Everyone has opinions about which cars are the best. It is not hard to spot a great car when you look at it or check out its performance stats. Peopleu2019s opinions can vary widely about the best cars, but most people agree about bad cars. There are cars so bad that they have been pulled from markets, and they are notorious for being bad purchases. These are the cars that you should avoid at all costs since they are the worst cars of all time.Have you ever driven one of these vehicular monstrosities? Be sure to SHARE this article on social media and let us know.

Arguably one of the most recognized worst cars ever is the AMC Gremlin from the 1970s. In the 1960s and 70s, the demand for compact cars skyrocketed. In response, AMC redesigned the AMC Hornet to be shorter and with slightly different features. In reality, the design of the Gremlin turned out to be the Hornet without its back section. Not only did this make it look strange, but it was also harder to drive. The shortened designed called for a change in the suspension system. The engine was heavy too making handling much slower. Plus, many drivers were shocked at the lack of basic features.

It may seem unfair to say that early cars could be among the worst cars ever because they canu2019t compare to modern cars, but there are some that stand out as purely bad ideas in their own right. The 1899 Horsey Horseless is one of those early models. Its defining feature was a large fake horse head at the front. This was during the transition from horse-drawn buggies to cars, so the designer thought that it would help riders feel better about the change. He also recommended storing additional fuel in a hollowed-out version of the horse head, which just seems like a dangerous and ill-conceived plan anyway.

The 1970s were a time for new ideas, and the Chevrolet Vega tried to a few new design options. These included new engine manufacturing and rustproofing processes that were praised when the Vega was released. It even won the 1971 Motor Trend Car of the Year award for its u201cinnovativeu201d design. However, these innovations proved to be its downfall. The new processes made the Vega extremely vulnerable to corrosion and rusting. Plus, the aluminum engines wore out very quickly leading Chevy Vegas to be scrapped at an alarming rate. Many did not make it out of the 1970s and junk yards were overrun with them.

The Hummer H2 may seem like a controversial option on this list, but it is here for a good reason. It hit the market in 2002, and introduced many problems for drivers and for GM. The entire Hummer series is based on the Humvee, the standard upscale replacement to the Jeep as a military vehicle. Hummers are large and have a distinct military look, while also being extremely bad at fuel consumption. Coupled with an energy crisis and other global political problems, the H2 became a major problem for GM and it did not last long on the market. Eventually, the Hummer brand folded and car companies went in a more eco-conscious direction.

Diesel engines can be a great fix to many of our growing energy problems. They are more efficient than regular engines with few drawbacks. However, a poorly designed diesel engine can also be a major problem. The 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Diesel had a diesel engine that introduced a lot of performance problems. The engine was unreliable at best and had issues with fuel consumption. Many experts credit the downfall of the American diesel engine market to the extremely poor performance of the diesel engines in the Cutlass Supreme. One benefit from the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme is the engine blocks. They were made so well and so sturdy that race car drivers continue to use them today.

When car designers try to push the boundaries of car design, you get either a major breakthrough or a big failure. The 1933 Fuller Dymaxion should have been a major breakthrough given the skills of its designer, R. Buckminster Fuller, but he pushed the boundaries too far. The Fuller Dymaxion is closer in design to a dirigible than a car. Its angled back, three-wheel design led to performance problems that made it almost undrivable. Three cars were made, but none of them resolved the problems. The project ended after a fatal crash during testing, and the Fuller Dymaxion never made it to the market.

Fordu2019s recent move to trucks is a long time coming giving its history with sedans. Ford has had some good sedans over the years, but the 1996 Ford Taurus was one of the worst cars ever. It was an attempt to recapture Fordu2019s previous success with pushing the boundaries of design, but it went too far. The shape was aerodynamic and tried to copy high-end cars, but the changes led to several bad design features. It looked otherworldly, which made it hard to sell. A decrease in trunk space and an increase in weight led to bad performance as well.

The Renault Dauphine (1956) is another worst car ever that suffered from cost-cutting measures. The most notable problem is that the car was slow, very slow. It took more than 30 seconds to reach 60 mph from a standstill, which is bad for a car of any time period. Combined with slow acceleration, the Renault Dauphine also had a problem with its construction quality. Thin metal components, unattractive interiors, and a somewhat strange exterior made it a hard sell for many dealers. It also proved to be unreliable since they would rust, start to come apart, and wear down within a few years.

Ford takes another spot on this list with the Ford Edsel (1958). Ford started off with a good idea. It polled many of its car buyers for the previous few years to find out what drivers really wanted in new cars. However, Ford ignored many of its findings from the polling in the development process. On top of that, Ford also spent an entire year marketing the Edsel as a game-changing vehicle. While the public got its hopes up, Ford developed a car that was nothing like the marketing campaign or the polling data suggested. Upon launch, many eager drivers found it to be unattractive, poorly-designed, and nothing of what they wanted.

The 1980s were not much better for car development for many of the leading companies. Cadillac, a company that is known for luxury and high quality, became the target of many journalists for the Cadillac Cimarron (1982). At the time, Cadillac was still owned by GM, which was on a major downward spiral for a variety of reasons. However, the Cimarron is credited with nearly ending Cadillac and GM because of its extremely poor reception. Like many of the other cars on this list, the Cimarron was poorly designed and constructed. To many drivers, it felt like Cadillac just didnu2019t put in the effort to make something better, which is a consistent theme for GM in the 70s and 80s.

Cadillac is an American brand known for its iconic luxury cars. For many decades, it was a dream to just own a Cadillac. While many of Cadillacu2019s models are of a high quality, the 1981 version of the Cadillac Fleetwood V-8-6-4 was a big failure. It was one of the earlier car models that utilized both semiconductors and onboard computer technology. In the early days, this combination caused variable displacement that led to a poor driving experience. After paying a lot of money to own a Fleetwood V-8-6-4, you could expect the car to make a lot of noises and stall or jerk while you drove it.

The 1997 Plymouth Prowler is a unique looking sports car made with the latest 1990s technology. It looked like a sports car from the future that somehow also incorporated retro designs, with a sleek exterior design. It had an open wheel front that makes it nearly iconic. Despite its look, it didnu2019t make for a good sports car. It really didnu2019t perform as well as even mid-size sedans. Instead of a high performance engine, Chrysler used its regular 3.5 liter V6 engine that delivered just 250 horsepower. It also only came with an automatic transmission, which didnu2019t meet the needs of sports car enthusiasts.

Multiple cars on this list suffer from a similar problem: problems with fuel storage. The Horsey Horseless was an early example of why this is a problem, and the Morgan Plus 8 Propane is a much more recent example. The Morgan Plus 8 almost never made it into the American car market. Originally designed overseas, it could not pass updated emissions standards. However, a dealer from San Francisco came up with the idea to switch to propane. He mounted a large propane tank on the rear bumper, making this car exceedingly dangerous to drive. Plus, it was heavily outdated since the design had changed little in decades.

James Bond and nearly every other spy with high-tech gadgets have something like the Amphicar, a car that is also a boat. In 1961, the Amphicar was a new idea to help people be more mobile. Unfortunately, it couldnu2019t make the cut. The problem with cars like the Amphicar is that they are trying to do too much. It is a compromise between a boat and a car, which makes it mediocre at being either one. The design had two major flaws: it was slow and it leaked. Its top speed on the water was only 7 mph, which was slower than some sailboats. Also, it leaked constantly because it had loosely sealed openings. A bilge pump had to keep pace with the leaks or the car sank.

The 2001 Jaguar X-Type was created to compete against other luxury cars, such as the Mercedes-Benz C Class. Unfortunately, the company used the blueprints for the Ford Contour for the Jaguar X-Type to save money and time in development. Unfortunately, the compact car was never destined to be redesigned as an all wheel drive luxury sports car that people lined up to buy. Car buyers know what to look for when shopping for a car, especially for the affluent people who bought this level of luxury car. The resulting Jaguar X-Type cost the Ford Motor Company a lot of money due to its failure.

Chevy makes some great cars like the Camaro and the Stingray, but it has its share of failures too. In an attempt to reinforce its bottom line so that it could continue working on high-end cars, it churned out the 1976 Chevy Chevette. This car was made to replace the Chevy Vega, which is also on this list and is seen as a worse option than the Vega. It was built using outdated technology and methods at the time. Plus, Chevy cut costs as much as possible to make it highly affordable. The goal was to have a Chevy that was accessible to everyone, but Chevy went too far with cost-cutting measures and barely offered any features or production quality.

Unlike other cars with unusual and u201cmodernu201d (for the time) designs, the 1975 Triumph TR7u2019s design was not its undoing. The big problem with this car other than its strange shape was its construction. The entire line of TR7s and TRs (the eight-cylinder version) had manufacturing defects and design flaws that quickly became apparent. Electrical problems became the most obvious problem as many of the TR7s had short circuits often. This also led to mechanical failures of critical systems. Plus, basic equipment parts, like timing chains, would snap since they were made with inferior craftsmanship. Essentially, anything that could break in the TR7, did break in the TR7.

The AMC Pacer set out to create the first cab forward design that placed the front of the car further toward the front, much like youu2019d expect to see in trains today. It didnu2019t have adequate air conditioning, it smelled terribly of that u201cnew car smellu201d chemicals, and is often described as an overall u201cnerdyu201d car. It is a model that is routinely recognized as one of the worst car models of all time. In 2007, Hagerty Insurance Agency called the AMC Pacer the u201cWorst Car Design of All Time.u201d Edmunds.com ranked the AMC Pacer as 20th on their list of the Worst Cars of All Time.

As a high end automotive manufacturer, itu2019s easy to think that all Maseratis are created equal. Theyu2019re not. The Maserati Biturbo launched in 1984 is a glaring failure of the companyu2019s high quality standards. The Maserati Biturbo was underfunded, leading to a subpar vehicle that literally fell apart. This includes snapped parts, fluid leaks, and burnt components. A very expensive car became much more costly when its owners needed to continue to seek the assistance of the dealership for repairs. There were many service advisories issued for the vehicle, which made it an expensive problem for the Italian automotive manufacturer.

The 1985 Yugo GV was a terrible car that anyone would be unhappy to drive. It was an imported car that was so badly designed and assembled. It was built in Soviet-bloc Yugoslavia, which made it using substandard practices and materials. This led to components of the vehicle just falling off and breaking. Having a sizzling motor and burning smells under the hood were common. Plus, its available features were a joke. The manufacturer listed carpet and a rear window defroster that could keep your hands warm as you pushed it. In 1985, having carpeted upholstery wasnu2019t a feature worth advertising.

All of the problems that we have seen from cars starts with the Ford Model T. The first successful production car changed how people travel and led to nearly everyone owning or using a car on a daily basis. Because of this, pollution has drastically increased, car prices are high, and mass transit systems are suffering. If it wasnu2019t for the Model T, people would rely on less polluting methods of travel like trains, buses, or trolleys. Unfortunately, the long-lasting legacy of the Ford Model T is a pollution problem that we are still struggling to address and resolve today.

The Pontiac Aztek (2001 – 2005) is among a long list of cars that did terribly in the market because the manufacturer tried something different. The Pontiac Aztek has an unusual body shape, which severely reduced rear and side visibility. The rear window was also positioned at an angle without a wiper, so rain made it even more difficult to see. The inside of the car was not much better. Pontiacu2019s interior design used weak parts that wore out quickly, making the Aztek age quickly. Plus, the suspension and heavy weight made the Aztek a problem to drive in any condition.

For a brand with a well-known history, it is hard to think that there is a Mustang that many people would like to forget. The 1974 Ford Mustang II is widely seen as one of the worst vehicles ever and certainly the worst Mustang ever. Few people have positive things to say about it as it failed to deliver on any of its promises . It launched in time for the oil crisis in the 70s, which required manufacturers to offer fuel-efficient vehicles. Ford reduced the performance of the Mustang II so much that it couldnu2019t be fuel-efficient or have good performance. Plus, many people find the body design unattractive. In short, it was the opposite of what the Mustang should have been.

It may be surprising to see the DeLorean DMC-12 (1981u201383) on this list, but it is high on the list of worst cars ever. Although it gained notoriety for its role in the Back to the Future franchise, it was not as popular in real life. Few DeLoreans were made, primarily due to its construction methods. It has many specialty parts including an aluminum body that need to be special ordered. As a result, maintaining DeLoreans is difficult under normal circumstances. Plus, they needed constant care since it had exposed metal parts that could rust if not cared for properly.

Arguably the most recognized bad carn and potential worst car ever, the Ford Pinto (1971-1980) takes the last spot on our list. The Pinto, more than any other car, offered the worst possible features in a car. While it initially looked plain and generally unappealing, the major problem was in its construction. If rear-ended, the Pinto was extremely likely to catch fire, which happened on multiple occasions. Making the problem worse was the revelation that Ford knew about the problem and chose not to fix it. A memo that was revealed after many Pinto accidents showed that Ford weight the cost of victim lawsuits against the higher cost of adding an additional fire shield to fix the problem and chose to risk the lawsuits since it was cheaper.

Not to be confused with the classic 1960s model, the 1998 Fiat Multipla is widely regarded as being one go the ugliest cars ever made. The strange second layer of headlights and oddly place windshield almost makes the vehicle look like two cars “squished” together.

The Bricklin SV1 has been described by some as “the DeLorean, but without Back to the Future to redeem it.” Introduced in 1974, the vehicle featured gulping doors and. plastic body. The car was advertised as a safe “car of the future” u2013 in fact, the SV stood for safe vehicle u2013 however it’s heavyweight made it near impossible to drive normally, which led to less than 3,000 being produced before the plug was pulled.

The Trabant was known as the “people’s car” throughout Eastern Europe during the Cold War. Manufactured by HQM Sachsenring GmbH, a Communist Party controlled state monopoly, the car was emblematic of life behind the infamous Iron Curtain. The car’s were undependable to say the least, prone to smoking and burnt out engines. However, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, they became a well known kitsch symbol for reunited Europe, exemplified by Irish band U2’s use of them on their Acthung Baby album and ZOOTV Tour.

Well, first of all the name alone qualifies the King Midget (yes, that’s really what it was called) for this list. The vehicle was manufactured as an affordable “mini-car” from the late 1940s through the end of the 1960s. At one point, it was even sold as a $500 kit that buyers had to assemble themselves. Cool for a DIY project or child’s toy, but for a real road ready vehicle, not so much.

The Chevy Corvair was one of the most legally disastrous vehicles ever made. As Consumer advocate Ralph Nader chronicled in his 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed, the compact car faced well over 100 lawsuits during it’s first five years of production. The culprit? A rear-based engine and issues with the suspension. Genral Motors would challenge Nadar’s book, claiming that the vehicle was safer than similar models from other manufacturers, but the damage to their reputation and the car’s legacy had already been done.

The Suzuki Samurai was a mid-80s spin-off of the company’s long-running Jimny range of sports utility vehicles. The vehicle launched in the mid-1980s, and was certainly… of the era with an array of bright colors and 80s-design flourishes. Unfortunately, the cars had a built-in flaw leading to numerous rollovers despite the vehicles traveling at safe and normal speeds. Suffice to say, that proved to be detrimental to the car’s market prospects.

The Aston Martin Lagonda models of the 1970s were vastly ahead of their time… for good and bad. The good? Well, the vehicles were equipped with revolutionary features including electronic computers and CTR gauges that would one day become the industry standard. The bad? Well, these electronics didn’t often work well. In fact, they were pretty unreliable. In other words, the Lagonda was like many pioneers, a trailblazer that barely walked so vehicles of the future could run.

Saturn’s early 2000s vehicle, the Ion, had a litany of issues that led to its short lifespan. The vehicle was vastly underpowered as it sported a smaller engine than average for the time despite the fact that the car was much longer than comparable vehicles. There were also issues with the vehicle’s frame, specifically the side impact structure, which made the car particularly vulnerable for t-bone collisions.

Models of the Citroen Pluriel have been chugging along since 2002, despite the fact that the French automobile has never been particularly well-received. The influential car magazine Top Gear once referred to the vehicle as “about as useful as a chocolate teapot” and wrote that the car’s widely reported reliability issues and general overall mediocre performance were “not a glitch” but instead a “feature.”

The Reliant Robin – AKA the “plastic pig” – was a modernly successful car in the United Kingdom. However, the vehicle’s three-wheeled design and completely fiberglass construction did not go over well with the mostly “macho” American car culture. The car’s propensity for literally falling over certainly didn’t help matters much.

The Overland Octoauto looks more like something out of a child’s daydream than it does an actual functioning vehicle. Designed by Milton Reeves in 1911, the vehicle came in at 20 ft. long and featured eight wheels, four axels, room for four passengers, and a 40-horsepower engine. However, the car’s ungainly appearance, terrible handling, and $3200.00 (absurdly expensive for the time) price tag made it an immediate massive – literal and figurative – flop.

The DeSoto Airflow (produced by Chrysler) was an interesting vehicle, with a smooth unibody aerodynamic design that was specifically designed to handle better than vehicles at the time . Looking back on it through a modern lens, the car has the art-deco look straight out of Tim Burton’s Batman films, which many find aesthetically appealing. However, at the time of its release, the car’s new for its time design was met by derision and suspicion from many, who theorized that it was unsafe. It was quickly replaced by the similar, though more conventionally designed DeSoto Airstream.

As described by the Lane Motor museum, the three-wheeled Hoffmann was a “lethal cocktail of automotive engineering “don’t’s”- extreme front track width combined with an ultra-short wheelbase giving major straight line instability, and rear-wheel steering which can easily bring loss of control at any except very slow speeds, to which any forklift driver can attest.The central position of the steering kingpin in the car means there is little room for the driver and passenger up front, and the original bench seat has been replaced by two smaller seats, allowing slightly better access to the cramped cabin over the wide sills.”

The Aerobile sounds like something out of DC Comics character Green Arrow’s arsenal of vehicles… and frankly it looks like one too. Unfortunately for Waterman, the company that designed the two-seater aircraft/car hybrid vehicle, the public did not react positively to the vehicle. Over the course of several years in the late 1930s, only 5 were produced.

The Zundapp Janus was a failure in every sense of the word. Everything from the design to the engine’s power to the car’s center of gravity was a massive letdown compared to other vehicles of the late 1950s. It also didn’t help that the car – and we use the term loosely – was priced incredibly highly for the time. The vehicle was such a bomb that production ceased after only 6,902 cars had been produced.

We know this will be shocking given previous entries on our list, but it turns out 3-wheeled cars have historically not worked. To be fair though, the Davis Divan never really got a chance. The Davis motor company actually raised $1.2 million for production of the vehicle through the sale of 350 dealerships, however they failed to deliver any cars to said dealers or pay their employees, ultimately leading to lawsuits from both groups. In-turn, the company’s assets were liquidated and Gary Davis was convicted of fraud and grand theft.

The Lotus Elite was revolutionary for its time, featuring a “glass-reinforced plastic for the entire load-bearing structure of the car. A steel subframe for supporting the engine and front suspension was bonded into the front of the monocoque, as was a square-section windscreen-hoop that provided mounting points for door hinges, a jacking point for lifting the car and roll-over protection components.” However, the vehicle’s parts had a tendency to wear out quickly, leading to its commercial failure.

When the AMC Pacer – a two-door compact – was initially released, it was praised for its fuel economy, compact size, and price. However things quickly turned sour as reviewers and drivers alike noted that the vehicle featured poor performance, specifically during hard stops and turns – urban legend even says that the company needed to use a professional race car driver to keep the vehicle on the road. Thanks to these issues, the Pacer quickly fizzled out.

The 1958 Twin-Cam was designed to be a high performance, high speed vehicle, with estimated top speeds of 113 MPH. However, the car was notoriously temperamental thanks to the engine. Specifically, it had a tendency to overheat thanks to burnt oil, often leading to detonation issues. Despite some fixes to later models, production on the model was ceased in 1960.

The regular version of the art-deco PT Cruiser, which was produced by Chrysler from 2001 to 2010, was a massive success. Motor Trend named it the Car of the Year, Car and Driver put it on its Ten Best list, and it won North American Car of the Year. However, the 2005-2008 convertible version was, um, not as well received. As appealing as the car’s rounded aesthetics were, they did not translate well to a convertible, leaving the model to look like a parody.

Nope, that’s not something from The Jetsons. Rather, it’s a microcar. The vehicle, known as the Peel Trident, was the second three-wheeled microcar made by England’s Peel Engineering Company in the mid-1960s. Though it was marketed as a “shopping car” or a “Saloon Scooter”, the microcar never really took off, and came to be known as “The Terrestrial Flying Saucer.” It did find a second life in recent years thanks to the reality series Top Gear.

The Smart Fortwo should have been a revolutionary smart car. However, as explained by Yeah! Motor, “The obvious problems are obvious: the rear-mounted engine and fore-mounted cooling system means that a lot of heat passes under the passenger cabin. On a warm day, this can effectively cook the folks riding insideu2014not a recipe for comfort. Despite its ultra low emissions and gigantic fuel efficiencyu2014this is the first car on the list to offer a hybrid variantu2014the problems with the first round of Fortwos were legion and nearly killed the Smart brand altogether.”

The British Triumph Motor Company produced the Stag model from 1970 to 1978,u00a0and it was plagued by engine issues pretty much from the start. This was due to “the need to fit low compression pistons to comply with California’s low octane petrol requirements and the associated advance in ignition timing to meet the USA’s continually changing emission regulations. The result was that the engine developed greater heat and, when automatic transmission and air conditioning were fitted, the engine cooling ability was overly compromised. Although USA cars were fitted with engine cowls to try to compensate, all too often the result of a freeway tailback was an overheating engine.”

The Ferrari Mondial 8 debuted at the 1980 Geneva Auto Salon and was an almost immediate failure. The vehicle, the first Ferrari to deviate from the company’s 3-digit naming scheme, drew criticism for its moderate performance and a litany of technical issues. The model was produced from 1980 u2013 1982, and it has been reported that at some point every model of this caru2019s system failed.