Whats Your Worst Car In The World ?

[undercover]

1987 MG Montego Turbo

Max Power: 150 bhp @ 5100 rpm

Transmission: 5 speed manual Honda close ratio.

Max speed: 126 mph. 0-60 mph, 7.3 secs., 50-70 mph, 6.6 secs. Standing quarter mile, 15.7 secs

Price new January 1987: £11,396.

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

What were they trying to say ?

[philipm]

i know alot of people own honda jazz, toyota yaris...but hel_l i find them dead ugly atleast for a guy.

next to that, perhaps a diahatsu...., but at least they got some of them in some rallys.

[thaigone]

>>Sorry, but Vega doesn't mean "won't go" in Spanish

If I am not mistaken Nova..no va.. means no go in Spanish.

Worst Car In The World ? for me would be an old Soviet Lada in Cuba.

[kartman]

Theres a differance between a bad car and a boring one tho, Heres a bad car, the Triumph stag, rubbish under powerd 2.5 v8 motor with valve gear made from old BSA motorbike parts, it was as unreliable as they come and even Triumph at the end recomended fitting a Rover v8, but it was never boring, a great shape, the girls loved them, fun to drive (when it was going) nice car to park next to an Austin 1100 !

Motor was 3ltr(2997cc) cylinder heads were from parts bin (dolomite) and it had poor water circulation and needed to be warmed up gradually, so when granny owned it no problem but as it mainly attracted "jack the lad" owners when they jumped in turned the key and went so did the motor!

[Lopburi99]

My worst used car: 1959 Renault Dauphine (engine in rear)

Someone bumped me from behind, and the motor fell out of the car. We pushed the car off to the side of the road, then went back and dragged the motor off the road after it.

....

Just found this great thread, an oldie but a goodie! I've been laughing continuously for the past hour reading through it!

Many posts funnier than h_ell!

[goldfish]

I take it none of you have ever owned a Simca then? Here's one in it's rightful place

I regretfully owned a 'panel van' style. Engine was blown at 40,000 miles (smoked more than a 2-stroke) and the gearbox (a quarter the size of a mini box) was vague to say the least. Never knew what gear you were aiming for, just hoped you'd hit a forward one. Spun mine into a lamp post. Fortunately it was such thin metal I was able to kick out the damage and bend the roof straight. I may have been upset if i'd paid more than 50 quid for it

[Lopburi99]

My '63 Jag XKE was a beautiful piece of total crap. I bought it in 1966 when it was only a few years old but it persistently devoured my entire paycheck in repairs week after week. Stunningly attractive back then and even now, but nonetheless a mechanical nightmare. Even the damned tachometer drive gear wore out. Lucas electrical system problems throughout. My Dad, who had a migraine soon after I asked him to co-sign for me to get the E-Type, knew what was in store.

Finally unloaded it on a disco club owner. I understand it was a big hit with the go-go girls. Thanks to them, he probably got his money's worth .... (but of course I still saw it in the shop often).

Edited November 3, 2008 by Lopburi99

[kartman]

I take it none of you have ever owned a Simca then? Here's one in it's rightful place

I regretfully owned a 'panel van' style. Engine was blown at 40,000 miles (smoked more than a 2-stroke) and the gearbox (a quarter the size of a mini box) was vague to say the least. Never knew what gear you were aiming for, just hoped you'd hit a forward one. Spun mine into a lamp post. Fortunately it was such thin metal I was able to kick out the damage and bend the roof straight. I may have been upset if i'd paid more than 50 quid for it

50 quid thats dear i bought one with light front corner damage 5 quid, parts from a breakers- bonnet/wing/headlamp 15 quid so 20 for a runabout thrashed it unmercifully for about two years didn't have a revcounter but the sound of the noisy valve train hitting fever pitch was just as good. Worst car in the world? don't know at 20 quid just remember it as a laugh!.

[dingdongrb]

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

My first car was a 1973 Chevy Vega... I drove it for 103,000 miles and then it started using so much oil (due to the aluminum block was so charred up) that I sold it to my brother in law who then put a 283ci in it and it ran like a race car but he had problems finding a rear end to hold up.... As far as when I had it and it was still a 4cyl I drove the piss out of it and abused it to the max... But in the end it was a good ole first car that I only paid $900 for it and it had 43k miles on it when I did.

[pampal]

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 you are thinking about is the Chevrolet NOVA which means won't go in spanish, althought the story you concocted is interesting

Edited November 3, 2008 by pampal

[dingdongrb]

I once saw a Yugo for sale in Las Vegas. Part of the sign read, "low mileage, many new parts".

....and the old joke was, 'How do you double the value of your Yugo? Fill it up with gas.'

[pampal]

>>Sorry, but Vega doesn't mean "won't go" in Spanish

If I am not mistaken Nova..no va.. means no go in Spanish.

Worst Car In The World ? for me would be an old Soviet Lada in Cuba.

You are correct, indeed it is the Chevy Nova that couldn't sell in South America. No va means won't go in spanish

[benjamat]

Mine was historically old style ford escort with side valve engine.

My present renault laguna mk 3 comes pretty close though.

[Grant]

You are correct, indeed it is the Chevy Nova that couldn't sell in South America. No va means won't go in spanish

There is another Chevy - Niva:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/suvs/1...a/photo_03.html

[Brigante7]

A mini, the old one, piece of shit to drive and if you drive behind any old mini you can see how they all drift to the left when they drive, fuc_k knows why but the worst car I have ever driven.

[Chaimai]

DAF33

I had one for 6 months after a divorce in the 80's after down-trading 3 times to raise cash. I couldn't get any lower but at least I remained 'mobile' which was one of my objectives.

[Old Croc]

Has anyone mentioned the Austin Kimberly (and Austin Tasman)

Put out by Leyland Australia in the 60s, it was an attempt to break into the Oz large car market .

It succeeded the Austin 1800 and was itself followed by the infamous Leyland P76.

Completely out of it's environment in the Australian bush, it was not uncommon to see them on the side of a corrugated gravel road with a collapsed suspension.

[Flatouthruthefog]

I once saw a Yugo for sale in Las Vegas. Part of the sign read, "low mileage, many new parts".

....and the old joke was, 'How do you double the value of your Yugo? Fill it up with gas.'

...and how do you add 10%? Put the cap back on.

....and how do you make it look good? Park it next to a Skoda.

.....and why does it have a heated rear screen? Keep your hands warm as you push it.

.....and what do you call a Yugo convertible? A skip.

....and why are so few sold in Wales? It's more embarassing to be seen getting out of the back of a Yugo than the back of a sheep.

....and (OK, finale time) where's the dipstick in a Yugo? Behind the wheel.

Seriously, my personal least favourite ever is the Triumph Herald, possibly the least ergonomic car ever built. Your legs need to be offset 4in. towards the door from the knees down to have any hope of hitting the right pedals; your door-side elbow gets skinned on the interior handle, but it will turn tighter than a London taxi. Especially if you are doing 60mph in a tightening corner when the rear suspension jacks up!

At least it didn't have quite enough power to kill too many people. That job was left to its big brother, the 6 cylinder Vitesse!

[goldfish]

Seriously, my personal least favourite ever is the Triumph Herald, possibly the least ergonomic car ever built. Your legs need to be offset 4in. towards the door from the knees down to have any hope of hitting the right pedals; your door-side elbow gets skinned on the interior handle, but it will turn tighter than a London taxi. Especially if you are doing 60mph in a tightening corner when the rear suspension jacks up!

At least it didn't have quite enough power to kill too many people. That job was left to its big brother, the 6 cylinder Vitesse!

Sacrilege! Ok, it may have been as aerodynamic as a brick but at least it had character

The handling was a bit of a problem if you wasn't used to it. Had a single leaf spring at the back running transverse so if you took your foot off the throttle whilst going round a corner the wheels used to 'tuck in' and slide. I learnt how to rear wheel steer in one of these. Ok, the driving position was an irritant but I'd rather have one of these on the drive than a ford mondeo

[pop3]

DAF33

I had one for 6 months after a divorce in the 80's after down-trading 3 times to raise cash. I couldn't get any lower but at least I remained 'mobile' which was one of my objectives.

Here's the beauty compleat with a photo of the DAF Variomatic transmission.

Just like the automatic bikes everybody is riding round on these days, I wouldent be surprised if we see Variomatic transmission make a come back

[tartempion]

After she had it about four years, I asked her one day, "How often do you change your oil, Sis?"

Her response, "You're supposed to change the oil?"

After that, her rationale was that if it ran this long without an oil change, just let well enough alone. The little die-hard ran another 4 years, with over 120,000 miles before she sold it--still running, and no oil changes. She then bought (what's now a classic) Rally Sport Camaro which also went without oil changes.

Remembers me a study made by a Dutch test organisation: they drove two cars for 100k kms, one changing oil every 5k kms, the other one never, just keeping oil level up. Then opened and checked both engines, no damage identified, both looked good.

[billd766]

Back in the 1970s I used to have a Triumph Herald convertible which was Ok when the roof was up but not so good when it was down as the doors would not open so well as the chassis was a bit weak.

I also had a Bond Equipe GT4S which used the Herald rolling chassis and bits and a fibreglass body. That was a great car but I would have preferred the 2 litre straight 6 motor.

In the 1980s I bought my wife a couple of Daf 44s and they were very good as well and the worst bit was the cost of new transmission belts. It used to keep up with my 3 ltr Ford Granada unless I had my boot had down. The Dafs used to start even in the coldest weather we had in the UK at that time.

[markg]

Triumph Herald? CLASS car mate.

I was in monte carlo a couple of years ago. The roads are a conveyor belt of big mercs, beemrs, Ferrari etc. Have a guess which car actually turned heads? Yup, a triumph herald convertable. Mint conditions obviously. It just looked so different to the rest of monte carlo traffic that people actually took notice. And it probably only cost the same as a full tank of petrol on a 500s merc.

Friends of mine had a Lada estate car (riva estate?) Styling was poor i agree, but mechanically she was pretty bullet proof. I think the caravan club in the UK voted it 'tow car of the year' on year. Anyway my buddies from Scotland said it coped with the worst of Scottish weather with remarkable ease

In the mid 80's there was a large taxi firm in Catterick, UK, who bough a whole fleet of Lada cars for their drivers. They were so cheap that you could scrap them after two years and just buy another one. A truly disposable car.

British car companies were dismal in the 70's werent they. Oh the shame of a once fine engineering institution. As previously mentioned, the Morris Ital which was an IMPROVED Morris Marina. IMPROVED! Sweet jesus.

Oddly enough, at the time, it was a reasonably middle class motor car.

Its so sad that we had good ideas but just couldnt put them into practice. The triumph cars of Dolomite, Herald and even TR7 were good designs, put together with string and elastic bands. If you were lucky.

[snuggzzz]

Triumph Vitesse 6 cylinder convertible, marvellous................. no good on corners, liable to spin in the wet, but on the straight great. problems were, to balance the carbs, watch it rust, water poured in thru' convertible roof, heater no good, just above freezin'.......but........... it was a prelude to the 2.5 Triumph PI............A beautiful car of it's time..........

Happy Dayzzzzzz...........................