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| Thread ID: 82803 | 2007-09-09 00:20:00 | 50 Worst Cars Of All Time | Trev (427) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 589359 | 2007-09-09 08:10:00 | Why isn't the Austin Allegro on the list it consistently won the square wheel award in UK The 76-80 Lancias for rust - the most durable part was the exhaust system that was made of Stainless Steel. |
KenESmith (6287) | ||
| 589360 | 2007-09-09 08:27:00 | Ford Edsel all the way for #1! | andrew93 (249) | ||
| 589361 | 2007-09-09 08:53:00 | What was wrong with the Allego? They were 1300s with a different body. I think they had hydrospastic suspension. The 1100/1300 went from 1962 to 1975 if they were so bad how come they were big sellers for a long time. Maybe the Poms didnt reconize a good car when they saw it tedheath |
tedheath (537) | ||
| 589362 | 2007-09-09 08:57:00 | My Little Austin Seven (local.aaca.org), brought motoring to the 'masses' in England, as sung by Clarkson Rose in 1932, a song by Norman Long. Nice one, Terry. My primary school teacher had an elderly one - known around town as "Miss Sim's biscuit tin." |
Laura (43) | ||
| 589363 | 2007-09-09 10:29:00 | Austin Allego - Abysmal Quality Control - with a square steering wheel with the corners rounded off. Their virtual death knell was caused by part of a production run being fitted with a batch of mild steel wheel rims - supplier made an error - British Leyland was aware of the problem but could not isolate the vehicles concerned, so they decided not to do a recall. A number of accidents, including some fatals occurred, and a whistle-blower let the cat out of the bag. One litigant whose wife was killed when a front wheel collapsed was awarded half a million pounds damages against BL, which was one hell of a lot of money in the seventies - this case was followed buy a class action. |
KenESmith (6287) | ||
| 589364 | 2007-09-09 11:25:00 | Leyland P76. :) |
Trev (427) | ||
| 589365 | 2007-09-09 12:29:00 | What was wrong with the Allego? They were 1300s with a different body. I think they had hydrospastic suspension. The 1100/1300 went from 1962 to 1975 if they were so bad how come they were big sellers for a long time. Maybe the Poms didnt reconize a good car when they saw it tedheath I had one of these 1300s (a Wolseley) when I was at Uni. Clean body, beautiful leather seats. But it tried to kill me twice - once when the steering (worm and nut?) failed whilst I was on the Mangere motorway offramp. Imagine travelling at around 80km/h with no steering! I will always have a grudge with the BMC 1300s. By the way, they were volume sellers because the Japanese were largely absent from the market at the time, and the rest of the cars were even worse or far more expensive. |
vinref (6194) | ||
| 589366 | 2007-09-09 19:39:00 | Ford Edsel all the way for #1! Nah! . . . Not a "bad" car really . . just bloated when it shouldda gone the other way . The engine was huge . . and the shift quadrant was in the middle of the steering wheel . . but other than that . . it was just another barge . . . . . not better or worse than any other land yacht of it's time . I forgot one of the true lemons of all time . . the NSU Prinz . I owned one of these (got it for $5 . 00US) and it was worth much less . It ran . . . a two-cylinder desmodromic driven camshaft that had some monkey-motion connecting rods to make it go 'round . Very interesting . . I finally hadda chop it into pieces to get rid of it one piece at a time to the scrapyard . . the junkyards would not take it . Oops . . . forgot the Renault Gordini too . . although I never owned one . . I had a buddy who liked me to come over on Saturday mornings to help him get it started . Fiat Spyder . . but buy TWO . . one to drive and one for parts . OK . . cars I HAVE owned . . . . I already-mentioned the 1959 NSU Prinz . . . . Right after that I got a BSA 441cc "Victor" . . . . gawdawful torque and power . . . it scared me a lot . . . . on the street or in the dirt . It ran hard and thumped . . . . until when a pushrod would occasionally pop off the rocker and I'd have to stop and put it back on . 1938 Cord . . although I only owned it for three days . . I can say I DID own one once . I sold it to a guy for a trade for the next car + a little cash to me . . . . which was . . . . . 1953 Chevrolet Corvette . YUP . . and it was serial numbered "000013" . The only used 6 numbered VINs in those days . I still have it stored in a steel shipping container in a friend's storage yard in Costa Mesa, California for . . . whatever . . . I dunnow! It is basically disassembled and the parts are either bolted to studs welded into the container or packed in waxed and waterproofed paper and shipping wrapping . It needs upholstery and some rubber . Other than that . . it is a kit waiting to be assembled again . It is original white with red interior, 6-cylinder and Powerglide automatic transmission . Tires fell apart long ago! 1949 Ford Tudor . . . . V8 flathead, Fordomatic transmission, bad brakes and a very high roll-over capacity . 1956 Packard Patrician . . this had "on-the-fly" lubrication system built in . You just pushed a button and all the ball joints and suspension parts got a squirt of grease from a reservoir . It worked until the car got off the showroom floor where the system would then plug up and never work again . I took a long time to figger out what the little copper tubes going all over the place were for! The straight-eight engine had gobs of torque and could really run flat out . Don't ask it to stop though! At this point, I got an old (1949) Ariel SquareFour motorcycle . It sounded like a Jaguar or Triumph four-banger . . but it was nasty to drive and it leaked oil as bad as a Harley . Electricity was a problem too . . it didn't make any . Add a Vincent Rapide . . my buddy had the Black Shadow and we'd ride (when they RAN!) and scare all the mothers and little kids in the neighborhood with them . I don't remember much of the Rapide . . I lost it weekly to parental restrictions all the time and never fully appreciated it for what it was . 1959 Hillman Husky . . . 4-cylinder flathead that would only run when it was blowing steam outta the radiator . Silly 4-speed with a long-long shifter . I don't remember if it even had a water pump . . think it was thermal-siphoned! What I DO remember was that shifting into 1st or 3rd made my knuckles bleed when they hit the dashboard . Insert a 1963 Yamaha YK- or something or other 80cc street bike here . 1960 Chevrolet Corvair . . el-cheap o model that gave me a lot of fun-per-mile . Had the gasoline heater in the front floorboards and you could cook a full grown moose with it . . or your feet . 90 Horses, 4-speed manual and baby blue . I miss it! I drove this my first year of college at UCI-Irvine . . maybe that's the reminder . . hmmmm? 1953 Chevrolet BelAir, 6-cylinder "Blue-Flame" engine I yanked out and put a 302 V8 and a Hydromatic 4-speed trans in it . It was FAST! Paint was diarrhea yellow colored . Here I built a Triumph Trident for a buddy who went to VietNam and never returned . I drove it for a year or so . . but gave it back to his folks when I felt bad about having his memento . 1937 Chevrolet Opera Coupe . . I left this a stock 6-cylinder and transmission . . it was fun and you could live in the back of it if you had to . I could pack a lot of surfboards into the trunk and still close the lid . 1959 Chevrolet El-Camino . . . the one that I shouldda never let get away . Factory Tri-Pwr® carbs, factory 4-speed manual trans and Posi-Traction® 4:11 gears . Slide a 1964 Yamaha YDS-250 motorcycle into this point in time . 1959 Chevrolet 210 BelAir hard-pillar model . . . . that I put another 302 and Hydro in plus a '59 Pontiac 3 . 90:1 differential . . a real street-racer . Did the ¼-mile in 1 . 08 seconds at 109 . 66 MPH . Not bad for a 3860 lb piece of Detroit iron . 1959 Cadillac Sedan deVille C-60 . . the long . . make that L---O---N---G wheelbase . Big fins and bullet taillights . The first year of the Cad 390 engine and a four-speed hydromatic transmission (called a "Slim Jim) . Front and rear AC, Full leather interior . . all white with silver trim and black accents . Heated seats, wet bar in the back and jump seats for the Secret Service Men . The trunk would haul a small family of midgets . 1963 Cadillac Coupe deVille . The last year of the 390 engine and Slim Jim hydro transmission combo . Not as much power as the '59 setup . . but a luxury vehicle with the same white all leather interior and a landau vinyl roof . I think both the '59 and '63 Cads were the most beautiful cars ever made . 1973 Chevrolet El Camino . (OK, another Chevrolet) . . . 350 V8, Factory 4-speed stick, dual exhaust, full gauges, Posi-Traction® rear end, disc brakes all around, power steering and power brakes only! Fast . . FAST street-racer and good on the drag strip too . I put in a Chet Herbert solid lifter cam like the Duntov "30/30" from the FI Corvettes . . it make a lot of horsepower . Slip a 1977 (?) Kawasaki KZ-650/4 in here at this point . This one made me DOA twice! 1982 Pontiac Bonneville Safari Station Wagon . . DIESEL! This was the most hated engine in the US . . . but I got 438,000+ miles (704,892+ km) on it! I got is used for a trade to a used car dealer . They couldn't sell it as it wouldn't start . The problem: they only had ONE battery in it and it required TWO! It carried my whole family for years and towed a rather long (38 foot) RV trailer too . Fuel mileage was extraordinary----over 38 mpg/61 . 16 km per gallon! 1981 GMC K5 "Jimmy" Blazer . Full sized 4wd that replaced the Pontiac (^) . Gave this to my oldest daughter to drive when she had her twins . 1886 Chevrolet K5 Blazer . . I currently drive this . 350 V8, overbored . 060", built a custom THM750 transmission and big 33x12 . 50R15 tires . Crane Camshaft, early model Carter AFB 4bbl carb, split/dual exhaust . Gov-Lok® rear and Posi front axle . Snow plow front springs and dual shocks all around . 1989 Isuzu Amigo . Another "daily-driver" for me . 2 . 6L L4 engine, fuel injected; 4-speed, stock engine . Custom exhaust (people on drugs should NOT design factory exhaust systems!); 31x10 . 50R15 tires with my older Chevy Blazer rims on it (they interchange) . This has 290,000/466,709km on the odometer and the engine is un-repaired so far . I did need a clutch a year ago though . 2002 Chevrolet Astro-Van . OK . . . basically it's my wife's car . . but I paid for it! 4 . 3 V6 (just a "2-cylinders cut off 350 V8") engine with automatic trans, front and rear AC, three bench seats to carry 8 adults comfortably, full accessory package . There were some other, less-significant vehicles in the list that I cannot remember right now . . . a few pickup trucks, Bobcats, a few farm tractors and a Cessna 150 airplane on a co-ownership basis with a friend who has it now in Nemer, Texas . A few motorcycles . . like a Honda 305, a Norton 750 Commando for a short time, a Harley Davidson Sportster 900, a BSA Gold Star and another BSA Rocket 500, and a Harley Davidson Moped! Oh . . and don't forget the Puch and the Zundapp and the Jawa and the Montessa and a Husqvarna or two dirt bikes too . Damn! Looking back . . . I had a lotta fun . :dogeye: I regret never having owned a Morgan with the leather straps that hold the hood closed and the dual spare tires on the back though! Oh! AND and AC/Bristol too! |
SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 589367 | 2007-09-09 21:01:00 | Unbelievable that any car could be worse than the early Lada’s. You couldn’t keep one of those going long enough to know what tricks they could pull on a trip. :eek: |
B.M. (505) | ||
| 589368 | 2007-09-09 21:09:00 | I bet that "1886" Chevrolet K5 Blazer goes well Ken :lol: |
kenj (9738) | ||
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