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Posted: 12/24/2001 9:33:05 AM EDT
The '80's seem to be a topic of discussion these days (oh, those preban days), but what car/truck from that decade was the worst POS? Yugo, or maybe a K-car?
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Nothing can compare with the ORIGINAL exploding car, the 1980 Ford Pinto. Saw one of these little cans explode and incinerate its occupant. Not to be forgotten.
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K-Kar. The Army bought thousands of them in an attempt to make the US gubment loan to Chrysler work. Piss green bastards were all over the place for the next eight years.
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My top five:
5. Vector 4. Fiero 3. 944/968 2. Caravan 1. 80s Vettes |
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Hmmm...
Definately the K car...(Got my first piece of ass in one though) Chevy Citation, Chevy LUV truck, AMC Pacer(or was that 70's?) Renault Le Car, all Peugout's, Pontiac Fiero(Many burned down houses, caught fire idling in garage) I'm sure there's plenty more... |
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Quoted: Yugo Renault LeCar View Quote I had forgotten about the Renault. The Le shit box is the winner hands down! mike |
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Believe it or not, there's actually K-car fan clubs out there.
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The K-car saved Chrysler. I think you need to look at Cadillac’s. The Cadillac Cimarron almost killed the franchise.
Speaking of Chrysler, I heard this from a Mercedes QE: Q: How do you pronounce DaimlerChrysler in German? A: Chrysler is silent. CAR TALK ANNOUNCES THE TEN WORST CARS OF THE MILLENNIUM [url]http://www.classifiedventures.com/news/press/pr04032000cars.htm[/url] |
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I vote for K-car, but LeCar & Yugo would be second & third.
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I'll second the Cadillac Cimarron. My sister-in-law bought one. She paid twice as much for it as the Cavalier her son bought about three months later. She was sick when she realized how much more she paid for the same car. After we had to replace much of the car with equivalent Cavalier parts (like the radio, the fuse box, the power windows, seat belts, etc.), she finally got rid of it.
She sold that then bought a used Cadillac 8-6-4. After spending three times as much on repairs than the car was worth, she sold it. Then in quick succession, she bought several Chevy full-size diesels. I think she went through about six of them before finally learning that Chevy just couldn't make a decent diesel. She now drives a Ford Courier. While it is better than the Chevy Luv, it isn't better by much. I swear she is hopeless.z |
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I thought I was the only one that hated those K cars. Also the first years of the mini van craze were quite ugly IMO, although I rented a Ford Windstar in '99 and drove to Michigan from Texas and back, when I adopted the twins two weeks after they were born, and I absolutely loved it. I took back roads all the way up there and then took the long way back home, what an excellent trip!
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Since I don't consider the Yugo an actual car, my vote goes to the KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK-thing by Chrysler.
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"Fiero. Hands down."
i own a 1985 2m4 fiero. less than 22k on the clock. why the low miles, you ask? because gm built it so poorely and entech screwed up the design! that's right...gm didn't even design the fiero! they jobbed it out!!! the car handles and brakes as well as any sports car...but my gawd, the quality control rivals camaro/firebird f-bodies for biggest pos ever built! but, my vote goes to the yugo. q: why do yugo's have rear window de-icers? a: so your hands stay warm while you push it! |
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Quoted: 1981 Chevette. No contest. View Quote In high school I used to tell girls I had my parent's "Vette" in the parking lot , once they figured out it was a Chevette, not a Corvette, they called me a nerd like they always had, but for a few minutes i was cool....I also used to call my dads Maverick a "Mavraghini"...if said fast enough the "Mav" almost sounds like "Lamb" well again it only lasted a few minutes till they saw the heap I was really driving [peep] |
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Silly Fellows...[IMG]http://www.duhspot.com/users/smiley/s/contrib/aahmed/biggrin.gif[/IMG]
The DeLorean certainly "ranks"(I made a funny...)right up with your nominations. [url]http://www.delorean.com/[/url] |
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East German Trabis. 2 stroke engines. they sounded like chainsaws. After the wall came down you could find them IN dumpsters in rest areas along the Autobahn. Alos had to be careful getting gas in the East because most the stations still had a pump that had gas/oil mixed in it.
[img]http://www.trabi.de/bib/home.jpg[/img] Aviator [img]www.milpubs.com/aviator.gif[/img] |
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We used to have a 1982 chevy van at work back then,,,one day when we shoved the creaky sliding door shut it fell right off the thing in the damn street,,,,,52,000 miles on it.
What about full sized Chrysler LeBaron, I left a nice pecker track in some girls dad's car,,,,,,,on the lovely red veloure seats. It was a sort of rolling whorehouse so I treated it like one. |
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Don't be knockin' the K-cars, fellas. After all, that's what the MPs drove, and remember how easily you could lose 'em?
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As a proffessional mechanic I would have to say the following list might help.
1.Chevy Citation (all X cars included) 2. Ford Tempo 3. Chrysler K car, or anything with a "tutu" motor.Particularly the turbo's 4. Fiero 5. Buick Grand National. 6. Cadillac (anything) 7. Anything Ford running EEC III fuel system. 8. Chevy S10 Blazer Or any GM with a 2.5 or 2.8 9. Chevy Chevette 10 Volvo |
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I don't know about the Chevette, Grimshaw. My brother drove a 2-door from here in SC all the way to San Diego in less than 3 days without a hitch. Of course, that's the ONLY "good" story I've ever heard about 'em.
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Quoted: As a proffessional mechanic I would have to say the following list might help. 1.Chevy Citation (all X cars included) 2. Ford Tempo 3. Chrysler K car, or anything with a "tutu" motor.Particularly the turbo's 4. Fiero 5. Buick Grand National. 6. Cadillac (anything) 7. Anything Ford running EEC III fuel system. 8. Chevy S10 Blazer Or any GM with a 2.5 or 2.8 9. Chevy Chevette ( Of "Joker's Wild" fame ) 10 Volvo View Quote Slight addition to 1., Chevy Citation == Pontiac Phoenix. Also can add the POS Olds Omega. |
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C'mon guys! You HAVE to go with Aviator on THIS one! The Trabant was the worst vehicle in HISTORY, not just the 80s!
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As far as #8 on that list, I still have my '88 S10 Durango 4X4 with a 2.8. It now has over 176,000 miles. It just HAS to have blown that head gasket before I bought it at 84,000 miles.
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Quoted: My top five: 5. Vector 4. Fiero 3. 944/968 2. Caravan 1. 80s Vettes View Quote Too bad about Vector Aeromotive. How many millions and how many years did it take to make the car? Vector had major management problems. Remember a few years ago there was an attempted coup of some sort? They tried to oust the founder Gerard Weigert. When the W8 Vector finally hit the market around 1991/2, it seemed like a bad ass supercar. I think price was a few hundred grand! A few years later, I saw a black one on sale for around $65,000.00! Should have bought the damm thing! The company also used to advertise in the Dupont Registry. They were soliciting investors. It was a badass American made 200+ mph supercar. I'll find a pic... [img]http://www.fast-autos.net/w8.jpg[/img] [b]1991 Vector W8 Info [/b] General Information Price: $284,000 Miles Per Gallon: --/-- mpg Curb Weight: 3320 lbs Layout: Mid-Engine/RWD Transmission: 3-Speed Auto Engine Type: Twin-Turbo V8 Displacement: 6000 cc Horsepower: 625 bhp @ 5700 rpm Torque: 630 lb-ft @ 4800 rpm Redline: 7000 rpm Performance 0-60 mph: 4.2 sec 0-100 mph: 8.3 sec Quarter Mile: 12.0 sec @ 124 mph Skidpad: .97g Top Speed: 218 mph Braking, 0-60 mph: 145 ft Slalom Speed: --.- mph |
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At time of writing:
After 27 posts, not a single Japanese car nominated. Wazzittellya? |
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Quoted: At time of writing: After 27 posts, not a single Japanese car nominated. Wazzittellya? View Quote That Toyota POS that tried to mimic the look of the "Boss" mustang. Was it the Corolla GTS? |
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How do you double the value of a Yugo ?????
Fill up the gas tank. Jay Arizona |
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Come-on 1846? – or may be I am reading your post too cryptically
Name a Euro/U.S. – that can compare in the same era $/reliability? Or even now? |
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Fiero? Worst? Most tepid maybe. I had one of the first ever. An '84 that rolled off the line in November '83. Overweight, underpowered. Not by a lot, just enought to make it uninspiring.
Handling? Sombody said "with the best of them"? No way. Obviously never driven a sports car. The Fiero handled like a GM car. Limp understeer. Not enough to be dangerous, just enought to be sluggish. Understeer until you had the engine wound up (as far as it would go) and then lifted in a corner. Useful oversteer if you expected it, a quick 180 if you didn't. Coming off formula fords, I found it tepid, having driver big cars, my wife found it scarey. Worst? nah. Mediocre. Tepid, extremely tepid. |
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My vote would go to the Ford Pinto station wagon - a POS amoung POS's!
The survey also found customer satisfaction to be a world-class oxymoron with the ten "Worst Cars of the Millennium." As one Cadillac Cimmaron owner commented, "When we traded it in, my wife was upset because we didn't keep it long enough for her to buy a gun and shoot it." View Quote I didn't know they had a ten day waiting period in the 80's. |
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The Ford Tortorise ranks up there with whale shit.
3 tranys (all under warrenty), overheated, hesitated. Dumped that lemon. K cars were the rage with the local PD's in the 80's. I inevertantly passed an off duty cop on his way to work in his personal K-car. He attempted to pull me over buy pulling up along side of me and flashed his badge. I was driving a 70 429CJ 375hp and lots of torque. I politely gestered with my middle finger and pulled away like he was standing still. Got a few tickets a couple days latter.......he said that he clocked me doing 90 on his spedo...K-car spedos only went up to 75.....Got most of the tickets droped. It was worth it to see the look on that pricks face. [:D] I got nothing but admiration for those K-Cars. |
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This has to rank up at the top: Renault ANYTHING.Oops! I see that, as usual, the french are well-represented in a "POS" thread......sorry.
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Quoted: C'mon guys! You HAVE to go with Aviator on THIS one! The Trabant was the worst vehicle in HISTORY, not just the 80s! View Quote Amen, brother. I lived in Berlin for several years and saw those things first-hand. My funniest memory of the Trabant was when it would start raining, people would take windshield wipers out and attach them to the windshield. Then when it had stopped, they would get out of their cars, take the wipers off, and put them back wherever they kept them. This was because spare parts were so scarce in the east, your windshield wipers would be stolen if you left them attached. |
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Quoted: Nothing can compare with the ORIGINAL exploding car, the 1980 Ford Pinto. Saw one of these little cans explode and incinerate its occupant. Not to be forgotten. View Quote |
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Quoted: 5. Buick Grand National. View Quote Blasphemy! The Buick Grand National, and it's siblings, the GNX & Regal T-Type were great cars. A full sized sedan that will run the 1/4 in 12.5 doesnt belong on anyones "worst" list. |
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Quoted: Quoted: 5. Buick Grand National. View Quote Blasphemy! The Buick Grand National, and it's siblings, the GNX & Regal T-Type were great cars. A full sized sedan that will run the 1/4 in 12.5 doesnt belong on anyones "worst" list. View Quote I would agree. |
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These days, everyone's talking about the Hyundai, and the Yugo. Both nice cars, if you've got $3,000 or $4,000 to throw around. But, for those of us whose name doesn't happen to be Rockefeller, finally there's some good news - a car with a sticker price of $179. That's right, $179. The name of the car?
Adobe. The sassy new Mexican import that's made out of clay. German engineering and Mexican know-how helped create the first car to break the $200 barrier. At this price, you might not expect more than reliable transportation - but, brother, you get it! Extra features: like the custom contour seats, or the beverage-gripping dash. And the money you save isn't exactly small change! Jingle: "Hey, hey, we're Adobe! The little car that's made out of clay! We're gonna save you some money that you can spend in some other way! Hey, hey, we're Adobe! Hey, hey, we're Adobe! Adobe!" [ show Adobe driver get into a fender-bender. She casually steps out of the vehicle and uses her hands to mold her bumper back into its proper shape, in under six minutes! ] Spokesman: Adobe. You can buy a cheaper car. But I wouldn't recommend it! Announcer: Not approved for street use in some states. No warranty either expressed or implied. All sales final. 11/15/86 Spokesman.....Phil Hartman [img]http://snltranscripts.jt.org/pics/86dadobe.jpg[/img] |
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Quoted: C'mon guys! You HAVE to go with Aviator on THIS one! The Trabant was the worst vehicle in HISTORY, not just the 80s! View Quote I must say I disagree with you on this one. I spent some time in eastern Europe and developed an affinity for these cars. They would struggle to start but would always start. They handled like crap but there is no where to drive them fast anyhow. Sure, they would smoke but eastern Europe is all about pollution anyhow. Sorry, they just have more charm than a K-car. Plus the Trabant isn't an 80s design, so I don't think it should be included in this discussion anyhow. The Le Car falls into this category as well. POS but at least it had charm and a roll back roof. My vote goes to anything made by Cadillac during the period. Especially the Cimmaron. |
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Yea Raf got that right. Both of my friends parents were killed in a Pinto crash.
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what about the classic 1980 ford pinto!! got to love a car that you hit in the back and BOOOOOOMMMMM.
hehe not sure how many times this happen in real life but sure did kill the pinto :) |
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Quoted: Quoted: As a proffessional mechanic I would have to say the following list might help. 1.Chevy Citation (all X cars included) 2. Ford Tempo 3. ~~~ View Quote Slight addition to 1., Chevy Citation == Pontiac Phoenix. Also can add the POS Olds Omega. View Quote Welp, maybe the 80-84's or the 2.8's but I had 2 85's with a 2.5, the first I got 6 months after I started driving, when I killed my Chevette ( don't ask ) It lasted through high school, college, and a year after that I moved to Co for 2 years it sat home, when i got back it lasted about a week ( not an uncommon thing for a car that sits that long) I got it at 55K miles on it, it died at 143,000 on it. I kept it maintained well, only major repair was a water pump and an ignition module. My grandfather bought the car with 35K on it he had to replace the head gasket (common 2.5 thing, I guess the head bolts were bad in those years) I now have another, same year, I drive when there is ice or snow, it has 86K on it, and I am driving it every day until I get my BMW back ( some of you may remember the oil pan incident last week ) The only thing I had that was better in the snow than my citation was my 69 3/4ton chevy with a 1 ton posi rear. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: 5. Buick Grand National. View Quote Blasphemy! The Buick Grand National, and it's siblings, the GNX & Regal T-Type were great cars. A full sized sedan that will run the 1/4 in 12.5 doesnt belong on anyones "worst" list. View Quote I would agree. View Quote Now I just had to look this up: [url]http://www.buickgnx.com/[/url] The accepted times for GNX production models was 0-60 in 5.3 seconds and quarter mile in 13.4 @ 104mph. |
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Quoted: Ford Pinto = Rolling Roman Candle. View Quote Maybe so "Rock" but such acceleration, such power, such.......a POS. |
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"Handling? Sombody said "with the best of them"? No way. Obviously never driven a sports car. The Fiero handled like a GM car. Limp understeer. Not enough to be dangerous, just enought to be sluggish. Understeer until you had the engine wound up (as far as it would go) and then lifted in a corner. Useful oversteer if you expected it, a quick 180 if you didn't. Coming off formula fords, I found it tepid, having driver big cars, my wife found it scarey."
huh? previously owned and abused sportscars: triumph spitfire, mgb gt, sunbeam alpine (scca'd with a 260 v-8), simca 1204 gt, sunbeam tiger w/289 hi-po stuffed in it, several corvairs in various stages of trim from mild to yenko and let's not forget the '66 a-h 6 banger. (we won't count the vw engined plymouth turismo! lol!) the fiero could outbrake them all. on anything other than a glass smooth skid pad, the fiero could out pull them all. sure it was a dog under gas, but once the porpoising was dialed out (shocks), that thing could drive rings around anything else i had owned. the early toy mrmr was even better! at 9/10ths, the fiero was totally predictable and tossable like a car that was 500 lbs. lighter. as far a throttle steering went, well...the engine just wasn't strong enough (and the vehicle weight was too high!) for anything other than lifting and scaring. but,the basic dynamics of the car pretty darn good. for the money, the fiero offered pretty good handling...and ferarri-like maintanance. |
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