The annuls of automotive history are littered with all sorts of coulda, woulda, shoulda beens, and vehicles that were just plain wrong. The Edsel springs to mind. Weird-looking, pricey and built with 1957 technology (in 1958), Ford's Oldsmobile competitor was doomed from the get-go. Then we have the Volkswagen Phaeton, Gen Y's notion of what a failure should be. Unlike the Edsel, Piech's folly was quite handsome, mega-advanced, impeccably built and a decided bargain in the world of high end luxo-barges– especially when fully equipped with a [prodigiously thirsty] 444 hp W12. Its sin? Its badge. But Audi's Allroad is my favorite failure. It was the right car at the right time with the wrong consumers. The Allroad offered more off-road prowess than any soccer mom could need, more interior space than competitors' SUVs and came stuffed with a hot twin-turbo 2.7-liter V6. But Audi didn't stand by its wagon. These days its pushing its eyesore, mega-mouthed, gas-hog stretched Touareg, the Q7. Yippity doo da. Your fave?
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Jaguar S-Type is way up there for me, though it’s not a complete failure (99%).
Otherwise I’d say I love the failure first generation Lexus IS300 (Toyota Altezza). Totally out of keeping with Lexus’s brand values, bad sales, shiny plasticky interior (with this fake alcantra stuff that really knew how to get dirty) but it was a wonderful little car. My favorite Toyota of the past 10 years (new Camry not withstanding).
Let me be the first to say it:
Delorean.
Ferrari 308GT4.
I just never was a big fan of Pininfarina’s work in the 70’s.
PS: I thought the knock on the Allroad was turbo lag, given its weight.
Chrysler Airflow.
Tucker.
Bentley Continental Flying Spur, but that’s a little bit ridiculous.
More realistically, I’m going with the Porche 928. It never sold that well, but it was good looking and years ahead of its time. Who says a Porche has to be rear engined and look like a fat guy sat on a Beatle?
Pontiac Aztek
The thing is so damn ugly I don’t even understand how someone could purchase it.
Gotta be Chrysler’s Airflow.
But Suzuki’s X-90 is a close runner-up.
The 1958 model year as interpreted by GM and Ford. (Buick, Olds, Ford, Lincoln, and Edsel get top “honors” here.) And of course, it was also the last model year of the Packard (but so few were sold, no one remembers…)
Hotchkiss Gregoire – super advanced for the early 50s. Fwd, aluminum body, independent suspension. Cost a fortune to make and thus failed.
I have to go with the Aztek for the sheer wtf factor. I still remember the first time I saw it and thought, no way would GM really come out with something that looked that bad.
A close second is the Ford Freestar. It was amazing how much money and effort Ford put in to create an all new minivan with the identical look, features, and capabilities of the one it replaced.
Favorite automotive failures:
I guess this can best be defined as vehicles that you love to see but would never buy yourself.
Topping that list would be the Chysler Pacifica. An excellent vehicle,but one that seemed to always lose out to some other vehicle when it came time the write the check. For the price it was a very hard sell against such vehicles like the Odyessy and Previa. Hey, when you are about to spend close to $40,000 on minivan I guess you do have every right to expect a decent resale value.
Not far behind that would be the Crossfire convertible. This is the car you see in the Chysler dealer window, get excited, run inside and ask how much only to leave LYAO! I know of a few retirees that looked at the Crossfire as a Chysler Miata and simply refused to see it as a bargin Benz. I guess the fact that it was based on the lackluster SLK really didn’t help matters.
Can’t forget about our good friend the GTO! One look a Charger or 300C made the public say WTF were you thinking GM! One look sent just about anyone interested in a nice stylish personal coupe right over to the Infiniti dealer for a G35.
2004-2006 Pontiac GTO.
I really liked that car. Despite what others thought about the styling, I liked the subdued look (in comparison to the ‘in your face’ WS6). I also have some stupid, demented brand loyalty to Pontiac for some reason.
I probably should have bought one when I had the chance(s).
(PS/edit: The nearest Infiniti dealer to me is 2 hours away.)
Cimarron – The wrong way to make a small luxury car.
This is supposed to be cars you like, but were market failures, correct? How can people say Aztek and Cimarron? Did you like these things?
I think mine is gonna have to be the FD Mazda RX-8. Awesome looks (I still drool today seeing a 15 year old one), it was fast as hell even using today’s standards, killing Porsches, Ferraris, the NSX, it was light on its feet and had a rotary engine.
Downside? Reliability and price. I would have bought one of these had they not had the ridiculously complex turbo rotaries where 100,000 miles was considered a huge achievement. They were no longer the “affordable” sports car of the 1st and 2nd gen cars.
Sold very few of them until they pulled it from the US market.
The new/dead GTO is a great answer.
Can’t believe nobody mentioned the Yugo.
Or Renault’s attempt to crack the U.S. market via acquiring AMC/Jeep
Or even…
…The DeLorean.
Jerome10:
“This is supposed to be cars you like, but were market failures, correct?”
Actually, any old failure will do.
The Yugo. They were so obviously wretched, even fresh off the lot, that it’s shocking that anyone ever believed that there was a market for them in the first place.
Chrysler. They’ve gone from top of the world (minivans, mopar muscle cars) to top of the crap heap (Sebring, Avenger, Journey, Nitro, Compass, Caliber, and pretty much everything else they currently build.)
Also, the Dodge Magnum. A muscle car station wagon. How cool is that! Although, I guess not enough people thought so. Too bad. Guess I’ll have to satisfy my wagon-with-a-V8 desires with an old hearse.
These are supposed to be cars you love but failures in the market, correct? How can people write Cimarron or Aztek? These things were terrible! And failures.
For me, the FD Mazda RX-7. I still drool seeing a 15 year old one. Fast has hell even today. Drop dead gorgeous. Lightweight and rotary engine.
Too bad they were unreliable and cost way too much…. slowly meant death in the US market.
Guess I read this as: “the car you like most that failed in the market place” not “car you think was the biggest flop”
RX-8: 9000rpm, great handling, 4(ish) seat real sports car, like the style.
Always had a soft spot for the Wankel.
Love & rotors,
Bunter
As Kelly Bundy would say… “The Neeewwww, Allante”
Seeing Clint pilot one in the Dead Pool, and Kelly Bundy as its booth babe made lil Matt want one. Ahhh foolish, impressionable youth.
Subaru SVX–what the XT6 I owned shoulda been.
I’m still not sure to read this as, say, most outstanding failure I can think of (like an Edsel, which was probaly nobody’s favorite anything) or failure which I favored.
I’ll favor you with both:
Most outstanding failure (in recent memory), the Chevrolet SSR. A true WTF? All in one package, you got a bad truck, bad convertible, bad roadster and a bad hot rod. For the low, low price of about what a ‘Vette would cost. I give it bonus points for being ugly (but that’s a matter of personal taste).
Car I most favored which failed dismally, the Renault Fuego Turbo. Oh, it certainly deserved to die but I liked the lines, the size, the performance, the fuel economy, the whole idea. I imagine that says something horrible about me.
Definitely the Tucker.
When will you ever see another movie about an automotive failure and its founder? Twenty years from now, maybe Delorean or Tesla.
The car that single-handedly created the lemon law.
Cadillac Allante.
Bloated production process with the bodies built in Italy and shipped by 747 to Michigan. FWD V8 meant full steering wheel deflection under hard acceleration.
I had to talk my father out of driving it through the showroom window after the top came off of the track on the way back from the dealership. It had been in for the same repair three times before.
Cadillac XLR anyone?
The criteria being favorite failure: Pontiac Aztek. They’re ugly as hell, but people who bought them loved them, and even put up with their poor reliability. Some people even bought more than one. The two I was in were quite versatile. I respect the people who bought them for having the stones to do so; I never would.
Bob Lutz
I’d have to say the Pontiac Fiero. Great idea for The Excitement Division. A sleek, mid-engined, two-door, two-place sportscar. Show the whole world that modern GM performance wasn’t just about small block V-8s. What could go wrong?
Corvair.
A Rear-engined and RWD sedan…from GM! When was the last time the General took a chance like that? Yes, it was somewhat of a deathtrap but imagine what could have been!
I’m in the market for a used Pacifica. Resale is fantastically low. You can pick up a low mileage 2007 for 16k. What drove the price to 40k on these? I just don’t see it.
@John R: the Corvair gets my nod, but for a different reason: it begat Ralph Nader, who went on to f*** up the 2000 election and the resulting sad state of current affairs.
How about the Isuzu VehiCROSS (or any recent Isuzu for that matter).
Also, regarding the Pacifica, my wife’s uncle bought a new 2007 in December for 17k.
For cars I like that failed, I second the Corvair and the Tucker.
For just plain crap:
Aztec, Yugo, Beretta (driving it was like being shot)
Not sure what the exact criteria is here, but anything from the ill-fated AMC/Renault alliance – for example, the Renault Alliance (aka Renault Appliance)! Not to mention their encore performance with the Encore. Talk about a couple of rolling dung heaps. They even tried to give them some performance cred with a spec-racing series called the “Alliance Cup”. Oh the memories from helping a friend who fielded a few of these buckets.
And how about the (imported from Australia) Mercury Capri (aka Mercury Crapi)? Had a friend who worked unloading them at the local port of entry. Seem to recall her saying that it wasn’t unusual for large portions of bodywork (like bumpers) to fall off while being driven off of the ship.
As an Aussie, I have to reluctantly agree. We had them on our market too and they were the subject of a scathing consumer TV report. Our ’88 Falcon was every bit as bad, but still outsold everything else on the market. Something must have been really rotten at Ford Australia in those days.
How about the Vega? Cool “Baby Camaro” styling, well engineered chassis and a variety of body styles. Yes, the execution couldn’t have been worse if they tried but oh, think what could have been (affordable, stylish and rear-drive American compact).
Solstice
Elan M100(in the USA)
XJ220
Pontiac Fiero. I wanted one so bad when they were introduced. Makes me sad they’re all junk. What a wasted opportunity.
What about a brand as a whole, remember the resurrected Eagle brand Chrysler rolled out that were just rebranded first gen Intrepids and Eclipses? I still can’t figure out why Chrysler thought they needed a second Plymouth division.
Favorite Failures: Toyota Supra Turbo, Toyota MR2 Supercharged
By no stretch of the imagination was the Edsel underpowered.
I think an edit is in order. 345 horsepower and 475 ft-lbs of torque (gross, of course) was fairly substantial for the day (heck, even for today).
As a former Fiero owner I can vouch for the car’s terrible flaws. Overheating problems, shady headlight motors, and an engine compartment so cramped you had to remove it to change the spark plugs making it a pain to work on. That’s not even touching on how unsafe it was to drive.
The Aztec is a no brainer. At least the Fiero was a great concept.
As for the RX-8 comments I’m a little confused. They still sell them in the US and everyone I know that has owned one loved them except for the gas mileage?
Oh, and the BMW 8 Series
What else but PACER!
Hard to narrow it down, but here are some of my faves…
Nissan 240SX – Small, affordable RWD sports car. What the modern pony car SHOULD be.
Subaru Baja – What many truck buyers actually need.
Pontiac Fiero – They finally got it right… Then killed it.
The Edsel. It is THE automotive icon of failure. And what a spectacular icon.
The DeLorean is a somewhat distant second. Maybe tied with the Yugo, though for different reasons. (An NYC artist had his students reinCARnate 40 Yugos that he had bought for what had been the price ofd one; you can see some of the renditions, such as the Yugo Phone, on my website, motorlegends.com, under “art cars.”)
For cars I like a lot that failed, the Airflow, the Tucker, and the Corvair. And the Pacer, if that’s really to be considered a failure. I LOVE the Pacer.
Sentimental favorites:
1) The Subaru SVX. So brave — a $30,000 Subaru GT coupe with funky Giugiaro styling, flat-six engine, and all-wheel drive. So handicapped — wrong badge, wrong price, wrong transmission (no manual, and the automatic was overmatched by the six’s torque). In many ways an appealing idea that could not possibly have worked.
2) The Oldsmobile Jetfire. A sophisticated, lightweight, unit-bodied sedan, very similar in size and weight to a modern Camry, powered by a turbocharged V8 engine (with water injection, no less). Pity its over-engineering didn’t translate into outstanding execution (or reliability). The right car at the wrong time, developed at great cost, brought to market not quite ready for primetime, then dropped in unseemly haste.
3) The Renault Vel Satis. A colossal French coupe built on a minivan platform, with challenging styling, an unfashionably thirsty V6, and a premium price tag. A leading contender for the mascot of an annual “What were they thinking?” award. I hear you can pick them up for dirt cheap in many parts of Europe, thanks to eye-watering depreciation.
Okay, we’ve made it to page 5 and we finally have the first second for my earlier vote for the Subaru SVX.
And re. the Pacer, I remember it well because it was introduced while I was sentenced to be the Editor of Car and Driver. In our first road test, I recall that William Jeanes compared it to a bathtub rubber duckie.
And I remember when the “high-performance version” came out. It had a tiny carburetor with TWO BARRELS! We photographed that car here in Cornwall, New York, at the Black Rock Fish and Game Club, with a bunch of hunters carrying, guess what…
Hey Stephan, since Brock Yates didn’t do one, why don’t you do a “Truth About Car & Driver”?
And add another vote from me for the Pontiac GTO. I’d love that car. So what if it has bland styling? A V8 RWD sedan, how can you go wrong? Although, I guess in GM’s hands, they could turn gold into lead.
The biggest failure on the market I can see, is ANY car manufacturers failed attempt to improve the existing prooduct line. And this is especially so concerning Detroit. How ANYONE can deliver a product and then just not improve it or even R&D a replacement ready within its cycle is simply mind-boggling. And there are MANY examples.
Chrysler PT Cruiser and Gone Tomorrow. There’s a whole editorial in that line only…
The Europeans mostly have 6-8 year cycles, facelifts in half-time, the japanes have 4-year cycles, facelifts every two years. The price of the car is set to pay for R&D of the next generations, and that work begins even before the new model is up for sale. How hard can it be? Why oh why doesn’t the Big 2.8 improve existing product-lines?
My favorite “failure” was the BMW E36 (Z3-based) M-Coupe/Z3 coupe.
http://www.topclassiccars.com/car-pictures/bmw-m-coupe.png
It was “so ugly that it was cute” in English Bull Terrier sort of way.
The were/are fast, fun to drive, and reasonably reliable.
Plus, you just have to love a car enthusiast group that acknowledges the societal shunning of their object d’amour by calling their club gathering “The Dorkfest”…:-D…
http://jalopnik.com/cars/jalopnik-fantasy-garage/first-generation-bmw-m-coupe-258496.php
http://mdork.weebly.com/
Well for a marketing and sales failure of a wonderful car, the Legacy GT wagon would be high on my list. Why a great handling sporty wagon didn’t make it in the US proves that ‘mericans have much to learn.
Design failures abound, Aztek, Edsel, Pacer, etc.
Aurora by Oldsmobile?
Duh. The Oldsmobile Aurora.
Then again, there are so many great Oldsmobiles, and I suppose most can be called failures since the brand no longer exists.
Props to the guy who mentioned the F85 Jetfire!
The Intrigue was the first American midsize sedan to truly compete with the Japanese as far as overall packaging (I remember it beating Camry and Accord in comparisons back in the day – with the initial, old L32 3800 V6, no less). Too bad the interior sucked and the reliability was fully old-school GM.
The Toronado is another. I’m a fan of the techy last-gen (’90-92) model, though it has the infamous 3800, too, and not much going for it in the way of style. Neat options, though. The first-generation was the best, however. The cars that came between leave me colder than cold, and the last-gen sold at the rate of none times ten. They easily crest 200,000 miles, sagging interiors and all, however.
The Ford Excursion a/k/a Ford Execration a/k/a Ford Excrement a/k/a Ford Exxon Valdez. So big, so ugly, that no one would buy it. A stunning feat, given the crap that Americans have bought as SUVs.
Volkswagen 411/412. I think that’s about how many of them they sold.
lprocter1982 :
March 5th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
“Hey Stephan, since Brock Yates didn’t do one, why don’t you do a “Truth About Car & Driver”?”
See my book “The Gold-Plated Porsche.” Also the super-negative contribution that I did for C/D’s 50th Anniversary issue. But hell, I’m happy to do it again…
Vector Aeromotive
Asuna
Caddy BLS and Catera
Lada’s attempt to survive in the NA market
The Pacer. A coworker at a summer job used to take us to lunch in his Pacer. It was like driving a greenhouse.
The last gen Honda Prelude. I loved the looks. It had BMW qualities in that the handling/steering was amazing and yet it still had a smooth ride. It was one of the few cars in the class with excellent visibility. I liked the classy and high quality interior that a lot of people dogged as “plain”. It had some downsides. Headroom was quite limited, the dash was pretty low, leaving me with barely enough room for my knees, and the fuel economy wasn’t very good. I didn’t buy one, but it almost made me understand that emotional factor that makes people buy illogical cars. No else bought one either, so it was axed in favor of Honda’s other two door vehicles.
Forgot one..a clear winner for the Canadian edition of the prize..
The Bricklin
I second the Vega, but I will add another reason. It’s the first example I can think of of GM’s most shameless badge engineering. The Pontiac Astre as far removed from the Vega as the G5 is from the Cobalt.
Geo was a farce. Just what GM needed…another brand! Worse still (this might not be familiar to my American friends) but there was Asuna (the u is supposed to have two dots over it). That’s right…GM badge engineered their own badge engineered cars! The Geo Tracker became the Asuna Sunrunner and the Geo Storm became the Sunfire. Please, some other Canadian weigh in here and convince people I am not making this up.
I drive my favorite market failure: the Mazda6 wagon. It’s probably one of the most underrated and overlooked cars around, but it’s tremendously practical and a good driver as well. In the 3 1/2 years I’ve had it, I’ve seen maybe 7 others on the road.
Tom Lasorda. He got 19 million dollars for failing. No easy feat.
I’ve heard of the Asuna make. How many model years was it around in Canada?
Can I also add my own car – a Mitsubishi Diamante?
Hell, Mitsubishi itself isn’t far from being a failure in the US, and I still love them, especially their older offerings. I’ve owned a Galant and now the Diamante, and loved both. They don’t have much that excites me now, though the Lancer GTS is an attractive car at a good price, the Galant RalliArt is compellingly different (pre-2008 facelift), and the Outlander is nice in upper trims.
Most recent: Aztek, easily (although the new Ford Focus may have a chance of overtaking that one).
All time: although the Vega, Pinto, and Aspen/Volaré were all outstandingly bad in their own ways, I’d have to take the Vega for a number of reasons. It was GM’s first ‘corporate’ car, a direct response to DeLorean’s maverick divisional gunslinging ways. But even more importantly, it was the car that single-handedly began not only GM’s, but the domestic industry in general, downward quality spiral, which allowed the Japanese manufacturers to get a toe-hold into the American market.
Up until the Vega, there weren’t really any GM cars that were complete, abysmal, unmitigated pieces o’ crap. Even the Corvair wasn’t that bad after GM decided to spend the $10 and put a rear anti-sway bar on it to fix the treacherous handling.
The Vega was the car that put GM on the road to ruin because, unlike other GM losers, the Vega actually sold reasonably well for a while, meaning it made it into the hands of a lot of consumers.
But then the Vega ended up being so bad that people who bought them would swear they’d never buy another GM car after the experience. Most of them, to this day, haven’t broken that vow. If buyers weren’t burned by a Vega, GM had plenty of other losers to choose from afterwards, like the Chevy Citation, Cadillac Cimarron, V4-6-8, diesel, Pontiac Fiero. But it all began with the Vega.
In fact, I’d even say that the only real way GM can survive is by eventually outliving all the people who bought brand-new Vegas in the seventies, meaning GM shouldn’t really figure on regaining market share until at least, oh, say, 2030.
NickR:
I’ve seen a SunRunner in Eastern Ontario. It was rusty and had holes in the gas tank (I was working at a gas station at the time.) It looked like a POS. I’ve also seen a number of the Geos. Amazingly, many of them are still running. Actually, I think 80% of them are still on the road. The other 20% actually made it back home…
I’ve heard of the Asuna make. How many model years was it around in Canada?
Asüna Sunfire (1993)
Asüna Sunrunner (1992-1995)
Asüna SE/GT (1993)
A roaring success, as you can see.
Lincoln LS, Mercury Marauder, Ford Crown Victoria. Great cars that started out good, but ended up failing because of the lack of improvements over the years.
My favorite failures:
Cadillac Cimarron. Taken at face value, it was a poor choice of a car for Cadillac. It didn’t fit the Cadillac image. But in my eyes, it’s actually quite a handsome little car and later models had the V6 engine which provided decent acceleration (for those days, anyway). If someone offered me a 1987 or ’88 model, I wouldn’t turn it down. It’s one of those cars I’d actually like to have simply because it’s so odd.
Pontiac Fiero. A great looking car that had a lot of potential. Too bad GM cut so many corners in the beginning and killed it just when it was getting good.
Buick Reatta. An unusual and interesting car that was really the last daring car that Buick ever made.
Toss up between 4th generation “B” Camaro Z/28 and SS in sales battle with Mustang. Also Eagle Talon for sales in its last few years and Eagle Vision TSi. The Vision’s Lh platform was designed for easy AWD. It should have had AWD and a more powerful engine to seperate it more from Dodge’s Intrepid.
I’ve owned so many ‘failures’ over the years it’s hard to pick. Here’s a couple of the ones I have owned:
KixStart I believe mentioned the Renault Fuego. I had a red Turbo model. As mentioned it was a pretty cool looking car for the time at a good price point. However, add in indifferent build quality, torque steer and the world’s longest clutch cable that would break every 10,000 or so miles and the balance tips the other way.
My first car was a 1964 Corvair Monza coupe inherited from my grandparents. They had painted it robin’s egg blue Rustoleum (with brushes and a roller, natch). It was a cool car that had plenty of power even in the 110hp form (especially against the Pintos and Vegas of the day) I still have a hankering to pick up one for nostalgia reasons (and probably also to give the FU to Nader!)
One from my current batch of cars that other people have mentioned is the Pontiac GTO. This was never going to be a big win for GM as there was a fixed expiry of Monaros being made at the Holden plant, but they saw it as a halo car. If they had called it anything but GTO it might have sold better. OTOH, the old dudes who say it isn’t a real GTO tend to forget their 60s-era GTOs were standard line cars (Tempest or LeMans) with big engines. The car is a serious hoot and one of the favorite cars I’ve ever owned. I’m waiting for the snow to clear the roads here in northern New England so I can get it back on the road.
Finally, I think that station wagons in general are the biggest modern failure. They are the most practical cars that can also still handle like cars; if you don’t believe that, go test drive a twin-turbo BMW 535 wagon (if you can find one on a dealer’s lot!)
The greatest of them all…The Leyland P76.
My favorite failure has to be the Eagle Talon, or better, the entire Eagle brand. I like the Eagle Talon better than its better selling (and still selling) DSM twin, the Mitsubishi Eclipse, and I think the Eagle Vision was the best of the LH cars. It was a great brand with great cars. The only reason why it failed was because there was no room for it in Chrysler’s lineup, plus it never get the real marketing attention it deserved.
Hmmm….so many to choose from, my current favorite would have to be the 2005+ Five Hundread/Montego/Taurus/Sable abortions that Ford continues to throw money at as Panther replacements even though the ancient Panthers continue to rival them and/or outsell them month to month. To the tune of the 16 year old FLEET ONLY Crown Vic only losing out to the 3 year old AVAILABLE TO RETAIL D3 Taurus/Five Hundread last month by about 130 units. And Ford plans to throw more money at Taurus next year with restyle number two since launch of the Five Hundread in 2005. AND that’s with the Panther’s down to two nameplates with Wixom closed after May of last year. Guess those Panther profits gotta go to something.
Past favs, the Aztek (duh), the FWD Cougar, the AU GTO, the rebadged Venture [Uplander], the rebadged Windstar [Freestar], the SSR, the Catera, the Cimmaron, oh so many to choose from…..
Mine has to be the demise of the practical Station Wagon in North America.
The Volkswagen Thing.
This VW has the Aztec beat in the ugly department. There must be some family relation to the Aztec — like a Grandparent or something.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_181
I can’t imagine the board meeting they had to name that vehicle … “What should we name this thing … … hey wait a sec. ……. I have a an idea …….” … … OK. That was quick, see you guys at the golf course.
They should make all the people that participated in that vehicle and its name drive one for 5 years as punishment.
I nominate 2:
1. Buick Reatta…2 seat, underpowered, poor handling and overpriced….what WERE they thinking
2. The Last Ford Thud-erbird. Can’t believe no one nominated this one. 2 seats, bloated, slow and poor handling.
Hmmmm. I see a theme. 2 seats – performance = poor sales.
The 1995-1999 Buick Riviera was a very good looking car.
Triumph TR7.
When British Leyland was to replace its entire line up of sports cars from Midget to E-Type, they came up with this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_TR7
Poor build quality, high on the ground, quirky styling, only 4-cylinder, and no rag-top. And it was based on the very humble Morris Marina underpinnings. Could it be any worse?
Remember, it was supposed to replace the entire range:
Triumph Spitfire
Triumph GT6
Triumph TR6
MG Midget/Sprite
MG MGB
and Jaguar E-type had no proper replacement in the XJ-S.
For those interested in the rise and fall of the British car empire of BMC/BLMH/British Leyland/Austin-Rover Group and so on, I can recommend this site:
http://www.aronline.co.uk/
Read that, and you will have much fun for several weeks, it is perhaps the best site on the internet, including TTAC. It is also very interesting to draw the historical parallels to modern day Detroit. The demise of the British motor inustry from early 60’s until now is the tale of the mother of all screw-ups. Lessons should have been learned.
I don’t mean to beat the Aztec drum any further, but I think TTAC has an opportunity to go out and interview 5 owners that bought brand new, and ask them just why did they buy this thing? I think it would be fascinating insight into a car buyer’s mind…..or decision process…or something
I fourth the Pontiac Fiero.
1996 Ford Taurus and 2004 Non-C1 Focus (just failures, not favorites).
Non-Northstar Cadillac Allantes (GM in N/A should try another collaboration with Pinanfarina)
Whenever I see an Aztek on the street, I wonder how long it took for the buyer’s remorse to set in.
I imagine the owner looking out to his or her driveway and saying, “aw, shit.”
-Matt
Basically the entire motley collection of eastern Bloc cars that arrived in Canada after glasnost. Of course, there’s the obvious, the Lada. But there was also the ROC, an eastern European sports utility. Then there was the Dacia Vultura, a combination of an extremely dated Renault design combined with Communism’s legendary build quality. And last, there’s the one I had first hand experience with…the old Skoda. Think of it as four dour sedan based on a rear engined, air cooled design, with body panels containing a secret rust accelerant (I think it was something Russia developed to pour on NATO tanks to put them out of action in the event of war.) John Deere never put out anything this primitive. Add a complete absence of parts availability…
Of course, returning the domestics… I find ther cars that I look at now that look like crap BUT I can sort of forgive them knowing that at the time their awfulness probably didn’t stand out. One exception is the 1962 Dodge Dart and it’s Plymouth equivalent. They are awful…period. Oddly enough, as recently as 10 years ago I saw a 62 Savoy 2 door sedan at a used car dealer in upstate NY. I was almost tempted to buy it as a curio.
Of course, the 60 and 61 were appallingly ugly as well. This may be an urban myth, but I remember reading that the 61 had those odd side mounted tail ligths because it was well into the design process and they still hadn’t worked tailights into the design, so they hastily added a side mounted design based on a contemporary flashlight. Sounds bogus but…have you seen the car?!
Ingvar,
“Poor build quality, high on the ground, quirky styling, only 4-cylinder, and no rag-top. And it was based on the very humble Morris Marina underpinnings. Could it be any worse?”
Point of order here
1. The car was available in V8
2. There was a full convertible version
3. It had no relation whatsoever to the Marina (apart from door handles and some versions that were fitted with a derivative of the Marina four speed).
It did have a lot in common with the SD1 Rover however.
Not that I like the vehicle, but in the context of mid-seventies cars it is a long bow to call the styling “Quirky”.
I’ll go with the Lancia Beta series. They sold this in the US starting in about 1975. Great car, semi-exotic looking exterior and a beautiful Italian leather interior. The Beta Coupe was a great 3-series alternative, and the Beta Zagato was a unique 2-seater convertible. Not to mention the very fast Beta HPE (high-performance estate) ‘shooting brake’ hatchback.
Except… the electrical system was *worse* than the Lucas electrics inside Jaguars of the time, and uh, Fiat forgot that we get snow in the northeast, which is where most of them ended up being sold. And snow means salt… and salt means rust, especially on a car without rustproofing! They never fixed the electrical issue (Americans like their cars to you know, actually start), and it took them until about 1980 to fix the rust issue. Didn’t help Lancia’s reputation, and sadly they withdrew in about 1983.