Time tackles 50 worst cars of all time
One of the staples of the magazine business is generating lists. There are lists of sexiest, richest, overrated, upcoming and more. Time magazine is no stranger to such lists and their latest effort is a list of Top 50 Worst cars of all time. They obviously put some thought into this one having come up with fifty members of the list as opposed to the usual top ten.
The list features most of the obvious suspects like the Pontiac Aztek, the AMC Pacer and the legendary East German Trabant. The list also includes some much more obscure models like the 1899 Horsey Horseless pictured above. There are some real surprises on the list too. Who would expect to find the Model T on a list of worst cars ever? Or that environmental icon, the GM EV-1?
Even if you don't agree, they actually provide some decent rationales for choosing these cars. As popular as the Model T was, it wasn't very sophisticated even for it's time. There is also the issue of the societal and environmental costs that have come along with mass adoption of cars.
Thanks to all who tipped in.
[Source: Time]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Brian Dreggors 7:38PM (9/08/2007)
This is really one of the most poorly-compiled, ignorant lists of all time, combining unique oddities and innovative concepts ahead of their time with faux-cutesy social commentary and unoriginal automotive whipping boys with a few authentic clunkers thrown in.
Nevermind the utter lack of fact-checking in some of these things (Corvair's "impaling" steering column was common amongst ALL vehicles of the era, the Dymaxion crashed because of a collision with another vehicle, etc.).
I vote this list as one of Time's Worst Lists. I also vote that Autoblog readers could come up with a far better list in far less time, or at the very one with some sort of intelligence behind it.
Yeesh.
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nick procter 9:00PM (9/08/2007)
What a stupid list. What about the Chevy Vega, Ford Pinto, AMC Gremlin, AMC Hornet, Austin Marina, Jeep Compass, Audi Fox, VW FOX, Plymouth Arrow?????
I guess the editor did not talk to any real car guy (or lady).
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Stratojet 5:55PM (9/09/2007)
I use to own a Dodge Arrow back in the late 70's. Mitsubishi engine , 4 speed transmission, nice little hatchback, nothing wrong with it. It was also recommended by Consumer Reports.
John S 10:00AM (9/09/2007)
Did you not read through the list? Please don't make comments about the list until you actually do. Half the damn cars you mentioned are on the list already including the AMC Gremlin #19, the Ford Pinto #22... the point is, the list isn't as bad as you all try to make it out to be, a lot of the cars on that list ARE horrible cars and did deserve to make the list, and yes, there are some that didn't, and simply made it due to Time's environmentalist views but hey, its their magazing and their list. Deal with it.
3cubed minus 3squared plus1 8:03PM (9/08/2007)
Well its better than doing one hundred.
I was walking by and my mom was watching E!'s "Top 100 best weight loss in hollywood" or something like that.
It was really retarded.
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lintsniffer 8:12PM (9/08/2007)
Half of the modern cars make the list only because of the ridiculous hard-on Time has displayed for over-the-top environmentalism. Sorry Time, but people who don't live in the East Village busy being professional protesters/Time journalists might actually have a use for an Excursion.
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Ben 8:20PM (9/08/2007)
I motion that we give Time the title of "Worst magazine of all TIME"
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Guenther 12:49AM (9/09/2007)
Second. All in favor, say I
Jon C 8:36PM (9/08/2007)
I was suprised to see the Ford Explorer on the list just because it supposedly is responsible for the SUV craze.Instant loss of jornalistic credibility,or was that when they put Jar-Jar Binks on the cover to advertise for George Lucas' horrendous 'Phantom Menace' Star Wars movie.
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CaliberSRT4 9:03PM (9/08/2007)
I thought I was the only one that thought Time made a stupid list. They are retarded.
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John Metcalf 9:26PM (9/08/2007)
Wow, I was thinking this was a great list with fantastic insights into what made these vehicles "worst." Surely not all encompassing, but rational. The writer/compiler seemed to have a pretty good knowledge of the subject and a true love of automobiles (who else would want an Aston Martiin Lagonda.)
Then again, I'm probably not a real "car guy" like you all are.
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lintsniffer 12:25AM (9/09/2007)
Hopefully you're joking. I would love the Lagonda, or the Lotus or E-type they mentioned. Hell, I wouldn't mind a Model T. Sure, others are better, but the point of a 50-worst list isn't to have a car on it that has 300 worse.
I'm not sure my last sentence made sense.
I laughed at calling the Model T 'crude and simple'. These are the same people that call a no-options Honda Civic mana from heaven.
Guenther 12:52AM (9/09/2007)
Yes, John was laying on the sarcasm pretty thick. Come to think of it, I thought I smelled something as the page was loading...
Kevin 9:30PM (9/08/2007)
The list is ridiculous; not because of the cars they chose (it's their list, they can put whatever they want on it) but because of their utter inability to back any of their choices up with much beyond 'this car sucks because we said it sucks' and 'this car is awful because it's clubbing baby seals'.
Asinine.
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sfast 9:34PM (9/08/2007)
I have a book of the 100 worst cars. It isn't to bad. I wish I could find it.
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autohobby 9:36PM (9/08/2007)
I got as far as the Model T. The writer is an idiot. TIME is now confirmably an arm of progressive leftists. Every luxury that the writer now enjoys is pretty much a result of the automobile. I wish that these stupid writers were not allowed to drive or ride in motorized vehicles. Further they should be banned from using any mass produced items. That would get them back to their TEEPEEs where they belong!
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Jon C 9:51PM (9/08/2007)
Dude...Progressive Leftists? Progressive is just a left wing media catch word to package and sell what is actually social regression to a gullible public.
bathtub gin 11:29PM (9/08/2007)
I got as far as the Model T also. I enjoy an uninformed rant as much as the next guy, but this bloviating meathead is arguing completely beside the point.
He lambastes the T for being crude. The Model T's simplicity was the driving point of the whole thing. Ford had previously tried higher-end cars, like the six-cylinder Model K. Sold 900 cars in two years, because people didn't expect a high-end, sophisticated car from Ford. Plus, the car was to have a vehicle on which a farmer could make repairs with the tools he had at hand.
The writer also blames the the Model T for, apparently, causing rampant pollution and radical Islamic terrorism by getting our stupid great-grandparents addicted to mobility, like it were a vial of auto-crack. The T was designed to run on either gasoline or ethanol. You can blame the sand crunching under our soldier's boots on the people who drove the Model T for not using ethanol, or Prohibition, but not the T itself.
F451 9:52PM (9/08/2007)
If you are an enthusiast of any particular vehicleno matter what its flawsthen nothing else truly matters. There are vehicles on the list that I would happily own, and love.
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Voidvod 9:55PM (9/08/2007)
Oh I so agree this guy is an idiot
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