Autoblog

Anyone worried about their legacy would do well to pay attention to the rise and fall of automotive punchlines. More like fall and rise. Cars that were once four-wheeled jokes are gaining in value, demonstrating that history usually plays out far differently than you'd planned. Insurance man McKeel Hagerty noticed that cars once sneered at were increasing in value. Hagerty's insurance company is the number one insurance provider for collector car owners, and the values of the vehicles were suddenly climbing. Hagerty polled his customers and asked them to vote on the worst car designs of all time; a way of researching what's primed to increase in value.

AMC was the big winner of the dubious honors. Consistently undercapitalized compared to the big three, AMC had to be very creative and clever with their resources. The company made it as long as they did by taking more risks, so it's not that much of a surprise to see the Pacer, Gremlin, and Matador honored. Ford's Pinto must be charming a new generation of buyers with its firey personality, because we can't imagine that rampant nostalgia has started to take hold of the rolling jokes yet. Then again, many Boomers might fondly regard what may have been their first car. Prices for musclecars have gotten stupid, are we going to see a three-million dollar Bobcat in the next five years?

[Source: Business Week via TTAC]

Here's a fun column we came across talking about cars as metaphors. Kind of like referring to something as the "Rolls-Royce" of its industry means it's the best (or most expensive, perhaps). The writer, Miss Cellania, lists five vehicles that rightly or wrongly have come to be symbols of the worst from the automotive sector. All five of her picks are instantly recognizable for their place in motoring history. While we empathize with owners of these vehicles because they frequently have endearing qualities, we understand the reasons they have been chosen. Here's the list, but we encourage you to click over to Mental Floss to hear the explanations of how they earned their often unfair reps.

1. Edsel = Failure
2. Corvair = Unsafe
3. Pinto = Volatile
4. DeLorean = Overhyped
5. Yugo = Shoddy

While the DeLorean might be a bit of a stretch as being overhyped, the rest seem appropriate. These are a good start, but we're sure you all can come up with a whole bunch more.

Thanks for the tip, C. McFeeny!

[Source: Mental Floss]

What do the 1980 Chevy Monza and the 1973 VW Microbus have in common? They are among Car Talk hosts Tom and Ray Magliozzi's Top 10 Scariest Cars list. Of the Monza they say, " Whenever one of these beauties reared its ugly grille in front of the garage, every mechanic with more than six weeks' experience would go running for the men's room and lock the door." Another car on the list, the 1987 Ford Festiva, gets this derision from the brothers: "We once got in trouble for saying this car came right from the factory with a funeral wreath on the grille."

If these cars aren't scary enough, submit your own nomination.

The whole list after the jump.


[Source: cartalk.com]