One-Hit Wonders of the Auto World
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If you’re car shopping, you’ll notice a funny thing about model names. Some are attached to great cars that stick around for years (Taurus, Mustang, Camaro), while others are used only once, forever haunted by the reputation of the original. Here are six car names you won’t ever see again:
Ford Pinto – The Pinto was very popular when introduced to fuel-conscious Americans in the early 1970s. In fact, some may argue the only time the Pinto used a lot of gas was when it was rear-ended. Though it initially sold like wildfire, it also got blamed for a few. Allegations that the structural design of the vehicle led to the fuel tank being punctured upon impact quickly led to recalls and finally the discontinuation of the compact car. Although its safety was, in reality, roughly on par for small cars of that era, the Pinto name was sullied permanently.
Cadillac Cimarron – This early 1980s “luxury” compact may have been nothing more than a low-end sedan with leather seats, but you got the distinction of paying twice the price. It is memorialized in the executive offices of Cadillac with the notation, “Lest we forget.”
Renault Le Car – Zero creativity points for naming the micro vehicle “the Car,” but that’s what Renault did when it hit U.S. shores in 1975, complete with its three-bolt wheels and 55 hp engine. One police department in the state of Washington used Le Cars on patrol, providing comedy relief for criminals who escaped with faster vehicles, such as bicycles and skateboards.
Yugo – Former Yugo owners may feel this inexpensive and cheerful Eastern Bloc car, based on a 1971 Fiat 127, should have had a longer name, such as “YugoBuyAnotherCar.” But at $3,990 in 1987, it cost about what people nowadays spend annually at Starbucks, plus maintenance could be performed with simple tools, like an allen wrench or sledge hammer. On second thought, we’ll take the coffee and walk.
AMC Gremlin – The first concept drawing of the Gremlin was made – and this is the truth – on the back of an air sickness bag…some unfortunate foreshadowing to say the least. It’s bad enough when your engineers build a compact car by simply amputating the back of a Hornet coupe, but when the marketing guys name it after a creature that causes airplane malfunctions, you have the recipe for a one-hit wonder.
DeLorean DMC-12 – Best known for taking Marty and Doc back to the future at 88 mph, this stainless steel behemoth was mass-produced in 1981 and just 9,200 ever made it to market. Originally priced at $25,000 (equivalent to $63,909 in 2012), the vehicle was too slow to be a desirable sports car in the United States. Coupled with poor business decisions, the company quickly fell in to bankruptcy and before you could say “flux capacitor,” the DeLorean became a piece of ‘80s history.
Maybe you once owned one of these cars or know someone who did. While most were inexpensive to buy, most of them weren’t insured for very long. Within a few years of purchase, they usually began new lives as junkyard artwork.
Whether you have a one-hit wonder or an old standby, you’ll need to make sure to take care of your ride. For helpful hints about vehicle maintenance, check out the Tools and Resources section on Allstate.com.
You might also like:
- Cool Cars You Won’t Find in the U.S.
- 4 Bizarre Car Accessories That Used to be Cool
- High-Mileage Cars: Is 200,00 the New Normal?
Photo credits:
Ford Pinto: flickrhivemind.net
Cadillac Cimarron: iedei.files.wordpress.com
Renault Le Car: flickr.com/photos/autohistorian
Yugo: auto.blog.rs
AMC Gremlin: cartype.com
Delorean: cartype.com
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Ford Probe
the Probe GT with the Mazda 2.2 turbo was an out and out blast to drive, if you could handle the torque steer. I had a 1989 GT, and with the long hatch you could actually sleep in the back with the rear seats down.
My personal choice for nameplate never to again see the light of day is Vega.
that, and Corvair. I had a Chevette called it my “Vette”, so that was pretty funny.
Everyone who owned a Chevette called it their “vette”. Back in the day, I bartended and had a customer who frequently asked me to go for a ride with him in his “vette”. He was an older Air Force man with a huge sense of humor. One day I relented, we stepped outside and he opened the passenger door to his che”Vette”. Quite the joke for a long time, ever since, sure enough.. everytime I heard someone talking about their “vette” they were talking about their Chevette… fun times.
My friend had the shitvett [chevette] and I had the Citashit. [citation]
I learned to drive stick in a Vega, they were fun cars to drive and handled great. I bought the Pontiac station wagon version and blew the engine getting away from the police.. yea , I got away…and drove on three cylinders for 8 months more.. actually miss that vehicle..but I’d buy a pickup now. sturdier and longer lasting
Think before you speak. The Corvair was and still is one of the best and most innovative cars to come out of GM. Do your homework and get back to me. We love them here.
I owned a spyder in 1963 and it was a dream to drive.
A freind of mine had a Corvair when I was young growing up in P-burgh. Almost had to get out and push it up the hills! Probably worked great out here in Kansas!
Yeah… I got killed in a Corvair Spider in 1963? The front wheels came off the ground and the damn thing started to fly? Most dangerous piece of **** [text removed by admin] ever designed.
Agreed.
The ’65 & up Corvairs kept getting better & better, but were toast by ’68.
And Nader sold a lot of books.
We love our Corvairs too!
I’m with you…I LOVED my Corvair…only see them once in a blue moon at car shows.
Uh, innovative? A rear wheel drive car with a Air Cooled engine.
Hmmm, lets me see if I can remember another car with those features?
Oh, yes. It was the VW Bug, designed in 1936 and had about 20 million of them built.
Do your homework, indeed. [text removed by admin]
Yeah and all the exhaust fumes coming out of the rear engine!
I owned a 65 corvair,it was a Monza (2 – 1 barrell carbs) great car.It was my first car i bought it for 300.00.The poor man’s porche.In the middle of the summer do not get caught in traffic in this car it will overheat.other than that it was a great car to own.wish i had another one of those i would like to own a spider
I had a 66 and loved it until the fan belt broke while I was driving Interstate 4. Smoked for the 8 miles to the service station.Never was the same after that.
This is true. The Corvair was an exceptionally good auto with lots of reliability, ease of maintenance/tune-ups and laid out quite well. My 4 door was a pleasure to drive.
You are correct sir!
Corvair was a good car. Not great but good. There were also a lot of dune buggies with Corvair engines, which were more powerful than the other (VW bug)… Unless the “bug” engine was actually a Porche 914 engine.
Chief
I had 6 of the Corvairs ,and i had no issues with them at all ! i had a lot of fun them ! I would by another one today !
I had it Pontiac spin off the t1000..The “T” stood for terror,which is what you felt if you went around a hairpin curve in excess of 25 mph…
Loved the Ford Probe. Pity Ford didn’t continue to develop that car. Could have been a great thing like the Honda Civic, Toyota Celica or the Acura RSX. A hot hatch.
Notice all those you named as a “great thing” are foreign cars! LOL…
And the Probe itself was collaboration with Mazda (brother to the MX-6). The MX-6 had more timeless lines.
I had one of those for my first car. Early version with no cylinder sleeves so it burned oil, and had a TWO-speed automatic transmission! Dave Barry referred to it as “the car with body rust installed at the factory.”
Still, it had nice styling, sort of a Camaro, Jr. And, it was a solid vehicle, not the paper-thin unibodies of today.
Did you ever drive the vega cosworth, I have one, Super car, AND YES i ALSO HAVE A 63 SPYDER.
The Vega had to be the worst car ever produced, our company bought one in 1975, the thing was totally worn out by 25,000 miles on the odometer. This was the engine the chevy plated steel on the cylinder walls of the aluminum block. They were produced in the St. Louis plant where there were bad labor/management problems. A friend of mine bought a new one through his dad ‘s GMC discount, had ATF fluid in the four speed manual tranny case and they chases a rattle in the front for months until the dealer found a coke can welded up in the left front fender.
probe yes thats a bad name how about eagle wagon or renualt fuego? the fuego was literally a ball of fire
My very first car that I bought brand new was a Fuego. Really loved that car.
Never buy a car named after a procedure.
I had a YUGO as most of my friends did too . YUGO hired one of my friends from Texas A&M to do the field testing in the USA on them in a small S.Texas town where we lived …several of us drove the hell out of those cars and never experienced any major problems as long as they were maintained ..extremely easy to work on ..but unfortunately & sadly parts were rare so if it did break you were usually screwed ….I got over 100k miles on mine everything still working like new , then sold it for 1/2 what I paid for it ….so yea i was happy !
Typical Soviet bloc engineering. Functional, durable and easy to fix, but not fancy.
You mean reverse engineered by the russians to be total crap, right? Kitch cars like this are not HOT, but some folks just like dorky cars.Look at me, I drive antique crap that was crap when new too.LOL!
Please be aware that the Yugo was a FIAT 127 built under license by Yugo. I have worked in the service contract industry (extended warranty) for 30 years plus. The breakdown history of Yugo’s was always better than average but the car was very basic so there were no power steering pumps or power window motors to go bad !
My son and I currently own 2 Yugos and are looking at buying a third… They get a lot of attention at the cruise-ins. If you take care of them, they will take care of you. Most people that slam Yugos have never even seen one, let alone owned one.
Mine is going to hopefully get a performance upgrade courtesy of a Fiat donor car… Another car with a bad rap… Fix It Again, Tony!
Dave, you got me. I’ve never driven one. But growing up in Ohio, I’ve seen Yugos that had rust-through faster than a 1973 Chevy truck (the ones with the Japanese steel.. you may remember dodging those rusted-off body panels along Highway 42…) So, good luck and drier cllimes to find your third surviving Yugo.
I agree with you in 1989 I owned a yugo,and as a matter of fact I drove it cross country and never had any problems with it I kept this car for about 3yrs, good on gas low maintance cost,so people really need to stop putting down this car. I used it as a second vehicle I could have brought a more expense car because I could afford one my husband was very high rank in the military but we choose to get this car, we already had a so call luxury car that kept putting me down every time I got it out the shop and the funny thing about it is, the dealership couldn’t find out what was wrong with the expensive car. I should have kept the yugo at lease I would be able to fill up for about 20 bucks in today’s economy.
When we were buying our Toyota Camry, they offered to thrown in a free Yugo as an incentive.
And then there was the man that walked into an auto parts store.
He said to the man at the counter, “I need a gas cap for a Yugo”.
The parts guy thought about it for a moment, then said, “Ok – sounds like a fair trade to me”.
How do you double the value of a Yugo??? Fill up the gas tank.
Dave, you’re right about the maintenance issue.
I’ve know a lot of people who ran their cars into the ground, refused to maintain them, and when the car inevitably broke down, whined about what a “piece of crap” it was.
Never drove a Yugo, but I had to nurse some real “hammers” along in my teens to get around. It’s amazing how well cars will perform if you operate and maintain them properly!
I sold a few Yugo’s back when they were new. Get this,I’m not kidding: The sales manual said “Under No Circumstances are you to take a test drive on a hill”. With it’s 1 Lt. engine, a motorcycle could run better. Even still, it’s hard to sell one when you go to crank one up and the battery is dead and has to be jumped off. I sold one to a lady, she actually wanted one and later on that evening, her husband came to the dealership looking for me and he wasn’t happy…
“Most people that slam Yugos have never even seen one, let alone owned one.”
I lived in Montreal, Quebec back then, with salting and sanding they basically rusted out (Structurally unsound) in 1 winter, 2 if you were lucky.
They had ZERO useful rust protection.
Canadians in general despised them for that alone, and they were used to driving rusty looking American heaps that go for years and years despite the rusting.
Early Honda civics were a disaster that way too, but to their credit Honda fixed that PDQ.
What do you say to a guy with two Doverman pincher dogs in the back seat? Nice car!
I had a Yugo GV 1985. It only lasted in decent condition for about a year. It was in the shop constantly, but I thought because it was new maybe a few kinks needed to be worked out and then it would be fine. Not the case. It made it to 20,000 miles, in that time, it had 2 or 3 new clutches, the radio was crap and replaced 3 times. Each radio maybe lasted a month. The speakers cracked and gave out pretty quickly too. The ignition broke at least three times. The stick shift came off in my hand one time, and shifting was painful, could never get it in gear. Dash lights burned out, one set the first week. Upholstery was already fading.There was no glove compartment and no tinted glass. Power was weak especially with four passengers. One time the ignition disengaged from the motor, I was holding the key in my hand and the car was on with no way to turn it off. The gas cap was a serious pain to get off. I had to get gas attendants to help, sometimes we couldn’t get it off and I went without gas! Inside door handles and window cranks all snapped off. Rain would come in the door panels. Signal acted funny. Headlights had burned out.It had an outdated battery that required water in its cells. Id never seen that and so I didn’t know it needed water in them! Steering was difficult. I also babied the car, early oil changes, immediate trips for repairs, and followed the schedule of maintenance. I think the door chime went out after a few months. It made a person to be nervous to be in it. I recall taking my family to church in it, when it was brand new, the refused to ride in it ever again. You couldn’t trust anything on it and nothing was reliable. Gosh taking it on a dirt road was hell, vibrations like an earthquake, it could not handle even the best dirt road. The paint on the exterior bottom trim was coming off, door hinges that were there to make the door feel heavier broke off, the gas strut on the hatch back to hold up the rear hatch gave out the first few weeks. Hood release came out into your hand but still manged to work, foam seals around the fan controls started to stick and tear and mush in place. It should never have been sold here. It was scary to ride in, unpredictable, and untrustworthy. There should have been thousands of recalls on it. Ive never been able to trust cars again. It was embarrassing to own one, it felt like an albatross, you could count on it to fail. Just having it in the parking lot was worrisome. It did not want to be a car and it let you know that fact!
Dont forget the other FORD piece of junk… 82 Ford Escort… Great gas milage but it would stall out everytime I put on brakes.. I hated that car and the 83 Ford truck I got stuck with afterwards. Anything by FORD makes me break out in the flop sweats.
Yeah, I had an ’85 Ford Escort. Found out the hard way that it was named for the “escort” that the tow truck provided! Major P.O.S!
When I worked for the Army Corp of Engineers I had to fly to Seatle every year to be recertified in Computer Security. The rental Cars were always Escorts but I started calling them road noise amplifiers as I could hear every pebble or crease in the road I drove over. It was deafening compared to my Lincoln at the time.
That wasn’t necessarily the car. Seattle area roads are the worst I’ve ever driven on, and I grew up near Philadelphia.
Haha ha ha hahahaha! Great memories! I love reading this shtick! I’m laughing so hard I’m crying! Push starting chevettes, shaking my butt off in a Yugo…. whatever the car designers were smoking in the ’70′s lingered into the 80′s.
just a bad car, but at least the right country. there are millions of them on the road.
Because you don’t KNOW any better…
I felt the same way about Chevies, until I picked up a ’10 Malibu LTZ.
Some comedian: “I have an Escort LX. That’s the really good one.” And the crowd loved it.
The Ford Probe was my first car. I loved it, especially the pop up headlights. I drove the heck out of it.
Probe has to be the worst… Insects and Arachnids seem to have done very well. Beetle Bug, Spider, Scorpion, etc…
I had an old VW years ago and loved it! It got great gas mileage and better yet..in those days there were price wars when gas was bargain basement priced. It was cheap to fill with gas and it got me to college and anywhere I needed to go. Btw: it only had a radio and the heater didn’t get warm until I got to school which was 5 miles away.
Unfortunately…I allowed my sister borrow it and she let a friend drive it who had never driven a stick shift. That
girl killed the motor in front of our local Dairy Queen and the car was rear ended. The next car was a used Renault…it just didn’t compare.
You left out the windshield washer was powered by the air from the spare tire in the front trunk.
The author forgot the Chevy “Nova.” In Spanish, which is the most spoken langauge in the world, if I am not mistaken, “No va” means “don’t go.” So who is going to buy a car that won’t go? In Mexico, the Chvy dealers practically had to give them away.
That’s kind of a myth. “Nova” in Spanish sounds a good bit different than “No va” because of the way the accents work out (it’s on the o in “Nova” and it’s on both vowels in “No va”). Basically it’d be like us confusing “carpet” and “car pet”. The Nova was fairly successful in Mexico.
Not to pick nits, but I think the 1.3 billion Indians and 1 billion Chinese would argue that Spanish is the most spoken language in the world.
But NO ONE cares.
East Indians and Chinese speak different languages and dialects.
I think that’s an urban legend, because Nova means… Nova.
I thought Nova was the chick in the Planet of the Apes flick?
what about the SuperNova? It exploded on the scene like a bright light.It was really hot.
Sorry, but that’s a myth. Snopes has a pretty good summary. In truth, the Chevrolet Nova sold well in Mexico and South America.
(When you hear the English word, “Notable”, you don’t think “No table.” There are other examples.)
you know people can talk crap about all these cars but the one i know is that cars are like people you have your good and your bad,it’s all about how you treat them
and the Edsel
The Edsel wasn’t a bad car, it was just BUTT Ugly.
When I was a kid we called it a mercury sucking a lemon..
One guy even said it looked like his old lady laying down with a headlight on each knee.
The Edsel was no uglier than any car during its day. It was just marketed poorly. It was over priced for the car that it was during a time when the country was going through a recession. People that were wealthy had better cars to buy than an Edsel and people that weren’t had cheaper cars to buy than an Edsel that offered the same features.
Ford Moter Company really stepped on it with this one, and the worst part was they named it after one of Henry Ford’s sons.
WRONG!!!
the Edsel was a typically pathetic Ford not just because it was vagina-ugly to look at head-on (don’t laugh…when is the last time you’ve seen one ringed with chrome plating?), it was chock full of typical Ford “light bulb” engineering ideas, specifically the steering wheel hub push-button transmission solenoids that locked up EVERY SINGLE TIME one left a stoplight;
i learned to curse fluently from my father punching out various Morse code messages in the middle of intersections the beast drifted into and stalled, blocking traffic all four ways;
Exactly! Wrong car for the wrong time (recession).
I had a friend in high school that owned a turquoise Edsel Ranger (?) hardtop with the 410 V8.
They laughed at it, but he embarassed more than his share of his buddie’s cars just by flooring it at the light, and pushing the shift buttons in the steering wheel hub…
I would say that if any one of us owned an Edsel today we would be extremely happy right now with all our money! Those are nostalgia fans big buck items, no matter how uggggleeyy they were.
A Brown Probe?
Nope.
That name is eligible for “future recycling”.
I’d say Dodge Dart from the 70′s. A friend of my father had one in yellow. We called it The Lemon. Terrible car…
Except that Chrysler just introduced a new Dart — so, uh, try again?
what about the Bricklin? classic splash and crash marketing
The Cadillac Cimmaron started life as a VERY low end Chevy and went downhill from there. It was underpowered to begin with and then loaded with “luxury” stuff and power everything, almost needed to be pushed around by hand. Things broke quickly with the teensy engine being overburdened. Cadillac STILL didn’t learn from that. Ask any Catera (read Opel Omega) owner. My brother had a Catera and he swore off ALL GM cars after that. He’s a Mercedes owner now.
Now Brendan, you seem to have forgotten a few great cars on your list. And I have had them all..
How about the GEO Metro? 50 mpg, 3 cylinder…cute as cute can be. I could traverse through Detroit rush hour traffic with no problem. I loved it. Had it for 14 years. My sister made me sell it.
I’ve had a corvair-great car in the snow, just flew right on top of the snow banks…I’ve also had a Pinto, with no heater in the engine, kind of cold in Northern Michigan winters…and how about the Dodge Omni? I loved this car…fire engine red, 4 speed coupe. Drove it off the show room floor.
Then the 2 door Reliant coupe with a front bench seat. Good car but rusted out on me.
I can pick em …
The YUGO was actually named by a group of test drivers…
Pacer
Nothing wrong with the Pacer, it was a decent car for it’s time and it had character.
Name another mid size car from that era that most everyone recognizes in 2012!
The Pacer had a lot of glass and an inadequate air conditioner, so the interior got unbearably hot in the summer. But nonetheless they endured, and in Florida of all places you still saw a lot of them well into the ’90s. A girlfriend and I used to look for them as we drove around — “Pacer” we’d each say whenever we spotted one, just because they were notable, sort of like kids saying “Slugbug!” and hitting each other when they saw a VW. (We didn’t hit.)
Pacer….Often referred to as a “fishbowl” or a “terrarium”
Check this one out…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWTPuMZi6rI
RAMBLER cLASSIC BEATS ALL THE UGLY CARS HANDS DOWN.
We had an 89 Pacer Wagon Loaded with all the extras. Yes, even the fake woodgrain,304-V8. My wife LOVED that car. We bought it new and she drove it everyday till 2005 it had 296,013 miles on it when a storm blew a 40′ oak tree down spliting the car right down the middle. The insurance agent thought my wife was crazy when she told him she had already found another one just like it same color and option package, on the net. We flew to Florida to get it and drove it home. She drives it everyday. Our kids now grown, HATED both of them !
Actually, the Le Car was not a bad car, and the Delorean became quite collectible after the company founder was tried for trying to deal cocaine to raise the cash to keep the company afloat.
the rest were trash from day 1.
And everyone wondered why the Delorean came with snow tires…….wah, wah, wah, wah.
Yes, I had a 1978 LeCar and put over 200,000 miles on it. It was great fun to drive, difficult to service because of the cramped engine compartment, and it was still running quite well until the end. Electronic ignition would have done wonders for it. A little more power and a five-speed with overdrive top gear would have been nice too. Got over 40 mpg.
I forgot to add: It had brakes. Really good ones. Stopping distances were like the best sports cars. It would nearly stand on its head with standard Michelin tires.
I had a 1980 LeCar. The car would go places other FWD cars wouldn’t go. Drove in a winter snow storm in Mid Mich8igan, other cars were on the side of the road and I kept crusin thru the snow. Really miss that car. Although the exhaust system sucked!
I also had a 80 LeCar. The local AMC dealership HAD to sell them. I know the owner didn’t want to at all. Anyway, I kept it for only six months. When cold weather set in, I could not shift it out of first gear untill the gear box warmed up. The dealership even thined out the gear oil. It didn’t help. The car also had a rear window defrost (grid in the glass). It would have worked IF LeCar would have instlled the wiring to it. Switch was on the dash but no wiring on it or to the grid work on the glass. I got rid of it because I didn’t want to deal with hard shifting tranny any longer. The linkage was even starting to bend..
Only words for it, French made junk!
Le car made it’s name winning races in it’s weight class. My citashit was fun in the snow . I loved cruising and laughing in winter snow storms.. u must have been the other car still playing I saw that night.
Apparently, many more parts were made than cars were completed, and somebody bought them all up. You can get pretty much anything you need to keep your Delorean running.
I had a Gremlin. It was blue. I drove it from Maryland to California, and took a Greyhound bus back. The people on the bus were weird. The Gremlin stayed behind in the junkyard in Cambria.
That leaves out a lot. Thank you, Gremlin, for protecting me from the station wagon that hit me head-on. There was a lot of car in the front, and not much in the back.
ms. sanders: I agree – the people on buses are weird.
I would rather ride in the gremlin while it was towed back home than take a bus. borrrrrrrrrrring.
My first car was a Gremlin I got from a neighbor for $40 (which scared the hell out of my girlfriend). It soon threw a rod on the PA Turnpike at 70 mph (scared the hell out of my girlfriend). I managed to coast to the berm and pried off the license plate and the VIN plate, and threw them into the woods, and escaped to the service road and hitchhiked out (also scared the hell out of my girlfriend). We left it flaming, and never heard another word. I would buy a decent ’70′s AMC (any model) right now in a heartbeat. Concord Wagon or Eagle Wagon preferred!
my Gremlin kicks [butt], the author of this nonsense should come take a ride or [be quiet]
I had a 1974 Gremlin V8. Wish I still had it. Went great in the snow due to short wheelbase and posi-traction.
I think there was a “performance” version of the Gremlin, was the “X” model?
Anyway, I worked with a man that had one. When we’d leave work and hit the on ramp for the interstate, seems that he had no trouble whatsever just putting it into min-warp drive and shooting out through rush hour traffic.
Hated the car’s name, but I always like the versatility of a hatchback.
I had a 75 Gremlin, and are you right about being great in snow. It also was great in mud. I plowed mud that was so deep, it knocked out the body plugs in the floor. I had mud on the floorboards behind the front seats when I unloaded the car after getting home. Never left me stranded anywhere. I sold it to my nephew, and it even got him home after he was rear-ended by a semi. Wish I still had it.
Oldsmobile Achieva. The sound you make when you sneeze.
I just “retired” my Achieva. I loved it even though most of my family and friends thought it was ugly. It lasted 12 yrs (I was the 3rd owner), had almost 200,000 miles, got 30 mpg all of the time, NEVER broke down, was relieable, and best of all, I got it for FREE!! Can’t beat that!
PS I live in Ma, and that car took me safely through many treacherous winter drives.
I rented Achieva’s several times (usually against my will)over the years. Not much to look at but it never left me on the side of the road. My results are skewed because I never drove one with more than 15K on the odometer. The thing I dislike was the sluggish feel of the driving experience. Couple that with looks only a Mother could love, the Achieva never really lived up to it’s potential and in my opinion, was one of the nails in Oldsmobile’s coffin. In my opinion it was an “Unda-”Achieva.
They left out the AMC Pacer aka the rolling fishbowl.
Ha! I learned to drive in the rolling fishbowl!!!
I always had a sneaking admiration for the futuristic look of the Pacer. I understand there was a great deal of solar heat gain due to all the glass, but still… I kind of liked its looks. Never had one. Haven’t seen one lately. I’ll bet there are collectors.
I had a 72 pinto coupe. It was my first car and I loved it despite the trunk that wouldn’t hold a shoebox, the puddle of water that appeared on the passenger’s floor every time it rained, and an ignition that defied every attempt to keep it working. I think it was the manual crank sunroof that hooked me forever. I will say that there are still dozens of Pintos on the track every week at our local speedway. Crazy popular in the 4 cyl. junker division.
i totaled one out on interstate 101 the only thing left that worked was the trunk gas tank even fell off didnt hit any body just bounced off couple gaurd rails then head on into bushes stabed in the back by a tree branch bottle of wine survived it was in the trunk……
the pinto
rest below
I also had a pinto now that was a piece of junk, every time I hit a bump in the road it would put a hole in the radiator, glad I got rid of that junk. rip pinto
The Pinto was a cool car ( all versions ) annnnnnd are still great little cars )> UNTIL the “MPG” models, which had a higher geared rear-end. I have seen a few with the “Pangra” front clip. (Pantera) The “Pangra station wagon” was the wierdest one but looked good after the guy finished his paint job. The “baddest” one I’ve seen, was a pink coupe with the white stripe running back & over the rear – with a tubbed rear-end and a supercharged 289 under the hood. The front was replaced to handle the added weight, annnnnnnnnnnd the guy liked to smoke Mustangs, Vetts,and 442′s off a light. True “sleeper”.
I tried to sell AMC Javelins and Rebels in GM dominated Flint. It didn’t go well…
I had an AMC Javelin from 1983-1987 (1972 SST Model, burgundy with black top, autotranny and a 304 V8 under the hood). That was one sweet ride–and fast as well.
When I worked at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, that car got me there and home without many glitches.
However, the wriring harness bit the dust after a massive rain storm–and with it, my “AMC Rocket Ship.”
BTW–The AMC Javelin was actually used in a James Bond movie (I think it was Dr. No), for a chase scene in Thailand.
–RKJ
i had a green Ams Pacer. i named her Ethel. i love that car. it was a gas hog though. however i owned it for 5 yrs and had no problems.
I took my driving test in a Pacer. How could you not pass the parallel parking in that. It was all windows…like a fishbowl!
How about the AMC Javelin? Really a beautiful and stylish car. Ahead of it’s time, no doubt. And let’s not forget the Studebaker Avanti!
I would not be surprised to see them make a Javelin again.
AMC isn’t around any more. And Chrysler (who holds the trademarks) isn’t likely to revive them when they have their own long history to trade on.
That is a great idea. If the Chrysler Crossfire was called the Javelin it would have sold better.
Wimpy, they have come out with a lemon Dodge Dart so you might see AMCs Javelin again.
Gremlins were cool. Pacers were nerdy.
My 1980 Pinto wagon lasted through 1987 (with just under 80K miles on it). I would have driven it longer, but a drunk backed into the front end (in a courthouse parking lot, in front of the sheriff and two state troopers, ha!). It was a great, dependable car for my college years and beyond. The only big trouble was that Italian transmission and Canadian engine not translating well with going up steep hills.
My Standard Trans Pinto Wagon was GREAT. Was our Family Car before it handed down to me. My Dad and Mom took my 3 siters from VA to Maine and FLA in it, with the youngest on the luggage in back. I moved 3 or 4 times while I had it and it could carry everything I owned.
Wrecked it like 3 times too and it took a lickin and kept on tickin. I’d by another one.
Put 163,000 miles in 18 years on 72 Pinto wagon. I would still be driving that great little cargo carrier if I lived in the desert, road salt killed it
aw, good one, joe, lmao. “road salt killed it”. i’m sure it did, but it’s still funny!
My ex-wife had a ’74 Pinto wagon, with the 2.3L 4-cyl.
She’d drive it until the ‘Check Oil” light would come on.
Problem was, the light wouldn’t come on until it was 3-1/2 quarts low. Still, the engine was still running strong
when the rest of the car fell apart. Had the same 2.3L
engine in an ’87 Ranger S-Model pickup with fuel injection.
I put 350,000 miles on that truck til it couldn’t pass the
smog tests. Was still running strong when I sold it to a
guy who took it to Mexico.
The station wagons were free from the “flaming Pinto” defect, but for years they were tarred with the same brush. Made them a great deal on the used car market.
It finally came out that Pintos were time bombs waiting to kill their occupants in rear end collision explosions because Ford was too cheap to install the correct bolts that wouldn’t puncture the fuel tank and prevent a gas fireball explosion. They said they weren’t having enough future customers getting killed to make it worthwhile.
Had a ’74 Pinto sedan. The ones with German drive trains had the differential filler plug on the front near where the shaft came in. The English ones had the plugs on the back cover — facing the fuel tank. Bought mine in 1980 and had to put a short block in it at 71555 miles. It got me through college. Not real good on gas and even the 4-speed manual turned about 3000 rpm’s at 55 mph due to rear-end ratio.
I call BS on the “bolts” story….
The problem was that the gas tank was not tucked up into a safer area towards the rear axles. The tank actually performed double duty as the trunk FLOOR: ther was not enough structrual integrity to prevent a significant rear end collision from compressing and collapsing the tank, causing it to rupture and spew gasoline all over the place.
And your dog on the roof, Mitt??
Just kidding – I also had a Pinto “Waggin” and I loved it. Brown with “estate” woodgrain faux painted sides, 2-spd automatic, 2.3L 4 that later became the base for the Mustang turbo (’79 I think?). A ton better than the Vegas and Monzas that were available at the time. We didn’t really know about Honda at that point!
I had 2 Pinto wagons and got good service out of both of them. The wagon, because of the overhang the cargo box provided, never had the Molotov cocktail problem. I lost both of them to accidents caused by other people :/
I bought a brand-new 1975 Vega while stationed overseas. What a miserable experience! I’ve owned dozens of new and used vehicles since then, but never another GM product.
Agreed: of the three US compacts, Vega even worse than the Pinto and Gremlin.
I had a ’74 Vega. Bought it new and it ran GREAT! I loved that car! It was my graduation present to myself – only $3,000.
I’ll guess you never had to start it in cold weather. The aluminum block and dribbly crappy carburetor screwed a few us over.
I had the = to the Pinto the Bobcat. I loved that car. It was the first new car I got in 1979. The money I saved in gas was way more then what I spent in oil. 4 qts for every 200 miles. Even brand new Ford said this was within the normal limits of used oil. Traded it in at 8000 miles. The oil costs were killing me.
In 1975, my father bought a used Vega as my first car. What a disastrous decision! It was a piece of junk! I cannot count how many times the very low to the ground oil pan got damaged. There was, also, the ever current problem of the car stalling and being unable to restart. Man, was I glad to say goodbye to that unreliable loser of a car!
You blacklisted a whole line of cars and trucks from several different companies because of one car?
If you need more reasons, how about Dex-Cool, the Northstar engine w/self-stripping head bolts, and the Chevy(Daewoo) Aveo?
V8-6-4. HA HA HA HA HA!
Oldsmobile Diesel !
Many other examples.
(I happen to like the Chevy-Daewoo Aveo though; you could get a base one for $8.5G a few years ago and they are reasonably comfortable and reliable for the price. And I’d rather deal with a Chevy service manager than a Kia one any day).
Vegas were popular in the drag racing/tuning world. I know that sounds funny, but it’s a small, lightweight rear-wheel drive car, and the engine compartment is big enough to fit a smallblock V8 Chevy. Think about that for a minute. All you had to do then is find a junkyard and a wrecked car/truck with 350 (maybe grab the heads from a 305 as well) cram that into it, and you had a tiny car wrapped around a solid engine. For 1970s tech, you had an excellent power-to-weight ratio without buying a European or Japanese car.
I had a 74 Vega. The gear shift knob came off in my hand several times. The alternator would not always charge the battery, so that on some nights I had the choice of letting the head lights work or letting the fuel pump work. I took turns to get home. One of the head lights fell out of the frame right in front of the Ford dealership in Columbus Mississippi. I pulled in and made a deal. I never bought another GM product in my life.
You could say that about a stock Mustang II with a 302 in it as well (I think they called it a Cobra??). Some weird designs in that period.
My first car was a used 75′ Vega – Apple Green of all colors… I would pull up in the gas station to ‘check the gas’ and fill the oil. But that little car was fabulous, leaking oil and all. Not sure if it was the love or the color that left me blinded to its flaws – but I had some great times in that car!
I had a Vega GT with a manual transmission that was a blast to drive and never had a lick of trouble with it.
Great car. Maybe it was an exception, but sometimes I wish I had it back, because for as fun as it was to drive and as peppy as it was (it had like forty more horsepower than the standard model) it got great gas mileage.
Hey, don’t forget the Chevy Corvair. Two distinctions to that car. 1) throwing fan belts regularly (like every 1000 miles or so, and 2) a light front end. We Corvair owners would start a conversation with other owners with “So what do you put in the front end for weight?” Answer: “Sand bags”, “an old truck wheel”, “rocks”, “my mother in law’s dead body” (last one made up). Oh, I forgot- 3) massive oil leaks from the pushrod tubes. You never parked in a friend’s driveway.
I owned a beautiful turquoise Corvair with white bucket seats.
When I perked it had to put bricks under the tires to keep it from rolling away which it did many times with me chasing it down the road to stop it…Oil leaks generated black fumes
that would get into the car and choke me…Otherwise it was a fun car…did great donuts on icy parking lots…LOL
Meant parked not perked – LOL
Owned both first and second generation Corvairs. They leaked, all right, but I thought it was from the split crankcase. They copied VW and Porsche with the engine design, but I think it was a marketing ploy. Only Porsche and Subaru use that design today -a good car, but if no one else copies the design that tells you something. Changed out an alternator in a Corvair onc – 15 minute job, simple hand tools, and replacement alternators cost maybe $25. Belt changes certainly were common, and body rusted from below badly. But second gen Corvair with four-wheel independent suspension handled very well, far better than Mustangs of the day. Car could have been saved, but GM always abandoned designs once they sorted out initial problems.
Was behind a Corvair Monza that failed to negotiate a turn by Lake Michigan and ended up half way down a sand dune. Theyfor
forgot to put their dead mother-in-law in the front for
ballast.
I think the pancake engine isn’t used much because it’s different. A manufacture gets tools to deal with an inline engine and it’s EXPENSIVE to tool up for another design.
Agree!
Pontiac worked for years on their troublesome Fiero sports car, and when they FINALLY got it to the point where it was reasonably reliable, handled well and was fast…
They dumped it after ’88.
I had a vega and it was still running with 300K miles on it. New put alot of monry itto it either.
Had a v6 Fiero and loved it until I had to start buying parts only 88 year parts would fit it and dealer only high priced
Albanypark–BMW motorcycles use a two cylinder version of the same kind of engine and they never leak. VWs and Porsches didn’t leak. It is the same configuration as most aircraft engines. They don’t leak either. There is no reason a horizontally opposed engine with a vertically split crankcase has to leak. Corvair engineers just didn’t get it right. Corvairs also tended to rust out. That said, Corvairs were a lot of fun to drive, and really got a raw deal at the hands of Ralph Nader.
first car i ever owned was a 1963 black monza four door corvair. Great car. Put 100,000 on it with no problems. wish I would have kept it. Tried to buy one now on line but can’t find any like mine. bill conjelko
We had a white Monza station wagon with vinyl wood trim.
Loved that car except the starter was under the engine and an B to replace. Hubby got the bright idea to get rid of it when it needed a new clutch and regretted it later.
The starter should only have to be replaced once in the life of a car, I wouldn’t hold that against it.
Corvair Monza’s were very cool and you could hold your head high if you owned one. I think you should make it a mission to find one like your old one, you won’t regret it. There’s one out there, I just know it.
Check old UltraMan videos – they are the cop car in Japan (or there were convincing matchboxes of it).
We briefly had a ’63 Corvair in 2006. What a mess. It was throwing belts nearly every 25 miles. We would try to cruise it and enjoy it on a Date Night. Which ended EVERY TIME with us broke down.
There was something wrong with it like bad or out of line pulleys. A car in decent condition, even a Corvair, just won’t behave that way.
I drove a ’63 Corvair w/PowerGlide when I worked at a used car lot in high school. It would occasionally “spit” a belt if I’d kick it down into passing gear.
My girlfriend and I hung around with a girl that had a ’63 (I think) Monza Spyder Turbo convertible w/4 speed. If I recall, there were “guides” around the pullies that helped prevent the belt from being thrown, and she really didn’t have the problem.
What a great cruiser that was, and the mileage was decent for a car from that time.
The trunk was in the front and the engine was in the back over the drive wheels. Today’s cars also have the engine over the drive wheels, so they were ahead of their time.
Really?
I had four Corvairs, three of them early models, and never had problems with the belts and they didn’t leak oil either.
I guess the front end was light compared to the tanks we drove around in those days (also had a 66 Ford Fairlane with a big block about that time) but it bopped around so nicely between stop signs, I never really noticed.
I loved my purple Gremlin. It was a change over car. 73 exterior and 74 interior. I put over 350,000 miles on it and still it was driveable enough to sell it.
This is on Wikipedia regarding the production of “new” DeLoreans:
DMC Texas’ new build carsDMC Texas (based in Humble, Texas) announced on July 30, 2007 that the car would be returning into very limited production (about twenty cars per year) in 2008.[44] The newly produced cars would have a base price of $57,500 and have new stainless steel frames; with optional extras such as GPS, an enhanced “Stage 2″ engine, and possibly a new modern interior. The cars would be made with 80% old parts and the rest new.[45] This project was featured in an episode of Modern Marvels. The term “return to production” is something of a misnomer, the cars are built on DeLorean underbodies built by the original company in the 1980s and retaining their VINs. The cars’ titles will show the year of the underbody’s manufacture. They are, therefore, not new DeLoreans, but complete rebuilds of the car from the underbody with enhancements.
On October 18, 2011, it was announced that an all-electric model would be available for sale by 2013. It will have a 200 hp (149 kW) motor, accelerate from 0 to 60 in 8 seconds, and have a range of 100 miles (160 km) between charges. It is expected to sell for $90,000 USD.[46][47][48]
A press release issued by the DeLorean Motor Company October 14, 2011 states the Electric DeLorean (DMC EV) will sport a 400 volt AC induction liquid cooled electric motor producing 260 hp (194 kW) and 360 lb·ft (490 N·m) of torque providing 0-60 mph acceleration of 4.9 seconds.[49]
So, where are they???
They are being made in Northeast Houston. Come and get one.
It is rumored that the electric model will use 1.21 gigawatts of electricity and go 88 MPH.
Their website is delorean.com. They don’t have a dealer network, so you have to order it from there.
You won’t find any Deloreans rotting away in a junkyard like the others unless they have been really wrecked beyond recognition and even then their is not alot to rot.
Are you kidding? You left the Vega off the list? Besides being at least as bad a car as the Pinto, but with a dramatically increased propensity to rust, even the name was stupid for a North American car, literally translating to “It doesn’t go” from Spanish.
while the vega was a bad car according to wikipedia: On October 12, 1974 C&D’s 1973 Vega GT #0, driven by Bedard, “outran every single Opel, Colt, Pinto, Datsun, Toyota and Subaru on the starting grid [...] It had done the job – this Vega GT faced off against 31 other well-driven showroom stocks and it had finished first.[79]
P.S. check your Spanish the nova meant “no go”
It may have won a single race, but was probably in the shop weekly the rest of it’s God forsaken life…
Chevy didn’t like how the Vega’s engine performed so they quit making them. A bunch of people found them perfectly suitable, though.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the was the Cosworth-engined Vega. It was relatively hot for it’s time.
Sorry Carl, o lo siento. “Vega” is a star (in the sky, at least). The closest thing it means to anything in Spanish is “See ‘ga’.” “Nova” means “doesn’t go” in Spanish.
Actually Carl that was the “Nova” that meant “No-go”. But indeed the Vega was a POS.
You have the Vega confused with the Nova as far as translation in Spanish is concerned. You are right however as to the Vega’s history. I had a 71 wagon, needed to have a couple of cases of oil and STP every time I hit the road.
I bought a 71 Vega wagon in November of 1974 in Great Falls, Mt. My wife, a friend and his 12 year old daughter and I went on a trip to Miles City about a week after we bought it. We drove out of the blizzard that was in Great Falls into a beautifull sunny day. We got about 100 miles when the oil idiot light came on. Put 2 qts in. About 50 miles farther down the road another 2 qts. It was like that for the next 200 miles. Started adding STP and the oil burning didn’t slow down. We headed back in the early evening with 4 cases of 40 wt oil in the back plus a case of STP. Drove back into the blizzard, should have stopped and spent the night in Belt and let the blizzard blow over. Needless to say we did not get very far from Belt and smacked right into a snowdrift and killed the Vega. By then we had gone through 2 cases of oil and half the case of STP. Car was towed into Great Falls the next day. Found out from the Chevy Dealer (not the place we bought the car) that the oil problem was endemic with the Vega and that for the price of a head job Chevy would install a new engine. End of problem – NOT! Oil problem started again about 18 months and 5K miles on the engine. 2 engines later we sold it, less than 3 years after we bought it. My mom sent us a clipping from the paper that had the Vega listed as the Number 1 Worst Cars ever built at the time.
“Nova” means it doesn’t go
That’s why they sold them as “Caribe” in espanol markets
Where did you learn Spanish. Vega is the name of a star. It doesn’t go in Spanish is no se va.
That would be the Nova or no va in Spanish that means doesn’t go!
Wrong about the translation of Vega in Spanish. Nova is “no go” in Spanish . . .
You are perhaps confusing the Vega with the Nova?
um, one small correction: it was the NOVA, chevy I think. ‘No VA’ means, doesn’t go in Spanish.
No, you are thinking of the Nova, not the Vega for the Spanish translation.
The Chevy Nova, another piece of junk, was the one that meant it “would not go” in Spanish. Not a big seller in the Latin American countries let alone here.
really? you are thinking of the wrong car with the spanish translation- that distinction goes to the Nova- No va no go
You’re thinking of the Chevy Nova. “Va” is “go” in Spanish. Wasn’t a bad car.
in spanish isnt it NOVA ?
actually it’s NOVA which means that, not Vega.
That’s not a vega that was the NOVA No va means won’t go.
Yo, Carl –
In Spanish, “VEGA” means “a fertile lowland or plain”. In an American variation, “VEGA” = “a tobacco plantation”.
Although the VEGA was a loser, and it often “didn’t go”, it was the OTHER Chevy that you were speaking of — the Chevy “NOVA” whose name loosely translates into “it doesn’t go”.
The ’67 NOVA with the 151 cu.in. 4-cylinder “Iron Duke” engine was a masterpiece of simplicity, and one of the most reliable cars ever made by General Motors — it seems so ironic that they named their most reliable car after a Spanish phrase that literally says “It doesn’t go.”
Only in America !!
Vega does not translate to “it doesn’t go.” You are confusing it with the Nova, a very complicated history of a name plate. No=No, var= to go. Thus “Usted no va” = “you no go.” Usted is unnecessary as the verb is conjugated, thus: No va, or Nova.
Wrong. “Vega” means “plain” in Spanish. “Nova” means in Spanish just what it means in English; a brilliant, newly appearing star in the sky (the word is a borrowing from Italian, by the way). Marketing profs who make cracks about “no va” don’t know what they’re talking about – the same clowns will stand up in front of classes and yakk about how the passenger railroads should’a gone into the passenger airline biz blah blah blah but they were too stupid, shortsighted, whatever. Trouble is, the railroads did but the feds forced them to divest the airlines. Remember, half of what marketing profs and their books claim is wrong. The other half is obvious and you don’t need MBA classes to discover the stuff, common sense and observation is enough.
And I’d think twice about buying insurance from a company who can’t even get basic facts about cars right. But maybe they can fool enough boobs, notice that they’re not knocking any cars in production today…
Purchased a used 71 Gremlin in 1974 with 20,000 miles on it…had the venerable 240 straight six engine and a 4 speed manual…cost $ 700…drove it for 6 years with no issues and racked up 120,000 miles…sold it in 1980 for $700 bucks…ugly yes…looked like a high top tennis shoe…reliable ? Yes…Oh the good ole days…
AMC never made a 240 CI straight six. The six you had was actually a 232 CI 7 main bearing engine. BULLETPROOF!
Yes, the 232 CI inline 6 cyl was bulletproof. International Harvester used this engine in their 1110 series pickup trucks in the early 1970s. I drove one of these for 15 years with very few problems. Good work truck.
I drove a 1977 Ford Pinto Wagon for several years and was very happy with it. I had to part ways with it after it was scraped by a improperly merging semi on a bridge and then, two weeks later, sideswiped while parked in front of my apartment by a vehicle that was being chased by the police. Still sold it as-is for $400, bent axel and all. It was still driveable as long as you planned your trip with no right turns.
I drove a ’74 Pinto for 380,000 miles. I also drove an ’84 Chevette for 266,000 miles. I did not “baby” either one, but drove them fairly hard. I did my own maintenance at the prescribed intervals. Both were great, cheap transportation. What can you buy now that’s cheap with any hope of lasting 200k+ miles?
The bad news for both cars was changing the starters was an ordeal. And they both went through starters like divas go through husbands.
Mark,
So true about the Chevette.I inherited mine from my sister and it started 1 time in 10. Whenever my girlfriend was with me and the thing wouldn’t start I’d utter the term ” Assume the position”. meaning get out and push.. LOL Master cyclinder eventually went too.
nissan sentra 96 i bought it with 276,000 on it drove it to 3 330,000 sold it to my neighbor who drove it to 400,00 then sold it to someone in my neighborhood 6yrs later i still see it driving around dark red with black front bumper n all nissans will run forever still to the new ones
Old Nissan cars were great. I had an ’89 Sentra that had 140k miles when I reluctantly traded it in because my new bride couldn’t drive a stick-the only problem ever I had with it was having to replace the starter after about 120k miles. It averaged about 32mpg. The ’01 Sentra that we got was a piece of junk-it lasted less than 100k miles before dying.
1984 Nissan Pulsar was the Worst
Mark C ~ You ask what you can buy now that will last 200K+ miles. My answer: What vehicle won’t get 200K+ miles any more??! Cars now no longer die of high mileage — they die of age — like rusting brake lines and such. I must acknowledge that you added “cheap” too. I fear that no car is cheap anymore, not even ones like the Smart4Two. Times change but I wouldn’t go back to chokes, flat tires, windshield wipers that stopped dead when we accelerated, and frozen high beams switches (they were on the floor by the left foot and when salt got into them from dripping shoes in winter, they seized up and wouldn’t work). Oh yes, and manual (but electric) turnsignals that did not shut off on their own — with turnsignals flashing EVERYWHERE (I firmly believe that some had their turnsignals flashing their entire life of the car!) And rusted out mufflers needing replacing very 3 years and on and on and on. Fun to recall but I sure wouldn’t want to relive it!
Get a used Dodge minivan with the 3.3 liter engine and it will easily go 300,000 miles with minimal maintenance. Cheap to buy and maintain.
300k on a dodge minivan? That equates to 6 transmissions.
I agree Chevettes are great.
These days? Buy any VW diesel. There are lots of years/conditions/alternatives/prices. 40mpg, cheap, and last twice as long as a gasser.
The Yugo was a great car! If you did not get AC or the automatic transmission!! While the commies could make a simple, low cost, old tech machine, they could not make anything ‘nice’ or complicated. I had a manual transmission, no AC Yugo for 4 years, got $1200 for hail damage (the first hot day popped all the dents out that thick metal), sold it for $900, replaced 4 door handles (they could not make good plastic either, but at $9 a pop, not bad (ever bought a US part for $9)), changed the oil 4 times and got almost 50MPG! Since it cost me $3995 new, my cost to drive (- gas) was about $650 a year. And that was for a car that beats today’s hybrids for MPG. If I had not been headed overseas at the time, I would have never sold it.
I recall two things about the Yugo — neither very complimentary. First was a Cadillac dealer that offered a free Yugo with each Cadillac purchase. The newspaper ran a story of a fellow that told the salesman that he’d buy the Cadillac but not if he had to take the Yugo too! And I recall Consumer Reports testing the Yugo with a standard transmission and discovering that shifting into high gear would turn off the headlights. Yup. The gearshift knob would occupy the same space as the pull switch for the headlights. Apparently the designer hadn’t taken basic science: “No two pieces of matter can occupy the same space at the same time”. You get high gear OR you get headlights …. but not both at the same time.
I always liked what “Click and Clack” the Tappet Brothers on NPR said abou the Yugo. “The only good feature on a Yugo was the heated rear window… so your hands would not get cold when you pushed it.”
lol
Well, I can call fake claim on the second… the headlight switch is a rocker switch on the left side of the dash panel, the shifter is in the center… the claimant on that one MUST have been a rocket scientist to figure out how to get the shifter knob all the way to the other side of the car!
AMC cars had sturdy frames, but were pieces of crap as cars. The LeCar was only for LeNerds, although the Fuego was pretty cool. The Yugo was a huge mistake you could see coming a mile away. The Pinto did its job except for being ugly, and the one design flaw that torpedoed the whole line for good. The DeLorean DMC-12 was a super-cool car to look at. They just tried to make too many of them and rushed it all through. When they lost their initial GM motor, they hurriedly made a deal with… (gulp).. Renault. No wonder they didn’t sell. But there’s a place in FL and GA where you can get a new or refurbished one with your choice of Ford 302 V8 or Chevy 350 V8, and I’m sure they’re a blast. I’d buy one now if I could. I saw the Ford Probe mentioned, I owned a 1990 Probe and it was a very good car. Sat lower than my Mustang GT, and cruised easily at 95mph, not too shabby for a 4cyl. Was very comfortable, had lots of room, and even got good gas mileage.
You forgot the granddaddy of them all,Edsel.
I think the “Gremlin” moniker could make the rounds again.I know of several pinto’s that stayed roadworthy for quite a few years.
That “Le Police Car” ad was a hoot.Here in DC, our last mayor had a Smart4 2 car ordered so he could transport himself and save gas.It was black on black with added flashing red/blu lights and a siren…lololol.Easy to park though.lolol
I had two from that list! A 1977 Mercury Bobcat which was a version of the Pinto, and ten years later I got a Yugo! The Bobcat was a nice little car, I imagine it was one of the last made. It got rear-ended and was totaled and sold for scrap.
In the early 1990s my 1987 Yugo began to have problems. I think the parts made by the Serbs declared war on the parts made by the Bosnians and the parts made by the Muslims called Jihad on the rest of the car! I got rid of it in 1994.
What about the granddaddy of them all? … EDSEL!
Edsel was just ugly. Ran OK.
My brother bought a “Gremlin” GT in 1975 white with gold trim 258 inline 6…3 spd. first 6 months it was in the shop 4.5 of those months….one day he was driving it and the stick came out out of the trany in his hand. he ended up using a #4 craftman screwdriver to shift gears for 1 month. AMC didn’t have alot of parts available.
He really hated that car and traded it after the 6th month for a Dodge Charger that he really loved….he drove till 1982 210,000 miles and not one problem with the car.
When I saw the title of the article, I knew my star crossed Pinto would be on the hit list. My first car (1971) for $200 and my first new car (1980) were both pretty cool. The 1980 lasted me through 5 years of college commuting and then finished off my sister’s years as well. I put mag wheels on it, custom painted myself, jacked it up, put a chrome grill in it from a Bobcat (thanks sis) and painted the gas tank bright red (hit me is you can). It had a fantastic emergency brake for doing 180s and I only let it go because all of the emissions stuff had been removed and I got a job in California. Pintos Forever!
My first car was a 1972 Pinto in bright red. It was probably the most memorable car I ever had. It was fun to drive, was simple to fix and never let me down.
All of you people bashing the Vega vs. the Pinto, are forgetting an important distinction: While its aluminum engine doomed almost all of them to the graveyard in short order, it was actually an attractive design for the era, unlike that homely Pinto. And wasn’t known (perhaps unfairly) for broiling its occupants to a crisp.
John ~ Clearly you didn’t live in a heavy snow state with your Vega! As I recall they didn’t allow enough space in the wheel wells for tire chains. But even worse was the fact that to change one of the spark plugs (and we changed them every 10,000 miles in those days) you had to drop the engine (off the transmission). I suspect that 4th plug didn’t get changed much!
RiverRat, I live in a heavy snow state, had a “72 Vega for a first car. Had no problem putting snow tires and chains on that car. It was a good looking hatchback that you could use practically like a truck. It was a decent handling, super cheap, semi-sporty, rear wheel drive car. The spark plugs were wide open for service,never touched a transmission or an engine mount changing them. The Chevy Monza had a problem like that when they stuffed the V-8 in it for the passenger rear plug you had to loosten the motor mount and let the engine drop a little, had one of those too. The Vega’s front fenders rusted thru on top at the very back when it was 2yrs old and Chevy replaced them. Otherwise it rusted out at about the same rate as every other car in Michigan did back then.
My future Brother In Law loved his 1972 Vega GT, liftback, Manual transmission … but it did rust quickly in the thumb knuckle of Michigan and my father wouldn’t let him park it in the driveway without something to catch all the oil drips. He replaced his front fenders twice and would have kept it 4-ever, if it wasn’t for that Bobcat that rear ended him … really hard. Fortunately both drivers got out because both cars went up in flames.
Vega design was awful. They attempted to just shrink the Camaro (many clues all over the car, even the dash and steering wheel design). That’s why the engine compartment was so big, the car was heavy, and it couldn’t properly fit a six foot tall person in the front seat. The back seats were there just for photos – not actually usable. Vega fans are, from my experience, into the performance ones and the big engine compartment for mods. Cool for that, if you guys say so, but as a workable competitor at the time (real car) it was miserable.
“cars hat suck” stories like this get run every time there’s a slow news day.
*that
actually, it’s an article on car names that should be retired.
you forgot the Gremlin
they DID mention Gremlin
I hope chevy brings back the monza
Bought a 74 Pinto in 78 for my 19 year old daughter in a rush when her 70 Plymouth Duster slant six threw a rod just as I was heading out for an extended vacation. A year later, as I was looking out the kitchen window, I saw the front wheel well chrome molding fall off. Couple of months later, the passenger side door hinges rusted through the body so had to keep it closed and locked. We kept if through the following Winter and got rid of it and got her a new Pontiac Sunbird.
Thought for sure they’d mention the Nova!! In Spanish ‘does not go’!
i had a 1970 nova–best car i ever owned. had it till 1994.
I remember one of the auto magazines pointing out that the Gremlin combined all of the disadvantages of a small car AND all of the disadvantages of a large car.
My 2003 Ford **** transmission failed at ∼59,000 miles. I contacted the manufacture whose e-mail read: “So. What do you want us to do about it?” Since then, it has cost me a minimum of $200 per months in repairs!
A man went into an auto parts store and told the clerk “I need a gas cap for my Yugo”.The clerk replied”that sounds like a fair trade”
On a list like this, how can you leave off the infamous Chevy Nova. Translated into Spanish, Nova is “doesn’t go.”
Also, the Aztec will not rise again because Pontiac is no more, and the Aztec was the ugliest thing on wheels.
My first car was a 1973 light blue Ford Pinto. It served its purpose,but comfortable – no. No air conditioning, vinyl seats and no carpeting. I think my parents had something to do with this to get the car cheap.
When time came I was glad to move on. The summers were unbearable in that car.
Also, teenage romance had to have another venue.
I’d like to see Chrysler release a new Dart some day… One of my favorite cars I’ve ever owned was a restored Dart with a killer V8 engine.
Dodge Dart: it’s not just a good car name, it’s good advice!
Chrysler just brought back the Dart, check your local Dodge Dealer
Ah, yes, the AMC Pacer. I thought they would have learned form that one, but no, Pontiac came out with the Aztek. Yes, proof that they were actually able to make a vehicle more ugly than a Pacer.
Actually, Azteks are more popular now than when they made them. People like the distinctive look and they are very reliable and durable four wheel drive SUV’s. The Pontiac Torrent replaced them and are extremely popular and stylish. Stupidest thing they ever did was quit making Pontiacs.
Absolutely. Why would you quit making Pontiac? How many Grand Ams and Grand Prixs do you see on the road today…some four years after they quit making them? A Grand Prix GT has a 3800 V6; that engine is bulletproof! Forget the G5/G6/G8. Grand Prix was where it was at. Also Firebirds; I love the body kits Trans Am Depot (a cottage industry) makes for the new Camaros.
Walt on “Breaking Bad” is repopularizing the Aztek.
Aztek is also the Buick Rendezvous — GREAT CARS. One of the first crossovers, hosable interior, tons of room. Take out the back seat (which is very easy) and you can camp in it.
Buying a car for looks might be smart if you care about your style impression, but it seems wasteful to me. Tweetch azone.
I wouldn’t call a Pacer ugly, but fishbowl definitely fits. However, one cool autumn week I drove a rented Pacer around Boston and New England. It was cheerful, thanks to all the glass. Made sort of a miniature tour bus.
But take all that glass to Arizona in summer… Yikes!
ummmmm cough cough did you all forget the maverick. 100% rust bucket on 4 wheels. Parents had one with a 302 in it fast as it gets, but keeping the WI snow out in the winter was hard. Forget clearing the driveway dad had to clear the car in the morning to got to work, and I kid you not they got the car in March 73 brand new and it was rusted out buy Dec 73.
How about the studibaker esp. the golden hawk. 60′s
Does anybody remember the hilarious SNL skit about the Yugo? I think it was made of clay….
Actually, it was the, “Adobe”. And the clay was fresh, not kiln dried.
Well, I got 140,000 miles out of my ’73 Vega and it was still going strong ’till I let it overheat ONE time! Changed three starters, but had no rust issues. I had the car Ziebart treated and lived in Texas (still do!) My stepsister had one, but she drove it on the beach and splashed in the surf. Seems like that car lasted about three years!
Dear KSE,the new Chrysler Dart is on the market now.
The problem with the DeLorean wasn’t that it was too slow to be a sports car in the US market. It was that the US spec DeLorean was too slow to be a sports car anywhere. US smog requirements strangled the motor so the car could barely get out of its own way. Being a former US car executive, it’s strange DeLorean didn’t anticipate this problem.
The Delorean was supposed to be a mid engined 4 cylindar on a lightweight polymer chassis. Tests of the chassis proved them to not have enough strength to withstand the weight of the car. Delorean wanted to keep the stainless shell, which added a lot of weight to the steel frame. They had to increase power to a 6 cylindar which would no longer fit mid-car. Long story short, the company spent millions in redesigning and fixing problems, not to mention that after they hit US shores they averaged about $2k each in repairs to bring them up to spec to sell as new.
Lagonda anyone? I think the only reason it didn’t make the list was because it was so expensive not enough people were burned by it. It was marketed as the worlds most expensive sedan. The car was ugly and malfunctioned constantly.
I loved my Gremlins. I wouldn’t having one as a fun car now.
Agree. They were cool and good looking.
Worst car ever built was the International Scout. Would run forever, but hard to maintain. Rusted worse than any car in history. If you saw a Scout that wasn’t rusty, it was less than 2 years old.
We had an International Scout 4X4, an International Pickup, and an International grain hauling truck. If International would have made cars, my Dad would have bought one.
Audi Fox. I had the ’74. They recalled it 2 years after the throttle linkage stuck and the engine overheated, warping the block. With half Audi, and Half Volkswagon parts, it was stranded many times for weeks waiting for parts from Germany. It didn’t even live 10 years. I took a picture of it for posterity as they towed it away. Beat day of my automotive life!
Had an Audi Fox in Germany…smoke would billow out the exhaust pipe causing miles long traffic jams and a often grey haze over the small town I was stationed near….
I had a gremlin and drove it over 100000 miles with no problems
Well, I learned one thing from this article. “Nova” means “no go” in Spanish. The Chevy Nova was a very popular and dependable car though, appealing to all age groups. They were especially liked by young men who tricked them up to make chick magnets, which is really what it’s all about, isn’t it? Huh? Isn’t it? ? ?
1976 Ford Mustag Cobra II. piece of juck, got rid of it after only 6 months!!1 Never a Ford for me since!!
I guess the idiots at allstate don’t know Delorean’s will be available next year.
Ford EXP….A supposed “sporty” version of the Escort. POS…..
Under powered, ugly and just plain weird.
OMG, you took the name of the car I was gonna say right out of my mouth. The ford exp was my first car, loved that thing. Easy to fix and fun to drive. It was ugly for sure and under powered, but for a first car I won’t take driving that car back.
My 1969 Mustang like all ’64-’70 Mustangs had a drop-in gas tank that performed double duty as the bottom of the trunk to save weight. Ford did put a plaid vinyl trunk mat on top of the gas tank. A flimsy back seat was essentially all there was to keep most potential wreck caused gasoline out of the passenger compartment. It is a shame that car safety articles seldom mention or warn modern young car restorers about this “better idea”.
One can not possibly have this list without including (drum roll)….THE VEGA!! This one hit wonder couldn’t hold it’s own against a volkswagon,1300 cc motor with a burned valve in number 3 cylinder ! The SHEER BRILLIANCE that can only describe the decision to coat the cylinder jugs with TEFLON should be bottled and sold (for scrap). Those cars with their uni-body construction, slanted-top heads and GUTLESS engines (which got beat on a regular basis by it’s broad-butt cousin, the Pinto..)..should have sunk GM..or at least caused a few over-paid heads to roll. As a young man in the mid-70′s my friends and I literally “passed around” this one particular vega. At one point, one of us got the wild hair and STUFFED a 327 small block into the tin can. That uni-body construction couldn’t hold the rear axle under the car…the power of the small block ( a wopping 225 hp maybe?) literally RIPPED the axle out from under the car !!
By far the greatest single offense of that LAME DUCK car was the OIL BELCH they ALL had…that teflon coated cylinder walls was sheer brilliance…and proof that Julia Childs was cooking up cars too. In fact, the Vega belched more oil into the atmosphere than it consumed as gasoline to propel itself to the junk yards where they all ended up in under five years. No, the vega…GM’s finest hour…should never be forgotten (no matter how much they may wish).
My vote for the BEST car (truck) would have to be the ubber-dependable,tough as nails, FORD F150/250 1969-1979 model years. They are STILL on the road today. Contractors need a dependable TRUCK..and Ford put one out..Very few contractors drove Chevy’s of that vintage, because of the general inability to go the distance that a Ford truck HAD to go. Chevy’s used CAR engines, Ford:used TRUCK engines. Never the two did mix. Chevy had a faster engine in their trucks (car engines) but Ford had tighter built TRUCK motors that could withstand the low rpm “lugging” around in traffic with heavy loads. The parts were heavier..for example a motor mount for a chevy: $8. For a FORD: $28. BUT you DIDN’T NEED to replace a Ford motor mount as often as a Chevy Truck/car. The bodies of a Ford v. Chevy were different too. The absolute best truck ever made would be the F150/390/4×4 or the F250/390..though I did have great results customizing a 400M with Cleveland 351 timing set and a full lift cam. Notice which company had to bend over for Uncle Sam…and which company’s logo was actually worth billions of dollars…and which they bought back.. There’s two cars I drive today; FORDS and Toyotas…(please don’t remind me that GM once owned 51% if Toyota…it will ruin everything..) From the company that brought us the BOSS MUSTANG..I would expect nothing less than the BEST TRUCK in America.
Who can forget the Pontiac Phoenix X cars?
They didn’t last long either.
Same as the Chevy Celebrity, right? My mom had one of those…worst car she ever owned!
I meant a Chevy Citation
The Chevy NOVA – would not sell in Southern California to the Hispanics because it translated into “No Go” – Actually had a friend who really goosed one and it was fast – and totally illegal for the street. The good old days…..
You forgot such wonders as the Fiat Strada and the Renault Encore. Those were two cars that I had after my Ford Pinto. Thankfully, I finally bought a Toyota Corolla and am now driving an Acura MDX… .
chevy citation was a great car in snow on gas loved it. chevette also was a good little car wish i had thise cars noe.
I’d venture that the name “Aztek” will never be applied to vehicle again!
The Pinto was beaten to death by lies spread on network television. A handful of years after the smoke cleared, it was proven that the TV network RIGGED the cars to explode on impact for the cameras to record and show on television; they did this after REPEATED attempts to cause the car to blow up by (even at high speeds) rear-ending it with large trucks did NOT even once cause the Pinto to burst into flames at all, let alone “blow up”.
The Gremlin, ugly as it was, was a solid running car, and many of them were later turned into funny cars for the drag strips.
Sounds like they had the Mythbusters work on it!
In the early 80′s, Buick made a 2-seater that lasted 2 model years than disappearred. It was so obscure that I can’t even remember the name of it now. It was not the Opel.
Mayhaps you are thinking of the Buick Reatta?
BTW, a 1972 Chevy Nova is one badass ride!
Anybody remember the SNL spoof commercial for the all new “Adobe”? Any dent could be immediately formed back into shape again. Hillarious!!!
In 1958 (one year before statehood) I bought a Renault Dauphine
which had four on floor as I recall but number one gear was
NOT syncromesh. Had two HUGE Hawaiians in back seat and lady
friend in front passenger seat and headed up the Pali (mountain)
road from Honolulu to Kailua. Those two Hawaiians weighed almost
as much as this little french car and I downshift to 3rd gear,
then 2nd gear and then…I had to come to complete stop on a
busy Mountain road to shift into First gear. Got great gas mileage but had zilch power. Friends used to tell me…”its
French Wine, Italian Women and American cars!”
I owned a 1959 Dauphine and the only thing I can recall that I liked about that car was the two tone horn.
I believe Renault posted ads in US newspapers apologizing for the piece of junk.
I had the sports car version of that thing – a Renault Caravelle.
It was the same chassis but with a two seat body by Ghia and a pop top hard top and convertible top combo.
It looked kind sharp, but that was about it. It would go about fifty five miles an hour with one person in it and fifty with two.
Tony, I was wondering when someone was going to remember to Dauphine!
When I first started working at a used car lot after school, we had a navy blue Dauphine there. No one wanted it, and I found out why – I’d driven John Deere farm tractors that could run with this little wheezer!
Finally drove this to a car auction (an adventure in itself) to unload it. Compared to this French wonder, the Corvair I drove performed like a big block Chevy!
There’s an urban myth that in spite of its shortcomings the DeLorean could snort the white line on any highway.
I bought a Pinto Station Wagon with woody side panels in the 80′s for $600 that had 90,000 miles on it. Drove it 150,000 miles more, and sold it for $500.
The hood flew open on the 405 freeway, fixed that with baling wire and self tapping metal screws.
Towed a U-Hail trailer to Phoenix with it, overloaded the trailer, resulting in the rear bumper being ripped clean off the back of the car.
Inside door handles broke, replaced them with leather straps.
Still that Pinto kept on going.
The only significant problem I had was the classic FORD grounding glitch next to the steering column where all systems had a common ground point, and if that got corroded you blew the alternator under a heavy load.
I’d have another one of these today if I could find one. Handled decently, got good mileage, and the ride wasn’t bad at all.
How about the Kaiser – Frazer – Edsel – Studebaker – Comet – Rancharo
Kewlest car body ever designed is the Kaiser Darrin. The doors slide forward into the front fenders.
And the 57 Studebaker Hawk? Wow. One version of it came with a small block Chevy that was super charged. The thing was a real firebreather. Wish I still had that one.
And what I would give for a Studebaker Avanti – well, actually, I guess, I know what that would be….
Ah, the Plymouth Duster. Chrysler had to try really hard to make a car that made – needed shocks and brakes very few months – and one flake of snow and you’d spin out of control. A nightmare from day one to its early – and welcomed – demise. Traded it in and ran for the hills figuring the likelihood it wouldn’t start was high.
My brother has three of them. They are ideal for drag racing because the engine cavity makes them easy to be creative.
Eight second quarter mile times…
Anything built by Renault and sold in the US needs to be put on this list — with the possible exception of the turbo’d R5 (LeCar), which was a pure race car.
Don’t forget the Aspen/Volare. The Chevette has been mentioned. Perhaps the VW “Thing”. The Dodge Cricket.
Where’s the Duster?
The worst car we ever owned was a Plymouth Duster (1975?). In the space of six months it needed about $1000 worth of repairs, a lot back in the early 80s, and much more than it was worth!
The second worst was a Plymouth Acclaim, which blew its engine at 66K.
We had a ’75 Ford LTD and a Ford Gran Torino (both station wagons) which were very reliable way past 100K…well, aside from the voltage regulator/alternator issues.
Had a 1987 Nissan Stanza wagon that I loved! It drove great, even in its later years. I eventually got a Ford Escort wagon, but kept my Nissan (the dealership didn’t want it), and I was glad I did: the heater core died on the Escort and was going to cost over $500 to fix due to having to remove the entire dashboard in order to replace a $50 part…so I parked the Escort for three winters and drove my oil leaking/power steering failing/manifold leaking/speedometer deficient little Stanza instead during the cold months…it never failed me! Oh, and the motorized sunroof was still working (and not leaking) when it was at about 300K, at which point I gave it to someone who needed a car.
Love my Camry!
Almost forgot our K-car, the Reliant. Aside from the obvious cheap construction, that car WAS reliable! It had a Mitsubishi engine that didn’t quit. It lasted til about 130K, when we traded it in for an Aries wagon, which we traded in a year later for the aforementioned Acclaim…aka “Piece O Junk”.
Thanks for your comments! Have you seen the post in our blog about high-mileage cars? I think you’d enjoy it! http://blog.allstate.com/high-mileage-cars-200000-is-the-new-100000/
I remember my Rolls-Canardly! It rolls down hill, canardly make it up the next!
The AMC Pacer…it was a bubble on wheels….3 speed on the column….my first experience driving…ugh!
AMC Pacer: fishbowl on wheels. Passenger side door longer than the driver side door. Crazy. Ugly. Typical AMC.
[...] ONE-HIT WONDERS of the auto world. [...]
Plymouth Acclaim. Bought it new, and it fell apart like a Shriners Clown Car. Still see some rusted-out specimens clanking around town, alongside the more durable and numerous Camrys and Tauruses from the same time period.
I loved my Gremlin. It was a wonderful car!
I had a ’73 Gremlin “X” back in high school. By the time I finished with it, it was pushing 350hp & the stock 3-speed manual tranny was replaced with a top loader 4-speed; the seats were extremely uncomfortable & were replaced with a set of buckets & console from a GTO. Originally paid $1900 for the car (in ’77), put around $2000 in it (over 2 years). Drove it like a madman for 80k miles & wound up selling it for $3500……I can’t complain about Gremlins!
Don, after all of those mods, you should have changed the car’s name from “Gremlin” to “Growler”!!! :->
better looking than the PACER
I can’t imagine how anyone forgot the Austin Marina on this list. My mom had one from the mid-70′s that was pretty but what a piece of junk. My dad and I got very good at towing it. And rust! Wow – rusted faster than cheap steel in salt water. Well, living in Ontario it WAS cheap steel in salt water. Neighbors had one – they were from the UK and Mrs. H. was very proud of her first car. That is until it had an engine fire in their garage. Fortunately no one hurt. Ours died a belated death when my brother took it to Redstone Arsenal when he was in the Army. Someone hit it and totalled it – 30 years later we still refer to it as a mercy killing.
No I never drove a Yugo…
…I was just sitting in the passenger seat of my college buddy’s Yugo, driving on a freeway at about 55 mph, when the passenger door fell off… Because it’s top hinge attachment had rusted off.
No, I won’t be getting in one again. Wouldn’t be prudent.
I bought a Le Car in 1976.
That comic relief thing is just reflection of the crap we are, and have been, served from TV.
The car was good. Had one of the smoothest ride I can remember and it was very capable of going well above 75 mph. And all of this, coming from a francophobe, ok?
I sold it, and it never had to go for a repair, during three years of use (and I had a heavy foot).
Al.
For me, the biggest problem with the Pinto was that the rear end was so light that it tended to jump around on bumpy roads. It was very disconcerting.
The Gremlin was one thing. But I had an AMC Hornet about 100 years ago, and that was reasonably cool. Green. The Green Hornet. And you could open the hood and see pavement on both sides of the engine, and actually recognize most of the parts. Try that today!
Road racing with the SCCA at Winchester, VA in the early 80s’
had a gal in a Pinto push me off the track while I was passing, so on the next turn I tapped her rear bumper with my VW GTI. Off she went to the infield in a cloud of dust, no more blocking by the Pinto!!
Do you know why Yugo’s had a rear window defroster? So you could keep you hands warm when pushing that piece of crap!
Seriously, the Vega wasn’t much better and the Chevette went from 0 to 60 MPH is 15 minutes, another death trap on wheels.
However, I’m going with the Cadillac Cimarron, basically a Chevrolet Cavalier with a Caddy grill and logo.
My brother had a little yellow Renault handed down from our grandfather. Eventually it had no reverse, no headlights, and grew mushrooms on the floor of the backseat. Gotta luv it!
The Pacer was my “dream car”. Never got one but my sister-in-law had one when she met my brother. I thought they were just too cool. But then I have always liked dorky looking cars. I drive a Honda Element now.
My first car was a Pontiac Phoenix – that was the one and only one that I have heard of
I think the Phoenix was a Pontiac Nova…
Had a Pinto and A Chevette back in the day.Both cars held up well and had great service from both
The other day i saw a Plymouth “FIRE ARROW” and it had been
on fire.
I owned a 76 Pinto in the early 80′s. One crazy night I had to drive home, about 30 miles, without head lights. This was complicated by the many beers I had drank. I got on the hwy going the wrong way. When I realized what I had done, with the cars quickly approaching, i pulled the emergency brake spun a few times and took off driving in the right direction. That maneuver that my Pinto allowed me to make saved my life that night. After that, I affectionately named it the Blue Ghost, which was also the name of an ice cream treat i sold.
I had a 76 Mercury Bobcat the best car I ever owned only drawback was it was a V6 with a cast iron block and aluminum heads. Automatic and ran like a champ 35 miles to the gallon and plenty of power.Moved from Arizona to Ohio it lasted 5 yrs here and rusted out salt will do that..
Not on the list:
The Plymouth Justy
Ford Festiva
Pickup Catagory:
Iszuzu P’up
Another Chevy that will probably never return is the Corsica. I think the only ones ever sold all went to car rental agencies.
My first NEW car was a 1994 Chevy Corsica. I loved that car, and really had no mechanical issues with it. Well, the drink holder broke…
I gave it to my daughter when she turned 18. Heck, things have not changed much for me, car-wise. I currently drive a 1994 Ford Taurus station wagon with 230000 miles on it. Alot of Corsicas and Tauruses were in rental car fleets because they were dependable. My husband drives a 1984 Ford F-350 diesel dually with over 1million miles on the original not-rebuilt engine & trans (yes, for real!)
The famous Yenko Chevrolet Camaro, some sell for a million dollars or more, began with a racing Corvair model called the Corsa. National champs in scca several years.
Say, whatever happened to the Buick ‘Special’? I remember these cars were very stylish back in the day. I also loved the Buick ’225′, (called the “deuce and a quarter”), the Chrysler ‘Imperial’ and who could ever forget the ‘GTO’ (known as the “Goat”)?
Dodge Omni! The ungliest, most unreliable car I ever owned! Wouldn’t start if it was on an uneven surface!
*UGLIEST, not ungliest!;-)
Gina—it WAS ungliest too!
My 1977 Pinto was reliable, got great gas mileage and got me around the Los Angeles area for many many years.
My ex-wife’s Pinto Wagon did pretty well in LA. But here in Tennessee, when it was cold there were small hills it just wouldn’t go up. There was a freeway with a 75mph speedlimit on a slight downcline. If I really punched it, , there was no traffic to impede me, by the end of the mile, I could make 70mph. The alternator bracket broke (from vibrations) twice. Then my ex laid it on its side in a ditch. Insurance co. bought, did a few repairs & sold it.
I ran into the new owners one evening & told them it used to be mine. They got excited and wanted to know how in the world I ever got that thing to get past 45mph.
Worst cars I reluctantly admit to owning: ’71 Renault R-10 (slow, ugly, a front door hinge broke, and a seat belt buckle broke), ’75 Gremlin (appropo name), and a ’76 VW Rabbit (a basket case). All junk. Best Cars: ’74 Opel Manta, ’89 Taurus, and 2004 Subaru Forester. I’ve put over 100,000 miles on each car, and still have the Sub. Prior to the Subaru, we had a ’98 Taurus wagon that was very disappointing, the tranny went south after only 88k, and the car just wasn’t as good as the ’89.
Ford Fairlane,Fairmont,Galixcy,;Chevy Nova (sedan and chevy II wagon)Oldsmobile f-85(4 door version of the Cutlass);Ford Fiesta(but it’s back I think);Ford Maverick;Mustang II; Chevy Monte Carlo; VW “Thing”, these r just a few I can think of now. Sure wish “Studebaker” a company that was still around, very ahead of it”s time, pricy but always a head turner!!!!
How could they leave out the Vega? They started rusting in the showroom, and burned oil at a higher rate than fuel! I’m truly surprised the P*O*S has not been replaced by “Piece of Vega” …
Yah, and the Minnesota Highway Patrol ticketed me at 73 mph on the way to Itasca State Park.
The warehouse workers at Montgomery Ward dropped their jaws after saying, “No way,” when
I backed in and tossed two full size swivel rockers into the back, closed the hatch and drove away.
And through that wonderful, huge roll pack canvas top the kids and I watched the aurora borealis
on mild summer evenings. Didn’t need A/C with a top like that. [text removed by admin]
Sorry, I owned a ’69 red Renault LeCar.
My first car was a 71 Vega….I loved it !!1 the only problem I had was with rusting fenders I replaced them 8 times before 1981. I had 300,000 miles on her when she kied; I was 9 months PG and my baby turned and I could not get out of the car because the drivers door was welded cloused due to the fact I could not get new door hinges to replace my wornout ones. The drivers window would not go down so the fire department had to use the “new” jaws of life to cut mr out of the car…it was a expriance I will never forget….. she was a wonderful car !!!
I did all of the work on my car myself I did all the tuneups and oil changes too… My first Christmas my Dad gave me a Cheltons and told me that if I had a car I needed to maintan it,
A friend of mine owned a Gremlin. It was Yellow with black ‘racing trim’. He took it out joyriding one day I the woods behind his home. He jumped it off a dirt ramp and got it stuck, 5 feet off the ground, between two trees. He had to open the back hatch to get out of it. He left it there.
Back in ’89, I was in a junkyard getting some parts when I spotted a group of three Yugos with no apparent crash damage. When I got back to the office, I asked they guy at the counter “What does it take to total a Yugo?” Another fellow sitting reading a newpaper, without looking up said “A bird poops on it.”
Not sure why everyone disrespects the Yugo. It had some great features like a rear window heater. It kept your hands warm when you were pushing it.
I can think of a few dealers who must have wrung their hands and put on a happy face when I walked in: Chevette, Pinto, Geo, Gremlin… I can hear them salivating even now when I’m in my 60s.
We had a Gremlin X with the bigger six cylinder, chrome wheels, Levi Blue Jean Interior and it was a blast
The gremlin was the most successful car in the entire history of American Motors Including Hudson and Nash. 300,000 were sold. It was cheap and had a big six cylinder engine. It was a better car than it’s competitor’s, Pinto or Vega.
Oh my god, Yugo! That brings my childhood memories! My father had one. I can almost smell it if I try hard enough.
Time flies so fast. Imagine the old car designs and the modern ones. See the big differences.
We owned a ’73 Pinto, purchaded new on the basis of mny wife liking the styling. It had the 1600cc Brit “Kent” engine and a 4-speed standard tranny. It was maxed out at 71 mph on Interstates and any headwind would reduce even that. The suspension was so primitive that the rear axle would hop and chattter during a panic stop, and would put you into the ditch if you tried driving at any speed on a washboard country road. This was a crude, dangerous car, not even considering its well-known propensity to catch fire if rear-ended. We sold it at two years, 24 K miles, and it was the last family car we let my wife pick out
no list like this is complete without mentioning the Pacer or Dodge Omni.
Wellll….maybe I get the last word here. My mom bought a Pacer…brand new in ’76 for $5465. Boy she was proud of that car. It was Bright Blue (more like electric blue). Mechanically it was a sound car..good power train, decent brakes. The 258 C.I engine with automatic would move it down the road until the speedo quit at 85. I guess they figured if they didn’t allow you to think you could go past 80-85 that you woundn’t be tempted. I could raise a nice smoke cloud at the stop light too. Surprisingly it handled pretty darn well. Low and wide it would take a corner with surprisingly little body roll. It had rack and pinion steering. Parking it was a dream…you could see forever with those HUGE windows. It was well appointed and had the famous AMC (think Rambler) seats that would lay all the way down. It was the only one of those in Great Falls of that color. You KNEW who it was at the controls when you saw it. HOWEVER, it was prone to rust. First the rear quarter panels started to go and then the bumpers strated to rust out to the point they would not have protected the car even in a parking lot bump. That car made it 34 years and YES only had 58,000 and a few extra on the odometer. I finally gave it to a church and that was the last I saw it. Mom was furious that I gave her car away (I had to pony up 100.00 to give to her so she thought I sold it). I was just afraid it would strand her (it was having more and more problems) or she would make an error in judgement (92 years old) and get creamed. This was the 4th AMC/Rambler in our family.
the pacer if i remember , was designed for a Wankel engine. Actually a vehicle that was unsafe was a subaru… the brat it rolled over to easy… I’ll take a vehicles that rust over ones that are unsafe.
i drove several Gremlins while i worked at ComEd in the late ’70′s, that car was a blast to drive! too bad they were gone by the time i got around to buying my first new car in 1982.
And the Edsel?
Studebaker Lark takes the caKE.
it was the opel GT, cute car but very cramped inside
My uncle bought new 1965 Corvair Convertible off the showrrom floor. It had 26,000 original miles when sold at auction after his death in 1993. It had every option but turbocharing. Damn nice car and brought fine money from a collector when sold.
I had a Pinto wagon…it sucked, but got me from point A t point B.
The Gremlin was COOL when compared to the Pacer. The Gremlin X was an inexpensive factory hotrod.
The Pinto and the Gremlin were great cars that are now classics.
Our family car history: a Navy green push button rambler station wagon-not into hills, too bad it didn’t have “eject”, a pinto, in the 70′s, which became my moms project car (she was the only woman in San Diego running a body shop at the time) and she painted it purple and painted white through LACE on the top! After that we got an ugly green ’73 Vega, which was rated top sedan or something for that year! …it wasn’t. Then we got a ’70 Challenger, go figure. and my first car…a Plymouth Cricket. I called for a part one time and the guy said “Isn’t it disposable, why don’t you just throw it away?” I used to listen to Gary Neumans’ “Here in my car” The bad cars really made for good memories, though! ..and remember the car commercial where they drove around on their butt to the gas station?
your right, my brother had the gt turbo, man i loved driving it. it was quick.
I had a 1974 opel manta luxus, a little 4 speed car made in europe by buick. the only other Independent rear suspension car made by GM besides the corvette. that little car could handle a curve at high speed.
Fiero had 4 wheel independent suspension & disk brakes. Fiero could have been a great car, but the management at GM didn’t want a competitor to the Corvette & the bean counters built them from off the shelf parts and as cheaply as possible–possibly the ugliest interior ever. . . (I owned about 9 of them over a 15 year period.)
I bought a new Gremlin in ’71. (Which goes a long way towards why I won’t post my real name!) Pretty poor quality–the rear brakes would hop during a panic stop. The upholstery was gone to shreds the first year, The paint peeled. And the clutch release bearing started to constantly squeak at about 15,000 miles. I dumped it after a year and a half of ownership and about 18,000 miles.
You all forgot about the Chevy Chevette. The worst car ever built. The Plymouth TC3 was another lemon but at least it had a bit of style
No way was the Chevette the worst! My sister owned a Pacer…like driving around in a fishbowl. Had about as much “power” as a fish-powered vehicle too. Far worse than the Chevette ever was.
And, my folks owned a Pinto that was finally retired to the junk yard – with all original equipment except the gas cap (stolen at a HS football game) and nearly zero body rust (a major coup since we lived in Michigan – aka Salt Heaven) with 271,924 miles on it! Not many vehicles out there today that can survive in that good of shape with that high mileage.
I had a Chevy Nova, a 62 or 63 I think. I bought it because I needed to have a car to get to work while I was waiting for a new car that I had ordered. The motor in that Nova was so loose that the pistons seemed to change holes, it’s sucked oil, but it ran every time I started it. When my new car arrived I gave the Nova to some kid who restored it and it now is on the show circuit.
“The Man With the Golden Gun”
Why would you describe the DeLorean as a “behemoth”? Just curious. It’s not monstrous nor powerful in any sense of the word.
I owned a 1980 Le Car. I changed the decals… Thereafter, it said Le Pew. It wasn’t fast, but the torsion bar suspension made for a comfortable meander. It was, howver, bulletproof in terms of reliability. During over 98,000 miles of commuting, it required nothing more normal maintenance, and a new throttle cable (under warranty).
Ford had a one-hit wonder with Pinto, eh? Right, because Ford never made another popular vehicle, before or since… the author doesn’t understand the concept of one-hit wonder…. The DeLorean is the only one on the list that actually IS a one-hit wonder. Article fail.
You left out my first car a Chevrolet Vega. Bought on the cheap used. Burned more oil than it did gas because of the aluminum block engine with no steel sleeves.
Used to reace my buddy in his red Ford Pinto home from college.
Finally burned up in the parking lot of the local post office. Never to be seen again. Oh yeah, It was lemon yellow.
I had a 1982 Chevy Citation, it got over 30MPG with a 4 speed manual transmission!