Which Car Was the 1980's Widowmaker?

[Hudson]

Didn't the pinto explode if you got rear-ended? Bet that'll cause a bit more than whiplash.

If you're the daily mail however, you'd have to wait till 1990 for the planet destroying, mass child killing media outrage that was the Lotus Carlton

[driverrob]

Some years ago I did have the dubious pleasure of driving an early 911 turbo, tea-tray. The accelerator pedal should have had a label reading "Fish-tailing death-wish button. Use with care."
Wikipedia says of this model "these early cars are known for their exhilarating acceleration coupled with challenging handling characteristics and extreme turbo lag."

[POORCARDEALER]

Maserati 222 bi turbo... Bloody lethal , throttle was like a on off switch...

[hesnotthemessiah]

dmcrobin said:

hesnotthemessiah said:

70's to 90's.......The original.........The one and only.........

Not seen that car for years, I remember it when I was a young sales trainee at Graypaul when it was in Loughborough, good times :-)

It's locked away in a garage now in deepest darkest Yorkshire. Pity!

What a monster! It was so wide I couldn't fit it all in the frame of the camera.

[dmcrobin]

hesnotthemessiah said:

It's locked away in a garage now in deepest darkest Yorkshire. Pity!

What a monster! It was so wide I couldn't fit it all in the frame of the camera.

Is it still with the same owner ?

If my memory serves me correctly, I think that was the one that had done a tiny mileage and I had the pleasure of driving it off the transporter and to our display stand at Coys Historic Festival, must have been about 1997.

[hesnotthemessiah]

dmcrobin said:

Is it still with the same owner ?

If my memory serves me correctly, I think that was the one that had done a tiny mileage and I had the pleasure of driving it off the transporter and to our display stand at Coys Historic Festival, must have been about 1997.

Sounds about right.

[soad]

Benjy911 said:

Pretty sure it would have been some sort of 911.

Absolutely.

[Strawman]

I think the first car to earn this title was the Tatra T77 with it's rear mounted V8

wikipedia said:

Many German officers met their deaths driving heavy, rear-engined Tatras faster around corners than they could handle. At the time, as an anecdote, Tatra became known as the 'Czech Secret Weapon' for the scores of officers who died behind the wheel; at one point official orders were issued forbidding German officers from driving Tatras

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_(company)

[jbi]

The result of crashing a full sized yank tank into a small, European style hatchback in 1972

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgOxWPGsJNY&fea...

[anonymous-user]

jbi said:

The result of crashing a full sized yank tank into a small, European style hatchback in 1972

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgOxWPGsJNY&fea...

From what I see the fuel tank spills onto the car behind....not always a bad thing.

[SEE YA]

Speed nothing without control.

[Plotloss]

930 Turbo 'Badger Hunter'

The Stratos also has the ability to swap ends on a perfectly flat and straight bit of road for no apparent reason.

[drakart]

I wonder how many Novas were crashed in the 80s... Although the age of the drivers meant that they were technically kiddy killers rather than widow makers.

I tend to disagree about the 911 being banded about as the dangerous one. In the 70s with Pirelli P6000s on they were deadly, but tyres had moved on by the time the 80s came about.

[markmullen]

The vast majority of 930s (all but the last 6 months worth in '89) were 4 speeds which meant long gears coupled with a laggy turbo meant trying to trim the car around a corner you'd put your foot down a little, nothing would happen, so your brain would put your foot down a little more, still nothing would happen, then all of a sudden you'd get a rush of boost. Instinct before you get used to 911s is that if you're going too fast then you should lift off, which is when 911s get a little hairy.

993 GT2s got the title widowmaker, they are quick, and if you took liberties they could catch you out.

[Fire99]

Reputation or not, this has just reminded me how good the '930' 911 looks. Makes 996/997/991's look like jelly-moulds.
911 works best as a compact sports car.

[stuckmojo]

Strawman said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_(company)

must have been fun.

I have a soft spot for these mid-mounted V8 Tatras



oh, and

[toon10]

fatboy69 said:

I was due to the location of the fuel tank I think.

My boy was watching a Top Gear USA the other day and it had a Pinto, a Suzuki Jeep thing and something else. The group test was to do various things with these 'widow maker' cars. As mentioned, the Pinto was notorious for the fuel tank blowing up on rear impacts. The Suzuki would roll over at normal speeds with a little steering input and I can't recall the thrid car.

[Hugo a Gogo]

toon10 said:

fatboy69 said:

I was due to the location of the fuel tank I think.

My boy was watching a Top Gear USA the other day and it had a Pinto, a Suzuki Jeep thing and something else. The group test was to do various things with these 'widow maker' cars. As mentioned, the Pinto was notorious for the fuel tank blowing up on rear impacts. The Suzuki would roll over at normal speeds with a little steering input and I can't recall the thrid car.

Corvair

the notorious "Unsafe at any Speed" car from Ralph Nader's book
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed

[TVdinneR]

[Brilad]

Although lots of supercars have been mentioned as potential widowmakers the car that comes to mind first for this title is the original Renault 5 Turbo.

I have not driven one, but I have heard it mentioned that the characteristics of the turbo meant that it had a tendency to suddenly give a wodge of power half way around 2nd gear corners.

Needless to say this not necessarily a good thing.

Now this is all hearsay, anyone who knows better please correct me!!