Which Car Was the 1980's Widowmaker?

[RRS_Staffs]

Hi

Back in the 80's a number of the mags used to refer to the awful accident history of one of the decades supercars but never said which for presumed fear of litigation

I have no idea what it was but would guess the 930 Turbo, if not a boggo Carrerra

Anyone know the facts?

Cheers

[s m]

993 GT2 often was 'labelled' as such but that was later on

[DrTre]

RRS_Staffs said:

Hi

Back in the 80's a number of the mags used to refer to the awful accident history of one of the decades supercars but never said which for presumed fear of litigation

I have no idea what it was but would guess the 930 Turbo, if not a boggo Carrerra

Anyone know the facts?

Cheers

Can't say I ever remember it relating to a real accident history, but that (turbo) was the car I thought of on reading the title. It was frequently mentioned as being a handful, to put it mildly.

[Benjy911]

Pretty sure it would have been some sort of 911.

[McClure]

But I thought it was as much to do with the yuppies who would blow their bonuses on one, try to show off to their mates and promptly stick in the scenery. So as much driver idiocy as the handling.

[fatboy69]

Wasnt it that awful AMC Pacer thing that had a tenancy to explode when it was involved in an accident?

[hesnotthemessiah]

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

[Mastodon2]

Whenever I think "widowmaker", I immediately think of a certain twin turbo 993, not 1980s but reputedly a monster to drive.

[davepoth]

Original 930 turbo was the classic late '70s/early '80s widowmaker. Classic 911 handling combined with a boost threshold like the doorstep of hell itself and turbo lag longer than a timeshare presentation[/Queef] meant it was a little bit deadly if you were a coked up city boy with no idea how to drive.

[DrTre]

fatboy69 said:

Wasnt it that awful AMC Pacer thing that had a tenancy to explode when it was involved in an accident?

You mean the Ford Pinto from the 70's?

ETA let me rephrase that a bit less bolshily:
Wasn't that the Ford Pinto from the 70's?

Edited by DrTre on Wednesday 25th July 20:48

[anonymous-user]

911 turbo

boost is totally different to modern turbo's..easy to catch you out and with the pendulum effect, a killer.

[dmcrobin]

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 :-)

[fatboy69]

DrTre said:

fatboy69 said:

Wasnt it that awful AMC Pacer thing that had a tenancy to explode when it was involved in an accident?

You mean the Ford Pinto from the 70's?

ETA let me rephrase that a bit less bolshily:
Wasn't that the Ford Pinto from the 70's?

Edited by DrTre on Wednesday 25th July 20:48

Not the PInto. The Pacer that was used in Waynes World was the one I was thinking of - dates back to the late 70's.

[DrTre]

yeah, I know the car (one door longer than the other wasn't it?) just didn't realise it had a reputation...except for being really quite ooglah.

[fatboy69]

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

[Alfanatic]

fatboy69 said:

DrTre said:

fatboy69 said:

Wasnt it that awful AMC Pacer thing that had a tenancy to explode when it was involved in an accident?

You mean the Ford Pinto from the 70's?

ETA let me rephrase that a bit less bolshily:
Wasn't that the Ford Pinto from the 70's?

Edited by DrTre on Wednesday 25th July 20:48

Not the PInto. The Pacer that was used in Waynes World was the one I was thinking of - dates back to the late 70's.

Neither of those were much like a supercar though. The 911 Turbo was the one with the rep, though I don't remember journalists, even UK ones, being afraid to identify it. If there was a hidden one which was never referred to by name, then I expect one of the flat 12 Ferraris, i.e. either the 512BB or the Testarossa, might be a candidate. Both were known to be a bit snappy at the limit and Ferrari have always been a bit sensitive about bad press.

Still, I expect you're thinking about the 911 Turbo legend.

[JonathanLegard]

Fuel tanks? Pinto.

[fatboy69]

Ooops. I didn't see the Supercar bit in the original post....

[Triumph Man]

DrTre said:

fatboy69 said:

Wasnt it that awful AMC Pacer thing that had a tenancy to explode when it was involved in an accident?

You mean the Ford Pinto from the 70's?

ETA let me rephrase that a bit less bolshily:
Wasn't that the Ford Pinto from the 70's?

Edited by DrTre on Wednesday 25th July 20:48

It was the Pinto.

[iva cosworth]

Further back than 70s [60s]Chevrolet Corvair was a bit "wayward"

Yes it's not a supercar either