It’s human nature to always be searching for – and awed by – the latest and greatest. That tendency certainly extends to the automotive world, where the best new cars get all the headlines. But there are some important lessons to learn if we reverse course and look at some of the worst cars in history.
There was a good idea hiding somewhere within all of these vehicles, but in each case those good intentions were betrayed by ulterior motives, fueled collectively by a calamitous combination of greed, frugality, ego and short-sightedness. The result is five of the worst cars ever.
DeLorean DMC-12
It may be strange seeing the DeLorean DMC-12 on this list of the worst cars in history considering its fame and popularity. But off the silver screen, the car fell far short of expectations.
Former General Motors executive John DeLorean touted the DMC-12 as the sports car of the future. With its gull wings and sleek metallic look, it certainly has the aesthetics to meet that boast. But behind that façade was a heavy, underpowered and overpriced vehicle.
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Download Now!Originally, the company expected to sell 12,000 cars per year. In the end, only about 9,000 vehicles were made during its two-year run and the company was shut down in 1982. Ironically, the DeLorean became iconic just a few years later with its prominent role in 1985’s “Back to the Future.” The movie franchise ensured that the car’s legacy would extend well past its seemingly destined fate as an automotive footnote.
The Yugo
The Yugo was a decades-old Soviet-era Yugoslavia automobile imported to the U.S. in 1985. The decision to sell the car in America was the brainchild of entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin and was destined for failure from the start. In an interview with Car and Driver, Bricklin recalled tasking his employees to find the cheapest car in the world. They did so at a 50-year-old factory in Yugoslavia that was manufacturing a 30-year-old car. “We took this piece-of-crap car and within 14 months had set up 400 U.S. dealers and made 528 changes to the car,” Bricklin said.
Yugoslavia had been manufacturing the car for years. Bricklin’s plan was to spruce it up and bring to America. There was no amount of changes that could overcome the vehicle’s poor quality, however. The Yugo’s engine generated a measly 55 horsepower, making the car dangerous to drive on American roads. The car was notoriously unreliable (the rear window defroster was reportedly there to keep your hands warm when you needed to push the vehicle), had many parts made of plastic, and oddly enough, featured carpeting as a standard feature.
But for the people selling the Yugo, the car was all about one thing: profit margin. The vehicle only cost $2,000 wholesale and was sold stateside for nearly twice that. Consumers quickly realized that even $4,000 was too much for the Yugo.
Pontiac Aztek
For as much grief as the Aztek got, it was actually at the forefront of what would prove to be one of the top automotive trends of the past two decades. When the car was first introduced in the early aughts, SUVs were surging in popularity and the idea of crossovers – vehicles with the space and power of an SUV combined with the on-street abilities of a sedan – was just beginning to take hold.
In fact, if you look the Aztek concept car, it doesn’t look all that dissimilar to some of today’s crossover models. Time magazine may have put it best, saying, “The shame is, under all that ugliness, there was a useful, competent crossover.”
Clearly, the idea behind the car was good, but the execution was not. The problem was that the Aztek was designed by committee. No singular, coherent vision took the lead and just about everybody got a say in the design process. Even the bean counters made their mark involved. GM accountants reportedly ordered the Aztek to be built on an existing minivan platform in order to reduce costs. This platform, however, was not long enough to hold the Aztek, forcing designers to create a box-like tail end.
The Aztek was in production all of five years, from 2001-2005. But showing that everything comes full circle, the car got a significant popularity boost when it was prominently featured as Walter White’s vehicle of choice in the uber-popular television show “Breaking Bad.”
Ford Pinto
While most of the cars on this list are here due to aesthetic design fails, poor craftsmanship or lackluster sales, several of the worst cars ever made were actually dangerous to drive. These vehicles had such fundamental mechanical and design flaws that they posed a serious risk to the occupants of the car.
Chrysler’s PT Cruiser had a unique look, which many people derided, but it’s most notable for its mercurial nature. The car was known to shut off in the middle of driving, completely out of the blue. The 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, meanwhile, had an engine that exploded when it made 90 horsepower.
But the most infamously dangerous worst car in history is the Ford Pinto. The only feature that needs to be discussed about this 1970s vehicle is its fuel tank. The Pinto famously featured an exposed fuel tank. Cars involved in rear-end collisions, even at slow speeds, tended to burst into flames. Later on, the “Pinto memo” was publicized, which proved the company concluded it was cheaper to settle victims’ lawsuits ($50 million) than to recall and fix the cars ($120 million).
Aptly, the coda to the Pinto’s story is the car’s presence in American Museum of Tort Law.
Ford Edsel
We’ve reached the pinnacle of the worst cars in history. For decades, the terms “automotive failure” and “the Edsel” have been all but synonymous. So what went so wrong?
In the mid-1950s, Ford came to the conclusion that it should expand its product line. Specifically, it needed a new, mid-priced brand to go in between its flagship Lincoln and mid-level Mercury. Studies predicted that “by 1965 half of all U.S. families … would be buying more cars in the medium-priced field, which already had 60% of the market,” according to Time magazine. And so the Edsel was created, named after Henry Ford’s son, no less.
It’s not so much that the Edsel was such a terrible car – although it certainly had its faults, namely its price. It’s that it suffered the unfortunate fate of being hyped up as the greatest thing on four wheels. Believe it or not, Ford booked an hourlong prime time television slot on CBS to unveil the car, claiming the broadcast day as “E Day.” “The Edsel Show” included performances by Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney and Louis Armstrong. By this time, however, the push for compact cars was well underway. Just two years after its prime-time debut, the Edsel’s run was over after less than 120,000 were sold. Ford had estimated it could sell up to 400,000 cars a year. In total, the company spent roughly $350 million on the Edsel’s research, design, tooling and production facilities, the equivalent of nearly $3.2 billion in 2021.
To add insult to injury, while the Edsel was cementing its place as the biggest automotive flop ever, “The Edsel Show” was nominated for an Emmy.
What do you think are some of the worst cars in history? Let us know in the comments below!
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1963 Buick special. The flywheel guard would trap water, and when it got below freezing, car would not start, (flywheel frozen in ice from trapped water). Then when it rained, the coil would get wet and car would stall out. Started carrying spare coils. Bet it did get 25 miles to a gallon of gas, but only 25 miles to a quart of oil. Spent many a night on the side of the road adding oil, while cars
whizzed by me at 60 plus mph.
The Pinto was a far safer car then both the Toyota Corolla and the VW beetle by a1975 study ! Pinto 298 deaths per million compared to 333 for the Corolla and 378 for the VW bug ! 27 people total were killed in Pinto’s catching fire from rear end collisions. I wonder how many died in front end collisions in bugs with the gas tank in front
Beetle engine fires were pretty regular. A weak, unprotected gas line went through the firewall, and twisted and rubbed against the metal because of engine shake. That wore out the hose, and leaked gas onto the exhaust manifold. I put out one engine fire in a V Dub driving next to me. I’d see beetles with burn marks on the hood or on the grill below the rear window. Like, lots of them.
Inside the car, the battery was on the floor, under the rear seat. A flimsy plastic cap kept the seat springs from shorting out the terminals. If that cap fell off, the bouncing car would make the seat springs contact the terminals, and the seat stuffing would catch on fire. I watched on bug burn because of that.
My own ’67 VW square back almost suffered both of those fates. But for 15 years, it was faithful, and unburnt.
I had an old bug where the back seat went up in flames like that. I drove into a snow back, and threw snow in the passenger door to put out the flames. Rolled started it down a hill, replaced the voltage regulator and washed the smoke off the inside of the windows. About 2 months later the motor developed massive oil leak on mid cape highway and the engine seized.
“Fix it again Tony” FIAT Need I say more?
We had a 1980 (i think) Oldsmobile diesel Custom Cruiser wagon that died so many times while driving. After it had to be towed off the Queensboro Bridge, I was kicked out of the Auto Club I had joined (not AAA). They told me that their auto club was not a substitute for car maintenance !!!!
No one has yet to name the 1980 Chevy Citation. I had one bought new. It had so many recall that it spent more time at the dealership than in my driveway.
Great article, my list includes the Pinto and Aztec you mentioned but also the Vega(I had one unfortunately), the AMC Pacer and Gremlin, all K cars, the Renault Dauphine, and any Fiat
The worst car I ever owned was a 1984 Cadillac Cimarron, which I bought new. I ended up taking it back to the dealer (Penske Cadillac in NYC) every week for almost a year to find out why the car was backfiring and would eventually die. Every week the dealer would give it back to me saying they could not find any problem with the car. I finally took the head mechanic out for a ride around the block where it backfired and finally died. They were never able to fix it. This was the most unreliable car ever built, and I have never bought a GM car since.
A couple not mentioned in the article and comments:. Suzuki Samurai which rolled over at low speeds, GM diesels in 1979 and 1980, 1st generation Hyundai’s (1987-1990), and late 1970s Horizons and Omnis
Anyone who has ever owned a Fiat 850 like I did in the 1970s can tell you that the cars you mentioned were fantastic in comparison. Countless events such as broken motor mounts, a shooting dipstick, brake lines that sliced open if the short rubber hose wasn’t mounted exactly so made owning one of these a real adventure. My mechanic kept one or two spare 850s in his garage just the parts. I finally gave up when the car could not make it the 10 miles to work without breaking down.
Fiat; Fix It All The Time….
Owned 72 fiat 124 spider.5 speed. Reverse gear died in 12000 mile,front lower ball joints one could use as a rattle. Valve guides,4 wheel disk brakes that faded if used stop sign to stop sign. Rocker panels rusted to dust. By 52000 miles I was through with it,it did look and handle nice.
Went to a 76 Celina lift back. It was everything the fiat wasnt.
Worst car I ever owned was the Dodge Aries. To paraphrase Murphy’s Law, everything that could go wrong with a car went wrong with the Aries. Even diligent repairs couldn’t prevent a second round. It was the vehicle that drove me, an all-American car owner, guiltily into the welcoming arms of a foreign (Toyota) auto maker.
Had a Dodge Aries for 6 years. Loved it. I would have kept it except it was a 2 door & getting car seats in was not fun!
Am I the only person to own the infamous Ford Granada? From the day I drove it out of the showroom until the day I got rid of it I had many frustrating revisits to the dealer with no permanent resolution of the basic problem of the failure of the car to start. Lots of “we think we located the problem’ only to return with same “unresolved problem” within days sometimes even hours.
Had a 1976 monarch ( mercury version of granada )–it was the accelerator pump in the carb——the non-leaded gas dissolved the seals–so I was told—kept it one year and traded it in for a dodge
So many clunkers, so little time! I owned a Fiat X19… it had a great sporty look but what a nightmare. In the shop constantly.
I bought a used X19 in 1983. If I remember correctly, it was only four years old at the time. I drove it for a total of 10 miles before the head gasket blew, and I found out the head was cracked. So… I replaced it with a 1974 Chevy Vega GT. That lasted almost a year before the oil pump went. I stuck with motorcycles for a decade after that.
Another insult/injury to Edsel by The Edsel Show is the program was the first to successfully air from videotape to the West Coast, rather than by the inferior kinescope recording method. Videotape was the game changer the television industry had been looking for since the beginning. The Ford Edsel apparently was not in the car industry.
1972 Audi 100 had to be one of the worst cars ever! Not even the Audi mechanics wanted to work on it, and it needed work all the time, yuck
I purchased a 1970 Audi 100 LS and Oh Boy was I in for it. For it’s time, it was an engineering marvel, but unfortunately it was a maintenance nightmare. The tough thing was that I was located in West Texas in the Air Force, about 170 miles one way from the Audi dealer and no mechanic in the small town knew what the Audi was, let alone fix it. So every few weeks, I would have to drive to San Antonio to have a problem(s) fixed and by the time I was half way home, something else would go wrong. Put a lot of miles on that Audi, not many that were fun.
I’m driving my third PT Cruiser, a 2010 with 94,000 miles. I’m babying her because
I can’t replace her. I love this car….would buy a new one in a minute! I’ve had no
real problems, and enjoy driving this car. Wish they’d make PT’s again!
Drove a 2002 PT Cruiser to 130,000 miles, never a problem. Loved that car
Our red 2003 PT limited still runs great with 76k.Only real problem is the paint, which started fading and peeling 5 years ago. Now the car looks like it’s got leprosy, which is embarrassing. But it’s so ugly, nobody would dare break into it. I could leave a box of money on the front seat, doors unlocked, and it would go untouched.
The family ’61 Chevy Corvair Monza was the 1st car I inherited. Had 98 HP and 4 fwd speed manual, long throw floor stick. Bucket seats and airplane friction clamp type seat belts. Nader be damned! Never did over-steer or spin-out. I loved it and raced it a lot, could drift corners and scare the crap out of my friends. Used to beat BMW 2002’s with it off the line. Mom used to whack the oil pan going over the curb-cut into the driveway incline when she came in @ speed due to the heavy tail (rear engine) and had to replace the pan. Was even easy to refit the fan belt that was over the top and then 90° down the rear face for the flat 6 when it lost tension and spooled off at high rev’s. After 9 years the front tub trunk and floor rusted out and Mom gave it to a friend of mine before I could restore it. Actually miss it, but not as much as my immaculate blue ’69 MGC.
Chevy Chevette. Main bearings went at 5000 miles! Took it into the dealer because of noises and they wouldn’t even let me take it out, saying it was too dangerous, gave me a loaner. That and many other constant engine problems throughout its short lifel.
The funniest license plate I ever saw was on a Vega and read “OY VEGA” a pun on the Yiddish expression “Oy Vey” roughly translated to “this is not good” about something that has occurred or will occur.
Fiat 128: “Fix It Again Tony”. Came with automatic rust. First month the brakes burned out. Fuel pump fuse was located on top of the battery under the spare tire which was located in the engine compartment. In line fuse holder guaranteed to corrode. Easy to repair if you could find it.
My 2015 Jeep Renegade has a 9-speed automatic Fiat engine. They must have figured out how to make good engines.
I had a 1992 Chevy Blazer
That blazer was the biggest toilet I’ve even own the blazer wasn’t cheap
The windshield wasn’t even sealed on the bottom that was fixed
some how water was entering the interior of the blazer and the carpet was getting soaked than the mold started the service manager told me I should use shop vac when it rains out
I just said to him how often do you vacuum your car in a year than the valve seals went in the motor
It had 28,000 miles when I traded in
Got a Toyota and have been buying Toyota’s ever since
Chevy Citation! Doomed from the start!
Chevy Citation was definitely worse car I owned. Would stall many times on road
And sometimes do a 360 turnaround. SCARY! Also paint was coming off of roof.
When I brought it to dealer to complain, they said I must of had accident with it.
Oh yeah,on the roof I think they must have used nail polish to paint it. This car was supposed to be tested for 5 years before production. Cars back then never seem to last more than 2 years. Planned obsolescence. It was only when Japanese cars were
Made available cars lasted longer.
Ct
Nd
How could you miss the Chevy Corvair? I owned one as a teenager in Detroit. It was not just unsafe, it was humiliating. I also had a Delorean in college, and it was at least ‘cool’, even though I agree with most of the article’s criticism. It was not half as underpowered as the Corvair; we sometimes had to push that clunker uphill!
In the 60’s and 70’s I punished myself with Pinto (2), Corvair, Fiat, Renault and a Ford 500 (the biggest gas guzzler ever made!) finally bought a Ford Mustang. Turned out to be the best car I ever bought.. such memories
I had a ’79 Cutlass Supreme with a 5.0l gas engine, one of the most reliable cars I’ve ever owned. The diesel engine in this model had the problem stated in the article. There was never a problem with the gas engines.