From Forbes - And a Honda made the list!!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4063790/

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA Yugo :lol: :lol: :lol: :twisted: :twisted:

...is that they singled-out the '78 Accord, but not the '79-80, which was pretty much the same car. I had a '79 Accord LX, put 75,000 miles on it in three years, and it was a great car the whole way. My "success" may have been from living in Los Angeles, because the biggest gripe that the Forbes article had with the original Accord was rust problems. What's odd, however, is that they didn't mention the huge fading paint problems with the first-year Accords.

The other problem with this "Bottom 10" (or whatever) is that the core list fails to distinguish between bad aesthetics, mechanical/reliability design failures, and marketing fiascoes. Given their limited production, I'm amazed at the number of Edsels still running. Just try to find a Pacer!

the trabant is an east german automobile not well known in the west until the reunification. but its got a notorious history as far as reliability. its been said as the autos return to nature (often this beins while the car is still being used ) they exude some pretty nasty resins.. the yugo is another story, the car was based on the fiat. and when they complain about engine trouble. one could go back to countless fiat models with timing belt troubles. (124-128 series)

the dauphene is a wonderful little car, once the shop i was working for obtained sufficient parts for an engine rebuild as the owner was restoring it. like most french cars. theyre eccentric. but fun (i still have an odd lust for citroen 2cv's and traction avants, but this love of odd vehicles might be just what attracted me to the E)

best
D
d.

>Trabant

Heh. When I was in school, the Trabant was used as a case study in why Soviet-style Communism didn't work. The Trabant was a bad copy of the Fiat 124, BTW.

>124-128

Gosh. Two different animals, and besides, Fiat's OHC engines were actually quite good! It was the bodywork that was junk. I oughta know, I had a little bit of a sideline repairing Fiats. The whole timing belt thing was blown out of proportion. It was a new technology that people (esp. in the US) didn't know how to deal with yet. But it didn't help that the Fiat engines had interference-style heads. SnapCRUNCH!

:shock:

Now the Yugo was based on the Fiat 127, which was never suitable for the U.S. market. It was doomed before it hit the shores.

The Citroen SM was certainly an interesting "last gasp". An acquaintance had one, and the engine self-destructed pretty much on a schedule. I fail to see what the fascination was with the Maserati engine - Maserati is a fairly pedestrian carrozzeria make that somehow managed to garner mystique on the side of The Pond.

mike,

I know from personal experience, that the timing belt issue was always lousy with the fiats, having worked in a beck arnley shop in the early 80's. on the other hand. it could be because we always saw the worst in cars having to supply the local garages with replacements for broken parts. lol but in recall you might be correct about the 128. i do recall more than a couple of notorious 124 sedans . but this might be geographical. out in california. salt isnt a notiorious enemy, but heat can be.


the maserati mystique could have come about from cars like the birdcage racing cars and sport sedans of the 50's and 60's both which are highly valued by collectors now. $$$

im sure the TC by chrysler , the biturbo, and the SM dimmed that somewhat .

best!
D.

heh i think trabants might have contributed to the fall of communism.

out of curiosity, do you ever read a writer by the name of Peter Egan? (road and track, cycle world)

I dont know the manufacturer but there was this vehicle called a Matador. I belive that's a two way winner for bad name and looks.

was made by AMC, makers of the eagle, hornet, pacer and gremlin..you can find the whole history of the AM group here. might be suprised where it takes you.

http://allpar.com/amc/

When I was younger I really liked the look of the javelin. The troopers actually used them here in Alabama back in the 70's.

You know when I saw the title of this thread immediately I thought of the Pinto. And when I opened up the page it was there staring at me....the dreaded Pinto. There is no other car that can be worse than that. That and the Vega.

how about a 1958 Renault or a 1961 Peugeot? or perhaps a 1965 Chrysler whose auto transmission went at 50,000 miles??

Ok Honda has one on the list.. but it was only one and only one year.. not the entire line up.. or anything like that.. They certainly have more then made up for that!