Worst Car Design Thread!

dcGT

Anyone for some rust?....



Things I particularly despise about this car:

1. The door handles
2. The crappy single wiper
3. The dodgiest looking door mirrors
4. ...Eh...the whole shape of the car!!

Then Fiat think to themselves, "hey, let's bring the Panda back out again, cause that was good car!"

DC.

giftgrub

mazda 121

wanted to barf every time i saw one





and then kill the person driving it

DukeDredd

Ford Probe - what a disaster!

PBC_1966

Originally posted by mike65
Something our american friends in Arizona etc still bounce around in


Sometimes living in a rust free environment is'nt such a good thing

Spot the headlights (or the good taste!)


Mike.

These old American cars are far better than any of the modern Euro-box cars. I don't understand why such a large number of people on this side of the Big Pond seem to dislike them.

mike65

They're big fat and stupid! I tend to react badly on two seperate grounds A) they consume vast amounts of everything to little effect - such cars are slow, ineffecient, ponderous, often not well built. And Just ugly for the most part.

As for euroboxes, many are not great but you can at least steer your way out of trouble in one!

Mike.

ando

Originally posted by DukeDredd
Ford Probe - what a disaster!

not to sure on that one

Quigs Snr

And the funny thing is that the Panda was designed by Pinnafarina who claimed it to be his favourite design !

mike65

Originally posted by Quigs Snr
And the funny thing is that the Panda was designed by Pinnafarina who claimed it to be his favourite design !

Prolly cos it could cope with Italian traffic jams!

edit> while googling Pininfriana I found this -
http://www.landcrab.net/mainframes/main_pinafarina1800.htm

to think what could have been.

Mike.

BrianD3

Ugly car design and bad car design are not necessarily the same thing. A car can be considered ugly by a lot of people but still be a good vehicle underneath or have some redeeming features Example the Ford Scorpio. For this reason I wouldn't class the Scorpio, FIAT Panda, Multipla, R12 etc. as being the "worst design ever"

One car that I regard as a bad design is the VW Golf Mk3. This thing looks like a bloated slug and drives like one too with stodgy handling and poor ride. It's also dog slow when fitted with a 1.4 or 1.6 engine. It's boring as hell, seats are hard, equipment is stingy, reliability is nothing to write home about. Its great reputation for reliability is mainly due to clever marketing and hype. It has a great image - among people who know nothing about cars. Its only virtues are a solid feel and good safety. But overall, the car was a piss-poor effort by VW.

BrianD3

unkel

Originally posted by giftgrub
mazda 121

wanted to barf every time i saw one

Yeah had the same reaction to that one giftgrub, some more recent mazda models are almost as bad (3rd generation 323F, Demios, etc)

Just as well the company was saved by the FMC, who seem to get a lot of things right recently

Originally posted by PBC_1966
These old American cars are far better than any of the modern Euro-box cars. I don't understand why such a large number of people on this side of the Big Pond seem to dislike them.

Better in what way? Sure there is something to say for the old US adage of "there's no substitute for cubic inches" in combination of some of the tried and tested big V8's provided "gas" is cheap

Had a rental Chrysler Sebring Convertible on a business trip to Florida a few years ago and it was a nice looking car with all mod cons and a fat 2.7 liter V6, but wobblethewobble it went, like an egg cooked for about 30 seconds or a chunk of jelly

Mind that's irrelevant @65mph on a 100 mile straight stretch of interstate with cruise control engaged

PBC_1966

I'll concede that the new models aren't often much to talk about. I remember I had a little Pontiac Sunbird on rental for a while back in about '95 and wasn't at all impressed, but then that particular car is very European-ized. And the late-model engines are pretty lacking in power compared to their earlier counterparts due to the ever-increasing emissions requirements.

But if we're going back to the cars of 30-ish years ago, there's no comparison (on the whole -- I'll ignore disasters like the Ford Pinto). Big engines that run smoothly, nice designs, and 2 tons of Detroit metalwork around you instead of the two sheets of kitchen foil stuck together that seems to form the bodywork of most modern Euro cars.

daggeredge

suzuki wagon R (what the F**ks the "R" for? - methinks gives small sense of hope 2 buyer that it doesn't drive like a fridge/freezer on wheels!)

fupping awful! (is it better than walking - debateable)

daggeredge

also the boot is about the size of your average suitcase long side up!

Seth Brundle

Any MPV!

ando

being in new york last year, 90% of all their cars are woeful looking

ChipZilla

In the name of the Great American Land Barge, I present the 1958 Edsel Citation:

unkel

Haha the Edsel - didn't it nearly bring the FMC to its knees?

ChipZilla

Dunno about that, but it must have brought the world's chrome supply to it's knees....

egan007

I think it's Fu**ing SWEET

Kernel32

Just about all the american designed cars look like crap. Chrysler, Chevy, Oldsmobile, Buick, Dodge, GMC, all SUV's etc. There are a few exceptions, kinda like the Sebring as well myself, the Olds Alero isn't too bad either. Dodge has this monstrosity for sale now the Dodge Magnum that I have seen on the TV that I would like to submit as a worst design.

daggeredge

disagree!
then again my father has the new megane.....(big snout as well)

Capt'n Midnight

Originally posted by unkel
Haha the Edsel - didn't it nearly bring the FMC to its knees?

Legend has it that only one was ever stolen - and it was recovered later.

PBC_1966

The Edsel didn't sell anything like as well as expected, and was discontinued after 3 or 4 years. It's generally looked upon in America as one of the biggest advertising flops of all time.

But the Edsel has the last laugh. They are highly sought-after collector's cars these days, especially the 1958 models (first year of production, as pictured above).

mike65

The Edsel provided the best joke in a movie too, the time travel comedy "Peggy Sue Got Married"



"You bought an Edsel?????!!"

Mike.

PBC_1966

It's also referred to in one of Bob Newhart's sketches of the early 1960s, "Ledge Pyschology."

Cop goes out on a high ledge to talk a prospective jumper out ot it and asks if he's in advertising, saying we get a lot of advertising people out here.

"There's one over on the other corner of the building right now..... No, I didn't get his name... I think he said he had the Edsel account."

gs39t

The Edsel wasnt really a BAD car; as one description i read summed it up nicely

"it was ugly and it had a stupid name"

Dont forget the FMC boys bounced back from that with the most successful, fastest selling car of all time

bop1977

the lexus sc430 is 1 pig ugly car

impr0v

the horrible z3 coupe, somewhat similar to the forthcoming 1 series in looks, i.e. expensively disgusting.