Time's 50 worst cars of all time!

[wrflyer]

   
   50 worst cars of all time! Yes the Gremlin,Corvair, Pacer and Chevette made the list. even the 1980 Corvette with 305 but the Prower made it too.

 http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1657686,00.html?cnn=yes

[chryco]

". It was powered by Chrysler's silly-big 440-cu.-in. V8 and measured over 19 ft. long. The interior looked like a third-world casino. Here we are approaching the nadir of American car building — obese, under-engineered, horribly ugly. Or, it would be the nadir, except for the abysmal 1980 Chrysler Imperial, which had an engine cursed by God. The Imperial name was finally overthrown in 1983. "

    WTF ??

[GON_RACIN]

This is the same magazine that considered putting Osama Bin Laden on the cover of their mag as "Person of the Year" in 2001.  They wisely changed their minds and went with Rudy  Giuliani  instead.  Now they think 440's are silly, and the Prowler is a "flaccid little jerk of a car".  Piss on Time magazine 

[eldubb440]

actually, i wouldnt be caught dead in a prowler; but id give my left nut for a '60 edsel 2 door.... that being said, i wouldnt wipe my     with time magazine.........

[FastmOp]

what time?

[Bakaruda]

They are just a yuppi mag.

[Dan-o]

Please, someone that much more articulate than me write a worded e-mail to the writer of this article.  If THAT wasn't radical left wing slander and propaganda, I dunno what is.

[ramman16248]

I now feel like an idiot.      I love the 71 Imperials. I love to have a nice 2 door or even a good clean 4 door.    I even think SOME,not all, Gremlins are cool.  Admit it, if you see one at a car show, you go look at it too.

[GON_RACIN]

I like the little prowlers personally.  The V6 is kind of meak, but there isnt a whole lot of weight there to move either.  I  think I saw a supercharger kit for one a while back    A small block V8 swap might even be possible.

[73swinger]

At the risk of being outcast, let me say that I found that very entertaining. You guys seem to be up in arms about the few obvious mistakes, but in reality there was a lot of truth in most of it.

Hey, they slammed GM alot more than Mopar...and BTW those big imperials are UGLY. It doesn't mean you can't like them, that's what makes the world go round. Even fat girls need love

[Joe-Dokes]

Clearly the author is a Moron.

EV-1  Had Chevy been smart enough to tell the bean counters to STFU and eat the loss, all the Hollywood types would be driving EV-2,3,4 or whatever instead of the Butt Ugly Prius, and maybe just maybe Chevy wouldn't be giving away market share to the Japanese.

The Model-T.  Calling the model T which by his own admission revolutionized american society one of the worst cars in history is like calling the Gutenberg (sp) bible a reprint.  As much as I dislike Fords let's give credit, this car created modern society.  If you've ever had sex in a car you can probably thank Ford.

1985 Mosler Consulier GTP--- Any car that is banned from racing because it is so successful (which by the way Always pisses me off)  can not be considered one of the worst cars in history.  The superbird is an icon today, never sold well and I know this sacriledge but it is ugly, but it is without a doubt one of the most successful race cars ever.  To call a successful race car a failure is just plain dumb. 

1974 Ford Pinto-- He points out that a decision to pay claims rather than fix a problem doomed the car to the list.  This is another example of how detroit was in many ways done in by bean counters and people with MBAs instead of being run by people who were truly interested in building a decent product.  Had Ford fixed the proble, perhaps Detroit wouldn't have given the small car segment to the Japanese.  People forget that the Pinto was one of most popular cars in America in the Early 70s.  The should be remembered as America's entrance into the small car market, instead it was done in by corporate executives who would not spend a few extra dollars per car.  Good Job.

1961 Corvair.  This one infuriates me.  Ralph Nader is an idiot.  His book Unsafe at Any Speed destroyed the Corvair which I believe was actually a pretty innovative car.  As far as being unsafe, years later after all the highway data was collected it turned out that the corvair fatality rate was average for a car produced during the time.  Thanks Nader ruined a pretty cool product through slander.
 
1981 De Loreon.  While the Deloreon had problems it was actually a pretty good car for its day.  Many argue that it was so good it spurred GM to put adequate resources in building the 1984 Corvette.  Any car that helps shape an industry cannot be considered one of the worst cars in my opinion.  I would argue that the De Loreon and the 84 Vette helped bring back performance after nearly a decade of dismal automotive performance.


Regards

Joe Dokes

[sr71mopar]

That was all just someones opinion.

I would nearly kill to have a nice 71 Imperial LeBaron. That car is the epitome of the 2 door luxury coupe. Perfect bullseye on what they were shooting at.

Pintos got a bad rap. All those small cars from that era had the gas tank right behind the bumper brackets. At least they didnt have engine fires like Vegas and Bugs.

As far as the model T, well thats just plain stupid. They say its a bad car because it was so seccessfull? Don't blame the car.

I do agree about the Chevette. That was a real POS.

[mischiefdart]

With a few exceptions like the 80's caddy's I would rather drive most of the cars on that list over the lame ass Saab that journalist probably drives.

[lowtek32]

       Fun to read.  The writer is clever but not always completely correct. For instance, the  Prowler was described as "flaccid", meaning weak. I'm not sure about that.  Also, the Maserati TC was linked to the Lebaron" A flaccid front drive four cylinder loser- mobile".  Loser mobile?   As a former LeBaron owner I would like to say Ouch!

     Finally,  I believe that everyone  should  ride in the back of a  Chrysler with windows, locks, cruise ,air, and  well broken in black leather seats .  If they did they would never put it on this list.

[DART VADER]

My ex girlfriend had a Chevette. I told her it was built as a piece of sh## right from the factory.

[Pedalkisses]

I happened to think many of those cars were great.  I think the person doing the study just graduated high school.

[ValiantOne]

Time Magazine = Leftist, American hating, self hating, commies    

[Jim_Lusk]

I got bored with it at number 17. The guy clearly is an idiot.

[mattq]

That guy is lame he probably wouldn't know a good vehicle is he was in one.

[west]

here is the bio on the author
 anyone remember the LeCar?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Neil

[Stroked GT]

so he doesnt like the model t because it put america on wheels?? if you read this correctly, he is blaming the model t for the war and global warming. crude instruments, geez it was 1909.

"A century later, the consequences of putting every living soul on gas-powered wheels are piling up, from the air over our cities to the sand under our soldiers' boots. And by the way, with its blacksmithed body panels and crude instruments, the Model T was a piece of junk, the Yugo of its day."

and then there's this, wtf

"The Bi-Autogo does enjoy the historical distinction of being the first V8-powered vehicle ever built in Detroit, so you could argue it is the beginning of an even greater folly."

The H-2 review shows his true colors

"One struggles to think of a worse vehicle at a worse time. Introduced shortly after 9/11 — an event whose causes were tangled in America's unquenchable thirst for oil — the Hummer H2 sent all the wrong signals. It was/is arrogantly huge, overtly militaristic, openly scornful of the common good. As a vehicle choice, the H2 was a spiteful reactionary riposte to notions that, you know, maybe we all shouldn't be driving tanks that get 10 miles per gallon. Not surprisingly, the green-niks struck back. A Hummer dealership was torched in Southern California. The H2 was also a PR catastrophe for GM, who happened to be repossessing and crushing the few EV1 electric cars at the time. It all contributed to GM's emerging image as the Dick Cheney of car companies."

on the Edsel and vietnam

"it was Ford President Robert McNamara who convinced the board to bail out of the Edsel project; a decade later, it was McNamara, then Secretary of Defense, who couldn't bring himself to quit the disaster of Vietnam, even though he knew a lemon when he saw one."

[70Valiant]

The auther didn't actuall have anything bad to say about the Chevette.
I had 2 of them. I got over 130,00 miles on each and they were both daily drivers even when I sold them.
They both consistantly got 30+mpg and were little tanks in the snow. I could lay rubber with the 4-speed one and even chirp it into second gear.
My Dodge Omni and Dodge Shadow were more fun to thrash than my Chevettes and got better milage but they were also much newer.
just my 2 cents.

[DustBuster]

I thought the writer(s) was clever and very freakin' funny. Read this part again:

"The most ineffective bit of French engineering since the Maginot Line, the Renault Dauphine was originally to be named the Corvette, tres ironie. It was, in fact, a rickety, paper-thin scandal of a car that, if you stood beside it, you could actually hear rusting. Its most salient feature was its slowness, a rate of acceleration you could measure with a calendar. It took the drivers at Road and Track 32 seconds to reach 60 mph, which would put the Dauphine at a severe disadvantage in any drag race involving farm equipment."

[fourspeed]

This is the same magazine that considered putting Osama Bin Laden on the cover of their mag as "Person of the Year" in 2001.  They wisely changed their minds and went with Rudy  Giuliani  instead.  Now they think 440's are silly, and the Prowler is a "flaccid little jerk of a car".  Piss on Time magazine 

  and Newsweek too.

[Yellow]

Antone remember the Yugo? every car  (and i use the term "car", loosely)  came factory equipped with the mandatory rear window de-icer!

So your hands wouldn't freeze while you constantly pushed it!

[nothingbutdarts]

Antone remember the Yugo? every car  (and i use the term "car", loosely)  came factory equipped with the mandatory rear window de-icer!

So your hands wouldn't freeze while you constantly pushed it!

           

        The x brother-in law used to have one of those. a joke!