Top 17 Worst Cars Ever
I have driven in and seen some bad cars in my day but here is the list of the 17 worst I could find:
1974 Ford Pinto: This one not only blew up if you got hit from behind but it was ugly as hell. My mom had one and the day we picked it up from the auto sales dealer as I closed the door the handle fell off.
1981 Buick Skylark: Not only an ugly car but it sounded like you was driving a lawn mower. What happened the Skylarks of the 60′s? Now that was a car.
1983 Ford LTD: CRAP! You sit so low to the ground and feel every pebble you drive over. I hate that car. Are any of these still on the road?
1984 Ford Tempo: While we are on the Ford ban wagon. How did they stay in business in the 80′s? This car sucked all around. It fell apart, couldn’t get out of its own way and was loud.
1978 Chrysler Lebaron: Voted the ugliest car ever. Who the hell created this look? I bet he was fired! Look at the picture how happy they are! Hey baby want to go for a ride?
1970 AMC Gremlin: Now yeah baby that’s what I am talking about! No wonder why AMC went out of business. What was cool is my uncle had one and you could roll back the roof. Yup roll it.
2004 Pontiac Aztek: Just simply the ugliest car in the present. Let me describe it. Its ugly, boxy and stupid looking. It looks like the front if falling off its just friggin ugly.
1985 Yugo: That car was so bad the country folded. We had a friend in high-school that had one and we would pick his car up and move it. What do you want for $500 new. It was tiny, tinny and you looked funny in it. You can also drive it home on your bicycle if it brakes down.
1982 4 cyl engine Camaro: The car was to big for the engine. It did 0 – 60 in 20 seconds. Good times!
1987 Suzuki Samurai: It sounds like a chainsaw. It drives so slow. You can’t take a hard corner or you will flip it. The only positive thing was the cheap 4×4.
1983 Renault Allliance:The Motor Trend Car of the year. I bet you can’t find anyone of them on the road after 1990. This I remember was one of the biggest disappointments in car history. Piece of crap. My friend had one. Totally fell apart. The 1983 Renault Alliance scored in worst ratings in “Engine”, “Clutch”, “Driveline”, “Engine cooling”, “Suspension”, “Exhaust system”, “Automatic transmission” and “Manual transmission” ratings.
1978 AMC Pacer: The Icon of the 1970′s. The Jellybean shape. I remember that one of one of the stars on CHIPS, Ponch or John drove one and I thought hey that is cool. But it was not. I still think it was cool back in the day. Voted by many as the worst shaped car of all time.
1982 Ford EXP: The only reason I didn’t put the Ford Escort on this list is because it sold so well for so many years. With that being sent how could you take the Ford Escort and make it worse? How about taking the rear seats out and making it a 2 seater. There you get the EXP!
1982 Volvo 262c: I drive a Volvo now and love it. But I remember being a youngster making fun of Volvos. They had some major design issues back then.
1969 Dodge Charger Daytona: Stuck a fish grill on a perfectly great car. What about that fin on the back. That was just wrong.
1983 Lamborghini LM002: Would you pay $100,000 for this? It didn’t last very long. Just ugly.
- Submit the last one to me for posting
[?]
49 comments
Honorable mention
Lada!!
Concerning the Daytona, the nose and wing were added to drastically improve the aerodynamic performance of the Dodge Charger, which Chrysler campaigned in NASCAR competition in the 60′s. The Daytona ended up competing during the latter half of the 1969 season and the full 1970 season.
Apparently at least some folks don’t agree with your assessment, as a Daytona, such as the one pictured here, now typically sell for well in excess of $125,000.
love the list, there are a lot of great (as in ugly examples) of cars here.
but I agree with Ken, the Daytona should not be put in the same class. you have to appreciate its styling for its time.
and with respect to the Rambo Lambo (as it was known with car enthusiasts) my be ugly, or perhaps ahead of its time, prime example….the Hummer.
am i the only one who wants Peugeot to start selling cars in N.A. again? the new 505′s are looking good.
You got the list correct!
What about a Nissan Stanza Wagon…Hideous but go forever
Wait just one minute! No Chevy Vega? Oh, wait… that wasn’t really a car. It was a $2300 driveway “feature”.
The Daytona’s enhancements were designed by NASA(yes the space people) Which is why the street version was almost just as fast as the race car.
The Pacer and Gremlin had a race background and no it wasnt a constant loser. Coming with either a L6 or V8 you had some decent power there.
The LM002 was good for what it was designed for. which was high speed dessert offroading. IIRC the Perelli Scorpion tires were about 100,000 a tire not the SUV it self. Although it does look like the Cartel Cruiser in GTA3. They may plan on bringing it back.
I like the looks of the Pinto and it can be a good performing car. The MustangII and Capri Mk I are based on it. The LTD is a foxbody Pretty much almost all Fords were in the late 70s-80′s’. Which means what you said about that car applies to the other 10 rwd cars that made they’re line-up. Foxbody
Old Volvos where ugly but they make good autocross and rallycross cars.
The Camaro either L4 sucked in it, yes. But I’m not sure how much the 3rd gens wiegh, foxbody Mustangs did fine with them. I think a built L4 with around atleast 200hp would be good.
ok so the samurai..
yep chainsaw, yep cheap, and yep whatever elts you said but it is king off the offroad community
no jeep.. sorry heep can keep up off road..
and slow???
you aint never seen mine!!!!
So, you have been influenced by Consumer Reports, too?
Take a little time to view this discovery (a legal term) video provided by Suzuki America’s Legal team:
http://www.acksfaq.com/videos/suzukivsconsumerreports.wmv
And yes, ALL the vehicle video in the above link was produced by Consumer’s Reports.
Oh, this is a BLOG!
nobody’s gonna see this anyway…
My bad.
the lambo truck is so worth 100k
common the lada isn’t so hideous.
the chevy vega should be on this list. damn coffin was made out of compressed rust. in case of the aztek it was function over looks. it is a very usefull car, and could function as a mini garbage collector.
Chev Vega? Aluminum block? 4 cyl. “Economy car” Smoked worse than “The Duke” after first 5000 miles? GM paid for oil until guarantee was out? Supposed to kick VW’s ass? Remember?
The Pinto wasn’t that bad. I bought my Mom a new 1970 Pinto with the big 2000 cc engine and a 4 speed manual for $2000. out the door. Hell of a lot safer than a VW beetle with the gas tank in your lap. Went like stink and sucked up MB220 S or BMW 1600 or even Mini’s. Upgraded the tires very quickly to radial Michelins. Great little pocket rocket and held four people.
I’ve sat on more comfortable milk crates than the seats in a Geo Metro I once rented… And I had two friends who bought Daewoo Nubiras a few years back and I think the better one lasted all of 55,000 miles (although it still outlasted Daewoo itself)…
What about the Fuego ?. Renaults other monstrosity, looked like it belonged in a Godzilla movie and was as dependable as a broken watch. The Lebaron’s front clip may have been ugly, but the platform was a sound design like Diplomats and Fifth Avenues… good cars; if you want to knock a Chrysler product pick the Dodge Intrepid. 2.7 engine that gets sludged up after 60,000 miles, bad timing chain guides, defective steering from the cab forward design, stalling, electrical problems the list goes on and on. If Chrysler, in the 90’s could have made an engine with as good as reputation as the slant six, and a well designed body like the Diplomat, (plain but practical, taxi cabs Etc.), then Chrysler wouldn’t be in the position that there in today. Over all though, the list is good.
im suprised u didnt put the 1979 Ford Probe concept cars i own a 93 ford probe now its great but looking into the history all the concept probes that came before the first generation body styles are the ugliest thing on this earth
You forgot to mention every car made by GM since 1968.
It might come as a shock, but the worst car I’ve ever personally owned was a 2008 Lexus IS 350. Blast to drive? For sure. But the tire/road noise was loud as hell (my 3/4 ton Silverado is quieter). The electronic steering is numb, gets downright scary when you push it hard, cause you cant feel the road at all. Every seam in the dashboard had shifted or separated, and the whole thing rattled like a Yugo. The Direct Inject V6 was noisy, sounds like a giant sewing machine. And Toyotas refusal to make the damn thing a 2-door. You had to shoehorn your ass through the narrow openings of the 4-door. Believe me, the import companies make just as many crappy cars as our hometown companies do. Can anyone say Honda Ridgeline? Or the 3.3 million Toyotas that were recalled for engine sludge.
I thought the 78 LeBaron my Grandma had was beautiful and she did to. It had brushed swede seats and smelled so good, lots of wood trim inside it was white trimed in blue and she babied that thing until the day she died and that car is still on the road today, so there!
I believe the most overrated American car ever built (regarding styling) is the 1957 Chevrolet. They appeared awkward, especially the squared rear deck lid. Currently, I drive a 1978 Chrysler LeBaron 4-door sedan (thanks, Dennis; I agree), which is my third LeBaron sedan of this year, and model. My first two were 318 4-speed manuals, this one is 318 TorqueFlite. The car is incredibly reliable, especially for being 31 years old. Everything works — A/C, p/w, speed control, and the body is in good condition, despite the Midwest winters.
In my honest opinion the worst car ever made was paykan. I may be persian but it is soo bad that i have to ignore my national pride!. a 85 hp 1.6 4 banger with the economy off an escalade.
not sure what pipe you get your opinion from, crack or meth, but some of the cars listed were pretty cool for the time they came out. you cant use the standards of today to judge cars of yesterday.
I completely agree with the guy who made the list but, instead of that Lambo on there i would have put in it’s place the ’46 Tatra, now THAT’S an ugly car!
The worst car ever made was the 1981-84 Buick Skycrap. I had one. It spent more time at the dealer then in my driveway. The thing haunted me even after I sold it. The guy didn’t change the title so I got 150 parking tickets. 1985 was when I switch to Toyota and have never bought anything else. Still have my 1994 Camry with 296K and isn’t pretty (four kids), but runs like new.
The suzuki samurai flip over controversy has been a battle that suzuki has been fighting since the early 90′s late 80′s when consumer reports directly attacked and tried to make the samurai look unsafe. It is actually more safe then any other suv of its era as far as stability is concerned, not mention it gets 35+ MPG’s. If you want to talk about a high roll over rate look at the ford exploder.
I don’t agree with all of it (I own a Samurai and love it – but far from stock), but its a good list. The Aliance was a terrible car – i’d put that on the top of the list. You mentioned the 81 skylark – well done, probably why you did not mention the Citation. As far as the Daytona goes, i agree, an otherwise awsome car except for that body work garbage – and crappy suspension, weak unibodies, etc. Id sure as heck take one over over anything else on that list!
Waiting for 10 best: W123 MBZ better be on that.
My god, you fuckin’ idiot. The Dodge Daytona was made for racing, the “fish grille” and wing are made for aerodynamics. Why else are they worth $500,000+ today?
Oh, there are LTD’s still on the road. I found one for sale the other day.
I personally like the older Volvo looks better than the newer ones.
I drove a 1980 Skylark(same design as 1981) until 1993 and it was still running when I sold it for $300 . Not a great car but I sure got my money’s worth out of it. The Cadillac Cimmeron needs to be on any worse car list. My girlfriend had one and it was a total piece of junk.
hey man what about the fiero worst car on the planet mid enjined hunk o shit blew up easy and went 0 tho 60 in 4.5 years the only good thing about it was that a subaru motor fit in it and it took turns well other than that it was worse than the damned vegas
Why is there an old Volvo on the list? These 240s and 260s can be regarded as one of the best cars ever built (if we’re talking reliability, roomy interior, sturdy engine en gearbox). I have a 240GL from 1980 and it looks a lot better than most of the crappy cars (either import or domestic) from the 90s. It still drives like new after 250,000 miles and I can bring 3 friends plus all their golf gear for 18 holes and beer. Easy job.
whoever thinks the dodge charger Daytona is a crappy car, they should look at the fuckin NASCAR record book you #@$!@
This list makes no sense at all. There are plenty of great cars there, for example:
- The Suzuki Samurai was a fantastic cheap off-road car . It was incredibly reliable and it had Land-Rover-like off-road abbilities.
- The Volvo was a bullet proof car with forward thinking solutions and comfortable.
- The Renault 9 was a decent car although completely unnapropriate for the american market.
Whe in the hell did they make these damned crappy cars!!!!
The UGLIEST car, EVER? That goes to the Fiat Multiplia or Multipla. Go look it up, I’ll wait…
YOUR A IDIOT WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND?
I always heard the Ford Edsel and Chevrolet Corvair were considered pretty bad cars, but all this is relative. How can you have so many profound negative comments about all these cars. They are or were someone’s transportation. It’s easy to say whatever and not receive any feedback right away from someone with a different point of view. I just hate when people critisize because they’re venting and it feels good afterwards. Any vehicle if properly maintained can last for a reasonably long time, so lay off things that can’t defend themselves
i drive a 74 pinto wagon every day. it has a 2.3 4 banger with a 4 speed. it is very reliable and the only work i ever had to do on it is fuel filter and fuel pump. nothing wrong with them at all. chevy vega and corvair should be at the top of this list
dont knock the dodge charger daytona. they kicked ass on the track. if you was a NASCAR fan you would know this. the ltd was a good car. same as all other fords. they used all the same engines and were reliable. a lot of these cars are worth a lot of money. you should check blue book values before you open your mouth. there are a lot of chevys that should be on here. they made some bad cars too. you need to do some research. you were sayin they were ugly but they were still reliable
I have to agree on the 1981 Buick Skylark, although the 1981 models were an improvement from the 1980 model year. When the 1980 X-body cars (Buick Skylark, Chevy Citation, Olds Omega and Pontiac Phoenix) debuted in Spring 1979 Motor Trend stated they were the best cars to come out of Detroit. In all fairness they did have decent steering feel for an American car of the era, although they were wrought with quality control issues and neither the 2.5 liter four or the 2.8 liter six were anything to write home about.
The biggest issue with these cars were the brakes. The 1980 models (although there were some later GM front wheel drive cars that also had this issue to a lesser extent) had a tendency to spin out of control, even on dry pavement, during a panic stop.
My father bought his 1980 Chevy Citation with the 2.8 liter six, F-41 suspension option and five speed transmission from Page Motors in Milford, CT in July 1979. Ours had a gold metallic paint job, applied in such a manner that would make the most careless and simple minded Macco paint technician blush.
Of course that was minor when compared to the lawsuits related to this cars faulty brakes. We were lucky, ours just got dented up a bit from the car spinning out of control during a panic stop on the Connecticut Turnpike and bouncing off a beer truck. There have been reports of deaths and injuries due to faulty uneven application of the rear brakes.
GM went so far as to deny there was any issue at all and simply stated that my father, having owned rear wheel drive cars before this (mainly BMW 2002′s) just needed to better familiarize himself with the handling characteristics of front wheel drive.
Of all the 1980 X-cars that were affected, most reported cases showed up in the 5-speed cars. My first car in High School was a rusty 1980 Buick Skylark (because it was cheap). Mine was automatic with the 2.5 liter engine and despite reports of this problem not existing in the automatic cars, it was definitely there, but to a lesser extent. I know from experience that a panic stop at highway speeds could send this car into a spin.
I have to stand up for the amc gremlin. They had style in their own way. Like when a 350 Chevy was installed..or a front end plow…or many other things people like myself thought was nessicary.
The samurai is also half-decent. It can go places that a four-wheeler still cant, and they are cheap and if one breaks…Buy a new one! Great idea! Simple, durable, and affordable.
the dodge daytona (not the new crappy one they had in the 80s and 90s) or also called the plymouth roadrunner was the coolest car around when it was new! they were like american super cars and is voted on of the greatest muscle cars in history! the samurai was a great, cheap, reliable utility vehicle and the tempo had an indestructable engine.
Some of these were truly terrible but some werent. The roadrunner was a purpose built car made to go out and win nascar races which it was good at. I owned a tempo and for some reason the thing was indestructible. The clutch mustve been titanium because i was trying to pull a stump out of the ground for 45 minutes and never had to change it. I got 210,000 miles out of it until new englands salty winters and driving on beaches finally rusted out the brake lines.
My friend loved his renault. to this day i think its his favorite car ever. He drives Audis now.
How dare you put the Daytona charger on there, it is a NASCAR that dodge made street legal! It was the first NASCAR to break 200. Its nose is a bit silly looking but that’s areo on a muscle car. It was a super car of its day, even by today’s standards it still has super car speed.
The samurai is good little 4×4 rig its like cj 0.5, its so small its like a quad with a roof. With a few upgrades like a lift, stronger axles and an Sbc it will go anywhere, literally anywhere, even in the bed of a truck.
I’d give the number 1, 2 and 3 spots to the original beetle, 2000′s new beetle and the 2012 beetle respectively. They are ugliest, least useful and stupidest cars ever made. I would rather ride a trike to work than drive a beetle, I am not joking.
And what about anything from India? Now those cars lower the bar so much the Yugo could barely pass in.
…I need to tell you that that picture you say it’s yougo..Well you are wrong.. On that picture is Zastava ..
This is Zastava: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Zastava_Yugo_311_1116cc.jpg
And This is YUGO: http://www.oglasiauto.net/upload/cvarak.jpg
Those of you who criticize the Yugo, have probably never driven one, and are probably retards.
The Yugo was not a bad car, only in the United States was it a bad car. It needed catalytic converters which weren’t designed for the car, which gave it some exhaust manifold problems. In European markets it didn’t need catalytic converters therefore this problem was basically non-existent.
Americans suck at driving manual transmissions, so they often grinded through the gears and put strain on the transmission. They probably didn’t depress the clutch enough when starting/stopping and created some clutch wear. No transmission faults reported in the United States…
The Yugo was also designed to be self-serviced, but Americans somehow managed to fuck the engine up too. They skipped oil changes, air filter replacements, and overall maintenance. The fluids in the engine system rotted and of course lead to other problems.
It’s extremely funny how the Yugo is so “shitty and unreliable” in the United States, but in Serbia it’s probably one of the most reliable cars you can buy (next to Golf MK2). Go look at a mechanic’s shop in Serbia, you will see newer “superior” cars in there all the time, but never a Yugo. Yugo’s do not require more maintenance than oil changes really, but once again, Americans managed to make them unreliable.
Also, the Yugo was not $500 brand new (assuming you are talking about USD). The price was around $3,500 for a brand new one, and was the cheapest car in the United States at the time. The car is not even that slow, when you compare it to similar hatchbacks/city cars like the Fiat 126p and Golf MK2.
I’ve driven three (3) Yugo’s and they are probably more fun to drive than a $1,000,000,000,000 Bugatti Veyron 200-litre hextuple-turbocharged quadruple-clutch semi-automatic dynamic four-wheel-drive system..
When you drive a Yugo, you can feel the car changing gears as you shift from 1-5 on the floor shifter. The low ride lets you feel the road conditions. The lack of ABS makes hard braking interesting. The short wheel base provides for fun on countryside roads under heavy acceleration. The car is designed for self-service, so you feel a bond with your car. In the spiritual sense, this car beats any modern-day hatchback or even sports/supercar. You create a bond with this car that cannot be replicated with all the electronics in cars these days.
The Yugo was a good car, those who say otherwise probably have never owned, driven, SEEN, or perhaps even RESEARCHED about one.
Also, you guys said:
“1985 Yugo: That car was so bad the country folded.”
If the country folded because of this car, how come it was produced until November of 2008? The Yugo is not to blame for the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The ultimate cause for the collapse of Yugoslavia was ultra-nationalism that was influenced by Western powers (Germany, United Kingdom, America) that fed the word “independence” to Croats, Bosnians, Albanians, etc. and even supplied them with weapons to do so. However, even with donated defunct weapons from East Germany/DDR, the Serbs still kicked all of their asses and then NATO, UN, KFOR, England and the United States, all fought against the Serbs. Maybe we suffered the most casualties and “lost” the war, but we out-smarted them in every way. It was practically the whole international political community vs. the Serbs and we still were close to winning. Small country, but strong people with big hearts.
the ford ltd was a pretty good car in my opinion, especially the ltd lx with the 5.0 v8. also the charger, and a few others on the list are kinda crazy too. theres been a ton of ugly cars made since we started making cars and ugly doesnt make a car bad.
Leave a Comment