What's the worst car you ever owned, BUT.....

[gene giambona]

still wish you had today???

I was speaking to a family friend the other day and we got on the topic of cars. He once owned a Citroen SM with a Maserati motor which always seemed to flood the carbs with gas whenever shutting off the car. He only had one chance to fire it up on the restart, otherwise he was toast. He finally grew tired of it and sold it, but now wishes he had kept it.

I also heard a similar story of a gentleman who purchased a Boss 302 brand new from Ford and was plagued with engine woes from the start. He said it was a real lemon of a car and got rid of it, but would gladly have it in his garage today.

Anyone else have similar stories?

[Jamo]

A Fiat 131...mucho love/hate relationship.

[BJ's Snake]

Saab 9000 cse. Biggest piece of $hit I have ever owned. Replaced everything from the front bumper to the rear badges that fell off. Best part of it was that I threw stuff at it while I was building the Cobra when things didn't work out!

Cheers
Brett

[xracerbob]

I had a 1966 Sunbeam tiger for a while. Great fun, but the electrics, leaks of every kind, hard to find parts, hard to work on, etc. etc. But when I think back, I would definitely like to have that car back.

[mrmustang]

1971 Fiat Spider bought for $100 in 1983, every time I took the car out (EVERY TIME) for a test spin, I had to get towed back to the house. It was a true love/hate relationship with the car.


Bill S.

[tcrist]

1965 GTO convertible, 389, 3 deuces, 4 sp, 12 bolt posi. Every time I ran it hard the carbs would need to be re- synched (sp). Would love to have it back now.
Terry

[trularin]

Fiat X19. Darn thing would start on fire "every-so-often".

That was a love/hate relationship.

[sllib]

!965 Austin Mini wagon. Ran like a top and handled like a go-cart but had to order everything from England and not near big enough for a family.

[madmaxx]

1990 Corvette Convertible, worst of the worst of the worst of the 19 convertibles I have owned. Problems galore, from a wheel stud to the speakers to the EGR valve to flooding after sitting for 20 minutes (injectors would bleed down) to intake leaking all in under 35K miles.

[JWilly]

1972(?) Fiat Spyder. I had one while living on Oahu. Great little car for running around the island (when it actually ran).

Worst POS I ever owned and never want to see again... a 1989 F250HD.

[HI Cobra]

I had a Renault 3CV (looked like a mini VW). 3 spd on the floor, 4 cyl. 29 hp
(my Honda Super Hawk 305 had the same hp). It was good on gas and
bad on oil. Drove it as a commuter to Electric Boat in Conn. from RI for
about 6 months until the distributor shaft broke and left me stranded on
the way home one night. Most gutless car I ever had - not to be repeated.

[Dangerous Doug]

(Used) 1985-1/2 Porshce 944 right out of college. Spent as much money maintaining it for the five years I owned it as I had originally paid for it. But, it was fairly fast and very fun to drive with nearly equal weight distribution, front to back. I'd like to have one as a commuter car for Hwy 17 from Santa Cruz to Los Gatos.

DD

[Steve Cassani]

An early seventies Fiat 850. The oil pan was aluminum; the drain plug steel. The threading was the reverse of what you would expect and, sure enough, within a few months of purchasing the car the threads were stripped. I replaced the plug with a flexible unit that was put in place, pull a short lever to apply pressure to the plug, holding it in the pan. This method did not enocourage confidence.

I soon learned that Fiat is also an acronym.

[Bartruff1]

Trouble with the EMU...dealer could never get it to run right...eventually they lemoned it out and gave me a 2007 JK.....but if they ever could have solved the problem I would have kept the little bugger...great tow cars for a motorhome, light and fun...

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by xracerbob

I had a 1966 Sunbeam tiger for a while. Great fun, but the electrics, leaks of every kind, hard to find parts, hard to work on, etc. etc. But when I think back, I would definitely like to have that car back.

+1 Some of the Tiger parts are very hard to find and very expensive. Also, there are very few people who are knowledgeable and know how to restore them properly. Very small clique.

[289fia_cobra]

No sure if it falls into this question but I owned a 84' Rabbit GTI and it was my first "new" car purchase. It eventually got into a small curb accident and bent the lower a-arm. Not a whole lot but enough. I didn't really like the interior that much and it was bought only because my Mustang caught on fire!!!! I eventually traded it in after getting the lower a-arm straigthened, for an 86' GTI.

In retrospect, I now wish I could have kept the 84' Rabbit GTI. With a few modifications to the engine, it would be faster than most cars today given it's power to weight ratio with a Calloway turbo-charger... and I do miss having the inside tire take a turn in the air!

[Woodz428]

1963 XKE 3.8..typical British stuff, although it was a lot of fun to drive. Always had a soft spot for Brit cars. If the Fiat 850 Coupe I owned had given me the fits that the subsequent owner had it would probably be on the list. Worked great for me, I drove it when I didn't want to ride the Bike( like grocery shopping or any time I had to haul more than I could fit on the motorcycle)...the following owner used it ,maybe, once a month and always ran the battery down trying to get it started. Tried locating it last year and bought a Spider I found instead....really liked that Coupe.

[Bryan Wilson]

1974 Holden HQ GTS Monaro Old tv add
cheers,
Bryan

[gene giambona]

WOW....looks like the Fiat marque is very well represented here. I still have mine - a '72 dino 2400 coupe...can be very tempermental and repairs are $$$.

[Tommy]

I've owned worse cars than the one I'll mention, but I don't wish I still had any of them. The one I wish I still had was a 1952 GMC panel truck I bought for $100 when I was a struggling college student in 1970. The engine block was cracked and it used oil, water and gasoline at about equal rates. The six volt starter didn't provide enough umph to start the ailing engine and I didn't have the cash to fix anything. So I bought a second six volt battery and rigged a switch so I could connect them in series for 12 volts to start the engine and then switch back to 6 volts for recharging. I managed to get several thousand miles out of it before I graduated and sold it for $100 before entering the Air Force. I'd love to have it back today.