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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: hpmctorque (Nov 13, 2008 12:52 pm)  As for the Model T, it did linger on way too long and gave Chevrolet the edge it needed to dominate Ford for most of the time after all (with some exceptions). So maybe history's his angle, I dunno. But then, why is the Yugo on there? Well, it did start a whole decade of Yugo jokes--maybe that's it!
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Nov 13, 2008 1:03 pm) OK (maybe) - but why the Chevette instead of the Vega? I'd claim the Vega did way more to convince folks that GM could not build a quality compact car, and that ToyHonDatsun were more deserving of their hard-earned $$$.
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Replying to: texases (Nov 13, 2008 1:16 pm) At least a Vega, when new, gave you a nice ride, rather attractive looks, and the promise of something better. The Chevette was enough to make you take anti-depressants after your first test drive.
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Nov 13, 2008 1:21 pm)  And my problem with the Vega is that it incorporated the worst element of GM - release an apparently OK car with hidden major defect(s) resulting from incomplete development time. At least the Chevette was an 'honestly' cheap car, you knew what you were getting
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the Chevette WAS a Japanese car! It was also a Korean car, and a European car. (Isuzu I-mark, Daewoo Maepsy, and Opel Kadette) What was the original source material for that design? The Opel?
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Replying to: texases (Nov 13, 2008 1:30 pm) To give you an idea. You got in and felt the back of your seat cave in a few inches. As you started the car, it vibrated so badly at idle that your mirrors buzzed. You placed it in gear and it went in with a THUMP. Starting out, the engine noise was deafening. As you hit a bump, the hood would oilcan up and down. The wipers sounds like little sirens and the switchgear would probably break off in a few weeks. ONce it rained, and water got in, the cardboard door panels would melt, but the rubber mats on the floor held lots of water.
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Nov 13, 2008 1:43 pm)
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Replying to: texases (Nov 13, 2008 1:45 pm)
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Replying to: andre1969 (Nov 13, 2008 9:44 am) Some of these 50 were more marketing flops than bad cars. I think most everything built in the 73/74 time period was shaky and every manufacturer has had their lemons. GM probably pushed a lot of new ideas too fast, but people forget their successes. The quick downsizing of their full size cars in 77 after the Arab oil embargo a few years earlier resulted in some very good products. The X car may have had its share of issues, but the subsequent A cars it spawned like the Ciera really moved Americans to become receptive to larger, fuel efficient FWD vehicles and likely paved the path to today's enormously popular Camry and Accord. Believe it or not, Chrysler used to be a leader in quality and engineering, but lost its way sometime back in the 70's and never seemed to get it back. It did have some subsequent styling victories though. Ford is more of a follower. It had the Taurus and developed some new market niches like Explorer and the personal luxury Thunderbird segment, but mostly it just seemed to copy GM. Early Toyota's and Honda's weren't all that good and tended to be rust buckets. I've always felt that European cars tended to be over-priced and overrated, but some of them were a lot of fun to drive. |
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Love the Aztek section from the link, It's almost as if GM was informed that there was a comprehensive list coming out for the 50 worst cars, and they needed one more to make the list complete, so please put all your "worst ideas and engineers on the project and let's get this done"  Here's the excerpt: I was in the audience at the Detroit auto show the day GM unveiled the Pontiac Aztek and I will never forget the gasp that audience made. Holy hell! This car could not have been more instantly hated if it had a Swastika tattoo on its forehead. In later interviews with GM designers — who, for decency's sake, will remain unnamed — it emerged that the Aztek design had been fiddled with, fussed over, cost-shaved and otherwise compromised until the tough, cool-looking concept had been reduced to a bulky, plastic-clad mess. A classic case of losing the plot. The Aztek violates one of the principal rules of car design: We like cars that look like us. With its multiple eyes and supernumerary nostrils, the Aztek looks deformed and scary, something that dogs bark at and cathedrals employ to ring bells (cf., Fiat Multipla). The shame is, under all that ugliness, there was a useful, competent crossover.
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