This is for all those who want to show off the s__tmobiles they used to be seen in when they were poor, had a nervous breakdown or just didn't care. Now, I cannot drive myself, but the first car I can remember my dad having in the mid 1980's was one of these belters, surely based on a drawing of the chief designer's 4 year old son: Volvo 240 in Beige. It had brown seats as well if I remember correctly. It did have a sunroof, but that broke off so my dad gaffer taped a couple of bin liners over the gap. Luckily, he bought a Mk II Golf not long after. My grandad had a Volvo 244 for about 25 years or something, after having previously proven that you can drive one through a dry stone wall and live. He also had a 340 for a while too. Oh, and I'm not Jewish in case you were wondering. The other awful car my parents had was this: Purple Citreon AX Spree. We had it as a cheap car to get from A to B around town, but it felt like it was made of tinfoil, and you'd be a bit dead if you had a crash. It did 0-60 in 2.6 hours. My mum did briefly manage to get it on two wheels round a corner once. So what cars can you nominate for the wall of shame?
Growing up my mom had the following cars in order. (we were obviously poor) Ford Pinto - Chevy Vega Chevrolet Chevette. All three cars were crap, but the Vega was our worst experience. My mom was driving us on vacation to see my grandparents. It was an 8 hour drive from Ohio to Michigan. At exactly the half way point the Vega's engine catches fire while we are driving at highway speed. I was sitting in the front passenger seat and just before all hell breaks loose; I see a small flame under the hood of the car, and I ask my mom "Is that fire under the hood normal?" Just as soon as I ask the question thick black smoke start gushing from the hood and suddenly while driving 55 MPH we cannot see the highway in front of us. My mom slows the car and manages to it over to the side of the road. We are out of that car in a few seconds and the engine section is in complete flames. So there we were 4 hours from our destinate on the side of the highway with engine in flames. (This was in the 80s before cell phones) Now you would think that someone driving by seeing a single mom with two kids standing next to a burning car would stop to help. Well the answer to that question is NO. Likely more than 100 cars drove during that hour. Finally after an hour a truck stopped and used his CB to contact the highway patrol who took another 30 minutes to arrive. They called my grandfather who took another 4 hours to arrive, and another 4 hours to complete the trip to Michigan. So, now there my mom was 8 hours from home and without a car. So, in Michigan she bought the Chevette. That car was a complete piece of crap, but it at least never caught on fire. My nomination for worst car is the: Chevy Vega.
None of those were on sale in Europe, so I had to google them. The Vega does look like it came from the same mind as the ugly 1960s/1970's tower blocks that blight so many British cities. The Ford Pinto looks a bit like a 1980 Honda Civic my parents had when we first moved to Hong Kong. It broke down. The Chevette looks crap too. One thing I didn't understand about car design in the US was when I saw cars in 80's films like the National Lampoon series, they had estate cars that had fake wood panelling on the sides. God knows what type of car it was, but who thought that was a good look?
I know we had this in the 70s. Cricket green gremlin! I sure don't remember it being as shiny as it is in this pic, so it must have been 1975 or 1976.
i had a red one, without the clever "racing stripes". it was a very serviceable vehicle. i bought it to replace a TR-6 because i was getting too many moving violations in the Triumph. the paint oxidized very nicely, not so quickly as the red VWs of the early 60s ( my first car! ), but waxing the Gremlin was an exercise in removing oxidized paint. i exchanged the Gremlin for an MG Midget, taking over the payments from a guy at work who -- as it turned out -- had a bit of a gambling problem. i had a slight accident in the MG and repainted it butterscotch with cream-colored rocker panels. traded that in on a Honda Civic. i loved that car. not exactly a chick-magnet, though.
There was a point in my childhood - early 80s - where this household had not just one, but two Ford Mavericks. My pop's was a tan 2-door while my mom's was a royal blue 4-door (with rust highlights). The first car I ever bought - for a mere $300 - was a 1978 Chrysler Le Baron. God I loved that car. A deep shade of brown with a fake vinyl ragtop look. The damn thing had power windows and locks, only an AM radio, and was a smooth ride. My dreams were shattered the day it went in for inspection and I was told the frame was rusting through. Spend 2.5 times the purchase price to repair it? Pass. These are not my pics.
On a related note, are there mandatory MOTs in the USA, where you take the car to a garage every X years to make sure it is safe? I ask as this thread has jogged my memory to that Pimp my Ride show, where these young people would be driving something hideous that is also a total death trap. Those Ford Mavericks look like bigger US versions of the Ford Cortina, mixed in with the Mustang. It has the look of a cult car like the Mustang, Capri or Cortina but I'm guessing the reality was very different.
one day, when I'm rich, I'm going to buy a well conditioned Trabi Kuebel. the very definition of cool. something like this, but maybe with more original parts:
I really like the external design of that car, internal not so much. what kind of engine did it have?
It depends on the jurisdiction. In Maryland a car only has to pass an inspection when you buy it. In Washinton, DC where I used to live, the requirement was for an inspection every 2 years but I believe they are going to drop that requirement.
1977 Triumph Spitfire (the image is of a '79, but the interior and exterior colors are the same). It was old and crappy when I got it, but we had some times together.
Because of the 73 gas crisis my dad sold his 1970 LTD with a 451 V8. He bought a 74 4-door Maverick. We took it to Germany in the late 70s and I remember once being "trapped" in the left (passing) lane doing about 82 with someone riding my tail, but the damn car wouldn't go any faster. I was flooring it. When I got married, my wife's "dowry" was this. a blue 76 Pacer.
Pennsylvania has yearly inspections (both safety and emissions) that your car must pass. 315(?) cu-inch V8. It was rear wheel drive AND had power. Can't tell you how many times I unintentionally squealed the tires just starting off from a red light.
That car does look like it handles like a water bed on wheels though Dills. And I'm glad you are not driving a 2cv any more ASF. They are awful.
2CV's are hilarious - a friend of mine had one as a first car and we used to entertain ourselves by going on roundabouts with all of us shifting our weight over the side to see how far we could get it to lean over before tipping.
I've never driven, but my mother once owned a banana yellow Dodge Aries station wagon. Disgusting little car, but I loved it, and threw a fit when my mother traded it in for a red '86 Ford Escort L. but banana yellow. can't find any pics of such a car. but ruby red
My first car was this: The 1986 Opel Corsa Steffi Special, named after Steffi Graf. Only that it was in terrible condition. My parents got it for me for finishing school back in the day. They bought it for 500 DM, so you can imagine that it wasn't exactly in mint condition (and it still had a choke). I never wanted the car, it was quite embarrassing. I think I drove it for a month, maybe even less, before I traded it for this: That was a 1988 VW Passat CL station wagon. Only that mine was beige/gold. Which made it the typical pensioners car, but that I didn't mind so much, because I liked the irony (and it was certainly better than the girls car I had before). I even got sheepskin seat covers. It was a pretty big and roomy car, which was very practical. It was big enough for 5 people to sleep in it in fact: One on each front seat and three in the trunk with the rear seats flipped down...I actually did it once when me and a couple of friends decided to spontaneously go to Amsterdam for the weekend, not realizing that it was their national holiday, so when we looked for hotels or hostels, everything was completely booked. But then unfortunately some idiot in a large van crashed into me while I was waiting at a red light which ushered in the end of the car...
I'm not as old as some of you bastards, so I can't talk about what kind of horse I used to ride around on back in the 1500s. I do remember cruising in style with the family in one of these, though: Ah, yes.. the beautiful 1990 Toyota Tercel. This was our family's first car in the US after moving from Argentina.
In Britain, original minis come in two categories. Either really well kept, immaculate cars in perfect condition, or absolute dung heaps that feel like they'll fall apart in the style of a circus clown car. There doesn't seem to be any grey area over this.