[Closed] Worst car in the world?

US cars are a product of their environment. Old ones are shit

There's also the whole swathe of instantly forgettable brown korean junk that any hire car company will happily chuck your way in North America. Herz in Ottawa once gave me an auto daewoo lanos for two weeks in February. Sadly in Ontario, despite it being about -10 most of the time (you can skate on the canal through the city), winter tyres weren't compulsory. I drove it over the border into Québec and on up to Tremblant for the weekend. It fell off the road twice.

Ford Zodiac Mk3, the only car I have ever driven where you had to start turning steering wheel five minutes before you got to the corner.

Peugeot 108 - was given one as a courtesy car and it was horrific; small (less useful inside than my other half's MINI), slow, awful gear change, clutch with no feel / vague biting point, not entirely sure that the steering wheel and front wheels were actually connected! It was a truly hateful car.

The Peugeot 208 I was also given wasn't too far behind it - horrible gear change, clutch with no feel, annoying menu for the infotainment system, poor driving position. The only good thing was Apple Car Play.

Worst car I've ever driven was a Renault Megan, the one that had the weird bay window/big arse. We had one as a hire car for a snowboarding trip, sodding thing never stopped beeping at you - was infuriatingly shit.

Thankfully it was smashed into a bollard on its return to Geneva never to be seen again.

I once hired a Saturn SUV where the driver's seat wasn't pointing quite forward. Annoying after a few thousand miles, that was.

The MG TF being bobbins doesn't surprise me. The thing started out on a Metro floorpan, with the front subframe substituted at the back so allow the engine to fit amidships. Early cars had hydragas suspension which was a staple of British cars during the late 1970s.

Later, I believe that instead of euthanizing it, which would have been the kindest thing by far, MG went so far as to engineer dinky springs and dampers to fit.

Rover Group have fair claim to the title of shittiest car ever. The Allegro was an object lesson in how not to allow cash-strapped engineering departments dictate the design of a car and how not to market a VW Golf competitor. The follow on Maestro went one further and started out with a VW Polo sourced torsion bean rear suspension that was strengthened to cope until it was copied and used with the Maestro/Montego. The reputation of those cars was permanently hobbled by quality control problems (painted bumpers which flaked paint, the voice warning system that regularly went into a gibbering fit, electrical problems, rampant corrosion, terrible build quality).

Then you've got those Rover 800s, which were clones of the Honda Legend, without being anywhere near as well made or good.

hired a VW Touran (last minute "upgrade, never again will I travel with a massive bike box) and I never did figure out the "parking" button, versus the "auto handbrake" button (no actual handbrake) and why sometimes the thing would randomly refuse to change out of reverse or first regardless of what was done with the gear lever. I'm okay with logic puzzles etc, tried everything but was left utterly baffled. Not confidence inspiring on Picos roads.

Ford Orion - we had one as a pool car BITD. Awful to steer - heavy/unresponsive- bastid to park.

I drove one as a hire car when on my placement in '92, hated driving it - I only had my Renault 14 to compare it to though (not a great car but I liked driving it!). The crazy thing was my boss decided to buy one for himself as he liked the company hire car so much.

...the worst Car in the world ... was the MG TF 160.

When I had my Puma I decided TFs were my enemy and tried to race them whenever I saw them.... I've grown up now.

When I had my Puma I decided TFs were my enemy and tried to race them whenever I saw them.... I've grown up now.

If ever there was a lesson in making a small, cheap to buy car cool and fun to drive the Puma was it.

We had a few of those for pool / demo cars too and they were bloody brilliant, 1.4 or 1.7 it didn't matter, I still think they look good now (sadly they rust which means there aren't many left) almost the exact opposite of the TF in every way - it was really a tarted up fiesta, a small FWD shopping car in a dress, but it drove beautifully. It wasn't fast per-se I think it was about 9 seconds 0-60 but it felt faster. Loved Pumas.

Surely the correct answer is "Anything sold by Arnold Clark"

If ever there was a lesson in making a small, cheap to buy car cool and fun to drive the Puma was it.

We had a few of those for pool / demo cars too and they were bloody brilliant, 1.4 or 1.7 it didn't matter, I still think they look good now (sadly they rust which means there aren't many left) almost the exact opposite of the TF in every way - it was really a tarted up fiesta, a small FWD shopping car in a dress, but it drove beautifully. It wasn't fast per-se I think it was about 9 seconds 0-60 but it felt faster. Loved Pumas.

Anything, simply anything by Ford or Vauxhall currently. They are all built to an exacting budget, and look and feel like that whatever you are in.

We had a few of those for pool / demo cars too and they were bloody brilliant, 1.4 or 1.7 it didn't matter, I still think they look good now (sadly they rust which means there aren't many left) almost the exact opposite of the TF in every way - it was really a tarted up fiesta, a small FWD shopping car in a dress, but it drove beautifully. It wasn't fast per-se I think it was about 9 seconds 0-60 but it felt faster. Loved Pumas.

Oh really? I had mine 9 years and never saw any rust.

Not fast accelerating but it went around corners fast if you had the balls - and it recovered nicely from a skid.... I've grown up now.

They rusted through on the rear arches.

Diesel Metro, 1.3 Escort MkV, auto Corsa all have a special place in my heart for being especially shit.

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Surely it's an easy win for the hateful, lethal, and it's-so-c**ppy_it's_not_even_really_a_car_car G-Wiz!

I've put quite a few miles on a silver one just like the picture and I rather liked it. Yes it is tiny, it struggles to reach 40mph, the suspension is crap. However I still found it fun to drive, it was cheap and suprisingly quite reliable and applying for the tax disk renewal was a sheer pleasure.

So in true STW heres mine

Pug 306 Roland Garros 1.6 petrol /head gasket / electrics /wheel bearings / brakes

Loved the car to look at and the interior was nice ,white leather on green seats (vom) spent close to 1000s on it in the end thank god it got stolen a true bag of French shite and the reason would rather take the peasant wagon than drive a French car ever again.

@mudshark

Yes sadly, I think the Kas and Fiesta's of the same era suffer with the same thing. It starts in the rear inner wings by the time you see it bubbling through on the outside it's pretty bad. It started to happen at about the 10 year mark when they were getting down in value so a lot ended up being scrapped rather than repaired.

They're quite old now so I guess only good ones are left.

I once hired a Saturn SUV where the driver's seat wasn't pointing quite forward.

Once hired a Nissan Vannette and the seat (which has to be removed for servicing) hadn't been clipped back on properly after its pre-hire checks. Pulled out quite enthusiastically from the hire depot onto a roundabout and got launched into the back of the van - which was thankfully quite keen on stalling.

Got it all clipped together properly then went to pick up my GF - was explaining the seat incident as we pulled away and discovered her seat hadn't been clipped in properly either 🙂

From Glasgow to Hastings we didn't really talk about anything further - the van had a massive (for its size) engine that only made noise rather than progress but was never the less very effective at burning money.

Thankfully it was smashed into a bollard on its return to Geneva never to be seen again.

By the time I reached the M25, I had a nagging back ache, because the steering wheel was offset two inches to the left.

I'm glad you said this, as I thought it was just me. Is there a reason for it? My first two cars, a Mk1 Fiesta and a Mk3 Escort did it, I'm sure I've had others over the years, and irritatingly I'm currently in a BMW 1-Series which also does it. In the Beemer I've to make a conscious effort to shift across into the middle of the seat or I end up with the seat edge digging into my shoulder blade.

My first car was a squits-coloured Allegro, you bastids.

Russet Brown, ITYF. (-:

TBH US cars are a product of their environment. Old ones are shit, but old cars worldwide were shit - especially pre-70s when the Japanese 'invented' quality control and reliability.

The thing you've got to remember about American cars is, America doesn't have any corners. They design cars to go in straight lines (though in fairness they often don't do that very well either).

people aspire to own a lincoln town car! WTAF?

A friend on mine in the US had one of these in the 90s, I think it might even have been his first car. It was bizarre, it had a bench seat up front so you could get three or four people in the front row (or two Americans) and had porridgelastic suspension. He loved it.

Then you've got those Rover 800s, which were clones of the Honda Legend, without being anywhere near as well made or good.

I'd completely erased it from my memory until you said that, but I had a Rover 800 fastback for a while. It was at a time when I was out of work, and my then-girlfriend's dad gave it to me (if I recall correctly he'd been given it as surplus to requirements by a friend of his in the first place). He was a car nut and a full-on Jaguar fanboy, so big old cars that didn't work properly were his bread and butter.

I don't actually remember it being all that bad in and of itself, but I've always been a sucker for that sort of pseudo-coupé long hatchback design (my favourite car-of-my-youth was the mighty Cavalier). Thing was though, given the age and mileage I think this one's previous owner might have been Captain Kirk.

Its biggest failing was that it was incontinent, it haemorrhaged coolant. "It'll be right," the not-father-in-law told me, "just carry a bottle of water and keep it topped up." This kinda worked until one fateful day in December when I was driving a poorly girlfriend back home from East Lancashire to South Wales.

It was dark, it was blizzarding, it was about zero degrees Kelvin outside, and I had to get a now very grumpy g/f back home. All the while leaking coolant*. Towards the end of the journey I ran out of water - including the top-up bottles - and as readers probably know, one of the side-effects of falling coolant is that the cabin heater stops working. I generally run hot as a person and I've never been as cold in my life. There was nowhere nearby to top up and after a journey from hell I thought "bugger it" and pushed on through the last leg. We got safely back to her house with the car boiling its bollocks off and ran for cover.

#SadlyNotSadly, that was its last journey. With its life blood pissed all the way down the M6, we came back to it the next day to find a very seized engine indeed. I wish it no ill will, it was a lifeline when I was down on my luck, but my god was its last hurrah a miserable few hours.

(* - the car, not the girlfriend)

Same, might have a different opinion now it's a "classic", but as an 18 year old it was slow, noisy, uncomfortable and embarrassing.

Funny that, as an 18yr old I can recall driving my parents' 2CV across a stubble field, at night, the roof rolled back and three mates standing up with shotguns blasting away at rabbits caught in the headlights.

Nothing embarrassing there....

Got to be the Renault Laguna 2004 era.
We had these as supposedly great company cars and within a couple of months at least 3 of them went back in for Gear box or electrical faults. It got to the point at about a year that we pulled the plug with them and went back to astras and vectras... that's how bad it was.

never did figure out the "parking" button, versus the "auto handbrake" button

Wife's Golf has this. I think the button turns auto hold on and off, but CBA to find out.

The [i]best[/i] bad car ever was a 1.7tdi Mk 4 Astra estate pool car. This was also in the days when the police didn't go on the M6 toll…

The best bad car ever was a 1.7tdi Mk 4 Astra estate

Had one in the van variant until recently - cheapest to buy, cheapest to run, most fun and surprisingly robust and reliable old shit bucket I've ever driven.

I know millions were sold, but an H reg Mk 5 Escort.

It just felt crap. It was pale blue and had blue plastic interior. Had the CVH engine which was rough but reiiable but the gearbox went and seized solid, the steering never gave much feedback and had the turning circle of the queen Mary but the worst part was the brakes were awful.

As it was coming to the end of my time with it, the brakes decided they would start locking up the rear before the front wheels

Says a lot more about about you and the person driving at the time (if not you).

Of course it does poppet 🙄

slow, noisy, uncomfortable and embarrassing.

Sounds like my ex girlfriend.

It remains the only vehicle that I've ever spun on the public highway.

Austin Princess

Renault Laguna

The shape of things to come, then.

I spent a good part my later teenage years sat in the passenger seat of my mates Dad's new state of the art married man's macho Montego Turbo.......oh yes, 0-60 in 7 seconds British executive 80's semi sports car, those were the days, except we were mostly sat waiting for the AA van to tow it home.

I give you.... the Nissan Almera!

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My first company car. It's only redeeming feature was a "curry hook" in the passenger footwell:

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That "Curry Hook" is a great idea - why don't all cars have that?

That "Curry Hook" is a great idea - why don't all cars have that?

Wife's 2010 Astra had one in the boot. Replacement Golf doesn't, not does my Avensis.

Funny that, as an 18yr old I can recall driving my parents' 2CV across a stubble field, at night, the roof rolled back and three mates standing up with shotguns blasting away at rabbits caught in the headlights.

Yeah, that sounds more amusing than trying to get across the South Circular and wondering if you'll make it before the lights turn.

My first company car a 2CV, absolutely loved it.. and I'm on the search for an original 89' era one now... most have a Galvanised chassis, and the inevitable boot floor repair.... 😀

mk1 Prius should be up there too. I'd commend it on attempting to save the world but to be honest, I'd rather planet earth died a few years earlier than ever having to travel in one of those ever again. Same could be said about most modern Toyotas I guess.

Mk1 Prius was awesome. We had one at work as a demo of the future. Work was several large roundabouts off the A14. On anything other than bone dry warm Tarmac it would perform a lovely controllable 4 wheel drift at the slightest provocation. The early ones had comically narrow energy saving tyres and a whacking heavy battery right in the middle. They 'fixed' this fault by fitting proper tyres. Shame.

Mk1 Prius was not much more than a test bed for hybrid tech I reckon. And it was mostly sold in America where there were few diesels and there was a market for an eco-box.

So as a car it was undoubtedly shite, but it did kick-start a pretty big technological shift, didn't it? Without the MkI there'd have been no MkII and that sold millions, reset Americans' expectations of fuel economy, created a demand, and forced other manufacturers to follow. Toyota did that on their tod, fair play to them.

I'd say the crappiest I've owned was a late model metro. Whilst it was better than the mini-metro, it was still fairly shit and taught me a lot about roadside repairs.
Had an old high mileage rover 214si though and it was great. I'd have the same again if I was in a similar situation and there were still more about. Almost bought a 218 of similar vintage with the vvc engine but it was a doer upper and I have little time!

Metro

I'm glad you said this, as I thought it was just me. Is there a reason for it? My first two cars, a Mk1 Fiesta and a Mk3 Escort did it, I'm sure I've had others over the years, and irritatingly I'm currently in a BMW 1-Series which also does it. In the Beemer I've to make a conscious effort to shift across into the middle of the seat or I end up with the seat edge digging into my shoulder blade.

It's a thing. Getting the steering to fit on RHD cars is a challenge and many corners often get cut. Also, you've got to account for the front wheels and footwells and a transmission tunnel.

Vauxhalls seem to have an issue here. I drove a late model Zafira and noted that the wheel was still offset. I had the dreaded backache within twenty miles and I had to drive the hateful, sodding thing to Ayr from the south-eastern tip of England.

Hands up if you had the hydrogas suspension failure on the road and have to limp a jacked up Metro back to the garage?

It's a thing. Getting the steering to fit on RHD cars is a challenge and many corners often get cut. Also, you've got to account for the front wheels and footwells and a transmission tunnel.

Vauxhalls seem to have an issue here. I drove a late model Zafira and noted that the wheel was still offset. I had the dreaded backache within twenty miles and I had to drive the hateful, sodding thing to Ayr from the south-eastern tip of England.

Ah I remember the Metro's steering wheel was off-centre - but then feeling better about it when I noticed Nova steering wheels were off-centre AND didn't face forwards.

"curry hook" in the passenger footwell

So that's what that's for! Only had my car 8 years, and always wondered!

As somebody said, it's all about expectations. My second car was a Triumph Dolomite, bought from an elderly lady whose husband had died. It was immaculate with very low mileage for it's age, wood dashboard and door caps, green tinted windows, lots of chrome trim, vinyl roof trim and velour upholstery. And it had a clock. That thing would really shift - I've never seen anything so fast. The clock, I mean, the car struggled to do 90 despite a twin carb 1850 engine and overdrive. The overdrive would pop out whenever it felt like it. I didn't keep the car long as my local mechanic told me about warped heads. I also discovered that the doors had been filled and resprayed (very professionally, but these things soon come back).

My next car was a Renault 4 which was an absolute hoot and the only car I've ever made a profit on. I was told that it was possible to replace the floor and to do that the car would be turned upside down. I'm not sure if that is true, but I like to think so. Certainly the Haynes manual told you how to decoke it with a sponge and some water.

My favourite crap car was my F reg Renault 5 Campus, all 997 cc's and 106,000 miles on the clock of it.

Once I'd sorted out the vacuum advance on the throttle it went like a little rocket and the turning circle was so tight it almost folded itself in half.

There was nothing you couldn't fix with a screwdriver & hammer and I could get 2 MTB's in the boot.

The only problem was that the A pillars rotted away, along with the bottom of the doors, but other than that it was indestructible.

I still miss that car, it was great fun.

Same could be said about most modern Toyotas I guess.

Certainly any modern Toyota where the handbrake is operated by a switch under the dashboard about halfway down your shin. The sort of place most manufacturers would put the bonnet release.

Certainly any modern Toyota where the handbrake is operated by a switch under the dashboard about halfway down your shin. The sort of place most manufacturers would put the bonnet release.

My parents had some rotters (literally). Winner of the worst was a close result between a Metro and a Peugeot 104.
The Metro had all the problems they all had. Also no intermittent wipe and a crappy 4 speed gearbox. The memory of driving along with the puny engine thrashing away at 4000rpm and flicking the wiper switch every few seconds makes my teeth grind to this day. I still can't believe they chose it over a nice mk ii golf they were considering at the time.

The 104 takes the biscuit though. The gearbox took a hefty shove to get into any gear. The engine was tilted so far back that changing the spark plugs could only be done by someone with orang-utan arms. But the crowning glory was a heater that made the entire car smell of curry. What a heap.

a heater that made the entire car smell of curry

Did you buy the 104 off a doctor from Sunderland?

Was it white and constantly steamed up irrespective of what setting as applied to the heater?

If so, could be the very one that I used to get a lift to primary school in, in the passenger footwell!

Anything, simply anything by Ford or Vauxhall currently. They are all built to an exacting budget, and look and feel like that whatever you are in.

Can't agree on the Ford side. Having viewed most of the options our Kuga is as good as most and better than many of it's rivals. Liked the Focus we had before it too. Our BMW is another level but then that's why they cost more.

Vauxhall on the other hand............

Every ford I have driven in the last 5 years has met or exceeded my expectations, every Vauxhall has been so dull that I feel depressed before I even get in.

Certainly any modern Toyota where the handbrake is operated by a switch under the dashboard about halfway down your shin.

Surely that is simply a foot operated parking brake? We have one of those, very easy to use.

Or do you mean an electrical button?

My first car was a Lada - other than it would sometimes ferry me about quicker than cycling, it was awful.

Surely that is simply a foot operated parking brake? We have one of those, very easy to use.

fiat 126bis

Fiat cinqueququento mk1. GF years ago wanted one. Test drove, horrible, horrible, horrible, everything about it was horrible.

Astra mk3, crap for the obscenely bad ergonomics, where the seat was in position to kind of average out the pedals and steering wheel. Horrific. As mentioned in this thread I think.

rover 200, with the peugot 2L diesel. Where they clearly took the peugeot diesel and "fitted" a different turbo. Which didn't manage to span the rev gap between gears. Hill start up an extended incline? 1st gear, 2nd gear, up into 3rd aaaaaannnd down into 2nd again, and up into 3rd aaaaand down into 2nd...

OTOH, a mk1 VW jetta in metallic gold with biscuit wheels and an 1100 with about 7bhp was awesome - nothing went wrong in about two years (except the autochoke, and the cabin heater never did anything except "hot") and it was driven full-power-everywhere (mostly without exceeding the speed limit). I paid £50 for it. To be fair it had no electrical features so about as simple as things got. I also had similarly sterling service from several poverty spec mk3 escorts, bought for absolute buttons, which should have been as crap as crap can be, but both managed to be reliable transport for ages without going wrong. mk3 fiesta XR2 was great cheap fun too, despite its intrinsic naffness.

A new entry from me: Renault Scenic II. On the subject of electronic parking brakes, ours has just failed. For the fourth time. This year.

My VW Passat had an electronic handbrake. It was a royal PITA. Below 4 deg C it refused to disengage. I have the tyre marks on the drive to prove it! I think manual handbrakes should be mandatory.

I'm currently in France on holiday and have a diesel Citroen C3 rental. Crikey. It is a crock of shit. I'm convinced there's an anvil under the bonnet given its lack of puissance. Truly awful.

Wife's 2010 Astra had one in the boot. Replacement Golf doesn't, not does my Avensis.

Yay Skoda.

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Edit though:

I give you.... the Nissan Almera!

I had a Primera of the same era; despite a neurotic ABS sensor, it was an absolutely sublime (petrol) engine and a completely reliable workhorse. Sold it for more than I bought it for, which is a win on the bangernomics front 🙂

Might get flamed on here, but... Landrover Defender 90.

No head room, no leg room, sat bolt upright due to bulkhead. Shit heater, shit radio installed at some kinda crazeee angle in the dash. Trim fitted badly, body fitted worse.
N/A diesel engine gave 55bhp and couldn't pull up hill without using 2nd gear. Finding 2nd gear involved the ritual sacrifice of a Leeds virgin (bloody hard to find one, apart from me BITD) and the manipulation of a 2 foot long lever into a minute slot while immersed in a bucket of gravel.
Couldn't fit anything in the "boot". At all. If anyone was sat in the boot, you could fit even less in.
Windows would self open (i.e., drop).
Doors wouldn't lock reliably.
25mpg on a good day.
Horrible understeer.
Dad then got a TDi engine fitted which did pull well, but only exacerbated the understeer.
Once (and only once) pulled off a 4-wheel drift in it on the Leeds ringroad on a very wet, very quiet night. How I didn't kill myself in it, I'll never know. On the other hand, if the oldies had a "normal" car I would probably have wrapped it around a lamppost so I guess I should be grateful.
Awful car. Would I have another? Yes.

Princess... I have the pics from the concept drawings, I'll post them up, they are as pretty as the P1800 (and its concept drawings were way better than it was too)

My dad had a 126Bis, brilliant little cars for pootling round town! He swapped it for one of the last original shape Pandas 😀

Yay Skoda

I love mine for this simple little thing:

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Simple genius.

My nan bought one of these:

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Only drove it once and it was awful. Got scrapped after she lost her week's shopping due to the entire boot floor disappearing on the way home from Safeway!

Mum had one of these:

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Terrible to drive, it died after we couldn't get hold of a rear 3/4 window for it and the damp got into the electrics. Not even available from Suzuki!! It's now doing sterling work as an autograss car 😀

Worst [s]car[/s] van is my MK7 Transit, never wanted to buy it but couldn't afford a Sprinter. As an engineer and someone who services/tinkers their own cars - it was clearly designed on CAD with no concern for however would spanner them down the line with multiple annoying design flaws.
Also massively uncomfortable - I can't drive it for more than an hour without getting massive shoulder/neck pains. A European roadtrip was absolute agony.

Rusting before my eyes despite being waxoyled and stored under a covered yard.

Best car is our aged volvo v70 - curry hook, and car park ticket holder (as above). Designed with thought about who would work on it in years to come. A joy to spanner.

Might get flamed on here, but... Landrover Defender 90.

No head room, no leg room, sat bolt upright due to bulkhead. Shit heater, shit radio installed at some kinda crazeee angle in the dash. Trim fitted badly, body fitted worse.
N/A diesel engine gave 55bhp and couldn't pull up hill without using 2nd gear. Finding 2nd gear involved the ritual sacrifice of a Leeds virgin (bloody hard to find one, apart from me BITD) and the manipulation of a 2 foot long lever into a minute slot while immersed in a bucket of gravel.
Couldn't fit anything in the "boot". At all. If anyone was sat in the boot, you could fit even less in.
Windows would self open (i.e., drop).
Doors wouldn't lock reliably.
25mpg on a good day.
Horrible understeer.
Dad then got a TDi engine fitted which did pull well, but only exacerbated the understeer.
Once (and only once) pulled off a 4-wheel drift in it on the Leeds ringroad on a very wet, very quiet night. How I didn't kill myself in it, I'll never know. On the other hand, if the oldies had a "normal" car I would probably have wrapped it around a lamppost so I guess I should be grateful.
Awful car. Would I have another? Yes.

No flaming here. Without doubt the worst vehicle I have ever driven was a works 110 Defender. Unforgivably bad in virtually every way. To think people were spending vast sums to secure the last examples blows my mind. Hateful, awful.

bearnecessities - Member

I had a Primera of the same era, it was an absolutely sublime

😯

I will allow "not completely sh*t" (as I said, the almera was somewhat redeemed by the genius curry hook), but [i]sublime[/i]? We need to have a serious talk about your aspirations! 😀

Actually, the worst car I've has was a Mk1 freelander. Absolutely terrible in almost every way. According to wikipedia:

The floorpan was based on that of the Austin Maestro, and minor components such as interior door handles were Maestro items.

Might get flamed on here, but... Landrover Defender 90.

Landys need to be kept in context. First and foremost a working vehicle, it really had no place on the roads! I used to have an old series LR and it really was back to basics (minus the basics).

A gearbox with a huge gearstick meant locating gears was hit and miss. Steering so vague I often wondered if it had just completely disconnected. And brakes, well it took quite some stopping - four drum brakes with no servo wasn't the best way to stop a two-ton vehicle.

But for short journeys, an absolute hoot to drive. And off-road just fantastic fun.

I'd have another in a heartbeat.... 🙂

I had a Defender when I lived in London (there [i]was[/i] a genuine reason for it!). For what it was, I couldn't fault it, and was the last car I owned that I could fix myself. The lorry wheel grooves on the M25 used to send it mental though.

Not sure if anyone's voted for the old Vitara. Nearly every farmer round our way has one, so they're good for something in stock form, but mine came with factory 'fat boy' wheels and was lethal on wet roads. I had to take mini roundabouts and sharp bends at walking pace or it'd just spin.

I too have owned a S2 Landy fitted with a diesel Perkins engine so it would tow Shire Horses, agree with keeping them in context.. not many vehicles would be able to tow a FatNed in a box out of a Show field after rainfall..
Crap on the road though, but then 40mph is just bearable. Odd isn't it but I have quite a soft spot for that Landy all these years later, even though most of it didn't work and the windows would fall out if it was windy.....

Odd isn't it but I have quite a soft spot for that Landy all these years later

I feel the same for my old Landy also!

and the windows would fall out if it was windy.....

Mine was the same. Also had the rag top so it was so draughty that shutting a window had very little effect. And heating? Turning the heating on just meant putting a jumper on...

the best thing about building your own 90 is you can fix all these faults....

the heater in mine will roast a chicken 😉 its when you see how they are built and what they use for air flow - and how badly built they were thats when you see the captain obvious fixes to stop the hot air leaking out everywhere before it get into the cab !

tbh it sounds like you all drove ragged dying landies ..... which are probably still all running now 😀 i couldnt believe the difference in how mine drove after rebuilding it with new/refurbed parts - as in the steering made more than suggestions at steering , the throttle made it go (i doubled the power) and the brakes nearly stuck you through the windscreen where as before they were merely suggestive at best - a comfort factor if you will 😀

Honda Civic.

Not sure if it was the i-shift box, the rear window or just overall. It's a not very nice car though.

Whether it's the worst in the world may be a big ask... but it wasn't nice

tbh it sounds like you all drove ragged dying landies ..... which are probably still all running now

Mine was ex-military so undoubtedly had some ragging. And yes, still probably going strong somewhere 🙂

My 75 SIII 109 pulled the loaded skip lorry out of the quagmire the bikewash left at last weekends BDS.
It's my transport to events, it's my tent (full canvas hood) and more often than not I help ferry other marshalls, poles, crash mats etc around. If someone asked to swap it for a VW van I might be tempted just so I could sell it and get another couple of old Landies going.

I wouldn't drive an old car. I don't want to die in an accident...

I had a series 2 land rover for a while and while it was noisy, had a huge turning circle, and had no synchromesh on second, you could drive with impunity on packed snow which cars couldn't begin to think of driving on. It's all about expectations again. However, I would have expected it to take a shallow ford in its stride. The reality was that the distributor wasn't remotely sealed and the drum brakes took a quarter of a mile of gentle drying before they'd stop the beast. And being petrol from the dark ages it was a bit of a Georgie Best (and not in a good way).

I wouldn't drive an old car. I don't want to die in an accident...

Yet you ride a bike which is far more likely to get you killed per km covered.

There's risk compensation, I was lot more cautious in a Lotus 7 than a G4 Escort. In the Lotus death or serious injury was probable, in the Escort only my wallet would have suffered. This is one of the problmes with air-bagged X5 drivers, they have a sense of invulnerability that is dangerous for everyone else on the road. Ignoring the fact only ****s buy big beamers.

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May I offer the Metro Turbo?

Fast enough to get you into trouble, but with brakes and suspension not quite good enough to get you out of said trouble. The only car I've ever managed to get airbourne (ahem...)

Nickc
You can't be trying too hard if that's the only car you have had airborne :D..
I would like to go back a few threads and with regard to the Rover 200 ..if it's the 216 with the British Leyland engine then I would agree ..pile of shite.
However the 213 had the superior Honda engine and was a great little car ..I had one as a company car once from new ..

I was enjoying coffee outside at a local café, when I noticed a late 1990s Mercedes E class parked on the pavement next to me.

Now, the previous generation E class (W124) seems to be one of those ageless, classless type cars that keep going for ever. Customers paid a premium on the understanding that even with poverty spec (steel wheels, no radio) that the car would outlast you and as such was the chariot of choice for many a European taxi driver.

This model, of 1999 vintage suffered from rampant rust and had multiple perforations in the bodywork. The trim appeared to be hanging off in places and the paintwork was pretty shoddy. It's not unique, virtually every single W210 I've seen is rusty, with peeling paint.

Had this car been sold as a Rover, I've no doubt that we'd be slagging it off as the epitome of crapness. I feel very sorry for everyone who paid a small fortune for one of these, expecting it to last a decade or more.