The world's worst car

[red750]

Click here for the world's worst car.

[old man emu]

Good thing that there was only ever one made. However, I do really like the appearance. It's very art deco. 

[facthunter]

Pass....

[Yenn]

A version of what I consider to be one of the worst cars I have driven was just sold for well over A$1000000. The car sold was a Ford GTHO, which is a derivation of the Falcon, which is the one I don't like.

A friend of mine had a GTHO back when they were fairly new. He bought it as an investment, only ever took it out on days when there was no dust or rain possible. I had the job of doing a load of photographs for him, ended up sitting in the back of a ute with the tail gate down  photographing him front on at speed.

[Old Koreelah]

One of the scariest experiences of my life was in this sort of vehicle.

A  bunch of us poor, hitch-hiking students were picked up by a poor little rich boy in a Falcon GT- a detuned verson of the HO. He spent the next hour showing off. I clearly remember the massive sideways G-forces on corners; that car could hold the road, but the idiot driver still managed to slam into a cutting, damaging the panelwork. 
Never again!

[spacesailor]

I remember the old ' Vauxhall Viva !, the first car made to collapse at five years, trouble was poor workmanship

&  bits fell off after the second year.

Can,t believe they named another Viva.

spacesailor

[octave]

10 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

I remember the old ' Vauxhall Viva !, the first car made to collapse at five years,

Here is a Vauxhall Viva still going strong with a transplanted  Mazda V6.

 

My son (his company) funded this series and did some of the camera work.

 

The Incredible Mazda-Swapped Vauxhall Viva -TST in NZ

 

 

[facthunter]

The Market values them and pays what IT considers their value..  I'd rather one of those GTHO's than a Lambourgini  .Stuff that's all alloy and magnesium is near impossible to look after and some of these "fancy" cars have real mechanical weaknesses in them.. Nev

Edited September 28, 2021 by facthunter

[old man emu]

As I said to my grandson only the other day when he was going on about Lamborghinis and the like, " What's the use of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for a fancy car that can only legally travel as fast as a shit-box on public roads?"

[spacesailor]

Travel as fast as it will go.

Only on ONE road in the NT.

Now only certain parts are Open to that Unlimited speed.

I think the a BENTLY holds the record.

my record 150 ks per hour, but I didn't keep it at that speed for long !, as I needed the car to get home in

spacesailor

[old man emu]

The best we could get out of V8 Commodores back in the mid-80's was 220 kph for an unmarked car and about 210 for one with Christmas lights.

[nomadpete]

Back in the nineties, I decided that the Commodore was Australia's first world class car. Of course I was driving hired one's, and we all know they go a lot faster. To think that a big standard family saloon can do over 200kph, corner well, and stop fairly well, well, it never happened before.

 

I can recall (during a bad time of my life) launching through a cattle grid at indicated 170 kph, airborne for seconds, coming down on loose sand on one side and Rocky gravel on the other, and tracking straight!

Could never have done that and lived if it was any of the previous Holden or Ford offerings.

[facthunter]

The falcon suspension and rear (live) axle can be set up quite well . I'd argue it was the best in that regard in those days.. Nev 

[nomadpete]

I disagree, Nev.

Back then, 1990 ish, the Ford was more civilised at sensible speeds, but at anything over the ton (100mph), the early v6 commodore had the edge by a large margin. Much more sure footed. Talking in terms of showroom cars, not the modified ones. 

[facthunter]

The lateral locaton on the Commodore rear axle was single arm  and moved through an arc. The Falcon was compensated for so it stayed in the centre so you got NO sideways reaction as the suspension reacted to the surface. They all could benefit from Bilsteins  shocker upgrades. The EA falcons were a very well built body. definitely the best  body Ford ever built in Australia but it was too heavy to RACE. They came out in 1989 till about 1993.  Holdens best Commodore was about 1993 with the stronger LP blocks. " Larry Perkins". Nev

[onetrack]

The Camira and the Holden Starfire 4, rate as the worst car, and the worst engine, ever built in Australia. A mates sister bought a brand new Camira, and only about 2 months in from new, the entire dashboard fell out into her lap!!

 

 

[nomadpete]

No mention of the Morris Marina?

[facthunter]

 The most dangerous car that was popular would have to be the VW Beetle. Handling and fuel tank location  could hardly be worse and they were wind affected badly. Poor economy and power and the later one was a real crankshaft breaker and valve dropper.  The heater was dangerous also. Hitler's Revenge was the nickname. Also Buy a VW "and roll your own".  Most of Repco's exchange engines failed.. . Nev

[pmccarthy]

You are looking for a fight there Facthuntr. My 1968 beetle was a gem, took me across Australia and back and all over. 1500 motor with disc brakes up front. 68mph maximum and cruising speed. But I admit, noisy when it was hot and you had to wind the window down.

[Jerry_Atrick]

You must have got he good one; My brother had one (can't recall the year) and it was a bomb... Of course, the provinance can't be guaranteed.. But others I knew who have them forgive them because of their cult status

[facthunter]

I don't base my comments on just one. I've repaired them rallied them (owned by the Boss) and owned two. Got my wife to buy a NEW Superbug thinking IT would be better with better rear suspension brakes etc We didn't keep it long . I was wrong in selecting it. Hopeless with warrantee also.. . Not efficient. Relatively gutless and poor MPG. Engine mechanically noisy from new. sensitive to winds on the road and pulses with a window open. Nev

[Dax]

14 hours ago, pmccarthy said:

My 1968 beetle was a gem, took me across Australia and back and all over. 1500 motor with disc brakes up front.

Decades ago during our round Aus travels, the most common sight was a VW on the side of the road and abandoned, mostly the vans so anyone coming along had spares everywhere. Once of the bitumen they fell apart and the heat always got to them on those long straight tracks of gravel, bull dust and corrugations.

[old man emu]

Let's face it. The VW Beetle was not designed for the harsh driving conditions of Australia in the 1950's and 60's. They were designed for the shorter distances and softer conditions of Europe. Don't confuse the Beetle with the Kubelwagen, which was an evolution of the Beetle, based initially in the chassis, but then going along a completely different path to meet the needs of the military. 

 

So saying, I did push my 1960 Beetle on 14 or more hour all day trips from Sydney to up near Eidsvold in Queensland. I also crossed the Hay Plains several times. These trips were done in the early 70's.

[onetrack]

I think the main problems as regards abandoned VeeDubs by the roadside in remote areas were; 1. They were old vehicles when they left the city lights behind. 2. They were loaded to the hilt, with all the junk the backpackers/hippies needed for their Big Lap. 3. Their maintenance was pretty much non-existent. 4. They were driven hard to try and keep up with all the newer vehicle speeds.

 

The VeeDubs weren't the only vehicle abandoned to the elements or by the roadside in remote areas. The Nullarbor roadhouses backyards were full of abandoned vehicles of all makes, thus showing it wasn't just old VeeDubs that didn't make it.