Worst car ever made and sold in the UK?

[Bonefish Blues]

Chicharito said:

jas xjr said:

+1 for the Talbot avenger. Truly truly awful. Drove a new one and struggled to find neutral

Hmmm, they actually handle better than the much worshipped MkII Escort.

Some really odd opinions in here. I must be getting old, as some of the cars mentioned I actually remember as being pretty decent compared with their peers. It's only in a modern day context that they look bad.

Things like the Ambassador were very competent and comfortable, but let down by quality issues. They were a quantum leap ahead of the competition from Ford etc.

Same with the Horizon. It showed us a glimpse of the future when everyone was driving Chevettes.

Couldn't agree more. Many were a cut above our family's Chevettes.

[Vladimir]

My first car was a 1973 Morris Marina 1.3 in beige. My grandad bought it so I had no choice.

Apart from a huge back seat useful for the occasional teenage fumble (with girls who didn't care what car it was) it was in every single way, appalling.

[Volvo360]

fluffnik said:

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

LuS1fer said:

Talbot Avenger - so old it could be carbon-dated

not sure how many of them were made in blighty?

The Avenger was.

...but it was quite good:

• properly located rear axle, unlike a Marina/Ital
• snikity gear box, unlike a Marina/Ital
• free revving motor, unlike a Marina/Ital
• half decent telescopic dampers, unlike a Marina/Ital
• communicative steering, unlike a Marina/Ital

The Avenger chassis was pretty decent, especially in Tiger/Sunbeam Lotus guise. I'd sooner have one than an Escort.

Point of order - isn't the Avenger pictured a Chrysler badged version? The car started as the Hillman Avenger, then became Chrysler Avenger, then Talbot Avenger. The grille on this orange one looks to have the Chrysler badge.

[LuS1fer]

Volvo360 said:

Point of order - isn't the Avenger pictured a Chrysler badged version? The car started as the Hillman Avenger, then became Chrysler Avenger, then Talbot Avenger. The grille on this orange one looks to have the Chrysler badge.

True but essentially an identical car. Let's call it the Masked Avenger....

[AllNines]

Volvo360 said:

Point of order - isn't the Avenger pictured a Chrysler badged version? The car started as the Hillman Avenger, then became Chrysler Avenger, then Talbot Avenger. The grille on this orange one looks to have the Chrysler badge.

Not necessarily - like the S1 Sunbeam, when the name changed to Talbot, cars were still sold with the Pentastar grille. The one pictured does have a Chrysler badge on the bonnet, though, but others had the Chrysler grille plus Talbot bonnet badge.

When they got around to making a proper Talbot grille, they also made a couple like this:

[Roop]

jamiebae said:

Was the Metro really that bad a car? Compared to its contemporaries in the early 80s it was pretty good, likewise the 'Roverised' version was great fun to drive and not bad compared to the AX, Nova and such. Sure, the A series one was long in the tooth by 1989 it was still far from the worst car you could buy.

Agree. The Rover Metro with interlinked hydragas had an incredible ride quality given it's size and the MPI 1.4 GTI would crap all over AX GTs and XR2i's and happily give a 205 GTI 1.6 a run for it's money...

Build quality was gash though.

[Volvo360]

AllNines said:

Not necessarily - like the S1 Sunbeam, when the name changed to Talbot, cars were still sold with the Pentastar grille. The one pictured does have a Chrysler badge on the bonnet, though, but others had the Chrysler grille plus Talbot bonnet badge.

Crumbs. Out ed there. Fair play.

[Zod]

tali1 said:

bqf said:

The Metro - all variants, except the 6R4 rally version.

I had one, and it was appalling. Ugly, uncomfortable, slow, unreliable, badly designed, horrid. Truly horrid - it besmirches the good name of the Mini, and for that reason alone should be erased from history.

Although not the Rover version

Standard Autocar story about new British car. Every time, it's been utter bks, at least until the new XF and XJ came along when you could at least make a decent case for them.

[AllNines]

By the way, the Alpine and Horizon offerings from Chrysler (later Talbot) both won European Car of the Year awards at launch. Can't have been that bad, surely?
(OK, they might have rusted away before their time but didn't all cars back then?)

[lordlee]

thinfourth2 said:

The escort Mk6

Take the already quite st escort Mk5 and make it a bit worse in all ways and then model the front on a dead fish

The mk5 itself being a complete joke. When released it was absolutely panned as it was a lightly reskinned MK4 (which itself was totally out fo date and based on the '82 Escort Mk3). The Mk6 was Ford's not very good answer to the public outcry over the Mk5. Ford's worst hour in the UK?

[Volvo360]

lordlee said:

thinfourth2 said:

The escort Mk6

Take the already quite st escort Mk5 and make it a bit worse in all ways and then model the front on a dead fish

The mk5 itself being a complete joke. When released it was absolutely panned as it was a lightly reskinned MK4 (which itself was totally out fo date and based on the '82 Escort Mk3). The Mk6 was Ford's not very good answer to the public outcry over the Mk5. Ford's worst hour in the UK?

Maybe so, but it remained top of the best seller charts all its life. Baffling. My missus had a Mk 6 1.4 LX and I hated the blooming thing. Was dependable and cheap to run, but totally gutless and had the worst driving position I've ever experienced.

[ruff'n'smov]

I'm going to come from the Made and SOLD in the UK....

and for that reason I nominate the Chevrolet Orlando.

I had the distinct displeasure of driving one from Weston-super-Mare to |Wakefield...it was appalling. couldn't get it over 80...rolled like a row boat in Biscay, and was the most uncomfortable car/van/truck/bus. I have ever driven
Nearly as bad as my Marina...but without the teenager memories which will always exclude the Marina from being the worst car .

other near misses are
Escort Mk4 1.4L
Peugeot 309 1.6
Morris Ital 1.3

[J4CKO]

I had a Montego 2.0 GTi (basically a cheaper MG) and I liked it, never gave much trouble, went well and cornered better than the Sierra and the Cavalier, despite the Sierra being RWD, the engine was fairly torquey, interior comfy and it wasnt too bad on fuel, the Cavalier equivalent seemed very scrabbly and nervous in comparison and they all rusted equally badly.

Always a fan of Metro's, remember it was released in 1981, it is thirty years old, still have one for field duties, drove it for a day or two and it was actually quite nice, round town it was reasonably quick, 1.1 engine with about 60-70 bhp, good visibility, decent handling and despite being 19 years old not rusty apart from the rear arches, no better or worse than the 106 we had or the Polo, the Polo was a decent enough car but no fun whatsoever.

[LuS1fer]

AllNines said:

By the way, the Alpine and Horizon offerings from Chrysler (later Talbot) both won European Car of the Year awards at launch. Can't have been that bad, surely?
(OK, they might have rusted away before their time but didn't all cars back then?)

Even back then, the ECOTY meant absolutely nothing and bore little resemblance to the best cars on the market.

The Horizon was largely deemed to be a stodgy car but it looked quite pretty for its day and the Alpine actually got very good reviews though the booted Solara I seem to recall did less well.

Inevitably both suffered by remaining in production for far too long and by name-changes. I mean who the hell thought Talbot was a catchy name, made even worse by the ugly Tagora, a remodelled Peugeot 604.

[red_rover]

Zod said:

Standard Autocar story about new British car. Every time, it's been utter bks, at least until the new XF and XJ came along when you could at least make a decent case for them.

Didn't What Car also name the new Rover Metro as their car of the year in 1991?

But why let facts get in the way of unfounded opinions...

[V88Dicky]

ruff'n'smov said:

I'm going to come from the Made and SOLD in the UK....

and for that reason I nominate the Chevrolet Orlando.

Have I missed something? Whereabouts is the Orlando made? (serious question)

[Ozzie Osmond]

red_rover said:

Didn't What Car also name the new Rover Metro as their car of the year in 1991?

But why let facts get in the way of unfounded opinions...

Whatever people may say, Metro was the car which saved BL. By a distance one of their better better offerings and a sales success.

[red_rover]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Whatever people may say, Metro was the car which saved BL. By a distance one of their better better offerings and a sales success.

The Metro's only crime was to stay in production for so long.

[Zod]

Ozzie Osmond said:

red_rover said:

Didn't What Car also name the new Rover Metro as their car of the year in 1991?

But why let facts get in the way of unfounded opinions...

Whatever people may say, Metro was the car which saved BL. By a distance one of their better better offerings and a sales success.

BL was saved? Really? Where's the nearest dealer?

[red_rover]

Zod said:

BL was saved? Really? Where's the nearest dealer?

BL was at the point of complete distruction but the Metro saved it. Unfortunately who knew that BAe, BMW and the Phoenix 4 would ever get their sticky fingers involved?