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[nemesis_v6]

just for a laugh whats your worst make and model of car if any one nows how to set up the voting system maybe set it up  this could be intresting i hate nissen micras in tivvy its the number 1 granny mobile thats drive at ten mph in the middle of the road  

[Admin]

Hmmm Nissan Micras.... got one on the drive right now!  
Courtesy car while the Coupe has its cambelt done.
God it is awful, first sign of a hill and you are  :-Xed!

Worst cars.

Renault 19 1.4. Ooops!  

Hillman Avenger 1.3GL (1973 model).
First car and truly awful. Lost 3rd gear after a week and had top up water and oil on an almost daily basis! Still ran it for 6 months before it seized the engine on the hill down to the breakers!  

Rover SD1 2.6 VDP.
Lovely car to look at and sit in, but 3 head gaskets in a year told me there was clearly a problem with the engine design!

Morris Marina 1.8TC.
Very quick car (or so I thought at the time!) but handling was less impressive and you could almost watch the rust spreading!  

Ford Granada 2.8i Ghia.
Why??  :-/
Sounded nice when I bought it and seemed to drive ok.
1 week later I realised oil pump was shot and he had got round it by adding gear oil to the engine oil!
Chaged oil and got the top end rattle of death. No red light to warn as he had removed the bulb!
Thankfully I didn't pay much for it and learnt a few lessons.

[Gwilym]

3.1 Turbo Diesel Izuzu Bighorn.

What a pile of crap, only kept it for 3 weeks before replacing it with a 4 litre cherokee. The power difference was amazing.

[Elite Pete]

Range Rover LSE 4.2

That thing let me down more times than Leeds Utd

[sir moanalot]

from the eighties -an old audi 80 ls.   on bringing it home it stalled at a set of lights and i foung out 3 of the spark plugs had vibrated out cos the threads were stripped !!
withing a couple of weeks it was in a scrapper.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Fiat Panda....nuff said
Metro....yes they realy were a bloody awful car
Mini....because in my mind its the symbol of the reason why we have no car industry....ask me why if you dare!
Beetle.....THE worst car from a drivers perspective
All Capris....in thier day they had some looks (not my liking) but were a bloody awful drive and a crap chassis.

[x25xe]

Fiat Panda....nuff said
Metro....yes they realy were a bloody awful car
Mini....because in my mind its the symbol of the reason why we have no car industry....ask me why if you dare!
Beetle.....THE worst car from a drivers perspective
All Capris....in thier day they had some looks (not my liking) but were a bloody awful drive and a crap chassis.

Agree totally with the above - and I am daring to ask why!

My first car was a Talbot Horizon.  Rattly push rod engine and a naff gear change.  Very comfortable car though and good on fuel.  Rust was a real problem and one night as I was going round a roundabout, the rear suspension collapsed!

I owned it for around 6 months before the trip to the scrapper!  Got £25 for it without the front wings which I removed and got £50 for privately.

Learnt a few lessons there.

[Marks DTM Calib]

My problem with the Mini is as follows:

When it was launched it was light years ahead of the competition, it blew the rest away, it had a good little engine, neat setup, good drive etc.........and this is where it went wrong.....it was never developed.

40 years later it was still the same animal with the same engine and setup.......it still required 40 year old production techniques (hand braised joints!), it still felt like a 40 year old card......and the Metro was the joke cheap upgrade....and again a truely awful car....even worse when compared to the Nova and Fiesta of the era...

The biggest shame is it was never developed, if it had gone through a proper update every 10 years it would still be a class leader today and have massive sales (small cars are the bread and butter of car manufacturers!).

Sadly this is true of all Uk designed cars, and the mini to me is THE greatest example of why we no longer have a car industry.......I hate it.....and I certainly would not use one every day on modern roads...

[x25xe]

And that is, as you say, the main problem with the British Car Industry.  Lack of investment, terrible strikes in the 70's and no new models.

The Metro was horrible - I drove one once, for about 2 miles, and it told me all I needed to know!

What about the Marina?  A total joke and a hash up if ever there was one.  Front suspension came from the Morris Minor!

It was a great shame as BMC / BL did come out with some good innovation.  First real front wheel drive car (even if the CV joints were suspect and QH did better ones that the BL dealers actually stocked!) first car with 5 speed box, hydrolastic suspension etc.

As with Rootes (whom I am particularly fond of) I wonder what BL would be producing today.............

[Kevin Wood]

My worst car was a Morris Ital 1.7 Estate.  

Actually, I say that, but it was a hand-me-down from my Grandad who used to fettle with it constantly (excuse to get away from SWMBO no doubt!) so it was mechanically perfect. It was also free which was nice as I was a student at the time. It did a great job of carrying all my rubbish around. Just pile it all in the back, bicycles and all, and shut the tailgate. A similar technique was used on the rare occasions when I was sober at the end of a Friday night and my mates needed a lift home.

However, no attempt whatsoever had been made during production to protect it from rust so it was a constant battle to stop it rotting away. It suffered exactly the problems that Mark mentioned with the British car industry. New model? Right, let's go and have a look in the parts bin, then. When I look at other 1980's cars from the like of VW, even Ford,  I can't imagine why it ever sold at all. Maybe it was brand loyalty or maybe they were ridiculously cheap.

The O series engine was remarkably good IMO. It burned a little oil, but then it always had since new. It was reasonably nippy and fairly refined. I pity the poor soles who bought one with a 1275 A series in though. Gearbox was dire. Only 4 speed and 3 of them whined so badly you tried to stay in 4th. Again, like that since new, back to dealer, TADTS.

Handling was the worst aspect, though. Suspension straight from the Marina. I can't express in words how bad it was <shudder>.

Still, it did me for a good 5 years and was the ripe ond age of 14 when I sold it. Actually my Mum sold it for me when I was on holiday, which impressed me.

Kevin

[Martin_1962]

I have driven quite a few cars and some have stuck out as quite horrid.

Some were also better than expected.

Worst - both pool cars
Ford Orion 1.8 Diseasel, gutless, slow, terrible gearchange, awfull indicator stalk.
Ford Escrap Abysmall Van complete rubbish, replaced by an older Astravan
1.0 Nova - gutless compared to other 1.0 hatches

Horrible to work on
Vauxhall Chevette - everything is on the same side of the engine, I remember my dad taking hours to fix a blowing exhaust manifold (he was a Peugeot mechanic at the time and the main car of the Chevette family was a 504)

Surprising old banger
Handles well, comfortable, went well, my mums old Avenger estate.

I have driven worse
Reliant Rialto
Austin Metro (I thought it was quite pleasant for a shopping car)

Disappointment
Ford Granada, delivered a Carlton (replacing a Granada), picked up the Granada - it was slower, less comfortable and understeered for England!

Also had a 2.8 loan car, while a previous 2.0 Omega was repaired, shouldn't 800cc more make a big difference? Little difference except in torque.

Previous jobs have included car delivery, so take Astra to Kent, pick up Carlton CD on trade plates and bring it back, next day (only time I did a Saturday) take same car now registered to Warwick and return with Granada.

So drove

Nova 1.0, 1.2, 1.3, Astra 1.2, 1.3, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0, 1.6D & Vans, Chevette, Manta, Cavalier 1.3, 1.6, 1.6 auto, 1.6D, 1.8, 2.0, blobby Cavalier 1.8.
Carlton 1.8, 1.8i, 2.0 manual and auto
Senator 2.5, 3.0, angular 3.0
Midi, Rascal

Something is wrong 1.6 Astra - slower than 1.3
Bad engine, 1.2 Astra, 2.0 Astra was not controllable, 1.8 Carlton
Superslow, 1.0 Nova, 1.2 Astra, 1.6D Cavalier, 1.8 Carlton
Never got to deliver a GSi3000

I upset one recipient of a company car, he whined and moaned about the colour, keeping me in the middle of nowhere for an hour or so, his boss was npt too bothered but I was stuck there - I basically said stuff the colour, you should have got the 2.0 the 1.8 carb auto was terrible.

[Martin_1962]

My worst car was a Morris Ital 1.7 Estate.  

Handling was the worst aspect, though. Suspension straight from the Marina. I can't express in words how bad it was <shudder>.

Kevin

Directly descended from the Morris Minor

[Kevin Wood]

Directly descended from the Morris Minor

Yep. With a load more weight on the suspension and a load more torque through the transmission!
Changing the front trunnions was at least an annual job  

Kevin

[STMO123]

My old 1964 Morris 1100. God, it was terrible.

[Martin_1962]

I am still surprised by some of the 1970s cars, if you took a 1970s car, added a 5 speed gear box, it would be better than a 1980s car.

I forgot I have driven a Talbot Horribleizon, it was crap!

Now you lot know I like Rootes Group cars - well compare the details between 3 similar cars, the Escort Mk2 and the Marina

Thing\Car	Avenger	Escort	Marina
Suspension	All coils	Coil/Leaf	Torsion/Leaf
Ignition	Electronic (late)	Points	Points
Engine 1	S/S 1600 up to 100bhp*	up 2.0 Pinto about 100bhp*	Up to L/S 1800 not very powerful
Engine 2	S/S 5 bearing high push rod 8 port	Square & S/S cross flows and OHC*	3 bearing push rod
Rust	Yes	Yes	Yes
Handling	Good	Good	Not good

As you see the Avenger was most advanced except for two things, 1 no OHC, but instead had a good OHV with a high cam shaft, 8 port head, strong bottom end and short stroke, 2 non cross flow head design. I would rate the Ford Crossflow and the Rootes 1600 as two of the best engines of their era.

The Escort was let down by the back end - same as the Capri, the Marina was 1950 technology is a more modern body.

The Marina was bought by people who always bought a Morris!

However all 3 rust like nobodies business, my mums was getting bad when sold, and the engine donor for my Sunbeam was rotten and an MOT failure.

In fact I would say that rust proofing is the main improvement in recent years!!!!

One thing I do remember saying in the late 70s early 80s was why weren't cars fitted with 4 valves per cylinder, why were so many long stroke, why were 4 speed gearboxes used, and why did so many still have cart springs?

My transport at the time would have been a 2 stroke 100cc followed by a 250cc twin with 4 valves per cylinder, 6 speed box ect.

It took the car industry quite a few years to catch up with the bike industry