10 Cars you are glad you didnt buy...

[Hagar]

I hate to do this Paul. Worst car in Britain

No I don't.

[expat]

I hate to do this Paul. Worst car in Britain

No I don't.

A big second to that closely followed by the Morris Ital/Marina...........The two occassions when Top Gear got it right.....

[Fozzer]

I hate to do this Paul. Worst car in Britain

No I don't.

You are being nasty to me, Doug.... ...!

I've only had a few cars in my life, and my 1982 Allegro 1.5 HL was the most recent, and poshest, and most modern of the bunch.
Cost me £2,000 almost new, in 1984.

Previous cars, from memory:
1958 Morris Minor Traveller.
1962 Austin Cambridge.
1968? Morris 1100.
All the above rapidly fell apart very quickly

In between, was my 1087cc 1932 Riley 9, open, 1- 1/2 seater, Brooklands Special, (rebuilt and re-bodied by me, used for general transport to work and display, and sold to Germany a few years ago)..

At all other times, my major means of transport has always been, and still is, my Motorcycles, since 1950.
Never did take much interest in Motor Cars.
Far too much traffic on the roads for them now!

Paul...2-wheeler...Occasionally wet and cold... ...!

P.S. In my motor cars, the engines/gearbox and suspension was OK....it was the rapid body-rot, causing an MOT failure, immediately followed by scrapping, which always let them down!
(No such problems with motor bikes).

[Hagar]

I hate to do this Paul. Worst car in Britain

No I don't.

A big second to that closely followed by the Morris Ital/Marina...........The two occassions when Top Gear got it right.....

A chance for Paul to get his own back. I was once the proud owner of a Morris Marina 1.8*.

*Nice engine. Shame about the rest of it.

[Fozzer]

A few of my friends had Morris Marina's

..and they always got laughed at!.... ...!

A total rot-box!

That's the problem with "monocoque construction" in modern motorcars...>>> http://uk.ask.com/question/what-is-a-monocoque-chassis
Any corrosion results in the complete vehicle being rendered unsafe!
(Matt's MGB!).

Previously, like my 1932 Riley 9 motorcar, they used a "rolling chassis" construction where the body was bolted to a solid girder chassis containing the engine/gearbox and wheels, steering, and suspension.
The complete body could then be repaired and/or replaced!

Didn't the Triumph Spitfire have a triangular girder chassis, bolt-on body?

Many post-war Specials were built using the old, pre-war, Austin 7 rolling chassis....>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_7

Paul... ...!

[expat]

A few of my friends had Morris Marina's

..and they always got laughed at!.... ...!

A total rot-box!

That's the problem with "monocoque construction" in modern motorcars...>>> http://uk.ask.com/question/what-is-a-monocoque-chassis
Any corrosion results in the complete vehicle being rendered unsafe!
(Matt's MGB!).

I am pleased to report that my MGB is in very sound condition, although In did have to get one sill welded. A very good mate of mine has a Triumph Spitfire. He tells me that after 25 years of part replacement, he now has a car that he can use daily............however, daily is also a perspective thing. He tells me the best way to preserve an English car from the 60's and 70's is................never, ever, ever drive in on a wet road.............Looks like I will be driving my MG two or three times a year then..............

Matt

[Apex]

I'd say the problem with that '58 Edsel there was mainly the front thingie there, it turned a lot of people off. Outside of that, it really wasn't a bad looking auto for that era, in my opinion.
Look at what Cadillac came out with in '59, there's a design comparison for ya'.

I had a '65 Chevy Corvair back then, my father bought it new, gave it to me when I started college, in fall '66. My first auto.

I drove it into the ground for 3-4 years and never had it in a shop for any big repair.

I never read Nader's "Unsafe At Any Speed", so can't comment on the book, which spelled doom for the Corvair, but I never felt unsafe in it at any speed. It never gave the impression that it would or even could roll over, and handled quite nicely. Easy to drive. Of course, it's all flatlands here in Florida. I do not remember the mileage it had when I traded it off, but it was maybe over 50k.

My next car was a '68 Chevy Impala, another father-hand-me-down. I hated it. Give me a Corvair any day over that.

[Bass]

My input! I would never ever...........

[PhantomTweak]

Thank you SO much for this marvellous post! The blow to my self esteem is amazing!!

I must admit that I owned no not one but TWO, yes TWO of the cars on that list. I owned a Vega, no I can't recall the year, I had it for about 3 weeks before the engine blew out on me on the freeway out of San Diego. I got it into a parking lot, grabbed all my gear and hitch hiked back to Yuma. Never saw the car again. CHP sold it at auction, I think. Don't really care. I spent a whole $500 on it

The other one was a 75 Pinto, great car! Ran like a top LOL! I had that for a couple years. Finally sold it to a guy in base housing lived near me, he blew the engine out doing brodies in the parking lot! He didn't want to fnish paying me, so we went and talked to the JAG on base, who told him to pay up or go to jail for a while

So yeah, I had TWO of the 10 worst cars ever in America.....thanx guys!

Now though, I own a pair of 1987 Toyotas, one p/u and one 4Runner. Same color paint Same engine, almost. The p/u is carbourated, the 4Runner is injected. Other than that, and topper on the 'Runner, they are identical! Love em both. I have 330k miles on the p/u, 175Kmile on the Runner. All factory interiors and drive trains, other than small stuff like water pumps, alternators etc that normally need replacing. Should have seen the face on the cop that went by as I was doing the "Happy Toyota Dance" on the side of the highway in Yuma when I turned over 300K on the p/u Once he found out what I was doing he just laughed and drove away....I've had the p/u since '87 and Runner since 90. Great trucks IMO.

Anyhow, have a great time all!

Pat☺

[expat]

I had a '65 Chevy Corvair back then, my father bought it new, gave it to me when I started college, in fall '66. My first auto. I drove it into the ground for 3-4 years and never had it in a shop for any big repair..

My uncle and aunt have a Chevy Corvair. He spent a long time restoring it and now the spend their retirement retirement cruising the Blue Ridge Parkway with it as it is about 30 minutes from where they live. He has the soft top and that car never, ever fails to get a small crowd around it where ever he stops. I drove it myself last year, a lovely car and rather innovative for the American auto industry with the engine in the boot.......

[Apex]

Expat: Yeah, the Corvair was an engine-in-the-rear type, now I remember. And it had "gills" on the rear hood, I think. Far out. I'll Google it sometime.

Definitely worth restoring.