The worst car you've ever driven...
Discussion
An elderly, poorly built, poorly maintained, lived-most-of-its-life-outside Robin Hood. I had to drive it three miles on a route with a short stretch with a 50 mph speed limit. I just didn't have it in me to take it over 40.
When you are interested in cars you say, "I'd drive anything." When you drive for a living you have to. An ambition satisfied was to hire a Caterham from Caterham for a day. All day in a Caterham. Mmmm. That was fantastic. Driving that Robin Hood for three miles was not. It was horrible.
When you are interested in cars you say, "I'd drive anything." When you drive for a living you have to. An ambition satisfied was to hire a Caterham from Caterham for a day. All day in a Caterham. Mmmm. That was fantastic. Driving that Robin Hood for three miles was not. It was horrible.
Flibble said:
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 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
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
She used to take me to school in it...and quite often, i'd come out at break time and see the car still there in the car park (she'd give up, walk/bus home and come back later).
It used to overheat regularly so my stepdad (whos quite handy) fitted some kind of additional cooling fan? With a seperate switch, so it had double the cooling, which sometimes helped.
M1C said:
Flibble said:
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
She used to take me to school in it...and quite often, i'd come out at break time and see the car still there in the car park (she'd give up, walk/bus home and come back later).
It used to overheat regularly so my stepdad (whos quite handy) fitted some kind of additional cooling fan? With a seperate switch, so it had double the cooling, which sometimes helped.
Daihatsu Cuore - circa 2000.
Was given this while my Volvo S40 was in for yet another warranty repair. Drove only 3 miles and had to turn back to the garage as it was so uncomfortable. Instant backache due to the extremely poor driving position. Persuaded the garage to give me a beat up Citroen Xsara instead which was bliss!
And yes - I took the garage to task for not having a proper loan car available since the car had been booked in two weeks beforehand. Got a decent (??) car the next several times my car was in for yet another warranty repair.
The Volvo S40 came a close second - not on account of comfort but reliability. Defo the most unreliable car I've ever had - and a 1972 Viva Automatic has been in my portfolio!
Was given this while my Volvo S40 was in for yet another warranty repair. Drove only 3 miles and had to turn back to the garage as it was so uncomfortable. Instant backache due to the extremely poor driving position. Persuaded the garage to give me a beat up Citroen Xsara instead which was bliss!
And yes - I took the garage to task for not having a proper loan car available since the car had been booked in two weeks beforehand. Got a decent (??) car the next several times my car was in for yet another warranty repair.
The Volvo S40 came a close second - not on account of comfort but reliability. Defo the most unreliable car I've ever had - and a 1972 Viva Automatic has been in my portfolio!
Although far from being a bad car when considered in isolation, the one car that sticks out as being the one that fell most short of my hopes and expectations was an Aston V8 Vantage Roadster.
Looked good, sounded great, but pretty bloody awful to drive - it was an early '57 plate I think, so before the subsequent tweaks. The worst auto gearbox I've ever experienced, and an awful lot slower than its looks suggested. The interior was pretty crap, and the handbrake was a 'will it/won't it' work affair. It didn't handle particularly well, and was an all-round huge let down. I had the opportunity to spend a week with it, but gave it back to my mate after a day.
I'd really like to try one of the very last iterations, to see how that compares.
The singularly worst car I've ever driven, looking at it objectively, and by quite some margin, was a very tired Hindustan Ambassador, in India. Looking at it subjectively though, it was one of the most fun...
Looked good, sounded great, but pretty bloody awful to drive - it was an early '57 plate I think, so before the subsequent tweaks. The worst auto gearbox I've ever experienced, and an awful lot slower than its looks suggested. The interior was pretty crap, and the handbrake was a 'will it/won't it' work affair. It didn't handle particularly well, and was an all-round huge let down. I had the opportunity to spend a week with it, but gave it back to my mate after a day.
I'd really like to try one of the very last iterations, to see how that compares.
The singularly worst car I've ever driven, looking at it objectively, and by quite some margin, was a very tired Hindustan Ambassador, in India. Looking at it subjectively though, it was one of the most fun...
MGF
Took it out for a test drive, went round the first island and drove straight back to the garage.
Awful seating position for me, felt like I was sat on it, rather than in it, but the really unacceptable thing for me was, in the corner, I had no idea what was happening at the front.
No feedback at all, vague wasn't the word. Totally inert.
No it might have had a fault, but I doubt it.
Horrible.
Got a mk3 mr2 after, now that was fantastic.
Took it out for a test drive, went round the first island and drove straight back to the garage.
Awful seating position for me, felt like I was sat on it, rather than in it, but the really unacceptable thing for me was, in the corner, I had no idea what was happening at the front.
No feedback at all, vague wasn't the word. Totally inert.
No it might have had a fault, but I doubt it.
Horrible.
Got a mk3 mr2 after, now that was fantastic.
The Dangerous Elk said:
Orginal Mini, horrid little things.
I found a 70's mini a hoot to drive, but then again I was comparing it to viva's and chevettes.In the early 80's having a car that didn't lurch and roll to 45 degrees in every bend was quite a revelation.
Brakes were a joke though, or more accurately, locking all four wheels before any reasonable retardation had been achieved was, err, fun.
Pug 206.
My wife (then GF) bought one when we graduated university.
Everything about it was absolutely awful.
Steering didn't feel like it was connected to the car, massive dead area, absolutely no feel.
Gearbox was like a bowl of porridge with some marbles in it.
Terrible brakes - again no sense of connection and when you used them it felt like you were trying to slow the car by stepping on a cake.
Handling was clown car like, the thing wallowed and rolled around like it was suspended at all four corners by fking Slinkeys. There was absolutely nothing you could do to change the angle of the car on brakes or throttle. An utterly joyless experience all round.
I part exed it for a Subaru Legacy Spec B without telling her when our first child arrived.
My wife (then GF) bought one when we graduated university.
Everything about it was absolutely awful.
Steering didn't feel like it was connected to the car, massive dead area, absolutely no feel.
Gearbox was like a bowl of porridge with some marbles in it.
Terrible brakes - again no sense of connection and when you used them it felt like you were trying to slow the car by stepping on a cake.
Handling was clown car like, the thing wallowed and rolled around like it was suspended at all four corners by f
king Slinkeys. There was absolutely nothing you could do to change the angle of the car on brakes or throttle. An utterly joyless experience all round.I part exed it for a Subaru Legacy Spec B without telling her when our first child arrived.
Long Drax said:
keeef said:
Long Drax said:
Austin Maxi 1750HL. Hated every moment of the few months I owned the thing in 1981.
I've actually got two!Ones a bog standard 1750, but the over is a twin carb 1750 HLS.
They have not grown any prettier over the years. Mine was dull green in colour with a beige interior. Caravaners liked them back in the day. So, good for towing a trailer.
I dunno what lump of carp was upfront but was pretty displeased with the corsa we were "upgraded" to in france earlier in the year after the twingo didn't have the AC. Utterly gutless piece of poo, really had to work the box and thrash the fk out of it on the autoroute to even think of gaining speed, didn't think they still bothered making such gutless cars these days, even vans have reasonable engines now theyre all TD
k out of it on the autoroute to even think of gaining speed, didn't think they still bothered making such gutless cars these days, even vans have reasonable engines now theyre all TDM1C said:
Flibble said:
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
She used to take me to school in it...and quite often, i'd come out at break time and see the car still there in the car park (she'd give up, walk/bus home and come back later).
It used to overheat regularly so my stepdad (whos quite handy) fitted some kind of additional cooling fan? With a seperate switch, so it had double the cooling, which sometimes helped.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff