Whats Your Worst Car In The World ?

[pop3]

I can relate to the Suzuki jeep, A few years ago I bought a Suzuki sj 410, it looked as new but the camshaft was clicking badly, I took it to the local Suzuki dealer to have a new cam fitted, the mechanic said there was a modification that they were now making to the hole in the block that fed oil to the cam, they now made the hole bigger to feed more oil as the cams were failing due to oil starvation, I had the jeep back and all was well, nice quiet cam, a few months later I could here the tell tale sign of a bigend rumble at start up, it turned out that making the hole larger for the oil flow to the cam starved the main bearings of oil, after a lot of descussion they replaced my engine, having heard my jeep was back on the road my friend asked me if I could tow his small speed boat to his new house, I said sure, half way to his house with the trailer+ boat in tow the cambelt snapped bending all my valves and breaking two pistons. that was just the start of the problems !

[billd766]

I learned to drive in 1963 in an Austin A40 Mk 1 with the British School of Motoring and passed my test in 1964 in an Austin A40 Mk2.

I had several friends in those years who had Reliant 850 cc and who ripped the welding from the gearbox cover to enable reverse gear. You could drive them on motorcycle licences without the reverse gear. One friend whose Dad ran the Post Office at Park Gates East in Poole used to have a Bond mini car and to start that you had to lift the bonnet and kick start the 197 cc motorcycle engine.

While I was in the RAF as a young man I used to have a big black Wolsley 690 ex London police car which I never taxed or insured as I really couldn't afford it then.

In fact as I remember if my car wouldn't pass the mot test I used to scrap it and but another clunker.

The worst car I had was a 1959 Renault Dauphine with a Ferlec electric clutch which as soon as you touched the gear lever was just the same as putting your foot on the clutch. Very light car and I swapped it for a Mercedes Benz 170 left hand drive which was nice and swapped that for a 1957 Sunbeam Talbot III with over drive on 2nd,3rd and 4th gears. I junked that in 1967 as I didn't have the £12 for another gearbox from a scrapyard.

Ahh those fun and happy days of motoring.

Now we have a 5 year old Ford Ranger pickup truck, my wife's 1991 Nissan Sunny, 270,000km and still going strong though it had a heart transplant last year and a 4 month old automatic scooter which is the school bus for our son.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

This is one of the worst cars ever - the rover city. The photo actually makes it looks good - just imagine that the body is made from aluminium foil.

[Berty]

Austin Alegro (All Agro)

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Austin Alegro (All Agro)

I remember when I was young my mum and dad had owned an allegro for a couple of days. I remember on Monday getting picked up from school in our usual Viva, on Tuesday we were thrilled to see a new car - the allegro (I was 6) and by Thursday we were getting picked up in a Datsun. We thought our parents were so rich all those new cars in one week!

Only years later we found that the Allegro was so shit that the dealer had no choice but take it back!

[chanchao]

I agree the Suzuki jeep was very good off road, it was light and raised an eyebrow on a few landrover owners at off road events, problem was on road, here I agree totaly that it was the biggest load of crap I have ever had the misfortune to drive, the suspension ! what suspension, just try taking a 1000cc 4 speed gearbox model onto a motorway, even trying to get into the flow of traffic was dangerous, acceleration was about the same as a herd of cattle.

Note that the model sold in Thailand was the longer version called Caribbean (longer than Samurai) and it also came with a 1.3 liter petrol engine. Later models made that even a 1.3i injection engine and also had power steering. Accelleration still wasn't great, but presumably greater than a 1000cc model. (It was also tuned for torque for off road driving and carrying a load; Caribbeans were built as pickups or even just the front-end, then a fiberglass back-side or pick-up 'cab' was put on. Shocking suspension... but I once hauled a whole TV-3 camera crew up a steep mountain trail; was like 6 people in the back plus some equipment. It actually gave it a softer ride when putting a load in it, and to my own surprise, it hauled them up the mountain just fine!

[Berty]

Austin Alegro (All Agro)

I remember when I was young my mum and dad had owned an allegro for a couple of days. I remember on Monday getting picked up from school in our usual Viva, on Tuesday we were thrilled to see a new car - the allegro (I was 6) and by Thursday we were getting picked up in a Datsun. We thought our parents were so rich all those new cars in one week!

Only years later we found that the Allegro was so shit that the dealer had no choice but take it back!

My Gran had a Viva.

[pop3]

Yes the model of Suzuki sold here was longer and made the ride slightly better, the Suzuki I had was infact the worst car I ever had so far as reliability, but I realize they were not all as unreliable as that one, dispite all it's falts and terrible ride quality lack of power it was never boring, a boring unnoticable unreconisable blob something like the Rover city shown above thats what this thread is about, something your ashamed to be seen parking.

[markg]

Austin Alegro (All Agro)

I remember when I was young my mum and dad had owned an allegro for a couple of days. I remember on Monday getting picked up from school in our usual Viva, on Tuesday we were thrilled to see a new car - the allegro (I was 6) and by Thursday we were getting picked up in a Datsun. We thought our parents were so rich all those new cars in one week!

Only years later we found that the Allegro was so shit that the dealer had no choice but take it back!

Ha ha it reminds me of the day my dad bought a run around. He told me he was buying a second car for a runaround and as i was 17 and had just passed my test, i was kinda looking forwards to it being mostly mine.

He unfortunately bought not just the Allegro. But the Allegro Vanden Plas. A much superior model to the standard Allegro, boasting a large Rolls Royce type radiator grill, sumptious leather seats, lots of real walnut veneer, and airline style tables in the back of the seats so the rear passengers could sip Pims whilst the chaufeur drove them. I was aghast and never drove it.

Furthermore, the winds friction co-efficient was better on the allegro in reverse. It's boot was more streamlined than the bonnet! What a pile of <deleted>.

[undercover]

Look at this pile of <deleted> then, I think your Vanden Plas is the one on the left, I bet even the Rover SD1 on the far right was the gutless 2.3 model.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Wow, it's just as well the UK doesn't have motor industry anymore!

[farangsay]

Lot of defenders of the Suzuki here.

I suppose the ones I rented in Phuket did

function but it was a bit boring struggling

up the hill out of Patong in 1st gear.

I found it was the "power resisted steering"

which meant you should have some form

of "debriefing" before going back to a

normal car.

I'd just got back home one time and needed

to pop out for something.

To make the first right I used the "Suzuki"

method I'd been using for the previous 3

weeks (right hand across to the left side

of the steering wheel and heave).

Nearly went through the neighbour's wall.

[Kujah]

That's twice now that you've called someone a liar in this thread.....OK, no insults.

But it's hard to take, before you had your first cup of coffee, when you see that your post has been torn apart for no good reason at all.

If you ever lived in Mexico, and were familiar with local slang, you would know that vega means "dweller in valley" just as i said

http://surnames.behindthename.com/php/sear...ames&type=u

which is also slang for a bum / squatter / lame person who WON'T GO.

Kinda like this ridiculous argument...

I believe it was the Chey 'Nova', not the Chevy 'Vega' that was known to as 'No Go' in Spanish. That Super Nova (SS) was quite a car when it was 'souped up'!

[chuck6660]

I saw that Hyundai's have taken a hit from some boardmembers. Well my 91' Hyundai Grandeur is going strong, 157,000 km, bought it 4 years ago for US$600, when something does need replacing it always cost 60,000 won ($60)

Worst car I ever had was a 1974 Volvo 144 GL. The engine had to be replaced twice and I had the rear anti-roll bar break while driving down the freeway...Lucky for me the speed limit in the US was 55 MPH in 79'. It made quite a scene as the rear of the car was swinging independently of the frame. Oh Yeah, the leaking sunroof was a nice touch.

I believe this car was built before the Swedes went to robotics and after they adopted social medicine...the result was alot of drunk Swedes building cars!

[LindsayBKK]

Worst car in Australia has been the Lada. I have never heard of a car with so many problems.

[markg]

Yes indeedy Undercover, you are quite right, that is the Allegro Vanden Plas on the far left of the photo - and thanks for posting that. It needs to be viewed in its full and glorious resolution to get the full benefit.

Look at that Vanden Plas - It has the earnest look of a 14 year old boy who's mum made him wear a trilby to church.

"Yeah well, right, me mum made me wear it........"

Funny thing is, in middle class suburbia where i grew up, quite a few blue rinse types actually did sit in the back whilst hubby drove this piece of crap, wearing string backed leatherette driving gloves and a hat, no doubt.

These things should be shot on sight.

Keen eyed posters will notice the elegant vinyl roof of the allegro - and also the epic Allegro estate car,(4th from left) which bore a remarkable resemblance to a hearse. Some people quipped that the only way they would be seen in one was if it actually was a hearse!

A nasty car indeed.

Edited January 20, 2007 by markg

[andyadam]

OK, what about these then.......

The immortal Hillman Imp

And for all you 007 fans, The Bond Bug

You can still pick up the Bond Bug in the UK for 2000 or more!!!!!!

[Skyline]

Well,dont know about the worst ever cars but the worst cars ive owned have to be my Triumph Spitfire and Triumph Stag.The Spitfire was hugely under powered and leaked like a mother.The Stag was a great looking car but the engine probs were just a constant headache.Overheating was its passtime.

I bought a Porsche 944 turbo after the Stag and really enjoyed the reliabilty and low cost of keeping it running.Over the course of a year,the Porsche cost less than my girlfriends Suzuki Shitara in servicing.

I remember driving through Covent Garden on a sunny bank holiday Monday in the Spitfire and having my suspension collapse in front of 1000s of spectators outside a pub!......shameful,very shameful.

[kiakaha]

A new Ferrari 430 Spyder bought in Bangkok.

Due to the tax levied, for the same price in NZL you could get a Ferrari 430 Spyder, a Lamborghini Murciealago Roadster and a Mercedes SL55 AMG...and drive them all on good quality roads the way the are supposed to be driven

[Prudent_rabbit]

My Dad had an Allegro (basic model) and as kids myself and my brother put up with lots of taunts about the Sh**&Y car, after 18 months he decided to trade it in, for an Allegro 1.5 LE (?) the shame.

When I lived in Bridlington in the early 80's, Lada had set up a factory on the outskirts of town producing Lada's and I think Yugo's, all the russian workers drove them around but very few other people did.

[JimsKnight]

A mid 1980s Vauxhall Astra 1.3 L.

Boring to look at, even more boring to drive, and the interior was really shttly designed and looked tacky.

[wolf359]

For the worst most boring car in the world mine has to be the Austin 1100.

My first car was an Austin 1100, even after 30 years I can still remember the number plate DOB 884C something must have been good about them because it was stolen twice !! the second time I did not get it back.

The worst car I ever owned was an Austin Allegro !! and the best was a 1993 Ford Thunderbird.

[PETERTHEEATER]

For the worst most boring car in the world mine has to be the Austin 1100.

I've seen no mention in the posts of the Ford EDZELL and the DeLOREAN both of which were lemons.

I owned a Chevy VEGA in the Middle East for a few years. Very unreliable but interesting car. A two door coupe with a strange 4 cylinder 2.4 litre engine which I swear was a V8 cut down the middle. It had a 3 speed Saginaw manual gearbox and cable operated clutch. The synchro on the box was poor so double de-clutching up and down was neccessary to make changes. I had to carry a spare clutch cable at all times because it broke so often. It had a HOLLEY 4 barrel carb and, after a few months of driving the engine would 'flood' and stall, usually in embarassing traffic situations. I eventually found that the double float in the carb was made of a kind of urethane foam with a plastic skin. The 'skin' would develop pinholes and fuel would be drawn into the float which would then sink and flood the engine!

The ground clearance was minimal being designed for US paved roads so, when crawling over the universal speed bumps (sleeping policemen) on ME roads the exhaust system would get hammered requiring constant repairs. The rear hatch (very sporty) leaked like a sieve in rainy weather.

The original battery had the filling plugs on the side! I found that this was a design feature because, when shipped from the plant, new cars were loaded on their sides into special railway freight trucks. Chevy made over a million and a half of these cars so there must be a few still running in the hands of enthusiasts. The companion car was the Pontiac ASTRA (?) which used many of the same parts.

Hyundai cars have taken a knock in this thread. However, I had a Hyundai PONY from new since it was all that I could afford at the time. With the onset of cold weather, I selected the manual heater controls to heat with no effect. Closer investigation showed that the controls were not connecetd to anything because there was nothing to connect them to!. No heater, just AC for the ME market! This car was always overheating in the Saudi summer but it ran reliably in all other respects and even took me and the wife 500kms on a two lane black-top desert road in high summer (43 C plus) when I was relocated. The back seats carried 5 x 5 gallon plastic jerrycans of water just to keep the radiator topped up and I never exceeded 50kms ph the whole way! Hyundai have learned a lot since then and I believe that their cars are now reliable, but, I would not own another.

My observations as a Brit who has owned a number of American cars is that the engines and transmissions are good but the bodies and suspensions crap.

Edited January 28, 2007 by PETERTHEEATER

[Dave the Dude]

My Dad had an Allegro (basic model) and as kids myself and my brother put up with lots of taunts about the Sh**&Y car, after 18 months he decided to trade it in, for an Allegro 1.5 LE (?) the shame.

When I lived in Bridlington in the early 80's, Lada had set up a factory on the outskirts of town producing Lada's and I think Yugo's, all the russian workers drove them around but very few other people did.

Hi prudent rabid

You remind me of the shame I had as a teenager cos the parents used to drive one of those Rusky Rolls Royces (Lada). The only good thing about it was it came with a comprehensive toolkit. I think we ended up throwing the car away and keeping the toolkit. Oh, No!!! Now that has reminded me that their previous car was a MOSKVICH. Gee they knew how to have fun . That in my opinion IS the worst car in the world.

D the D

Edited January 28, 2007 by Dave the Dude

[jumnien]

My worst car was a Peerless GT, I think it was a 1959. It was one of the first fiberglass cars and was based on a TR3. It was a mess. I think they only made about 200 of them, Thank God!

[toptuan]

There it is...the Infamous 1959 Renault Dauphine (see post #17)

[pampal]

In the 70's, the U.S. automakers were so desperate to keep up with Japanese made compacts, during the fuel crisis, that the big two came out with the Vega (GM) and the Pinto (Ford)

The Vega was by far the worst of the two. I honestly don't know of one that lasted more that 50,000 miles.

I called them "disposable cars" at the time. Appropriately, the word Vega means "won't go" in Spanish.

This is where many die hard "buy american" proponents were converted to "buy quality" wherever you may find it. LoL

Sorry, but Vega doesn't mean "won't go" in Spanish. Spanish is my second language and I can't think of a close meaning to Vega for that.

I have heard and read many times things about the Ford Pinto as an absolute disaster but never really seen one or had anyone talk of first hand experience about it.

Sorry, but if Spanish was your 1st language, you would know that vega means "dweller in meadow" which in certain parts of south america is slang for squatter/trespasser/or someone who WON'T GO

The car whose name means no go in spanish is the

Chevrolet NOVA

no va in spanish means no go

Edited January 29, 2007 by pampal

[shadowy]

We had this Skoda deluxe, it was lime green. Naaasty , every time i asked t drive his car dad gave me the keys for the skoda. i was too shamed (15 years old , would you drive a lime green skoda to see your friends?).

[undercover]

We had this Skoda deluxe, it was lime green. Naaasty , every time i asked t drive his car dad gave me the keys for the skoda. i was too shamed (15 years old , would you drive a lime green skoda to see your friends?).

.................................................................

Look what some sad twisted mind is driving round in here, Team Skoda !

[Dave the Dude]

We had this Skoda deluxe, it was lime green. Naaasty , every time i asked t drive his car dad gave me the keys for the skoda. i was too shamed (15 years old , would you drive a lime green skoda to see your friends?).

.................................................................

Look what some sad twisted mind is driving round in here, Team Skoda !

that still looks good compared to a crappy moskvich

Edited January 30, 2007 by Dave the Dude