about everything else. About the only saving grace was if you bought the factory limo. It still used a Cadillac 368 V-8, and I think it was still using the beefy old THM400 transmission. It's only flaw was the V-8-6-4 cylinder de-activation, but supposedly it wasn't hard to just disconnect that. Overall, 1982 was just a horrible year for Cadillac's reputation (although at the time, they sold well in spite of the recession), and I think the Cimarron was just the "crowning glory" of that.
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Replying to: andre1969 (Nov 18, 2008 7:34 am)
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Nov 18, 2008 7:45 am) However, by the time I added in all the power stuff, cruise control, an automatic transmission, tape player, tilt wheel, and a sunroof, I come out with $14,103! I wonder what a comparable BMW 3-series would have cost back in 1982? Now, no self-respecting 3-series should have an automatic, so to take the automatic out of the Cimarron and make it comparable, it's at $13,733. I doubt if a 3-series was much more expensive. I guess a Benz C-class would've been up in the stratosphere, though. Cadillac did a much better job of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse, IMO, with the 1975 Cadillac Seville. While it was based on the Chevy Nova, they did a good job at hiding that fact. Plus, at least it had a bit of exclusivity with the standard fuel-injected Olds 350 V-8, something you couldn't get in any other X-car. It was also longer, had a roomier back seat, and was about 700-800 lb heavier than a Nova, so it was much more substantial. I'll have to admit though, that when I've sat in these first-gen Sevilles, I was a bit disappointed. I thought they'd be roomier and more comfy, but I guess being based on the Nova, they could only do so much with the seating position. I think all the extra room actually went into the back seat. I'd probably be happier with a '75 Dodge Dart Special Edition, although looks-wise, they're kinda dumpy compared to a Seville.
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Replying to: andre1969 (Nov 18, 2008 7:59 am) I agree the 75 Seville was a good job of repackaging, I suspect few realize its roots. It's the most elegant domestic of that era, for sure. |
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Replying to: andys120 (Nov 13, 2008 5:37 pm) Worst 50? - my vote goes to that fish bowl on wheels - the Pacer.
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The Subaru 360 - Brought here by Malcom, and sold (at least in my home town) at Department Stores. Cheap? You betcha! Deathtrap? You betcha! Right after I'd gawked at one at the Millers Department Store, I saw one on the local news that evening! It was underneath a Chevy Caprice. http://www.microcarmuseum.com/tour/subaru360.html
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Nov 13, 2008 1:03 pm) I would disagree with that assessment. The Vega was a MAJOR flop and a big black eye not just for GM, but the entire American automobile industry. It probably did as much to help Toyota gain a foothold in the American market as Toyota ever did for itself. The Vega was initially announced with a gread deal of fanfare in 1968 by GM's top management as the American car that would beat the foreigners. Unfortunately, the car's design, execution and production were one disaster after another. The car was a huge disappointment at the time, and revealed that all was not well within GM. The scary part is that when I hear the ballyhoo surrounding the Volt, and read the chapter in John DeLorean's book On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors devoted to the Vega, I get this nagging sense of deja vu... I don't think that the General has yet learned its lesson...
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