Which is the Worst Car Ever Made?

DeLorean DMC-12

Photo Credit: DeLorean Company

Full disclosure: I love everything about Back to the Future. It’s heartwarming, hilarious and just altogether wonderful. That doesn’t excuse the DeLorean from its many faults, though. The DeLorean is stylish, to be sure. But it has some glaring design flaws that make it a mess to use as a normal vehicle. On the small-scale, it has a windshield-mounted antenna, so good luck picking up radio signals. More glaring, however, was the car’s weight-to-engine ratio. The DeLorean was heavy, partly as a result of its spotty build thanks to the inexperienced workers making it. Further, to cut costs, the engine was underpowered. This resulted in a very sluggish, unresponsive drive and a generally disappointing experience. Marty hitting 88 MPH in a DeLorean is honestly more unlikely than Doc Brown making a time machine.

The Eagle Premier

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

After being bought by Chrysler in the late 80’s, the Eagle brand suffered a pretty serious identity crisis. Chrysler had to swap out the original, somewhat fuel-efficient AMC engine for contractual reasons. In its place, the company put a PRV 3.0 Liter V6. This engine is incredibly thirsty, guzzling gas in a way that makes no sense for a car this small. Further, the car suffers from sloppy braking, has a dash-mounted gear-shifter and is generally just bland and boring. While some cars on this list have a few fans, the Eagle Premier is not one of them.

Chevrolet Vega

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Astonishingly produced from 1971 to 1977, the Chevy Vega was created in the midst of several worker’s strikes. And boy, does it show. It was rushed to market and underdeveloped, and several flaws were still present in the vehicle when it went to mass-market. These flaws would go on to be found by customers: the aluminum block engine, for instance, would overheat and warp. This would cause it to rattle, lose oil and generally perform unreliably. And really, your customers shouldn’t be finding such glaring flaws in your design after the car has been mass-produced.

Hummer H2

Photo Credit: WeBe Autos

The golden years of dude-bro jocks riding in oversized gas-guzzlers came between 2003-2009. You see, those were the years that the Hummer H2 was in production. The Hummer had militaristic design angle and got nine miles to the gallon. Yes, nine. If you think a car could be more out of touch with its era, you’re wrong. The H2 hit the scene right as America was going to war in the Middle East over oil. And it looked like a tank. A tank that guzzled gas. Perhaps you’re following this to its logical conclusion: the vehicle was an insult to Americans and the world as a whole by what it represented. Not to mention, as a car, it was nothing special. It had heated seats and a nice stereo, sure, but it cost $53,000. All that to have a hard time parking anywhere and spend hundreds on gas every month? No thanks.

First Generation Maserati Biturbo

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

While the Biturbo, released in 1981, may bear the Maserati name, it doesn’t have that brand’s signature build quality. Maserati was a little low on funds in this era, and as such, they outsourced the design and assembly of the Biturbo’s body. And it shows, too. This unreliable mess of a car can go pretty fast, but it rattles and shakes and doesn’t slow down well after getting up to speed. The Biturbo has the dubious distinction of being the worst car from a fantastic carmaker. Surprisingly, it stayed in production until 1986.

Lexus SC 430

2002 Lexus SC 430.

Photo Credit: Autoblog

Another terrible car from a great carmaker, the Lexus SC 430 is a confusing vehicle. The SC 430 was released in 2001, and somehow remained in production until 2004. Priced as a luxury car, the vehicle packed a wimpy v8 engine and had a cramped interior. It didn’t have much in the way of style, either: it was designed to look like a yacht. Seriously, Lexus somehow missed all the “boat car” jokes and literally designed a car to look like a boat. And, get this: Lexus intended for the SC 430 to actually contend with BMW’s luxury offerings. No, seriously!

Reliant Robin Mk. 1

Photo Credit: Flickr

Famously derided on Top Gear for its three-wheeled design, the Reliant Robin Mk. 1 is a seriously ugly vehicle. The vehicle was rather popular in Northern England, as it was cheap, but it had a pretty major flaw. You see, when you make a three-wheeled vehicle, and that vehicle is top heavy, it flips over. A lot. And that’s really quite dangerous! While the famous Top Gear segment showing how the Robin is incredibly prone to topple over was staged, it still demonstrates how dangerous it is to have only one front wheel.

Amphicar

Photo Credit: Petrolicious

In 1961, the Amphicar made the scene. Yes, someone looked at their car and said, “let’s make it a boat, too.” Jokes aside, the car was made in West Germany and was intended to echo WWII era designs for amphibious vehicles. The Amphicar, however, sported an absolutely abysmal performance both on land and on water. The tiny little engine only carried 38.3 horsepower. If you’re going to make a car that’s also a boat, make sure it’s also a car, first. Worse still, though, the car wasn’t waterproof. It used a pump to control leaks. If you’re going to make a boat that’s also a car, make sure it’s also a boat first, too, apparently.

The Yugo

Photo Credit: Car Sales Base

The Yugo has the distinction of being in production the longest of any of the vehicles on this list. Originally released in 1978, this awful little vehicle stayed around until 2008. The Yugo’s draw was just how cheap it was, coming in at $4,000. However, you get what you pay for, as the terrible car had a whopping 45 horsepower and topped out at 80 MPH. After 1991, the build quality of the Yugo got so poor that the vehicle had a reputation for its self-destructing habits. The timing belt was prone to snapping, and when that happened, the engine would essentially blow up. Maybe shell out a little more than $4,000 for a new car next time, guys!

The Worst Car Ever Made: The Ford Pinto

Photo Credit: Hemmings Motor News

The Ford Pinto’s sins are numerous, and they all add up to make it the worst car ever. You likely knew this one was going to be on the list when you saw the name. That said, for those of you unfamiliar with the vehicle, we’ve give you the run down. Produced from 1971-1980, the Pinto is an unforgivably ugly vehicle. It has very little power under the hood, the suspension is terrible, and it has abysmal brakes. The worst part, though, was that the gas tank was located in the back of the car. This gave the Pinto a bad habit of literally exploding into flames when rear-ended. To add insult to injury, a Ford memo stating that they’d rather pay out settlements to victims than safety-test their vehicle led to a PR disaster. To this day, the Pinto’s infamy is widely-known.