QOTD: Know Any Hard Luck Automobiles?

It’s a film I reference often, but in this case it fits. The absolutely fantastic movie Twelve O’Clock High concerns itself with a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber group stationed in the south of England during WW2.

Tasked with “precision” daylight bombing over occupied Europe relatively early in the conflict, the group goes about its missions without fighter escorts, leaving themselves wide open to every Messerschmitt and flack gun along the route. It’s a deadly business, but orders are orders. Every day, B-17s take off into a clear blue sky, many never to return.

So many, in fact, that the base earns a stigma of being home to a “hard luck group.”

The equipment is fine, as are the men behind the controls, but luck isn’t on their side. And just as circumstances can sink the fortunes of an otherwise competent outfit like the 918th Bomb Group, so too can hard luck fall on a car.

Some vehicles are just plain unlucky.

Your author knew of such a vehicle back in college. A paisley-fancying classmate briefly owned a vehicle that was compelling in its own right: a third-generation Honda Prelude in an unusual spec. It carried the base engine, but for some reason boasted optional four-wheel steering — a pricey but appealing system most often found on hotter Si models. Yours truly had just ditched an Si himself, thought that car lacked the fancy footwork.

The college experience was a short one. We’re talking eight months, yet during that time, our protagonist’s Prelude fell victim to two bouts of bad luck — one of them fatal (for the car only, thankfully).

The first incident occurred one night while our classmate was slumbering inside his apartment in a sketchy part of town. Outside, some kids decided to make off with the car. Their plan hit a snag when they discovered their target contained a strange third pedal mounted to the left of the accelerator and brake. No matter, they tried anyway.

And in doing so, made a mess of the clutch. Starving student kept his car, but the incident left him with an unexpected bill.

Not long after, this same student found himself at a red light, stopped behind (if I recall correctly) a dump truck. For reasons unknown, the driver of the truck unexpectedly threw it in reverse and started backing up. Boxed in from behind, our protagonist could only watch in disbelief as the weighty truck’s dual rear wheels made a solid effort of climbing his car’s low-slung hood.

And that was it for the Prelude with the mismatched engine and steering. RIP.

Through no fault of their own, some vehicles just can’t catch a break. And it’s entirely possibly you owned such an unlucky vehicle, or knew someone who did. Tell us about it.

[Image: General Motors]