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The Cars you Hate and the Cars you Love


Guest S_A_W

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Guest S_A_W

I was hanging out with some fellow car enthusiast friends this weekend and after a couple of beers we started talking about which make/models we loved and which ones we hated.

It was really interesting to see how passionate people were about both of these categories. So I thought I would start a thread and see how everyone here feels.

I will kick it off!

Worst car ever - In the early 70's my friends father had a puke green Gremlin (built by AMC 1960-1974) and I will give that model my vote. Out of the dozen or so times I was driven around in it with their family we had it conk out 4 times. It was in the repair shop all the time and I remember my friend begging his father not to drive him up to the front of school in it.

Here is a short excerpt from a Time magazine article on the car:

the Gremlin was the company's attempt to beat Ford and GM to the subcompact punch. To save time and money, Teague's design team basically whacked off the rear of the AMC Hornet with a cleaver. The result was one of the most curiously proportioned cars ever. Cheap and incredibly deprived — with vacuum-operated windshield wipers, no less — the Gremlin was also awful to drive, with a heavy six-cylinder motor and choppy, unhappy handling due to the loss of suspension travel in the back. The Gremlin was quicker than other subcompacts but, alas, that only meant you heard the jeers and laughter that much sooner.

My all time fav will go to the Ford Mustang, I know it is not a very creative choice but my heart always beats faster when I see the 1966-1967 model. I have never owned a Mustang but had the pleasure if driving them a few times over my life. I had a chance to drive a 1968 Mustang on a closed track about ten years ago and that was a really great memory.

Here is a bit about the Mustang from Wikipedia:

As Lee Iacocca's assistant general manager and chief engineer, Donald N. Frey, was the head engineer for the Mustang project — supervising the development of the Mustang in a record 18 months — while Iacocca himself championed the project as Ford Division general manager. The Mustang prototype was a two-seat, mid-mounted engine roadster, styled in part by Phil Clark. Stylist John Najjar, in a 1984 interview with David R. Crippen, archivist of the Henry Ford Museum spoke about the genesis of the two-seat prototype:

The Mustang I was later remodeled as a four-seat car styled under the direction of Project Design Chief Joe Oros and his team of L. David Ash, Gale Halderman, and John Foster— in Ford's Lincoln–Mercury Division design studios, which produced the winning design in an intramural design contest instigated by Iacocca.

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Even if cars are ugly, and some are, I don't really hate them. Do you hate an unattractive child? No way. That said, what I do hate is red and black on the same car, whether it's on the inside or outside or if the exterior is one and the interior is the other and inspite of loving convertibles, I don't like black tops or upholstery on red convertibles or black interiors in a red convertibles.

The worst car I ever owned was a 1979 Dodge Omni. It had less than 10,000 miles on it when I bought it and it turned out to be a piece or crap. If it wasn't in the shop for repairs it was waiting to get in. My only experience with a Gremlin was a Gremlin X I tried out one day with a 304 V8 and a 3-speed floor shift. That car was a hoot. It practically demanded to spin the wheels when you started out so I just burnt a little rubber and enjoyed it. However, I bet it would have been hopeless in snow so it was a no go for me.

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I don't think I ever had a car that I hated. I wasn't real happy having to go from a 120 Jag. roadster to a station wagon, but my family required it. We had a Checker Marathon station wagon that my wife hated. It drove like a tank and with the Continental engine it didn't have much power. All of our other cars have been quite good, however the new ones don't have much style. My favorites: Jag. of course, '51 Ford Victoria, '53 Coupe de Ville, '54 Olds 98 Holiday, and my number one favorite, my 1916 Peerless touring that I restored in high school and still tour in.

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Not going to list a vehicle I hate because that might offend someone that loves that one.

But I do love the 1936 (or the 1935 851 model) 852 Auburn Boattailed Speedsters like this lovely example as shown at the 2009 Hershey Fall Meet. :)

I love the Speedster, but alas, I'm a little large for the car.:mad:

That bump in the top is my head.:eek:

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Guest S_A_W
from a 120 Jag. roadster to a station wagon, but my family required it. We had a Checker Marathon station wagon that my wife hated.

The big question is did it have wood paneling?

My only experience with a Gremlin was a Gremlin X I tried out one day with a 304 V8 and a 3-speed floor shift. That car was a hoot. It practically demanded to spin the wheels when you started out so I just burnt a little rubber and enjoyed it.

Hahaha, if you put wings on it would it fly!!

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I never "hated" a car II owned, but I had a very healthy dislike for the 2003 Nissan Frontier I had. It was a very nice truck, albeit a little unattractive in my eyes. It was let down by a gas hog of an engine that despite it's appetite couldn't get out of it's own way driving downhill at full throttle.

The car I hated was the 1976 Dodge Aspen I talked my dad into buying while I was in college. They weren't ugly per se, but what good can you say about a compact car that got 11 mpg, ate sets of tires in 4-5,000 miles, needed a complete new front clip to pass PA state inspection due to rust when it was 9 months old, and had the rear axle lock solid 4 times in 25,000 miles (skidding to a halt unexpectedly and nearly killing my dad once)?

I'm afraid my next list is a little long.

I loved my 1960 Buick, and both my Triumphs, but they're antiques that I didn't have to live with everyday. The everyday cars I loved were: #1 the 1987 Mazda 323 wagon I bought in 1989 (handled like a juiced MGB, and I'm not kidding!!!), #2 the 1989 Mitsubishi pickup I also bought that year, #3 the 1986 Dodge Colt I traded in on the Mazda, #4 the 1996 Ford Ranger I bought new and still own, #5 the 2000 Hyundai Elantra station wagon I bought in 2001 (a big, pleasant surprise), and #6 (and by far the best) the 2005 Toyota Prius I bought new. Every one of those cars gave me, in addition to great service, at least 75,000 miles without a single repair of any kind (except for a couple of light bulbs in the Hyundai). I must admit I've been very lucky in picking the right cars over the years. So far my luck has been holding on my second (so far bulletproof 2010) Prius as well. I may die with both of those cars (and the Ranger) still in the driveway!:cool:

All of those cars except the Buick and the Priuses had manual transmissions. Even the Nissan was a manual (but not the Aspen, which wasn't mine). I think if you have a manual you're really driving the car, and become better in tune with it. That helps to keep up with it's condition and state of tune, as wall as with the love affair with the car!:) None of the automatics I've owned would have made this list.

Edited by Dave@Moon
typo (see edit history)
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My only experience with a Gremlin was a Gremlin X I tried out one day with a 304 V8 and a 3-speed floor shift. That car was a hoot. It practically demanded to spin the wheels when you started out so I just burnt a little rubber and enjoyed it. However, I bet it would have been hopeless in snow so it was a no go for me.

My only experience was with a co-worker's 304 Gremlin that he'd put a 401 engine in. It was a true 12 second street car:eek::cool::eek::cool::D

Edited by Dave@Moon (see edit history)
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Love: 1956 Packard, 1969-71, 1975-79 Continental Marks, 1956-62 Imperial (except 1960, bad facelift) Full size luxurious cars from when style was everything.

Hate: 1957-58 Packard, Any Honda Accord or Toyota Camry, blandmobiles that everyone thinks are wonderful simply because the media thinks so. Toyota Prius, one of the ugliest cars ever. BMW, looks like a Toyota with a pig snout, and not my definition of a luxury car.

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Any Honda Accord or Toyota Camry, blandmobiles that everyone thinks are wonderful simply because the media thinks so. Toyota Prius, one of the ugliest cars ever. BMW, looks like a Toyota with a pig snout, and not my definition of a luxury car.

I've always felt the same.

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Hated:

My '06 Corvette. For many reasons, none having to do with reliability or looks...mostly though, because it was a soulless and boring car to drive. Fast, yes. Exciting/engaging, no.

Loved:

Any brass ere car, pretty much for the honest, mechanical nature of the machine.

Also loved every 3rd Gen F-body that I ever had. Awesome, fun cars.

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Love - Amphicars for their personality, fun and general weirdness. Amphicars are a terminal condition, once you have one and enjoy what it is, you're hooked for life. Amphis have been good to me. There are a number of Amphicar people who are truely incredible, genuine people.

Hate - Rust and misrepresented, expensive parts.

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Guest Skyking

The result was one of the most curiously proportioned cars ever. Cheap and incredibly deprived — with vacuum-operated windshield wipers, no less

I love when people do articles on cars and they don't even know what they are talking about. Gremlins did not have vacuum operated wipers, they were electric like every other car of the era.

I do like Gremlins and would love to own an "X" someday. As far as not liking a specific car, there really aren't any old ones.

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Guest Skyking
The Gremlin was selling against the Pinto, the Vega, the Plymouth Cricket and the VW Beetle.

I know it wasn't a gem but in that crowd it stood out like a glass doorknob among busted bottles.

Lots of people bought them and got tough reliable economical transportation which was all they promised. If you bought the Levis or other special edition you could even have a few laughs.

Why is it people cannot assess a car on its merits but always go for the most obvious to slam, the cheap car. I have seen it a million times. Nothing but knocks for cars like the Gremlin and Dodge Dart a while the same people praise Ferrari and Lamborghini to the skies while if the truth were told, the Gremlin and Dart are way better cars in many ways.

If you doubt this a little thought experiment. I will give you one million dollars if you use one car, and one car only for a year. You MUST use this car and no other, for commuting to work, going on vacation, taking your family shopping and everything else. You must also pay for the gas, repairs, insurance etc out of your own pocket.

Your choices are a pristine low mile 1972 Gremlin, 1972 Dodge Dart,1972 Ferrari or 1972 Lamborghini. You are not allowed to sell the car, or use any other for a year. If it breaks you walk or take the bus until it is fixed. Renting or borrowing a car voids the million dollars.

Choose.

Right on, Rusty!!

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I love when people do articles on cars and they don't even know what they are talking about. Gremlins did not have vacuum operated wipers, they were electric like every other car of the era.

I do like Gremlins and would love to own an "X" someday. As far as not liking a specific car, there really aren't any old ones.

I want my old Pacer back.

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To answer the original question. I am fascinated by all kinds of cars in particular the technical details of how they work, what the designer was trying to accomplish and how they fit into society in their day. For this reason it is hard to pick one car to like or dislike.

But if I had to chose one car to dislike it would be a Pontiac Trans Am from the 70s with honeycomb wheels the T top and the shaker scoop and screaming chicken on the hood. One of the most garish, inefficient badly designed and badly made cars of all time. But what really puts it over the top in the car to hate sweepstakes is the beer swilling pinheads who owned them.

Not exactly love but the one car I find endlessly interesting is the Stanley Steamer. Either that or a Pierce Arrow from the 20s or 30s.

Edited by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I guess. Like most of you, I don't "hate" any car and cars I used to "dislike" when I was younger, I would love to have now. Would anyone turn down a nice '62 Dodge Dart or Polara 500? Have a friend that has a pristine '72 Gremlin with 30K on it that is drop dead gorgeous but I would never have bought one new. I've always liked the 74-78 Matador coupe and the Pacer which a lot of people don't like. I'm especially partial to the Pacer wagon with wood trim and color keyed wheel covers, just a cool car. One of my other favorites is the '63 Galaxie 500 and 500XL, especially the 4 door hardtop. On the negative side, I'm not partial to late 30's-early 50's Chrysler Corp. cars while I love the Airflow designs. As to later day cars, the last Riviera absolutely turns me off. I would rather have an Aztec.

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Guest my3buicks

Hate the mid 70's Lincoln Continentals, especially the gaudy special/limited edition ones. Remind me of a car that needs to go on a diet.

Love the mid 70's Eldos, especially the Biarritz with the small formal rear window, and stainless accent molding across the hood and back the sides. Clean Classic lines with a look of grace with a touch of sportiness thrown in. And that 500 Cubic inch monster.

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The cars that I loved were a '59 Pontiac Bonneville convert and a '56 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan.

It's funny how some guys will talk about cars that they sold and wished that they had back. However, the one car that I was glad that I sold and never want to see again was a 1972 Fiat 850 Spyder. This car had a "no start when cold" gremlin that no one in the tri-state area could figure out. It was like Christine. One time, it actually tried to kill me. One winter night, after I finally got it running, I got stuck in the snow in the driveway. I figured that if I pulled the choke out a little to raise the idle speed, I could wrestle the car back onto a dry surface and jump in behind the wheel. Bad Move! The car hit dry pavement in reverse and chased me down the street. I ran up a snowpile and the car stalled out. In all fairness I have to admit that there may have been just a tiny bit of alcohol involved. For some reason, the police were always interested in that car. Maybe it was because it looked fast even when parked. I traded it on a Datsun (Nissan) pickup.

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In all my early years I constantly argued for Ford (I had some great ones) over Chevy.They were the only ones that mattered in my circle of friends. In my later years all I care about is American over foreign. The car that I most like is one that was brought back from scrap and restored to AACA standards, especially by an average Joe. The car I like least is the same car that some street rodder got a hold of.

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The Gremlin, and all other AMC products, came standard with vacuum wipers through 1971. I believe they may have been the very last American cars to do so. Electric wipers were optional from 1964 until they became standard in 1972.

The Gremlin and Hornet also came with a non-synchronized first gear in the standard manual transmission through 1972. Full-synchro trannys weren't available across the board until 1973. which I think was another American last (for a passenger car).

Finally the Gremlin was not just a thoughtless chopping of the Hornet, although that is basically how it was executed. The rear styling was based on the very well received 1968 AMX-GT concept car.

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Hate? - No, not really, but was substantially disappointed in my 1958 Renault Dauphine, back during my college years, and replaced it with a 1948 MG-TC, '58 TR-3, and '59 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider Veloce.

Loved ? - yes, really - all of our Citroen DS-21 Pallas, Safari (Station Wagon), SM (Series Maseratti), and Deux Chevaux 2-CV models.

Of course all of our current stable are loved as well.

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I find it interesting how 1/2 the posts on this thread are based on practical experience or mechanical histories, and the other half are all about which ones are pretty/ugly. It depended on which half of the first post people paid the most attention to, I guess.

I find the practical approach more interesting myself, both my own and others. No car's pretty when you're pushing it home or can't afford to feed it, but a running ugly car can still drive you to Nirvana! I collect on aesthetics, but I buy on practicality. :)

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I find the practical approach more interesting myself, both my own and others. No car's pretty when you're pushing it home or can't afford to feed it, but a running ugly car can still drive you to Nirvana! I collect on aesthetics, but I buy on practicality. :)

I couldn't disagree more. If all you care about is reliability, you have your choice of thousands of uninteresting blandmobiles. But do you see one on the showroom floor, on the street, or at a car show, start drooling and say "Someday I want to own one like that"? I have a washing machine, refrigerator, and microwave that have all been very reliable. None of them excite me. I don't discuss them on online forums. And, as soon as they die, I will replace them with new ones. I highly doubt 20 years from now I will be looking to find a microwave like the one I had years ago. With cars, it is all about style/beauty. They are a reflection of your taste and personality. It is a bonus if they are reliable, but many collectible cars are not.

I can see hating a car that was a mechanical nightmare. But I have owned 2 lemons. I kept fixing them because I liked them when they were running. Yes I would rather push a stylish car than drive an ugly car. If it was ugly and unreliable, I would just get rid of it.

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I find it interesting how 1/2 the posts on this thread are based on practical experience or mechanical histories, and the other half are all about which ones are pretty/ugly. It depended on which half of the first post people paid the most attention to, I guess.

Dave, I was about to mention that myself! I have long noticed this concept in car collecting and personally have several cars I claim to love but have never owned or even driven. For example, I have always claimed 1955-56 Packards and 1955-56 Mercurys as some of my favorite cars and I have never driven one, ever, only seen pictures and cars at shows. This subject can take two different paths indeed.

And with that said I would like to exhibit this photo to rankle Rusty O' Toole, this being the most enjoyable old car I own.

Oh Rusty, my forum friend, I can understand why you feel the way you do, but a funny thing happened on the way back from the trailer park. You might be surprised (as I was) that today's collectable Trans Am owner has become gentrified and my observation is that most are 30-40 something white collar types like myself. I even went to the Trans Am National Convention and pasty white office dwellers and their families vastly outnumbered the traditional hairy-chested stereotype you describe. Who knew? ;) Todd

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..... The car that I most like is one that was brought back from scrap and restored to AACA standards, especially by an average Joe. .....

Like this stunning example of a Minerva that was saved from the scrap yard for only $25 more than thirty years ago. It was left to a friend of ours who lovingly restored it and still owns it today.

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I find it interesting how 1/2 the posts on this thread are based on practical experience or mechanical histories, and the other half are all about which ones are pretty/ugly. It depended on which half of the first post people paid the most attention to, I guess.

I find the practical approach more interesting myself, both my own and others. No car's pretty when you're pushing it home or can't afford to feed it, but a running ugly car can still drive you to Nirvana! I collect on aesthetics, but I buy on practicality. :)

In the 34 years I have had a driver's license, I have never owned a car that I would consider troublesome. (All American brands)

Even the '80 Chevette my first Wife drove was a reliable car, and I beat the living hell out of it every chance I got. :D

So, I based my votes on appearances.

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Guest Skyking
I've always liked the 74-78 Matador coupe and the Pacer which a lot of people don't like.

I bought one of these in 1978, a year old. And although it was a lemon, I always liked it. I sold it in great condition for $800.00......... I wish I still had it.

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Guest bofusmosby
With a smile or with a sneer? I gather from your smiley face you are a Vega fan?

Naw Rusty, I hate those Vegas. IMO they were junk when they were made, and have gone downhill ever since. If you notice, you hardly EVER see any of them any more (thank goodness). Your name (Rusty) describes them perfectly!

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Guest Oldengineer
Naw Rusty, I hate those Vegas. IMO they were junk when they were made, and have gone downhill ever since. If you notice, you hardly EVER see any of them any more (thank goodness). Your name (Rusty) describes them perfectly!

I've owned many cars over the years - the 2 cars I absolutely hated after I bought them was a 1974 Vega station wagon, and, a 1975 Olds Starfire. The reason - the brakes in both of them were so inadeqate that they were dangerous to drive. These two cars had the most pathetic excuse for front disc brakes ever.

Regards:

Oldengineer

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Let's do it this way. Cars I had and enjoyed: '60 Ford Sunliner, '63 Ford Galaxie 500XL Sunliner, '65 Cadillac Convertible de Ville, '68 Chrysler 300 conv., '65 Chevy C-10 pickup, '69 Ford F-100, '74 Ford F-100, '89 and '98 Ford Rangers, '86 Ford Aerostar, '95 Dodge Shadow, '92 (?) Buick Century wagon, '73 Ford Pinto wagon. Cars I had and did not enjoy: '52 Chevy, '57 Pontiac (kept it two weeks), '53 Chevy, '60 Chevy pickup, '79 Dodge Omni, '65 Chevy Impala SS conv, '68 Chevy Impala conv. Cars that were middle of the road: '82 S-15 GMC pickup, '81 Chevy Malibu, '89 Chevy Celebrity, '02 Chrysler Town & Country. Cars I wanted but did not have: '40 Ford coupe or convertible, '47-'48 Ford Sportsman, '47-48 Chrysler Town & Country convertible, '56 Ford conv or Parklane wagon, '57 T-Bird, any Mach 1 Mustang, '53, 56 or 67 Mercury, 56-57 Continental, '61-64 Continental conv, '52-55 Lincoln conv, most any Rambler Classic or Ambassador wagon, any Chrysler letter car, '56-57 DeSoto Adventurer, any Buick convertible 1948-66 except 54 or 60, 53 or 57 Oldsmobile 98 conv, '53 Pontiac Sedan Delivery, 57-58 Pontiac Bonneville, any true classic, hey I could be here all night, I better quit. That's why I collect diecasts. I can have about anything I want.

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