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.

“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”.

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?!

I imagine the owner looking out to his or her driveway and saying, “aw, shit.”

-Matt

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)

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.

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.

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.

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…..

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!)

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.

Asüna Sunfire (1993)
Asüna Sunrunner (1992-1995)
Asüna SE/GT (1993)

A roaring success, as you can see.

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…

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.

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.