It all starts with a dream, even before you and I or anyone else could even reach the steering wheel. Without fail, all of us have an idea of how our dream car will look whether it is in the end essentially chosen for its comfort, speed or simply budget.
However, many of us fall victim to being persuaded by salesmen to spend major bucks or the now so flashy advertisements of seemingly handsome deals on these cars that proved its short span on usability only after you have taken several spins on your new ride. Listed here are the vehicles that are best dodged when car shopping.
1. The Batty Lamborghini LM002
Joining the team on their attempt of releasing their very own version of a full bodied truck is Lamborghini with its LM002 series that became known for it’s nickname as the Lamborghini truck. When we think of “Lambos” we envision the luxuriously classic, slick, low vehicles with its piercing engine screaming when its coming round the corners of the city instead of a red truck.
There were about 382 of the LM002 manufactured by Lamborghini between 1986 to 1993. In simpler terms, the mass consumers of Lamborghini prefer having their exorbitant Lamborghinis nowhere close to the mucky off road tracks.
2. The Pontiac Aztek Was A Snafu
With its peculiarly carved body built out of plastic, the Pontiac Aztek was slammed by automobile critics worldwide as soon as it was launched. Furthermore, the digits that were printed on the price tag of this vehicle passes off as mediocre after Pontiac publicized more of the features on the Pontiac Aztec.
Besides the fact of the body of this vehicle being totally made of unsafe material, the design of the car simply served no purpose and looked silly on its own resulting it to be the ridicule of showrooms for years. Perhaps the Pontiac Aztec would have been less seen as a black sheep if the design was based on the interests of the younger customers.
3. Cadillac’s Fleetwood Was Inelegant
Since 1935, “Fleetwood” was a term adapted by Cadillac to categorize vehicles with longer wheelbases and technically meant that it’s classier than the ordinary Calais, deVille or the Series 62 Models. The 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood was infamous for its character in jerking, stalling, made unpleasant roars and generally was not on its best behavior but still managed to stick around for two decades.
So if you are looking to get yourself a vehicle that serves you a majestic appearance and an unforgiving stretch past the borders of parking spots, the 1976 Fleetwood would be quite the right choice to make when car shopping.
4. The Outdated Chevrolet Chevette
Unlike Cadillac’s Fleetwood, everything mechanical about the Chevrolet Chevette was A-okay. Although the Chevette was one of the best selling “small” cars in the American automotive history, Chevrolet’s original marketing plan was to have sold about 270,000 of the Chevette model as soon as it was manufactured but instead only had half of the initial total sum sold by the late 70s.
While Chevrolet’s goal of manufacturing this model was to cater to America’s phase of owning smaller cars that focuses in the wariness of energy consumption, the Chevette simply arrived late to the party as the phase had already dove into the trend of hefty trucks.
5. The Troublesome Triumph TR7
The very obvious red flag from the Triumph TR7 was when we bear witness to its initial 1974 release date that was delayed by a year in the United States and two years in the United Kingdom which later after it being officially released turned the highways of both countries into a terrifying battleground ground haunted by these sports cars.
It was noted that every single one of the TR7 was marked with some sort of mechanical problem which resulted owners of these models to frequently visit workshops and spending more money in fixing these cars than purchasing them in the first place.
6. The Popping Ford Pinto
Infamously making its way to the long list of the worst cars that were ever made and possibly Ford’s biggest nightmare is the Pinto. It was promised to be the car of the future, compact yet efficient with modest fuel recession which seems like a very favorable model especially during America’s phase of favoring small and fuel efficient cars.
However after Ford insisted on not revising the Pinto for its tendency to explode in the occasion of it being in minor accidents but instead they offered coverage for any malfunctions of the Pinto and putting an end to the manufacturing of the model.
7. The Smart Fortwo
As we advance to living in the cities and coexisting with so many people, we can imagine that finding a parking space as a driver can be painful. These Smart Cars are not only equipped with amazing fuel performance, they can also literally fit anywhere.
The rise of Smart Cars are continuously climbing although they are not necessarily the most comfortable to in. Although this car seems to be the perfect city car to buy in a heartbeat, the Smart Fortwo was constructed with its engine in the trunk causing a difficulties for it to cool down and easily cooking their passengers.
8. The Cartoonish Peel Trident
This model was short lived when the Peel Engineering Company decided to end its productions only two years after its extravagant release date. Functions as an “occasional two-seater” after being premiered in the 1964 British Motorcycle Show, the Trident marks itself as legendary and passes off as something comical.
Although this piece of machine is long gone, it was recently seen on the show “Monster Garage” where the car was experimented on by the attempt of fitting a motorcycle engine part and a whole new frame to the mobile. Sadly the experiment was a big fail, its little comeback was definitely amusing.
9. The Outdated PT Cruiser
Old is gold. It’s not a rare sight to see companies coming up with new products that are slightly inspired by older trends. And with the purpose that The retro mode PT Cruiser’s machine performance by Chrysler was taken into account, the definitely model would have successfully won hearts by setting to trigger those nostalgic times.
Unfortunately the cruiser failed to become consumers’ favorite as they mainly preferred engine performance that was offered by the more newer modern vehicles that were available in the markets. Ford faced more lack of luck with their car models when they released their Thunderbird model.
10. The Fun 1998 Fiat Multipla
By the looks of it, people say that this car just looks like a bunch of car designs that were brewed together in a big pot. The Fiat Multipla, released in 1998, was meant to be Fiat’s new face which just proved the idea to be too ambitious as there were only a total of 426 of these funny-looking hybrids being sold.
These automobiles are initially designed as minivans and without a doubt Fiat had gotten heads turning when they released this model. And although the Fiat Multipla is certainly a showstopper this model brought Fiat to experience a tragic collapse in their sales after being too ambitious with their invention.
11. The Confusing Zundapp Janus
This creation from 1958 is sure to amuse many of us. Not only it looked adorable, it was also a very confusing car. The 1958 Zundapp Janus was designed by a motorcycle company to be a unique edition to the rising automobile scene.
This model was made to be different and different it was as there were two doors both at the front and back of the car which got people confused of how to mount this petite vehicle. Not only this piece of machine is petite, it also only travels the fastest at no more than 50 miles per hour.
12. The Too Futuristic 1947 Davis D-2 Divan
Picture the future, full of cars hovering on roads. The Davis D-2 Diva looks like it was snatched from the scenes of a sci-fi movie except it never took off from the ground. Designed by Davis Motor Company in Southern California, the car that featured a detachable hardtop was never released for mass production and had only built 13 of these sweet machines, 12 of which have survived until today.
The company failed to deliver the cars to their dealers which caused a big uproar of trouble that got the designer convicted of fraud and grand-theft for failing to deliver to 350 dealerships.
13. The Overly Praised Ford Edsel
This would not be the first time of seeing Ford’s promises and sky high dreams. The supposedly “car of the future” was just disappointing, overpriced and over-hyped in the eyes of the consumers.
Ford went so far that they heavily invested in the campaign of this car model that lasted for a year that convinced consumers that the Edsel was truly going to be the “car of the future” but failed to meet expectations as soon as it’s official launch. The Edsel sold very poorly and never got big amongst the American car buyers to the point that the word “Edsel” was an infamous symbol of a failure on its own.
14. The Promising Amphicar
Meant to be an amphibious automobile, the Amphicar Model 770 was first premiered at the 1961 New York Auto Show. The Amphicar offered a humble performance than compared to other contemporary cars. It did though require greasing at 13 spots after being used in the water, of which one of the spots required the rear seat to be removed.
And though the car is meant to be driven both on land and in the water, the transition was proved to be more than a handful. Despite the massive maintenance the car had to undergo, the Amphicar appeared in many films such as the 1966 “The Sandwich Man”, 1965 “Rotten to the Core”, 1969 “The Laughing Woman” and even the famous 2016 TV movie “All The Way”.
15. The 1975 AMC Pacer Was Unfit For Amateurs
The 1975 AMC Pacer was another addition to the American Motors Corporation’s misfortune in their streak of poorly performing cars in the 70s era of compact car trend. The two-door compact car was manufactured from 1975 to 1979 and was sold out a year after.
The goal was to attract buyers of the usual big cars to a much smaller assortment during the time when gasoline prices were rocketing in America. Although the design of the 1975 Pacer had gotten most smitten, it was critiqued that the vehicle was tough to drive. The car was proven dangerous to drive when inexperienced behind the wheel.
16. The Deal Breaker Maserati Biturbo
After going into new takeover, the Italian automotive manufacturer Maserati was fixed on a goal of issuing “affordable” sports cars. That was when the Biturbo was birthed into the automotive industry which is number 28 in the BBC book “Crap Cars”. This product was initially a big seller in the market and sold about 40,000 vehicles with an ample amount of audiences before the sales dramatically dropped in consecutive years.
It was said that with their old rival Ferrari, they eventually suffered the big loss after Maserati was sold to Fiat who grouped the company with Ferrari. Although the Biturbo had a serious overheating problem, the cars were still used in Italian touring championships.
17. The Ferrari Mondial 8
It was rumored that every single model of this vehicle manufactured had imperfections within their systems. Produced for about two years since 1980, was Ferarri’s Mondial 8 before it was totally replaced with the Mondial QV in 1983.
Upon the release of the Mondial 8, it was reviewed that this model was “extraordinary” but was later proved to be an utter disappointment to some Ferrari fans. The design of this model included a bigger, heavier and less competent in aerodynamic which resulted to the overall performance of the vehicle to be unfavorable to the speed junkies of Ferrari enthusiasts.
18. The Petty Invention That Lead To The Trabant
Upon the great success of Volkswagen’s Beetle in the West side of Germany, the East Germans certainly did not want to miss out on the fun. East Germany however did not want to purchase anything that had any involvements of the West Germany so they decided to make their very own version of the Beetle, that was when the Trabant was birthed.
The Trabant passed off a funny joke when the car was produced without seat belts, hoods that required to be opened when filling gas. The car was also fuel gaugeless, all in all the car was short of a lot of crucial features that required to be in a vehicle.
19. The Much Hated Suzuki Samurai
Despite favoring a bunch of Suzuki enthusiast, the Suzuki Samurai was put on blast when it was claimed to be “dangerously unsafe” and Suzuki was called to review their vehicles by Consumer Reports in their publication in 1988.
And although it was disclosed that the magazine’s had published false statements regarding this model, the Suzuki Samurai never revived from the terrible media decry that led to their striking plunge in the sales of the model. It was not a rare occurrence of publications ruining reputations and resulting to downfalls and boosts of products. In this case, it played a role in the exodus of Suzuki in the American market.
20. The Underperformed Plymouth Prowler
The Plymouth Prowler was undestined to be one of the legendary classics that was produced in the 90s. It was stated that the Prowler’s 3 liter V6 loaded only a puny horsepower of 200HP. Overlooking the most important factor of this design, the designers were much more focused on the vehicle’s appearance rather than its horsepower.
Chrysler decided to put a stop in its production of these Plymouth Prowler in 2002 before naming it Chrysler Plymouth. The main concept of the design was a design whatever within the “hot rod” or “sportster” that was massively seen in the automotive industry in the 1930s.
21. The Lucky Number 3
A compact car that was produced by England’s Reliant Motor Company in Tamworth, was the Reliant Robin. This three-wheeled car and second most popular fiberglass car was offered in many different versions in the time span of 30 years despite of it bizarre features and its habit of chucking over because of its wheel design.
The Reliant Robin won the heart of England but never managed to hit too well in the American market as many American consumers were baffled with this three-wheeled design of the Reliant Robin. The Reliant Robin was even featured in a funny episode of Top Gear where the vehicle was constantly flipped.
22. The Legendary Dodge Omni
This vehicle might have been the savior of Chrysler after they had filed for bankruptcy protection in 1977. Chyrsler’s production of the Omni was marketed for eleven years with several changes over the years of its sales. Priced at US$2,500, the Dodge Omni was Motor Trend magazine’s Car of the Year in 1978 before shortly voted European Car of the Year in 1979 by Talbot Horizon.
However it was published once again by Consumer Reports that the car bear “Unacceptable” ratings with its difficulties in maneuvering it while behind its wheel. The Times magazine had cited similar deficiencies with the Dodge Omni that resulted to Chrysler improving on the vehicle.
23. The Funny Elcar
Known as the Zele in the European markets, the product of an Italian company Zagato manufactured the Elcar which was a campy electric microcar. Zele was famous for its collaborations in the pursuit of producing aesthetically pleasing vehicles with manufacturers such as Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin.
The Elcar was another fiberglass car but despite Zele’s main goal of manufacturing gorgeous cars, the Elcar however was definitely the opposite of it. This vehicle required a charging duration of about eight hours which resulted to the Elcar to never selling off the markets so well as it was intended to be.
