greg

OK. Lots of heavy discussions lately. But here's one we can have some fun with.

Rule #1 - you must have first-hand experience with the car in question.

Rule #2 - there is no rule number 2.

OK - I'll go first. (surprise....)

And the winner is: 197X Ford Pinto

Doesn't it amaze you that Ford produced these cars by the gazillions, and yet you have to look long and hard, no, you have to HUNT to find a single one left on the road? These cars were such pieces of crap that they all apparently just disintegrated into a pile of rust and rubble, sometime back in the eighties.

I have two older sisters. They each got a Ford Pinto when they turned 18. My father's company had a sweet leasing deal with Hertz, so you could have any bottom-of-the-line car you wanted, as long as it was a Ford, which of course narrowed the choice to one car. It took me a great deal of negotiating, scheming, planning and research to avoid the same fate when I turned 18 - I ended up with a Ford Fiesta S, of which I have very fond memories - but that is another story.

In any case, before these cars we shared a '63 bug which became mine after the sisters got their cars and before I got the Fiesta - but occasionally I had the misfortune to be stuck with one of the Pintos. My memories can be summed up in 4 statements:

1) The "exhaust note" sounded like the plaintive groan of a very sick cow. When you stepped on the gas, nothing happened - the groan just got louder.

2) The brakes literally shook the car to a halt (and none too quick, either.)

3) Steering felt like winding up a spring. Don't let go of the thin rimmed plastic steering wheel, or it would unwind so fast you could lose a finger. Of course, that was the INPUT. On the output side, it was (to quote Tiff N) "understeer, understeer, understeer." But in the case of the Pinto, you could induce it at 15mph.

4) The suspension could have taught the Harlem Globe Trotters a few things about dribbling.

This was clearly the low point in American automotive history - a period which brought us such stellar engineering examples as:

• The Chevy Vega - 3 engines per car
  The AMC Gremlin - "Where's the rest of your car, toots?"
  And the PACER - aquarium on wheels.

But I never drove those, so I can't comment on them. Maybe you can?

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'00 M5 http://www.bmwregistry.com/gregh/gregm5
'01 996 TT - http://996tt.com/greg
'00 A6 4.2 - doesn't deserve a web page



[This message has been edited by greg (edited 20 January 2001).]

Zoli 007

The worst car I ever drove was 3 years back in Romania, where I was born. It was an Oltcit. a french car. had maybe 20-30 HP? horrid little car. Anyone ever drive a Trabant? those were the worst. I think 500cc 2 stroke engines with like 10 HP. yuck

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97 328i sport
E-46 M3 incoming

[This message has been edited by Zoli 007 (edited 20 January 2001).]

KnightRider

ive driven four BAD cars
one was Lada 1500 cc with 75 bhp or so they said...it was a slightly facelifted Fiat 124 of 1964...black plastic all over the facia inside, fingerthick steel body, was good for 90 or so mph.
another was just as bad...my friend's Vauxhall (Opel Corsa) Nova 1.2 (60hp?) of '87...when he asked me to drive it from the parking lot i almost crashed it a minute later into the barrier...the brakes were like non existent on it... i thought it would never stop...
the third was ford fiesta 1.9 diesel '90...now that car was slow...it was a driving school car and once, when turning into a junction, i spun the wheels in it in the first gear (it is FWD) and the instructor was like..."wow, i didnt know you can spin the wheels in this car"...he should have passed me just for that little trick
and the fourth and the worst probably was Rover 100, also in a driving school, that was a real POS of a car, i drove it once and said i am not gonna learn to drive in it period.


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SL

jsh/AZ

Oh Gosh, It would have to be approx 84 Ford tempo...the pinto of the future. IT was oly fun in the snow w/ the .....e-brake of course....I think like 75hp...in the us..

jsh

Caribbean-M5

The worst car I have ever owned was a 1974 Chevy Vega I bought new when I was a student. This car had been named by Motor Trend as "1973 car of the year", it should have been 1973 crap of the year. In naming it car of the year Motor Trend ruined its own reputation in my view. I guess General Motors must have bribed them or something.

But back to the car itself. The driving and brakes were bad but not terribly bad, but the engine was something else, it burned oil as if it was a two cycle engine. It almost burned more oil than gasoline, and started doing this in one year, right after the warranty expired. Towards the end it used about 1½ quarts of oil per tankful. This was General Motors' experiment with aluminum block engines without iron cylinder sleeves.

The body rusted all over. Water would leak inside the car coming all around the windshield, the rear lights fell off because the supports rusted out completely.

Within four years I had driven this car to a junkyard and just left it there for $0.00.

A-Train

1985 Jeep Wagoneer.
The handling stunk, the build quality stunk, the engine stunk and sounded like a tractor, and got about 50 feet per gallon. I'm trying to recall something redeeming about it, but I've already fallen asleep twice at my computer trying.

Alan A

Greg,

At least you didn't experience the Pinto's infamous exploding gas tank! I work for the county and one of the fleet Pintos had the steering wheel come off in a co-worker's hands. She was able to avoid a crash and stop the thing !!!

Zoli: I think yours are going to be hard to beat! There are sewing machines and lawn mowers with more power!

My worst was a VW Dasher diesel (loaner while my BMW was in the shop). On a very gentle freeway incline going back to work an 18 wheeler just about ran up my exhaust (not Dinan or Supersprint!). Talk about feeling helpless! After that I wound the turkey out in every gear on every shift....and boy did the car complain.

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Alan

2001 M5 (on list)
1981 M535i
1967 Ferrari 330 GTC

[This message has been edited by Alan A (edited 20 January 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Alan A (edited 20 January 2001).]

Parkerfe

I don't know. I had a 1974 Chevy Vega that went through 3 engines under warranty.


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[This message has been edited by greg (edited 20 January 2001).]

rad22

Ashamed to admit it...I owned a 1978 Pontiac Phoenix. It truly defined the concept of P.O.S. Relatively brisk left turns invoked an engine stall which in turn cut off the power steering and a dramatic kickback in the steering wheel, putting my (then) new young bride in a ditch....twice. The engine vibrated like a John Deere tractor because the tap in the front end of the crankshaft for the fan/pulley attachment was 1/4" off center necessitating an engine replacement. The wheel covers resolutely refused to remain on the wheels. 0-60 times were best measured with time-lapse photography. This monstrosity underwent a mercy killing at 9000 miles at a stoplight in Chapel Hill, NC, expertly performed by a 16 year old driving a pickup truck through a red light and striking my wife centered over the driver's front wheel...cleaned the front end off the car like a knife...engine and front wheels in the bank parking lot...wife and remainder of the car in the Dairy Queen. Luckily, except for 15 stitches in her scalp and some cuts and bruises, she was otherwise uninjured. Even she admitted it was worth it to get rid of the Phoenix. By the way, the kid missed the light because he was looking in the rear view mirror at a state trooper behind him. HeHeHe.

Aussie2U

This one I not only drove, but unfortunately owned.

A 1987 Maserati Biturbo! What a beautiful car wrapped on top of the biggest pile of %*#@)% running gear and engine!

I bought it with 11k miles on it, thinking I stole it as the first owner took a big depreciation hit. In retrospect, he probably hoped I'd give him 20cents on the dollar for it!

The car was all show and absolutely no go. After about 1000 miles, going onto the freeway, timing belt snaps and destroys the engine. After breaking down the engine, it seems the factory forgot to drill 2 holes in the head gasket for oil returns. Bearings frooze, belt snaps, 2 valves go through the pistons...

After complete rebuild, with about 14k miles on the car, the water pump decides to sieze. This shears off a few teeth on the timing belt. Guess what happens then? Yep, valves into the pistons again!

Ok, long story short, engine rebuilt again and driven to about 15,500 miles when it starts accelerating very slowly. Give it the gas and it acts as if it's going up a steep hill. What now you ask? Automatic transmission slippage!

The trans would work ok when cold, so one morning I took it down to a McDonalds close to a Nissan dealership. I turned the car off, had some breakfast and waited for it to get completely cool. I then cranked her up, pulled into Mr Nissan's lot and traded for a nice 1990 300ZX twin turbo! Boy they thought it was pretty car too! End of story.

Italia

Moveover guys, here comes another 1974 Chevy Vega, a metallic lime green one at that.(yuk!)
I feel grateful that after 20 years, only the slightest hint of this unfortunate time in my life still lingers in my memory. I can faintlly recall that little green eyesore's feeble attempt of creating forward momemtum and it incessant hunger for oil... quart after quart after quart. I think that I put so much oil in that pathetic piece of crap that I single-handedly caused the oil shortage in the late 70's. When the time came that I could finally afford a real automobile, I had to first replace the engine with one that I salvaged from a junk yard just to be able to sell it.
Oh, the nightmare of reliving the pain...
Greg, did you have to bring this up?


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01 M5 jet black/black