Worst car ever made and sold in the UK?
Discussion
Rammy76 said:
No it wasn't, you're seeing every 205 through GTI rose tinted glasses.
I had a 205 1.4 XL, the clutch was snappy, the engine was gutless and would not idle properly, it was extremely poorly made and had a woeful ride/handling combination (oh and the head gasket blew).
This was the same for other every small engined PSA car in my experience (Talbot Samba/Citroen AX)954/1108/1360cc. Truly awful little cars unless they had the suitably sporty badge attached and the bigger engines.
Can't agree. The AX was quite a good little car being made of milk bottle tops with a decent turn of speed.I had a 205 1.4 XL, the clutch was snappy, the engine was gutless and would not idle properly, it was extremely poorly made and had a woeful ride/handling combination (oh and the head gasket blew).
This was the same for other every small engined PSA car in my experience (Talbot Samba/Citroen AX)954/1108/1360cc. Truly awful little cars unless they had the suitably sporty badge attached and the bigger engines.
However, a mention needs to go to the PSA diesels. I had a Citroen Visa 17D which was a stonking solid little car and light years ahead of the petrol version I had as a courtesy car.
LuS1fer said:
Can't agree. The AX was quite a good little car being made of milk bottle tops with a decent turn of speed.
Hmmm, I had my first driving lessons in an AX 1.5(?) diesel. After my initial 5 lesson block booking, I ditched the instructor for one with a Rover Metro 1.1S.The Metro felt like it was a whole generation ahead of the AX.
Chicharito said:
LuS1fer said:
Can't agree. The AX was quite a good little car being made of milk bottle tops with a decent turn of speed.
Hmmm, I had my first driving lessons in an AX 1.5(?) diesel. After my initial 5 lesson block booking, I ditched the instructor for one with a Rover Metro 1.1S.The Metro felt like it was a whole generation ahead of the AX.
Handling typical too much roll.
Also had a AX GT - very comfy ride for a sporty car BUT 1.4 engine nasty choke ,tiresomely noise, thrashy and unrefined engine.Despite low miles mine was not reliable either.
I think we've covered most of the nasties here, but in the dim and distant past I remember having an old Morris van where the gear lever was held in by a grub screw, and the number of times I was cursing and fiddling trying to put the lever back in in the dark were legion! All the cars above were ancient technology when they were launched in the main, although with some serious engineering the Maxi could have been a wondrous car - a fore-runner to the Jazz based on the usable space inside - but as usual quality control and that bloody gearchange let it down. The later Escorts I agree with, but look where they are now with the Focus. Light years of difference. I cringe at how my generation destroyed the motor industry in this country, but why oh why does it take an Indian to bring Jaguar back to it's former glory when the Brits had destroyed it, the Americans as usual thought that chucking money solved any problem and failed of course,but now there is such a buzz about Jaguar and it is once again something to be proud of.
M4cruiser said:
Sorry guys, you're all wrong (IMO)!!
All those mentioned so far had character, and the problems were all part of the character.
What makes a car good or bad is does it meet your expectations? The Allegro did. The Marina did (my expectations were pretty low).
No, the worst car built in UK is the Nissan Primera. I had high expectations for mine, and it did not meet them.
i had 2 primera gt's, friggin awesome carsAll those mentioned so far had character, and the problems were all part of the character.
What makes a car good or bad is does it meet your expectations? The Allegro did. The Marina did (my expectations were pretty low).
No, the worst car built in UK is the Nissan Primera. I had high expectations for mine, and it did not meet them.
did you have the renault laguna primera by any chance??
V8A*ndy said:
Havn't read the whole thread.
Has this little gem been mentioned yet?
That was one of the better cars available in its time. All alloy engine; rust free plastic body and surprising stiffness provided by a separate chassis. easy to repair, reliable and supposedly handled as well as a Mini - although RWD in that short a wheelbase was probably hairy.Has this little gem been mentioned yet?
It didn't tip over like the three wheelers but was treated as somewhat of a joke owing to them. Sadly the Kitten was a failure as no-one wanted to drive a small Reliant without the advantage of the three wheeler tax and licence incentive.
For the early seventies they were pretty good. Try harder next time.
Zod said:
Ah, yes, because if it hadn't been for BMW, BL would still be around producing world-beating cars.
They would have formed stronger links to Honda who actually understood them, unlike BMW who having bought them were too frightened to let the Rover engineers produce the cars they were capable of as they coud have harmed the sales of BMW. Think about how quickly the MG versions of the range were released after BMW sold out, and what they could have been with more development money. BMW did a great "saving" job there!Worst car ever made and sold in the UK? Probably a home made contraption that someone knocked up in their shed and managed to sell on to someone else.
andyps said:
Zod said:
Ah, yes, because if it hadn't been for BMW, BL would still be around producing world-beating cars.
They would have formed stronger links to Honda who actually understood them, unlike BMW who having bought them were too frightened to let the Rover engineers produce the cars they were capable of as they coud have harmed the sales of BMW. Think about how quickly the MG versions of the range were released after BMW sold out, and what they could have been with more development money. BMW did a great "saving" job there!Worst car ever made and sold in the UK? Probably a home made contraption that someone knocked up in their shed and managed to sell on to someone else.
Okay , the 75 was not perfect - but then neither was the Honda venure 800
Chicharito said:
dowahdiddyman said:
Worst built in uk, Nissan Micra.
Given the weight of evidence, mostly of some utter trash from BL.... I don't know how anyone could even consider the Micra to be 'worst'.
Micras are exceedingly reliable little cars, are they not?
What exactly are they bad at - what makes them the worst?
C
It's obviously a disparity of ages. We old timers remember the worst of the BL era, and believe me it was inconceivably bad compared to anything Japanese. I bought my wife one of the early Civics to replace her Mini in the 70's and it surpassed anything except the Golf we replaced it with. I have had but one "british" car as everyday transport since 1977, buying myself a new X300 3.2 Jaguar for my 50th. Big mistake; gearbox problems, windows sticking, (always down when it rained too), front suspension collapsed, two sets of wheels replaced when the laquer fell off - car sold at a £10,000 loss in 10 months. Since then two Mercs in 15 years and hardly a repair bill or problem.
But back to the worst cars; The Ford Popular with the asthmatic 1172 side-valve was way out of date when it was replaced by the Anglia. Anyone who drove these three-speed cars uphill in the rain, the wipers making one sweep per minute being powered by the manifold pressure, will appreciate how Japanese and German engineering changed our lives. Compare a Honda S800 (4 Keihin carbs) with a Spridget (twin SU's), or a Honda Benly with a 250cc Villiers engined 2-stroke Greeves, Cotton or Francis Barnett. Light years of difference.
But back to the worst cars; The Ford Popular with the asthmatic 1172 side-valve was way out of date when it was replaced by the Anglia. Anyone who drove these three-speed cars uphill in the rain, the wipers making one sweep per minute being powered by the manifold pressure, will appreciate how Japanese and German engineering changed our lives. Compare a Honda S800 (4 Keihin carbs) with a Spridget (twin SU's), or a Honda Benly with a 250cc Villiers engined 2-stroke Greeves, Cotton or Francis Barnett. Light years of difference.
LuS1fer said:
Can't agree. The AX was quite a good little car being made of milk bottle tops with a decent turn of speed.
However, a mention needs to go to the PSA diesels. I had a Citroen Visa 17D which was a stonking solid little car and light years ahead of the petrol version I had as a courtesy car.
Indeed. Airfix build quality ((c) Evo) and you wouldn't want to crash it (or a 205 for that matter although that felt a little more substantial) but one thing the French were rather good in back then was achieving a lovely handling and ride balance (if you didn't mind a bit of lean in corners). No experience of Metros (save from that it looked very agricultural in places when passengering in one), but the German/Japanese/Italian competition felt rather stolid or hopelessly unrefined in comparison.However, a mention needs to go to the PSA diesels. I had a Citroen Visa 17D which was a stonking solid little car and light years ahead of the petrol version I had as a courtesy car.
tali1 said:
AX 1.5D was very quick
Hmm, I think you need to quote that within a frame of reference as it was most certainly not what I'd call quick. 0-60 was around 13 seconds, and that was only due to the extremely light (and flimsy) AX body. In the slightly heftier 106 it was virtually a rolling roadblock.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff