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Grimmest car of all time


sdkrc

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For me one of the grimmest cars I've ever had the misfortune to own was a corsa b 1.0 3 pot. Meant to be a replacement for the venerable 1.2 but it felt like it had to be nailed all the time. Seats felt like cardboard and had horrid scratchy material,sight of a hill meant a lot of forward planning and pray the wind is in your favour. I had a x plate envoy and the wife had a brief dalliance with a x plate LS that was to replace her old mazda 323 saloon. Thinking about it,I think them seats were used in base spec Astras too. 

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2 hours ago, Justin Case said:

No dishonourable mention for the Hyundai Pony yet?  A mate inherited one when his old man died, I understand that he and his brother tossed a coin for it, and he lost :( It was one of the later ones and getting on a bit although it had only done a few miles, so goodness knows what the earlier ones were like,  as it was an absolute POS with no redeeming features at all. In fact he was quite relieved when it shat its  auto gearbox and he couldn't find another one, so was able to scrap it with a clean conscience

You've just reminded me about a guy I worked with about 15 years ago who was absolutely convinced (and told anyone he met who ever said anything even slightly car related) that the 2nd generation Hyundai Pony was the best car ever made.

He frequently told me that the 4x4 variant was literally the best vehicle ever made, would out-drag most hot hatches due to its light weight and do stuff that a LR Defender couldn't do offroad.

I can picture his face but his name absolutely escapes me. He's probably on here these days.

 

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Maybe it's just me, but I find Trabants utterly grim.  Am I allowed to say that?  I have worked on several.  I approached them with an open mind knowing nothing about them, and I tried very hard to find something that I liked, but I couldn't.  They do actually work quite well, and they have some clever engineering, but somehow none of it is quite good enough.  It's all very dreary and average, and not very well put together, or pleasant to work on.   6 volt electrics, messy 2 stroke fuel, constant strange plasticky smell, and they rust.   Each to their own, I guess, and maybe the makers were doing their best with the resources they had, but I really can't see the attraction.  I'd rather have a Standard 8. 

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6 hours ago, Fat_Pirate said:

I know some like them, but Lada Riva - I drove a nearly-new one about 40 miles and couldn't get over how totally incompetent it was compared to my own car, which was a £180 Marina.

Pdi was 6-12hours if you wanted it to work and steer. Can still align one in my sleep . So it actually track straight. Ish. 

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22 hours ago, HMC said:

We are in a bit of a bubble; many people would say the cars we celebrate the most are the grimmest. As the forum and ask the general public and find a big difference.

I would imagine some would say A car without reversing camera Is grim, never mind a velosolex or a trabant which they’ve never heard of and no experience of.

True. Base spec 80s Proton.  Loved by many here, avoided like the plague just about everywhere else.

 

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I'd like to propose the 2004 BMW X3 as the grimmest car of all time. Can anyone top this?
Base spec: cloth, 2.0 diesel, non-colour coded bumpers, mid 00s BMW reliability*
I can think of fewer cars which evoke such powerful sighs.
Screenshot_2020-12-24-21-12-46-09.thumb.jpg.a3049353a81341df736fd905bf21b166.jpg
An acquaintance of mine drives one of these. The o/s headlamp has a small snail shell inside it.

No, I don't know either
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I know I complained about the lack of comforts in two early -60s cars, but to be fair, most cars were pretty Spartan until well into the 70s or even later.  It's only since then that the manufacturers have been loading the spec on ever lower models.  Now of course even the humblest shopping trolley has a confusing array of gadgets.  Unfortunately they have, without exception, been drained of all charm at the same time.

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Talk of trabants,  Ladas etc. All valid but in the context of their creation, their intended markets and the resulting mass mobility, transformational.

In the context of their creation and intended market and the manufacturer they represented I would line up all Mercedes Benz models affected by the rust thing in late 90-mid 2000s. The product fell well short of what it was intended to do (be a product of a highly regarded manufacturer with a sky high image) and IMO trashed that image of invincibility by rusting. Massive own goal, and having the front suspension fail because of chassis rot on a car is pretty grim; let alone something something projected as an example of engineering excellence.

Still they survived far far worse (the factorys were either in soviet territory or in ruins or both in 1945) and it’s most likely no longer on a new car buyers radar.

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2 hours ago, bub2006 said:

For me one of the grimmest cars I've ever had the misfortune to own was a corsa b 1.0 3 pot. Meant to be a replacement for the venerable 1.2 but it felt like it had to be nailed all the time. Seats felt like cardboard and had horrid scratchy material,sight of a hill meant a lot of forward planning and pray the wind is in your favour. I had a x plate envoy and the wife had a brief dalliance with a x plate LS that was to replace her old mazda 323 saloon. Thinking about it,I think them seats were used in base spec Astras too. 

Don't forget they put that same engine in the heavier Corsa C. After that in the even heavier and larger Corsa D...

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3 minutes ago, SiC said:

Don't forget they put that same engine in the heavier Corsa C. After that in the even heavier and larger Corsa D...

My OHs Corsa D has the 1.0 3 pot engine, OK about town and not too bad on the A63 but fuck me take it up a steep hill and a white flag comes out from under the bonnet 🤣

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47 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

I know I complained about the lack of comforts in two early -60s cars, but to be fair, most cars were pretty Spartan until well into the 70s or even later.  It's only since then that the manufacturers have been loading the spec on ever lower models.  Now of course even the humblest shopping trolley has a confusing array of gadgets.  Unfortunately they have, without exception, been drained of all charm at the same time.

My mini countryman is a base spec model and has auto lights,wipers,sat nav etc. It also weighs 1560kgs. 

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1 minute ago, bub2006 said:

Yes,I had use of a corsa c with that engine and it was dire. The seats were better though. Not been lucky* enough to try a corsa d with the 3 pot. The 1.2 was rather sedate by that time to be honest

To be fair though my old Fiesta 1.25 found steep hills hard work too though. 

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Come to think of it though they seem to have discontinued the poverty spec Dacia Sandero, the one only available in white which doesn't come with much more than 4 seats and a steering wheel, though there's a new model out early next year and I think they are just selling existing stock now

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Never had any problems with my Corsa B 3 banger on hills, it was no worse than my Dacia Duster 1.6 petrol. You just need to give it death and don't slow down for corners! I did kind of blow mine up a bit but I just fitted another and away I went. 

The Envoy interior was fucking dire though, seats were as comfortable as the gravestones they looked like. I sacked it all off for a nicer SRi interior.

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1 hour ago, adw1977 said:

India, 1970s.

And can still be found lying in disgraced state in side alleys and scrap merchants in third or fourth tier towns in the Provinces. I saw the shell of most of one in a back street in Nashik about 10 years ago. There is an equivalent site to AS in India that celebrates old crocks like that. Used to have a link for it but can’t find it. It had a thread on here a long time ago but may not have survived one of the episodes.

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On 12/24/2020 at 9:48 PM, Dick Longbridge said:

Almost as grim as these. Hideous, hideous things. I liken the mk1 Fabia to a cheap, forgettable appliance which only just manages to do its required job, and where you feel a sense of relief when it's thrown into a skip after lasting half the length of time it should have. 

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Maybe they're a tad grim in poverty spec underpowered form if it's been abused like the one above. The vRS is a mega bit of kit though - owned one for 10+ years and it was quick, comfortable and cost pennies to run. And they're reliable ... unlike a real VW!

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1983 Toyota Carina DX [diesel]

Imported second-hand into NZ from Japan, this clustering heap of mediocrity was slow and noisy. For some reason, the Japanese went through a 'white' phase in the early 80's, almost every car that they sold was white.

Legislation was changed in the late 1980's to allow used vehicles easier access, Dealerships hated the idea and were reluctant to provide any support or service, even for their own marques. Many of the first wave of imports perished prematurely due to simple parts  failures that nobody had stock for. A friend had to scrap a Fairlady 280ZX  or the sake of belts and seals.

 

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