Worst car ever made and sold in the UK?
Discussion
Steffan said:
The Marina was an unsafe indeed a dangerous car on release.
The handling was appalling before urgent suspension changes were made post test driving by journalists. That car should never have been made.
The worst I think.
Rubbish! It was RWD - Must've been a driver's dream! The handling was appalling before urgent suspension changes were made post test driving by journalists. That car should never have been made.
The worst I think.
(It wasn't actually, but I can never really understand all the hate directed at Marinas - My dad inherited one and it was a much nicer drive than the truly hateful Triumph Acclaim he replaced it with - That's probably saved from being a candidate by being reasonably reliable, but God it was a horrible car to drive - The WORST I've ever experienced - I think I need a drink just having remembered it...
)M
GregMac said:
You guys ever owned a Maestro?
No, but my dad owned a 1986 1.6L from new, which i also learnt to drive in. Plus learnt how to jump start, repair rust patches, repair automatic chokes, replace speakers (TBH that was a 17 year olds wish against his dads better judgement). etc., etcSo i have a fair experience..... But never owned.
Mike
jamiebae said:
U T said:
Nope, sorry. You've gone in with Morris Ital, but I'm going to have to raise you with Austin Ambassador. The Morris Ital was indeed a lazy facelift of a rubbish car, the Marina, but the Ambassador was an even lazier facelift of an even worse car, the Princess.
I rest my case for the prosecution.
Objection your honour. The Ambassador was at least on a par with the competition in terms of technology, the Ital was at least 15 years behind the times. It was RWD with a live axle, badly packaged, fitted with engines which would have been dismissed by Noah as a bit past it, and suspension from some kind of Albanian's donkey cart. In spite of this tried, tested and thoroughly de-bugged 'technology' it still managed to be hopelessly unreliable.I rest my case for the prosecution.
The Ambassador could also almost be called 'stylish', something which could never be said about the terminally dreary Ital.
I particularly enjoyed the Albanian's donkey cart analogy. Apt: very Apt.
The unreliability became inherent in the mess of Longbridge and Red Robbo. None of the later cars ever had the flair of the Minor or indeed the A 40 which were very forward looking designs.
And the build quality was just daft. And got worse.
My new V8 Vitesse lost is sunroof first time out it had not one screw holding it in place.
My TR7 arrived with the boot totally unpainted inside and underneath not even primered.
The Stag I had blew up (boiled up) with 100 miles of purchase.
And so on.
In the end I went to Volvo and Volkswagen. Superb build quality.
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.
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.
mike9009 said:
No, but my dad owned a 1986 1.6L from new, which i also learnt to drive in. Plus learnt how to jump start, repair rust patches, repair automatic chokes, replace speakers (TBH that was a 17 year olds wish against his dads better judgement). etc., etc
So i have a fair experience..... But never owned.
Mike
Lol, I'll let you have that So i have a fair experience..... But never owned.
Mike
As a model it's probably responsible for more future mechanics and bodywork specialists than any other!
yonex said:
The Viva takes some beating! Also one of the worst in recent times was the Freelander with the K series and hobbled cooling system. Gave the engine an unfair rep IMO.
The same engine that also had problems in other cars?Dunno how unfair the reputation is... (first hand experience of HGF in a well-looked-after elise).
C
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.
Wasn't the Primera 2.0ltr GT one of the best fwd saloons plus it's a BTCC winner too. 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.
Im guessing your one was a lower model?
CraigyMc said:
yonex said:
The Viva takes some beating! Also one of the worst in recent times was the Freelander with the K series and hobbled cooling system. Gave the engine an unfair rep IMO.
The same engine that also had problems in other cars?Dunno how unfair the reputation is... (first hand experience of HGF in a well-looked-after elise).
C
Everybody agreed the cross bolted engine was a step to far for a production car. On day one.
And so it proved.
Name one successful cross bolted car engine in volume production.
Or name one successful cross bolted car engine ever in volume production.
Too stressed for factory production.
It is suitable for low volume racing production. Not volume factory output.
moffspeed said:
Mk 6 Escort RS2000 - probably just an averagely bad car until you add the RS prefix - an unforgiveable defamation of everything that had borne the title beforehand...
Agree with you there. I remember the RS1600 with fondness and then of course the RS1800 (farmers special)
t name. Would give a Marina a run for its money, and lose by breaking down. LuS1fer said:
Alfa Romeo Arna/Nissan Cherry Europe - a dire combination of lousy handling Nissan on Alfasud running gear built diabolically by Italians
Talbot Avenger - so old it could be carbon-dated
Moskvich 412 - quite common in the 70s
Datsun Cherry 120A - a vile looking car akin to a Renault Wind
Suzuki X90
Polski-Fiat 125P - a very bad version of a classic Fiat.
Wartburg Knight - two-stroke hell
Talbot Avenger - so old it could be carbon-dated
Moskvich 412 - quite common in the 70s
Datsun Cherry 120A - a vile looking car akin to a Renault Wind
Suzuki X90
Polski-Fiat 125P - a very bad version of a classic Fiat.
Wartburg Knight - two-stroke hell
not sure how many of them were made in blighty?
Welshbeef said:
Moskvich 412 certainly has to be right near the top.
How about the Daewoo Niva - Copy of the astra looked terrible
KIA Magentis - lookswise I'd say a sure winner but they do have 10year warranties in the USA so there must be hidden qualities.
Hey...you're not playing to your own post...none of these were made in UK!?How about the Daewoo Niva - Copy of the astra looked terrible
KIA Magentis - lookswise I'd say a sure winner but they do have 10year warranties in the USA so there must be hidden qualities.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff