List of automobiles known for negative reception

Because of its outdated and inefficient two-stroke engine (which produced poor fuel economy, low power output, and thick, smoky exhaust fumes), duroplast body, and production shortages, the Trabant was regarded with derisive affection as a symbol of the economic downturn of East Germany and of the fall of the Eastern Bloc.

The Cars We Love to Hate with author Eric Peters describing its two-stroke, 18 horsepower engine as "Notorious for producing a billowing contrail of smoke, while its unsynchronized manual transmission required at least a fifth of Stolichnaya to deal with effectively.

After the end of the GDR, these jokes quickly spread to West Germany as well and also became a pop culture phenomenon when comedy films like Go Trabi Go and Trabbi Goes to Hollywood featured Trabants as important plot devices.

Marketed as a radically different new car, the Edsel failed to impress the buying public – despite containing new features such as self-adjusting brakes and automatic lubrication, which would later be adopted across the automotive industry – as it mainly consisted of Ford and Mercury components already used in other vehicles.

[28] For example, Chrysler phased out its similarly-positioned DeSoto brand in early 1960, about the same time as Ford discontinued the Edsel marque, and similar models from General Motors' Buick and Oldsmobile lines were struggling to sell during this period.

The buttons on the dash appeared to have been put in place by Janet Ellis from Blue Peter, and the engine had plainly been lifted from a cement mixer that had spent the past 30 years chewing up rebel soldiers in southern Sudan."

The infamous "Pinto memo", a document submitted to the NHTSA examining the societal costs of new roll-over legislation, was presented to the public as proof that Ford executives knew about a design defect and decided to do nothing after calculating that paying off lawsuits was cheaper than reengineering the car.

The Marina was designed and developed on a limited budget and a very quick timescale – less than three years from initial conception to full production – to urgently replace a number of outdated saloon car models inherited by British Leyland from BMC.

[54] The Disaffected Firenza Owners Association attempted to sue General Motors, but Canada lacked laws establishing class-action lawsuits at the time, prompting Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to oversee their creation.

The combination of the rushed assembly, fuel crisis and strikes at the component manufacturers' factories resulted in the Leyland P76 becoming a flop and earning lasting critical derision, despite being designed by Giovanni Michelotti and receiving the Wheels magazine Car of the Year award in 1973.

An attempt to boost sales with an updated and much more powerful V8 version called TR8 was also unsuccessful as it suffered from poor build quality and a strong British pound that made it rather expensive compared to most of its competitors on the US and Canadian market.

Jeremy Clarkson said about the Polonez: "Built by communists out of steel so thin you could use it as a net curtain, it is as reliable and long lasting as a pensioner's erection",[83] "Of course history has served up many cars that drove as badly as this, but few looked quite so terrible"[84] and "[it] did have a redeeming feature – it was cheap.

"[20] The Maserati Biturbo was an executive grand tourer that was to compete mainly with the BMW 3 series, but earned a negative reception for its new twin-turbocharged engine, which led to unpredictable power delivery through its turbo lag, and its numerous reliability problems.

Edmunds.com ranked the North American Fuego as the 17th worst car of all time, describing it as a "Fragile, front-drive French coupe that rusted quickly into dust or burst into flames amid random electrical fires" and noted that it was "recalled for steering wheels that came off in drivers' hands.

"[102] MSN Autos named it #1 on their list of "Top 10 Disastrous Cars"; "A mix of Italian flair and Japanese expertise should have been a match made in heaven, but they clearly decided to divide the tasks by means of a lucky dip.

Naming it one of the worst flops of the past 25 years, Car and Driver retroactively wrote of it, "... on paper, it made sense: Take a Rover 800—which was really just a rebodied Acura Legend—rebadge it, and sell it through a network of independent dealers under a new, made-up brand.

[Buyers] quickly encountered defeating problems such as dashboards that turned a hideous green in the sunlight and other fit, finish and build quality issues related to the car's chintzy British-sourced [cosmetic pieces]".

The Premier suffered from an identity crisis from the start, and by the time it was suddenly rebadged as an Eagle – an all-new brand created out of thin air for AMC leftovers – and then as a Dodge, consumers weren't really sure what they were buying.

"[115] Included in the book Automotive Atrocities: The Cars We Love to Hate, author Eric Peters wrote of it, "If you slipped a wino into a pair of Bruno Magli shoes, not many people would believe he was actually Pierce Brosnan out for an incognito stroll.

Despite its bad reception, the car still sold well in Europe and especially the UK market, mostly due to its competitive pricing, which was the only real advantage it had over acclaimed rivals including the Citroen ZX, Rover 200 Series, Vauxhall/Opel Astra and MK3 Volkswagen Golf.

The General Motors U Platform minivan, sold as the Chevrolet Lumina APV, Pontiac Trans Sport, and Oldsmobile Silhouette, was introduced in the 1990 model year to provide a stylish alternative to the Dodge Caravan.

[11] In October 2013, Top Gear magazine placed the X-90 at number 10 on its list of "The 13 worst cars of the last 20 years", saying "Evil progenitor of the pre-TOWIE Essexmobile, the Vitara SUV, the X-90 compounded Suzuki's reputation for marketing-led myopia and wobbly handling.

"[141] Stuff.co.nz included in an article on Cars that should never have been built, saying, "Suzuki did wonders with the X90 by redesigning the early Vitara to look like a back-scrubbing shower accessory, on the way halving its passenger capacity and turning an excellent new junior 4x4 into a blobby, saleproof nightmare.

[145] Naming it one of the "10 Most Embarrassing Award Winners in Automotive History", Car and Driver retroactively wrote of it, "Despite an ad campaign that featured both Cindy Crawford and animated versions of the ducks found on the Cadillac crest, there was just no way to hide the fact that the Catera was a snoozer.

[156] From the time it was unveiled in 2000, the Pontiac Aztek earned a strongly negative reception, mainly for its controversial styling, which former General Motors executive Bob Lutz described as resembling an "angry kitchen appliance".

The Cars We Love to Hate, Eric Peters says of it, "The only vehicle to look like it's been in a bad accident even before it left the factory, the Aztek will be remembered as evidence that advanced degrees in automotive design are not necessarily indicators of good taste – or spelling ability.

The Ion was notable for its quality, safety and construction problems that led to a total of twelve recalls,[180] including one for a faulty ignition switch that resulted in thirteen deaths among all GM Delta platform-based cars.

[189] Top Gear magazine, citing a Clarkson review, included the Crossfire on its list of "The 13 Worst Cars of the Past 20 Years", describing it as, "A half-decent concept that failed to make the grade in the real world.

[203] The Truth About Cars ranked it #2 in its "Ten Worst Automobiles Today Award (TWAT)" list in 2006, saying: "In this horror story, Dr. Frankenstein (played by the mustache-twirling Doktor Z) grafts round headlights and a seven-slot grill onto the face of a mediocre high-riding sedan (a.k.a.

The Sebring's spec sheet is impressive — it sports things like standard side-curtain air bags, a six-speed automatic, and an available hard-drive-equipped stereo — but it can't overcome the car's substantial faults.