Clunker: Chevrolet Vega

I do not know how Motor Trend picks its car of the year awards. I have questioned several of its picks. I do not think that the Chevrolet Volt deserved the 2011 Motor Trend Car of the Year Award. Yet, this is not the worst car to be named Motor Trend Car of the Year. In 1971, Motor Trend named the Chevorlet Vega its Car of the Year. Motor Trend also awarded the Vega the 1973 Car of the Year in the Economic Class. Car and Driver readers voted the Vega the best economic van in 1971, 1972, and 1973. In 1971, American Iron and Steel  gave the Vega an award for excellence in design in transportation equipment. My question is WHY? The Vega is one of the worst cars ever made. It was a rust bucket. This car suffered from several recalls and just was an overall terrible car. The cost for this miserable excuse for a car was $2,093. There is reason why this car is so cheap.

The Chevrolet Vega was in production from 1970 to 1977 and came in two-door notchback sedan, two-door hatchback, two-door wagon, and two-door panel delivery wagon. 2,154,434 Vegas were sold over its production run. It was one of many miserable subcompact cars built for the Chevrolet brand. It was built while GM Vice President John Delorean was general manager of Chevrolet. Delorean was responsible for promoting the car and he over saw the launch of the car. The Vega was just plagued with issues, Problems for the Chevrolet Vega start at its rust prevention. The Elpo process used by the Fisher Body Division did not work. The solutions used in the process did not flow into every recess or reach every panel of the car. This caused the car to rust where the Elpo solutions did not reach. Two recalls of the Vega were a result of issues with the 140 cubic inch engine used in early Vegas. There were concerns of backfire caused by the two-barrel carburetor and 130,000 Vegas fitted with the L-11 option were recalled for this issue. The second recall involved 350,000 Vegas that used the standard engine. There was a perceived risk that a component in the emission control system might fall into the throttle linkage, jamming it open. Also the car suffered from oil burning, the engine overheating, and the fuel tank leaking. The Vega was just a dreadful car.

The Chevrolet Vega was powered by three engine. The single barrel carburetor 2.3L (140 cubic inch) I4 engine produced 90 hp. The double barrel carburetor 2.3L I4 engine produced 115 hp. The Cosworth Vega was powered by a 2.0L I4 that produced 110 hp and 107 lb-ft of torque. The Cosworth Vega went from 0 to 60 mph in 12.3 seconds and reached a top speed of 112 mph. A normal Vega reached atop speed of 92 mph. The Vega was slow, sluggish and just a cheap rust bucket.

The Vega was just an automotive disaster. It was severely rust-prone. It had engine issues. It was slow and sluggish. The Vega was worth less than its retail price of $2,091. I still ask why it was Motor Trend's 1971 Car of the Year. The was cheap and was easy on the eye. A Motor Trend writer wrote that the Vega looked hot. The Chevrolet Vega just outright sucked and Chevrolet still has not made a decent subcompact car since the Vega. The current Chevrolet subcompact, the Aveo, is one of the worst cars currently built by an American automotive company. I guess Chevrolet has not learned how to make a proper subcompact car. The Vega has gone down as one of the ten worst cars ever made.

CarJunkie

Photo taken from the Chevrolet Vega Wikipedia Page

Clunker: Reliant Robin

Three wheel cars, or tricars, have been around since the late 1800s. They came with either two wheels in the front or two wheels in the rear. Because tricars did not have a fourth wheel and were light weight, they were cheap to insure. Insurance prices for tricars were the same for motorcycles.  One tricar with two wheels in the rear is the Reliant Robin. It was produced from 1973 to 1981 and reproduced from 1989 to 2002. It has been considered one of the worst cars ever made for being slow, underpowered, and rolls on its side when under braking or turning.


The wheel configuration greatly affected the Robin's lateral stability. The front of the car balances on one wheel. There needs to be even left-right weight distribution for the car to be balanced The left-right weight distribution is about 50-50, but when there is a driver and no passenger, there is no counterweight to balance the car. When the car brakes or turns, it would turn over on the side where the driver is. This is dangerous not just for the driver, but for any cars driving along the side of the Robin.

Not only does the Reliant Robin have problems with stability, but it is underpowered and slow. The Robin originally came with 748cc I4 that produce 32 hp and 46 lb-ft of torque. Later Robins came with a 848cc I4 engine that produced 40 hp and 46 lb-ft of torque.  Both engines were paired with a four-speed manual transmission. The 748cc engine got the Robin from 0 to 60 mph in 22 seconds with a top speed of 80 mph. The 848cc engine got the Robin from 0 to 60 mph in 16.1 seconds with a top speed of 85 mph. No matter what engine was in it, the Robins was slow and sluggish.

During Series 15 of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson proved that the Reliant Robin could not corner without tipping over. He drove it in a town and tipped over several times. He drove it around the test track and did not make it through the first corner without tipping over. The Stig tried to drive the Robin around the test track, and tipped over when trying to get past the first corner. Top Gear tried to use the Reliant Robin as a space shuttle during Series 9, Episode 4. The fuel tank did not disconnect with the Robin, and the Robin exploded when it crashed.

The Reliant Robin had horrible lateral stability because it was balancing on a single front wheel. It constantly tipped over when braking or turning and was a hazard not just for the driver, but for other cars on the road. Add a small, weak engine and poor performance, the Reliant Robin is one of the worst cars ever made. Somehow, there is a fan club and an owners club for the Reliant Robin. It is surprising that people are proud to own one.

CarJunkie
Picture taken from www.BBC.co.uk

Clunker: Yugo

When considering what is the worst car ever made, many people will take the Ford Pinto. Others will name the Zastava Koral, also known as the Yugo. The Yugo was in production from November 28, 1980 to November 11, 2008. 794,428 Yugos were built. During its lifetime, it has gone under several names: Yugo 45, 55, 60, 60efi, 65, GV, Cabrio, Zastava Koral, Ciao, Tempo, and Innocenti Koral. Yugos were mainly sold in Europe, but were imported to North America by Malcolm Bricklin. It was designed to be a cheap car, and people got what they payed for. There was a  joke related to the car. It was YUGO, but the car doesn't.

The problem with the Yugo was that it was made cheaply. Drivers complained about everything. There were handling problems, engine problems, steering problems, seat belt problems, stereo problems, and floor problems. It would stall and fail to restart without any prior warning. On the 1990-1991 models, the rubber seal for the electric control unit would fail, allowing water to infiltrate and short circuit the unit. It low weight design caused it to be affected by high speed winds. High speed winds would blow Yugos over bridges. Anything that could go wrong for a car went wrong for the Yugo.

The Yugo came with three different inline-4 engines. All engines came with a four-speed manual transmission. The 903cc engine that was in the Yugo 45 produced 44 hp and 46 lb-ft of torque and went from 0 to 60 mph in over 21 seconds and reached a top speed of 84 mph. The 1.1L engine produced 54 hp and 59 lb-ft of torque and could get a Yugo from 0 to 60 mph in 17 seconds and reached a top speed of 90 mph. The 1.3L engine produced 64 hp and 72 lb-ft of torque and could get a Yugo from 0 to 60 mph in 14 seconds and a top speed of 96 mph. The Yugo was cheap and was very slow, even for 1980 standards. Prices for this cheap car started at $3990

The Yugo is playable in Hooters Road Trip. Top Gear featured it in Series 16, Episode 3. The guys were in Albania to test drive the Rolls-Royce Ghost, Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG, and Bentley Mulsanne. They could not get the Bentley and used a Yugo as a substitute for the Bentley.

The Yugo was built cheaply and was sold at a low price. Most worst cars ever made lists include the Yugo. Some name this car the worst car ever made. It had a laundry list of problems. It was so light that the wind could blow it off the roads. The engine blew up, electrics short circuited, and there were recalls for the seatbelt. I consider the Yugo the second worst car ever made.

CarJunkie
Photo taken from AutoMotoPortal.com

Worst Car Ever Made

There are many aweful cars that have been made.  Some cars had poor handling, while others had questionable styling.  Some cars were heavy and underpowered, and other cars were just unreliable and constantly broke down on the road.  Some cars were just not safe to drive. The worst car ever made was slow, ugly, unreliable, unsafe, and had a fatal flaw.

The worst car ever made could not survive a rear-end collision.  This car structural design allowed its fuel tank filler neck to be broken off and cause the car catch fire.  According to a Mother Jones article in 1977, at least 500 burn deaths were caused by the design flaw.  The case was in my engineering ethics book.  The company that made this car could have recalled the vehicles and fixed the problems.  The company looked at the cost for casualties and the cost to fix each vehicle.  The company calculated that it would cost $137 million to fix the problem and only $49.53 million to cover the costs of deaths and injuries and burned out vehicles.  The company valued money over human life.

Not only was this car a death trap, but it was very slow.  The best this car got was 102 hp and 138 lb-ft of torque from a 2.8L V6.  It went from 0 to 60 mph in 11.4 seconds and had a top speed of 102 mph.  Even by 1970's standards it was slow.

The worst car ever made is the Ford Pinto.  It is slow, an eye sore, and a death trap.  This car was a PR nightmare for Ford.  A company should never chose money over the life of a human.  This goes against the ethics code for engineers.  Ford's "Pinto" memo showed that it cost $11 dollars to fix each vehicle, but there were 12.5 million vehicles that had to be modified.  The total cost to fix these vehicles was $137 million.  The memo also estimated 180 burn deaths, estimated $200,000 per burn death, 180 serious burn injuries, estimated $67,000 per injury, and 2100 burned out vehicles, at $700 per burned out vehicle, resulting in $49.53 million cost not to fix the fatal flaw.  If you value your life, do not get into a Ford Pinto, let alone buy one.

If you see this car for sale, DO NOT BUY.  It is a death trap

Ford has greatly improved its quality its vehicles.  The F150 is one of the best trucks on the market.  The Mustang has been an automotive icon for several decades.  The subcompact Fiesta is one of the best cars in its class.  Motor Trend named the Ford Fusion its 2010 Car of the Year.  It took a few decades for Ford to recover from the Pinto disaster, but Ford is back and better than ever. 

CarJunkie

The Yugo is a close second.