The worst car you've ever driven...
Discussion
Austin Maxi 1750HL. Hated every moment of the few months I owned the thing in 1981. It had no redeeming features and felt like you were driving a bus. A totally uncool vehicle for a 20y/o lad to be seen at the wheel of.
And thirty-six years on - I think I would feel pretty cool driving one around town today. Oh dear. Nurse! NURSE!...
And thirty-six years on - I think I would feel pretty cool driving one around town today. Oh dear. Nurse! NURSE!...
Likeomg said:
Probably one of my series land rover's
atrocious to drive; noisy, slow, brakes... sometimes, about 12-15mpg
But the feeling you get from them is amazing as long as your not going too far.. or on roads with a speed limit more than 40.
they are contagious, we now have a collection of 8 classic LR's!!
I'm inclined to agree. My 1962 SIIa 109 has the turning circle of a Maersk supertanker, and tight slow speed maneuovering is a gym workout in its own right. atrocious to drive; noisy, slow, brakes... sometimes, about 12-15mpg
But the feeling you get from them is amazing as long as your not going too far.. or on roads with a speed limit more than 40.
they are contagious, we now have a collection of 8 classic LR's!!
Get it "up to speed" and you'll be deafened while slowly being poisoned by a medley of fumes, in conjunction with every bone in your body being rattled like a toddlers toy. When you've had enough of that, trying to stop is yet another event that you'll probably end up being killed to death doing.
However it is brilliant fun and I can never see myself selling it. Besides, it's still earning it's living!
Had a drive of a light blue Triumph Herald that the girlfriends grandma wouldn't sell back in the early eighties.
With 4 up, we went out into the fens around Spalding one afternoon and I can honestly say it was one of the most unnerving motoring experiences I've ever had. Those things weren't safe.
Saying it handled like a boat would be insulting to boats. And the brakes made it go faster! Bloody death traps.
With 4 up, we went out into the fens around Spalding one afternoon and I can honestly say it was one of the most unnerving motoring experiences I've ever had. Those things weren't safe.
Saying it handled like a boat would be insulting to boats. And the brakes made it go faster! Bloody death traps.
The Herald actually drove pretty well by the standards of the period . Snappy, short shift gearchange (especially if synchro was present and correct, which it often wasn't and ISTR was never on first) , astonishing turning circle , peppy little engine (not quick but willing ) and great steering - which you really , really needed to apply the ..ahem dab of oppo (more like armful than dab ) which was required if you were daft enough to lift off mid corner when pressing on (I speak in a relative sense - 80mph flat out)
But there were far, far worse cars around then .
But there were far, far worse cars around then .
cvms said:
Nissan Serena, circa 1995MY.... Truly awful vehicle... You couldn't call it a car, you couldn't call it a van with windows as it was more agricultural than that. Even 20 years on I shudder as to how awful it was... 
I hired one of those one time for a holiday, mine was petrol and it was ok, not 'I want to buy one ok' but I don't recall it being especially s
te, it had two sunroofs and was mid engined if I recall right, went ok.Easy, was also the worse car I've ever owned.
A montego countryman in gold, with beige interior. Imaginge if you can, a friday car, built by Austin Rover when they weren't on strike. We bought it as my wife was a childminder at the time and fancied the 7 seats (pop up seats in the boot)
Made up of whatever bits they could be bothered putting into the car from across the ranges. Engine from a Maestro with a sump from something else, wiper motor mechanism that had 7 varients, bolts and screws missing from everything. Gutless performance, unreliable piece of st that kept overheating, understeered terribly around corners. In the end she tried to kill it by driving it 30 miles at speed whilst overheating to pick the kids up from school.
I got a phone call as the headmaster was covering the engine with a fire extinguisher whilst getting the fire brigade there as it was smoking heavily.
We scrapped it/traded it in as the head had warped and saw it on fire on the M4 two weeks later. Looks like someone tried to bodge it back together and failed dismally. "please just let it burn to nothing" said my wife as we drove past. A fitting end to a dreadful car
A montego countryman in gold, with beige interior. Imaginge if you can, a friday car, built by Austin Rover when they weren't on strike. We bought it as my wife was a childminder at the time and fancied the 7 seats (pop up seats in the boot)
Made up of whatever bits they could be bothered putting into the car from across the ranges. Engine from a Maestro with a sump from something else, wiper motor mechanism that had 7 varients, bolts and screws missing from everything. Gutless performance, unreliable piece of s
t that kept overheating, understeered terribly around corners. In the end she tried to kill it by driving it 30 miles at speed whilst overheating to pick the kids up from school.I got a phone call as the headmaster was covering the engine with a fire extinguisher whilst getting the fire brigade there as it was smoking heavily.
We scrapped it/traded it in as the head had warped and saw it on fire on the M4 two weeks later. Looks like someone tried to bodge it back together and failed dismally. "please just let it burn to nothing" said my wife as we drove past. A fitting end to a dreadful car
17 plate Fiat Tipo hire car before my new company car was delivered.
Hateful thing, 1.4 N/A engine struggled everywhere and anywhere, 46mph up Telegraph hill (Exeter).
The gearbox was also extremely odd, it was way to light moving the lever with no feedback as to if you had selected a gear or not.
Only thing it had going was a humongous boot for a car thst size. 10/10 would not buy.
Hateful thing, 1.4 N/A engine struggled everywhere and anywhere, 46mph up Telegraph hill (Exeter).
The gearbox was also extremely odd, it was way to light moving the lever with no feedback as to if you had selected a gear or not.
Only thing it had going was a humongous boot for a car thst size. 10/10 would not buy.
Otispunkmeyer said:
Had a 17 plate Giulietta? Today. In a word, awful. I can't imagine anyone taking that for test drive and thinking "yes, yes this'll do".
It rode quite nicely and it looks ok. That was about it. The headlamps were like candles and the high beam literally felt like you were shining a torch out the window.
Clutch felt like it was set in a bucket of stodge and the brakes...my word. Theres like a half foot of pedal travel where absolutely nothing happens and then you transition into emergency braking.
I can't believe someone signed that off. The 5 inch infotainment system was super low rent.
The engine (I guess a 1.4 multiair turbo) was ok. Bit weak in "natural" mode but quite chirpy in "dynamic". Thirsty though. Handling was quite inert, it went where you pointed it I suppose.
All very subjective though. The brakes are something you would get used to, the clutch is the same, the handling is probably the same as any other European hatchback (and actually in line with continental tastes, if not British), the headlights are probably perfectly serviceable but not xenon / led quality so pant in comparison and the engine is a peach for what it is.It rode quite nicely and it looks ok. That was about it. The headlamps were like candles and the high beam literally felt like you were shining a torch out the window.
Clutch felt like it was set in a bucket of stodge and the brakes...my word. Theres like a half foot of pedal travel where absolutely nothing happens and then you transition into emergency braking.
I can't believe someone signed that off. The 5 inch infotainment system was super low rent.
The engine (I guess a 1.4 multiair turbo) was ok. Bit weak in "natural" mode but quite chirpy in "dynamic". Thirsty though. Handling was quite inert, it went where you pointed it I suppose.
I think something not being liked is now automatically equated to terrible and it just isn't. Go drive a similar spec Peugeot, Hyundai, Kia or Vauxhall and tell me they are really that different.
Byker28i said:
Easy, was also the worse car I've ever owned.
A montego countryman in gold, with beige interior. Imaginge if you can, a friday car, built by Austin Rover when they weren't on strike. We bought it as my wife was a childminder at the time and fancied the 7 seats (pop up seats in the boot)
Made up of whatever bits they could be bothered putting into the car from across the ranges. Engine from a Maestro with a sump from something else, wiper motor mechanism that had 7 varients, bolts and screws missing from everything. Gutless performance, unreliable piece of st that kept overheating, understeered terribly around corners. In the end she tried to kill it by driving it 30 miles at speed whilst overheating to pick the kids up from school.
I got a phone call as the headmaster was covering the engine with a fire extinguisher whilst getting the fire brigade there as it was smoking heavily.
We scrapped it/traded it in as the head had warped and saw it on fire on the M4 two weeks later. Looks like someone tried to bodge it back together and failed dismally. "please just let it burn to nothing" said my wife as we drove past. A fitting end to a dreadful car
My mum had a Montego estate when I was a lad. It ended up in a DC central reservation after someone merged into the side of her from a slip road. She didn't seem bothered by its loss.A montego countryman in gold, with beige interior. Imaginge if you can, a friday car, built by Austin Rover when they weren't on strike. We bought it as my wife was a childminder at the time and fancied the 7 seats (pop up seats in the boot)
Made up of whatever bits they could be bothered putting into the car from across the ranges. Engine from a Maestro with a sump from something else, wiper motor mechanism that had 7 varients, bolts and screws missing from everything. Gutless performance, unreliable piece of s
t that kept overheating, understeered terribly around corners. In the end she tried to kill it by driving it 30 miles at speed whilst overheating to pick the kids up from school.I got a phone call as the headmaster was covering the engine with a fire extinguisher whilst getting the fire brigade there as it was smoking heavily.
We scrapped it/traded it in as the head had warped and saw it on fire on the M4 two weeks later. Looks like someone tried to bodge it back together and failed dismally. "please just let it burn to nothing" said my wife as we drove past. A fitting end to a dreadful car
mk5 Escort 1.4 LX. One of the few cars I've ever driven that even rose tints don't give one redeeming feature to. Terrible combination of gutless performance, and that grotty old CVH engine that had the dash plastics, pedals, (and your fillings) vibrating horribly past 4,000 RPM. Heavy steering with 4 turns lock to lock, awful flat, hard seats, nasty plastics, and bland styling. Everything you touched felt brittle, cheap and nasty. I can't believe anyone spending their own money ever bought one of these if they'd even looked at anything else.
What Ford achieved with the XR3i and RS2000 from the foundations of this turd, was little short of remarkable. In fact, the RS2000 was a bit of a gem, I thought.
What Ford achieved with the XR3i and RS2000 from the foundations of this turd, was little short of remarkable. In fact, the RS2000 was a bit of a gem, I thought.
Limpet said:
mk5 Escort 1.4 LX. One of the few cars I've ever driven that even rose tints don't give one redeeming feature to. Terrible combination of gutless performance, and that grotty old CVH engine that had the dash plastics, pedals, (and your fillings) vibrating horribly past 4,000 RPM. Heavy steering with 4 turns lock to lock, awful flat, hard seats, nasty plastics, and bland styling. Everything you touched felt brittle, cheap and nasty. I can't believe anyone spending their own money ever bought one of these if they'd even looked at anything else.
What Ford achieved with the XR3i and RS2000 from the foundations of this turd, was little short of remarkable. In fact, the RS2000 was a bit of a gem, I thought.
Richard Parry-Jones got involved with the mk5 re-hash What Ford achieved with the XR3i and RS2000 from the foundations of this turd, was little short of remarkable. In fact, the RS2000 was a bit of a gem, I thought.
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