my first car was a 77 Chevy Vega, puke brown, there were only two good things I could say about it: it got good gas mileage (when I could get it to run), and it was absolutely guaranteed never to be stolen. I even tested that theory once, one day I left the door ajar, left the key in the ignition, and put a sign on the roof saying "Steal Me". next day I came out and, sure enough, somebody stole the sign.
My Vega was brown and would disel when I turned off the ignition. I even had it tuned and retuned several times only to experience dieseling when I turned off the ignition. I final sold it to a fellow student at SMU and bought a Datsun 280Z, what a difference!!!! Miss that Datsun very much.
My Dad bought a Vega new in '73 and drove it everywhere for 9 1/2 years with none of the typical issues associated with those cars.He gave it to me in October of 82 when I got my license with 190,000 miles on the odometer. It still ran reliably to get me to school and work. I can't bash it for any of the reasons typical for Vegas.
@@johnhipp8267 I had a 73 Gremlin X 258 straight 6 and 3 speed manual with factory floor shifter fun and economical to drive , also had a 75 pacer 258 -6 and it got 23 MPG not great but not bad. Had good A/C
My Mom had a '73 Gremlin; dependable and utilitarian. I took my driving test in that car, and it served our family well for many years. My Dad liked AMCs and we, over the years, owned multiple Gremlins, Ambassadors, Matadors, a Pacer, and a Spirit - not the greatest cars, but we really never had a problem with them.
Your father liked AMC's and you managed NOT to have an Eagle or a Jeep? How can this be? I'm guessing you don't have much use for 4WD in your location. 😁 I'm partial to AMC's too, and have owned two Eagle sedans and four CJ7's (still have the 4th one - a nice RUST FREE 1986 model). I'd love to own an Eagle wagon - SUV practicality and comfort without the bloat.
I remember in 1976 my high school chemistry teacher telling the class "The days of the big car are over." I laughed. "You disagree Thomas?" "Mr. C, as long as there are people with more money than others there will always be a market for big cars." Today, they're bigger than ever.
Three of my friends who had to buy their own cars in high school, with their own money drove Gremlins. You could get a cheap, decent used one around 1981 for about a grand, which was about what you earned over a summer. I think they were a miracle car.
I had to buy my own car when I was in high school too, my first car was a preowned Mercury Zephyr 4 door which wss a great mid size car since I had always liked Ford products even though I had a couple of bow ties (Chevrolet) but had gone back to buying Ford, Lincoln or Mercury cars.
The Yugo wasn't a car to go on cross country trips, but my retired neighbor had one to run errands back and forth to the store and post office, he had it for over 20 years and loved it. He sold it to a collector for 10 times what he bought it for, I would call that a great car.
I was a young driver when the Gremiln was released. Never cared for the styling, but had many friends put hundreds of thousands of miles on them with minimal maintenance. Brakes, clutches, mufflers and tune ups were a common part of car ownership back then.
remember the laugh"Where's the trunk?" millions of Hondas had the design and hailed as great! Also, the Gremlin came with a V-8. Try finding a cheap dependable car like a Pinto now. Oh, every other car can safely be hit by a train! Problem is, someone found a memo to blame Ford>see VW diesel that forced customers to give back the cars they loved.
Oh, and when I was younger and living in Wichita, Ks there was a guy that had a gremlin and wow was it built. Had the rear wheels tubbed, four speed, and would pull 11s in the quarter mile.
One of my coworkers was given a Yugo as a graduation present by her dad. She then drove it from her parents' house to her new job. Halfway there, the car broke down, she had it towed to a mechanic, and asked him what the problem was. He told her that "the problem is that you bought a disposable car."
Yugo here, Yugo there, Yugo to the junkyard. I worked at a parts store. A man came in and said he wanted a belt for a Yugo. I said it sounded like a fair trade.
LOL, I drove my parents' '75 Gremlin in high school and college! My Dad called it The Bug since it looked a bit like an angular VW Beetle. It wasn't exciting to drive, but it was easy to work on. As for the Olds diesels, their biggest issue was they were essentially gas engines converted to use diesel - but they weren't able to handle the higher compression.
True.They ran too fast for a diesel and slung the guts out of the motor.My EX-Fil bought Chevy trucks repo'd by the bank when the diesel failed,installed a gas powered 350 and made a bunch of money back then.
From what I've heard about the 350, if you added a water separator and upgraded the head bolts, it could run as long as many other engines. I don't know much about the 4.3, but there was an even smaller one that went into their FWD A-body cars and that was supposed to be OK from the start. GM should have done the modifications for free to avoid the bad press, but they ended up making the same mistake (weak head bolts) on both the Cadillac 4100 engine and the early Northstar engines. It's almost as if GM had a death wish in those years.
My 1st wife, Patty had a Ford Pinto. She asked me (before we were married) to drain the oil from her Pinto. I had to remove the Driver's side wheel to remove the oil filter. Car less then 20,000 miles Trans & Engine went
I've gotta admit, the Gremlin in the title card thumbnail caught my attention and got me to click, so I'm relieved to see it wasn't part of the list, because despite the stigma surrounding it, the Gremlin was actually pretty decent for the time. My dad owned a '73 Gremlin X, and I can remember being inside it when I was a kid as he absolutely trounced some Porsches and even a Corvette on the highway way back in the day. It was a total sleeper - though what else could you expect when you drop a 304 V8 in a car the size of a roller skate, lol.
I had a lime green 75 Gremlin with the 232 6 cylinder engine and I loved Greta the Green Gremlin. Always started, and handled like a dream. I had to warn anyone who drove her to be careful not to oversteer. She turned on a dime and stopped on one too. I also could go through some pretty deep snow and mud with Greta. The only problem with her was rust. Salt on the Minnesota roads in the winter absolutely ate up the body.
@@audreyjohnson4599 My dad's Gremlin was lime green as well - lime green with black pinstripes and decals. Road salt didn't kill his Gremlin, though - he got rear-ended at a red light and the frame was completely smashed beyond repair, so it had to be totaled. He wound up parting out the components that were still viable, so that engine is still speeding around somewhere out there.
@@DementedDistraction I sold my Gremlin to my nephew. He got rear-ended when he pulled out in front of an 18 wheeler. The old girl still got him home after the accident was taken care of by the highway patrol. The gas filler tube was completely crushed along with a huge dent where the semi's bumper hit, so they parked her. I imagine they sold or used parts that weren't damaged.
Gremlin was certainly a good car that did not get a lot of love. If not for the tops of the front fenders rusting through and that darn rear hatch latch never working, it would have been even better.
A couple years out of high school, bought my first new car, the 1972 Vega! Must have been than mini Camaro look, especially with the black stripe accents and 4 speed. In SoCal I didn't have the rust problems I only heard about, but blew first head gasket at about 35k. A friend who had bought almost the exact model offered to help with the rebuild which I had never done. Remarkably easy to work on. With comparatively large displacement for a 4 of that vintage, even through the '80s we would head up 395 for a day of skiing at Mammoth, passing nearly everything on the road. Finally retired at about 187k, now collecting dust waiting for next rebuild.
The only new car I ever bought was a brand new 1974 Vega. Beautiful car. Station wagon with GT package and Metal Flake Gold paint. 60,000 miles it was in the junk yard after 3 rebuilds. 😒
In 1978 I bought a 1974 Vega GT with a blown engine for $300. A quick trip to the salvage yard netted all the parts from a Buick Skyhawk, including the 231ci V6, to put the Vega back on the road. (It's a bolt-in swap using a Riviera oil pan.) For less than $1000, I had a car that would embarrass a whole lot of "performance" cars.
This is just a comment about a Vega. You could cut the fender wells out and put a Chevy 350 cubic inch engine in it and it would run. It would work very good. It would have a lot of power too. Thank you.
I lived through two Pintos and one Vega. I lived in northern Wisconsin for the Pintos. I could throw cinder blocks in the trunk and with a set of studded snow tires I could plow through any level of snow like a tank. When you drove a Pinto absolutely nobody would tailgate you. The Vega I bought second hand as emergency transportation until I found a new car I wanted. Ended up liking the Vega so much I drove it for five years. No complaints about it.
It's amazing how the U.S. auto industry has just steadfastly refused to accept that quality is the key to long-lasting success. Ford, GM, and what remains of Chrysler will go to their graves trying to save a penny.
The 77 Gremlin I owned was a real gem. The shifter broke off the transmission linkage, the backing plates for the disk brakes were not install at the factory the factory, wireing harness was replaced. I traded it in for a 75 dodge dart sport.
The best car I ever had was 77 Trans AM, great for speed, didnt fall apart, only changing breaks and tires, the air condensor did freeze by the time my dad fixed I had traded it in, only because I will not drive a car without air. It was the best car I ever had, lots of tickets to, just considered them road repairs. It took me to work fast and home fast. Great car.
They were awesome until the die cast door handle broke, the door skin came loose, or the door hinges wore out. The T tops were an afterthought and often fell off of the car during cornering. They were fun and pretty quick though.
I remember Consumer Reports magazine tested a Yugo and reviewed it. The first time they opened the hood, one of its two hinges broke off. And it emitted black smoke the first time they started it. Of course this was a brand new car.
@@jimdake6632 I'm surprised Yugo didn't hit #1 on this list. Granted the Aztec was an ugly POS, it didn't fall apart like Yugo. If our USA commies get their way, Yugo quality cars will be the norm & most won't be able to afford quality imports.
Holy Cow! I have owned a '71 Gremlin, a '74 Vega and a 74 Pinto. You left one off the list, the Chevrolet Chevette. Yes I owned one. I live in the world of crap. The good thing is for the last twenty years I have owned a 1990 Plymouth Grand Voyager Mini Van which now has 163,000 miles on it.
I remember a comedian telling a tale of how a Chevette saved her life. She was depressed and decided to drive into a bridge abutment. But the Chevette couldn’t go fast enough to cause any damage . . .
Those Chevettes were so bad they made the Pinto look good! The steering wheel was not centered in front of the driver's seat! It's true! My girlfriend get back issues for awhile because of driving the damn family Chevette.
If it were not for my first car, a Vega, I would never have learned how to change a head gasket. Problem being, I never wanted to learn how. But hey, the tape deck I installed in it played Van Halen really loud so I never heard the road noise. Those teen years were great.
My uncle had a Ford Pinto (complete with 8-track player) we used to drive around in that car for years. It was a good car. 2-Door hatchback. When he finally sold it, it was rusting badly and the engine was still running.
My friend had one of those. I remember one time driving a dark stretch of interstate at night and the electronic dash completely crapped the bed. Prior to that the fuel gage never worked right to begin with. It had like 8-10 bars on an electronic readout and would just show "full" until you had about a gallon of gas left and the bars would quickly start disappearing!
I bought the first AMC Pacer sold in Charleston, SC, or so the dealer told me. Overall, a good car. Roomy, great visibility, and with the right size tires very maneuverable. Yes, under powered, and construction quality should have been better. Would love to have one renovated to fix its problems.
I owned a 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser (first year of the model). The engine block and compartment were so poorly designed that you had to remove several parts just to access the battery. One mechanic actually refused to work on it for me.
It wasn’t just your mechanic. I worked for AAA we refused to do anything but jump PT cruisers from those years. Other Chrysler products we would do battery installs but we charged 25 extra dollars to do the install. Those were the cars like the intrepid that involved us jacking it up, pulling the wheel off and pulling out the fender liner just to get at the battery. I wanted to hit those engineers with a pipe for that
Had 2007 chrysler sebring 2.7 as a first car. To access the battery you had to remove a front wheel because the battery was in the wheelwell. Very poor design choices.
Bought my daughter a PT when she got her licence....used to just stop sometimes in an intersection...coast to the side (no power steering when engine died) restarted just fine.... We dumped it after that............
I worked for Daimler Chrysler at the time (2000”s) in Australia and they gave us a PT cruiser to test drive at HQ. I took it on the road and came back and said ‘who in hades would design a 3 speed auto in this day and age’. At this point we were already up to 5 speeds. The thing drove like a brick with gear changes to match.
I had a gremlin when I was young. It was tough and I drove it all over the country. It got me through some pretty bad snow storms. It was my little tank.
Anyone remember any of the Yugo jokes? My favorite was that it needed a rear window defogger. So your hands didn't get cold while pushing it. I think it was Leno that said "Yugo. Yugo about 50 miles then YuWalk". It should have come with a tote bag, would make it easier to collect up all the parts that fell off of it.
I had a 1972 gremlin. Except for a design flaw that allowed for the premature rusting of the front fenders it was a good reliable, roomy car. It's size was great and was good for city driving.
I worked for an Oldsmobile dealer in 1979 when they introduced the Diesel engine. It was a slightly modified gas burning 350 engine, and they sucked from the very start. Technicians were given barely any training on them and even the documentation was sketchy. First complaint from almost every customer that bought one was how loud they were. You could barely carry on a conversation while standing next to one while it was running and the sound transferred inside despite a shit ton of cabin insulation. Plus, they tended to seize. The dealership was in Denver, CO; The Mile High City. I remember one customer took delivery and drove the car home, and brought it to the service department the very next morning. His home was on the other side of the front range, so to get there and back he had to take the car to elevations of over 10,000 feet twice. As he was standing on the service drive, and the advisor was explaining how that's the way a Diesel is supposed to sound, the engine suddenly stopped. It seized right there, while idling, at the dealership. The customer got a new gas engine installed on GM's dime. A LOT of customers did. That kept us very busy. Lube techs were pressed into service replacing engines. It was nuts!
My mom had a diesel 1980? Buick Regal and it was an unbelievable lemon. I think she had to replace the transmission twice in the first two years. She wrote an angry letter to Buick and they paid for the second transmission.
Body tech AMC/JEEP 74-77 and the Pacer door was so heavy ,AMC had 2 hinge recalls as 2mo and hinges were bent from weight. Took all of 2 guys to handle.. Painted a lot of hinges
Only 2 cars on this list were among he 10 worst cars; the Vega and the Yugo. In the opening you show the Gremlin and call it underpowered, when it was actually the most powerful car in the sub-compact class.
You could get a Gremlin with a 340 V-8. A friend of mine had one. It was like roller skating downhill on ice with a rocket on your back. Scary as hell, but a lot of fun. His even had a 4 speed.
One bad thing about all AMC cars of that era was that the hinge pins on the door hinges had a plastic bushing that wore out and the doors would sag and be difficult to close. My family ran a salvage yard in the early 70's and once bought a Gremlin from a guy. The body seams had split along the rear roof panel and the quarter panels. The guy had put caulk in them and then put cables and turnbuckles in an x pattern across the back hatch to hold the car together.
I am very familiar with some of these cars. My parents owned a 1974 Ford Pinto, a 1975 AMC Pacer and a 1976 Chevy Vega. My parents always bought these cheap used cars. Trust me there were reasons why they were cheap. They were all bombs. This video gives me memories of the 70s and 80s.
Glad the video took you back to those days. This is our intention. Obviously our channel has awesome viewers that know every bit of a car and will call us out on facts. lol..... We welcome knowledge! Thanks for watching Subscribe if you haven't already!
My first ride was a 1967 Rambler Rebel. Sweet ride. I kept it spotless.Very fast it could out run other cars. I have many fond memories. When I got rid of it, I missed it very much!
I remember an episode of Newhart where George Utley was selling used cars at the local dealer during the Pacermania sale. “We’re going to stay open 24/7 until we sell that darn Pacer!”
Back in the 80's a British car reviewer reviewed some eastern European cars and the Yugo was by the best out of all of them so you can imagine how bad the other cars were.
Wasn't the issue with the Pinto the fact that it was likely to burst in flames when it was rear ended? Im only 30 so i wasnt around when Pintos were. Im open to an education from anyone who is knowledgeable about Pintos.
@@Bizkit-ey8tw the truth about the Pinto is they weren’t any more dangerous or safer than other cars of its time, this has been well established. Unfortunately, they fell victim to alarmism manufactured by the media of the time. The flip side is they were super reliable, well handling and very efficient. Much more so (on balance) compared to the imports they were intended to compete against at the time.
I knew someone who owned a Gremlin. They had taken off the steering wheel and put one of those old chrome chain steering wheels which was about half the size of a normal steering wheel. That little tank was so fun to drive! It's too bad Edsels were so poorly designed because they looked great!
My uncle had a purple gremlin with 14 inch craiger mags chain steering wheel and the dingle berries hang from the sun visors , I wont mention the giant equalizer and house speakers . 😆
Where I used to live a guy wedged a 460 into a Gremlin and put a Ford 9 inch rear end with N 50’s and called it Fast Break! In the 70’s there were a lot of small cars and trucks with V-8’s like the Mercury Bobcat or the Chevy Luv and you could hot rod them because they were light and cheap to beef up.
That car was the best. I still talk about it.v the gas tank cap had a Gremlin on it! So cool someone stole it. I now have a Kona which helps the memory too. @@ThisOldCarChannel
I worked in an auto parts store in the late 80's to early 90's. There was a woman who for some reason purchased a used Yugo and had us on speed dial. She easily spent more money on parts than the car's original sticker price.
Had a Gremlin bought used. I had it for 3 years and it ran great. I sold it to a friend for what I paid for it! My wife had a used Vega for 2 years that ran well and didn’t drip oil! 🤷🏻♂️
Damn, you found the Unicorn 😂 I lost count on the problems with my Vega… any bump bottomed it out; leaked oil incredibly and a oil pressure sensor that kept falling out of the bottom of the engine, stalling the engine.
Gremlin, 1972, was a great sub-compact. Odd looking, good mileage, great power & zip, park anywhere radius, well built, lasted as well as later 'k-cars'. Popular only briefly, but I drove mine for a dozen years & gave less trouble than my Aspen, K, & Mercury Sable. BTW...Dodge Aspen was a huge heavy piece of junk incapable of passing a dead turtle. TgT
2:14 "Ford decided to compress the normal drafting-board-to-showroom time of about three and a half years to in to two." They also compressed rust as material to build it.
The 71 Gremlin was the best one, it was a basic stick six, all any car needs to be. The only drawback and mistake they made was the unsynchronized 1st gear, three times it failed even , after I perfected double clutching techniques. Mileage wise it was good for 20 Mpg. It was a powerful Six with quick pickup.
I, too, had a 1971 Gremlin, metallic blue (B6) and it's 22 gallon gas tank made the gas shortage not so bad. I had the basic stick and six cylinder. Plenty of power. Cost new: $1,999
Your 10 choices are appropriate but should've been expanded to a Top 20 Countdown. That list would have included GM X-body (Chevrolet Citation, etc.), GM H-body (Chevrolet Monza 2+2, etc.), 1980 to 1982 Chevrolet Corvette, Plymouth Volare/Dodge Aspen, Chrysler R-body (Dodge St. Regis, etc.), and Ford Tempo/Mercury Topaz.
We had the 72' Pinto Wagon and loved it. We bought a new 78' Mercury BOBCAT wagon and we had tons of problems. We learned that our car was pieced together from earlier Pintos and Bobcats. We kept that car until 82' and switched to a Buick Skylark. We purchased GM vehicles until 2000 and drove Lexus. This year I purchased a Chevy Volt Premier, my fully electric vehicle and we love it. Have a level two charger in the garage. We use the car for all our around town driving
Hey Charlie, I saw one here in San Antonio on CL. Almost bought it but thought I'd fix my vette that has been sitting in the garage for months! lol Thanks for watching. Hope you're a subscriber!
I loved my Vega! It was a bit problematic but I could fix it myself instead of expensive dealerships. It had 4 on the floor so if the starter was bad, I could push start it. I loved my Pinto too but I could never find the right carborator for that year to fix it; there were 4.
My friend Tom had a dark green Vega GT, he was rear ended on a highway, the car spun around, his seat back broke and he was looking up while spinning around. He was ok but the car was totaled!
Our 2002 Aztek was our favorite vehicle. It was roomy and my wife and I enjoyed camping in it with the tent package. We did, however, have $4000 in repairs in the first two years, including a head gasket. I believe the warranty was 12 months or 12,000 miles, so nothing was covered by the warranty. I discovered via the internet that the problems were common. I negotiated with Pontiac customer service and they gave me $2000 toward the repairs. Still, it is our second favorite vehicle next to the Ford Flex. Ugly does not bother us.
Yup, Bought my girlfriend a used gremlin in '80. She loved it and drove it for years. Cheap to buy and easy to repair. Think I paid $700 for it. Had a straight 6, plenty of power. Those were much simpler times. We were together for 41 yrs.
I can say for a fact that Yugo was strictly a point A to point B car. My sister bought one brand new because it was cheap. She let me drive it once and I can say for sure that it was the most uncomfortable car I've ever driven and after just a few miles it felt like someone was drilling me in the back with railroad spikes. That was one car I was thrilled to see go away. The term "Yugo, it don't" hit the nail on the head with that one. I almost made the mistake of buying a Pacer. Initially I thought it was interesting because of all the windows in it. I figured I'd give one a test drive. Well, after just one test drive of about 4 or 5 miles, I told the car dealer I wasn't interested. Like the video here says, it was like being in a fish bowl. It had no power to speak of and it had the turning radius of a semi truck. Needless to say I thought it was a pretty horrible car. Now the Pinto? Back in the late 80's I had a 78 Pinto wagon that I drove for about a year. No real problems with the car and it was reliable enough till the engine blew up. Ah well, live and learn eh? LOL!
The Vega was a real oil burner.Every time they came into my gas station to fuel up, they took a quart of oil. The Cavalier and Sunfire were much better cars.
Yes, Indeed The Chevy Vega belongs on this list. Enjoyed this post even though it brought back painful memories. I feel your oil pain. I used to keep a case of oil in my Vega’s trunk at all times. I bought my used Vega when I got my first big job at age 18. It wasn’t long before I was paying 2 car notes at a time. Paying off the Vega & paying for a new Datsun B 210. Apx 1976, That Datsun cost around $4,000 & I drove it for 13 years. Sold it for $2,000. In 1981 my husband bought a Buick Century as a family car. I think it was recalled apx 18 times in 4 years. Definitely a bumber.
Guess all brands will have lemons, but I had a 98 Subaru legacy wagon, best car ever owned. Finally sold it for parts at 345k as everything needed replacement except engine and transmission that were running like new. At the time got rid of it was burning maybe a quart of oil per 1k. That drivetrain is a rock🙂
I had the impression that the Pinto's fuel tank layout and flammability were shared by small European cars. The reason it was so noticeable in the US was that in the "full size" cars the gas tank was a saddle over the rear axle, pretty much unaffected by rear-end collisions.. Similarly, Ralph Nader made his name by attacking the rear engined Chevy Corvair, when he could equally have attacked the VW bug/beetle. Going after an American manufacturer was easier and more profitable.
The only reason the Pinto made it through crash testing, is that it had a rubber fuel bladder inside the gas tank(Like all military helicopters), which was removed to save costs when it went into production. If the fuel bladder had been retained, it would have suffered very few fires.
I remember Ralph Nader calling the Dodge Omni junk. It was one of the best cars I ever owned. Four-on-the-floor, radio and a heater. I put over 150,000 miles on it with no problems. Why did I get rid of it? The body was falling apart but mechanically, it was sound.
I owned a '78 Horizon (same car, different nameplate). Never ever again will I buy a car in its first model year. Constant door handle failures, air conditioning issues, fan belts, my God, it was always something. The only good things were the engine (from VW then) and the air conditioning.
The. Pinto was a victim of totally inaccurate news reporting. All small cars and even larger cars of the era had poorly designed fuel tanks and fillers. Remember many had a fillet under the license plate. The number of deaths in the Pinto were proven to be grossly overstated and were actually less then many other cars of the era. Ford today would love to sell 170,000 Mustang's but don't come close today. It was not that bad of car and don't forget the original Mustang was off the 1960 Ford Falcon frame.
The Mustang II was well-styled but happened to come during the "malaise" era, with strangled engines to meet smog requirements. C'mon...a TWO BARREL 302 Windsor small block as the "performance" option, barely wheezing out 130 hp. Sez it all.
The recall was a Teflon plate between the gas tank and the rear differential bolts. If you wanted extra protection, you would get rid of the bolts with the sharp ridge on the head.
There were 10 cars on that dangerous list. Datsun, Honda, Toyota and the 64 1/2 -66 mustang were also on that list, but the pinto was the only one fixed.
The true issue with the Mustang II was with the tuning. I had a few of these (they were really cheap to get in the 90s). All you had to do was advance the timing and open up the jets on the carbs to get the needed power out of the engines. You could get the 2.4L I-4 up from 70-80Hp to 140hp. You could also get the 2.8L v6 up from 88-100Hp to 140-180Hp from just tuning. Also still got around 20Mph.
@@johnm948 to each their own with that. For the time period, it wasn't bad looking, especially the cobra II and King Cobra. I can list off a myriad of issues that you would have getting one now, especially with the plastics which are extremely brittle in the fuse box and instrument cluster. The last one I had I was planning to rebuild the dash with all new materials, but ended up getting married and got rid of it for something better for hauling kiddos in
@@malsell You know for time they actually styling did work. I am probably polarized on them because I really liked previous models. When they were around I was driving European cars (old and somewhat ratty). I dreamed of getting cars that I now think are horrible. There is another good point about the Pony II, Farrah Fawcett drove one in Charlie's Angels.
@@johnm948 I had a 78 4cyl 4 spd, and it was like driving a go kart. No wonder so many were hacked up to use in hot rods, even on 13 inch tires that things could handle like some European cars I've driven. Far better than most cars of the era.
I had a 78 II in 1985, it had a 302 v8 Troof hatchback. It was essentially a Cobra without the paint. I only sold it because the T roof leaked. It wasn't a bad car as most cars were crapin that age. 78 was the last year as 79 went to a Fox body.
I loved my 1977 Pacer wagon, 6 cyl 4 on the floor...except when parts fell off or the transmission linkage fell apart, or when figuring out it's gas mileage... Made me wish I'd kept my 1975 Mercury Monarch
My neighbor bought his 17 year old Son a 1971 Pinto and take a College deferment to avoid being drafted. After a year he said at a party one night that it wouod of been safer to let his boy go to Vietnam then drive that Pinto another mile.
I learned to drive in a '74 Mercury Bobcat (a pinto). It was a 4 speed manual and the steering was completely mechanical -no power assist. I have good memories of times in that car.
I learned to drive in a very rural county on an International Harvester tractor. And I like that the refrigerator in the TV show Friends was also made by International Harvester.
The Pinto was a great little car. So was the Vega. And the Mustang II was a fantastic car for the time, it saved the brand and was the 2nd best selling body style.
Pinto-True, I had one, my sister had one and my cousins wife had one. We did not buy them to get smashed into. Any car if smashed into from the rear can be a bad experience.
I had a 2004 AWD Aztek and we loved it. Hated the styling but when driving it, the weird outside parts were hard to see! We loved the utilitarian design of the interior and folding up the back seats gave a good amount of room and openess. On the bad side, safety wise, get into a tight turn on a winding road with the independent rear suspension, the outside rear tire would start to tuck and it felt like you were losing control and ready to roll the car.
lol.....Thanks for the info on the car Andrew. Thanks for watching! My brother and I hope you enjoyed the video and subscribed to our channel to help us out.
Compared to the others on this list the Edsel is a dream car! I owned one and other than the expected problems from a 45 year-old car I had no problems with it to speak of. The Edsel's biggest problem was that the market it was intended for was already saturated with cars in the Edsel's price range. Also the Big E was introduced in the midst of the first serious postwar recession. Yes, there were bugs in it but you expect those from a first year, fresh as paint car. The Edsel always gets an unfair rap. I had no problem with the Tele-touch transmission.
My neighbors in the 1970s, which included a childhood friend and his influential older brother, were an AMC family. They had a Matador, a Pacer, and a purple Gremlin which the brother put on chrome mags and beefed-up engine. Total pieces of crap, but the Gremlin did make a hefty growl in the driveway and it had a good stereo (RUSH 2112!!!) ;-)
At the time police departments were the biggest buyers of the AMC Matadors (the 1971s to about 1973) A cop at the time told me they were the most gutless pieces of crap for police work and were junk for chases. They were glad when they were retired.
The Mustang only shared the rear wheel wells and floor pan with the Pinto. So whenever you hear these talking heads compare the two.. remember that are not car guys.. neither are the script writers.
Iv seen alot of pintos turning into 1/4. Mile dag cars after being junked they looked awsome with big rear end monster tires and a fancy paintjob. Vegas were good drag cars too
Being a auto technician for almost 35 years I've worked on most of these and owned a couple of them, oddly I enjoyed actually fixing cars, now I just update ecu's and fix customers...
I knew a guy who had a Vega that was recalled for about the 12th time because of engine issues. On the drive to the dealer, the engine blew up. I know this because he called me to come pick him up and I saw the corpse of his car.
I loved how my Vega looked. Parents gave me a new one for graduation. I remember they talked about it had won awards from car-focused groups; and they “bought American” as SOP.. The rust was really bad by around 15,000 miles. At just under 40k the engine exploded in the middle of a miles-long bridge in S. Florida. Parents kept saying “but it’s GM. How can this happen?” As said, Toyotas ever since 😆
What about the Daewoos? I remember near the end of that brand's existence they were practically giving them away. The little hatchbacks were going for about $3K around 2000-01 or so, but I wouldn't have paid $3 for one.
You mentioned the Yugo, my brother had one to get to and from college with. You could get it over 65mph going downhill with a tailwind. Rolled down a hill and lived to talk about it. Another small car that should be on this list is the Renault Le Car my mom had one, my dad liked Renault products back in the day. I think a race between a Le Car and a Yugo would be awesome. Wouldn't need a stop watch could use a sun dial instead 🤣
Nice to see one of these lists that doesn't include the Gremlin. The Gremlin is actually a well-thought out and well built car in comparison to the Pacer.
My cousin's BF now husband of 30 years had a Pacer! We called it the fish bowl. Know that I think of it her sisters BF had a Subaru Brat! The little truck w/ the seats in the bed!
I thought my '71 Vega was perfect for a teen driver in Cambridge MA in 1977 although it did burn a lot of oil. It was bright yellow and people would always wave at me in heavy traffic thinking they were hailing a cab. The worst thing about Cambridge was a stop sign at every block. My previous POS was a '71 Fiat 850 that would stall at every stop sign so when I sold that rust bucket I loved the Vega for $300 with the 2 speed power glide. As any teenager I would round the corner and pop it in low, then once up to speed click it into D and back down to low as I coasted up to the next stop sign. It was a perfect inner city commuter car for a high school senior.
@@aspenrebel Haha, Cambridge High & Latin but I was a a satellite school named Rindge Tech over near MIT. I sold the Vega and eventually bought a mint 1967 Polara wagon, 383 for $250. It wasn't fast but I drove it Fast, It was also great for bumper tag as your opponent was exiting into a rotary or the freeway.
@@garthlocklin6355 that's what I was asking by which H.S. I can't stand going to Cambridge, I get an anxiety attack every time I cross the river. I drove a '67 Lincoln Hardtop Convertible to Newton North.
My first car was a 75 Gremlin. White with a blue stripe. I have fond memories of the car since it was my gateway to freedom and I raised a lot hell in it! Put a great stereo in it and would frequently crank Led Zeppelin at full volume. Only down side was it had chronic electronic ignition problems which caused it to cut out.
I had an AMC hornet with a 258 6 cylinder ..that was one of the best cars I ever owned ..one time it was well below zero and my car was the only car that started in the parking lot ..I ran around and jumped everybody.
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my first car was a 77 Chevy Vega, puke brown, there were only two good things I could say about it: it got good gas mileage (when I could get it to run), and it was absolutely guaranteed never to be stolen. I even tested that theory once, one day I left the door ajar, left the key in the ignition, and put a sign on the roof saying "Steal Me". next day I came out and, sure enough, somebody stole the sign.
That's why we bought a Gremlin X.
My Vega was brown and would disel when I turned off the ignition. I even had it tuned and retuned several times only to experience dieseling when I turned off the ignition. I final sold it to a fellow student at SMU and bought a Datsun 280Z, what a difference!!!! Miss that Datsun very much.
Vega was the birth control known to man.
My Dad bought a Vega new in '73 and drove it everywhere for 9 1/2 years with none of the typical issues associated with those cars.He gave it to me in October of 82 when I got my license with 190,000 miles on the odometer. It still ran reliably to get me to school and work. I can't bash it for any of the reasons typical for Vegas.
It’s actually hilarious that someone went out of their way to go get the sign instead of just walking past the car
I had a 1973 Gremlin. 304 V8 4 barrel,posi reared,and Levi interior from the factory ! Very fast and dependable.
Cool Allan. Thanks for watching!
All original!?!?
I remember the Denim Levi interior at a car show back in the late 80's...
.lol... feeling fast and BEING fast are two different things... also some people confuse quick with fast.
@@johnhipp8267
I had a 73 Gremlin X 258 straight 6 and 3 speed manual with factory floor shifter fun and economical to drive , also had a 75 pacer 258 -6 and it got 23 MPG not great but not bad. Had good A/C
My Mom had a '73 Gremlin; dependable and utilitarian. I took my driving test in that car, and it served our family well for many years. My Dad liked AMCs and we, over the years, owned multiple Gremlins, Ambassadors, Matadors, a Pacer, and a Spirit - not the greatest cars, but we really never had a problem with them.
Thanks for sharing Jeff! Thanks for watching and we hope you subscribed to our channel.
Your father liked AMC's and you managed NOT to have an Eagle or a Jeep? How can this be? I'm guessing you don't have much use for 4WD in your location. 😁 I'm partial to AMC's too, and have owned two Eagle sedans and four CJ7's (still have the 4th one - a nice RUST FREE 1986 model). I'd love to own an Eagle wagon - SUV practicality and comfort without the bloat.
I had a CJ-7 but the Javelin was the best.
I had a '73 Mellow Yellow Gremlin...had it for 14 years...loved it! Cost me $3500 cash!
@@strawberryhellcat4738 Three years after selling my Gremmie, I bought a Jeep Wrangler YJ with the exact same carbureted 258 straight six.
I remember in 1976 my high school chemistry teacher telling the class "The days of the big car are over." I laughed. "You disagree Thomas?" "Mr. C, as long as there are people with more money than others there will always be a market for big cars." Today, they're bigger than ever.
Sadly the "cash for clunkers" program exterminated a lot of nice big rides
In defence of the Pinto, my family had two Pintos.
My brother and I would drive the cars hard. Both pintos surpassed 200,000 miles
My ex's father used to drive a turbo charged pinto at our mid sized racetrack (KilKare) lmao
Ralph Nader was a jerk.
Obviously they where never rear ended.
haha! YES!
@@ThisOldCarChannel i always just thought it was funny to say, extra points if u brag about about it with a straight face lmao
Three of my friends who had to buy their own cars in high school, with their own money drove Gremlins. You could get a cheap, decent used one around 1981 for about a grand, which was about what you earned over a summer. I think they were a miracle car.
I had to buy my own car when I was in high school too, my first car was a preowned Mercury Zephyr 4 door which wss a great mid size car since I had always liked Ford products even though I had a couple of bow ties (Chevrolet) but had gone back to buying Ford, Lincoln or Mercury cars.
Gremlins were very reliable and very cheap. I drove one with a factory v/8 and it would fly.
I had a Gremlin. I loved it.
You know what else you could buy for less than 2K in 1981?
R/S Camaros...
1969 Z 28
1965 mustang's
All for less than 2K in 1981
1980s Chevy Cavalier was incredibly uncomfortable to sit in.
The Yugo wasn't a car to go on cross country trips, but my retired neighbor had one to run errands back and forth to the store and post office, he had it for over 20 years and loved it. He sold it to a collector for 10 times what he bought it for, I would call that a great car.
The story is the Yugo was voted the most popular car in America by the American Tow Truck Assn.
Too funny! Thanks for watching!
Shit, what an investment! Not many cars can say that!
A Yellow Yugo was also a star in Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist!
I remember a joke, they called it a Yugo cause if you get in a wreck....you go
I was a young driver when the Gremiln was released. Never cared for the styling, but had many friends put hundreds of thousands of miles on them with minimal maintenance. Brakes, clutches, mufflers and tune ups were a common part of car ownership back then.
The Gremlin was the first new car I ever bought, Ugly, but dependable
They made it big inside so the teenagers could ... park safely.
Yeah… park… with the ignition switched at the ready ;)
remember the laugh"Where's the trunk?" millions of Hondas had the design and hailed as great! Also, the Gremlin came with a V-8. Try finding a cheap dependable car like a Pinto now. Oh, every other car can safely be hit by a train! Problem is, someone found a memo to blame Ford>see VW diesel that forced customers to give back the cars they loved.
They were a nightmare on wet roads.
Actually the Gremlin was an excellent car. My Grandfather had a 1976 Gremlin X with a 232 straight 6 cylinder which was an excellent engine.
It was highly rated by Consumer Reports too
I like amc cars gremlins strange cars but good simple cars unlike today
Yep. Had a relative buy a dark metallic blue Gremlin X with a 304 V8. That little car was QUICK!
My folks had a '76 Pacer with same engine. Well over 200k when the tranny went tits up
Oh, and when I was younger and living in Wichita, Ks there was a guy that had a gremlin and wow was it built. Had the rear wheels tubbed, four speed, and would pull 11s in the quarter mile.
What a wonderful trip down memory lane seeing all the cars my family owned over the years!
yup - we had a Vega, a Pinto, that Cimeron thing. My girlfriend had a Gremlin- that car sucked- thank God she did too:)
One of my coworkers was given a Yugo as a graduation present by her dad. She then drove it from her parents' house to her new job. Halfway there, the car broke down, she had it towed to a mechanic, and asked him what the problem was. He told her that "the problem is that you bought a disposable car."
Check the gas and fill it up with oil!
The Lada was really bad too.
Lol
Whenever I hear of a Yugo, I think of the Flanders in the Simpsons trying to get away from Homer. 'Step on it Neddy! I can't, it's a Yugo!!'
Add the (former) East German Trabant to the list
Yugo here, Yugo there, Yugo to the junkyard. I worked at a parts store. A man came in and said he wanted a belt for a Yugo. I said it sounded like a fair trade.
😅😅😅😅😅
LOL, I drove my parents' '75 Gremlin in high school and college! My Dad called it The Bug since it looked a bit like an angular VW Beetle. It wasn't exciting to drive, but it was easy to work on.
As for the Olds diesels, their biggest issue was they were essentially gas engines converted to use diesel - but they weren't able to handle the higher compression.
Thanks for watching and the comment! Good read!
True.They ran too fast for a diesel and slung the guts out of the motor.My EX-Fil bought Chevy trucks repo'd by the bank when the diesel failed,installed a gas powered 350 and made a bunch of money back then.
From what I've heard about the 350, if you added a water separator and upgraded the head bolts, it could run as long as many other engines. I don't know much about the 4.3, but there was an even smaller one that went into their FWD A-body cars and that was supposed to be OK from the start. GM should have done the modifications for free to avoid the bad press, but they ended up making the same mistake (weak head bolts) on both the Cadillac 4100 engine and the early Northstar engines. It's almost as if GM had a death wish in those years.
My 1st wife, Patty had a Ford Pinto. She asked me (before we were married) to drain the oil from her Pinto. I had to remove the Driver's side wheel to remove the oil filter. Car less then 20,000 miles Trans & Engine went
I'd say it reminds more a VW Gol (a hatchback version of VW Fox). Coincidentally, their 4 cylinder engine was the same.
I've gotta admit, the Gremlin in the title card thumbnail caught my attention and got me to click, so I'm relieved to see it wasn't part of the list, because despite the stigma surrounding it, the Gremlin was actually pretty decent for the time.
My dad owned a '73 Gremlin X, and I can remember being inside it when I was a kid as he absolutely trounced some Porsches and even a Corvette on the highway way back in the day.
It was a total sleeper - though what else could you expect when you drop a 304 V8 in a car the size of a roller skate, lol.
I had a lime green 75 Gremlin with the 232 6 cylinder engine and I loved Greta the Green Gremlin. Always started, and handled like a dream. I had to warn anyone who drove her to be careful not to oversteer. She turned on a dime and stopped on one too. I also could go through some pretty deep snow and mud with Greta. The only problem with her was rust. Salt on the Minnesota roads in the winter absolutely ate up the body.
@@audreyjohnson4599 My dad's Gremlin was lime green as well - lime green with black pinstripes and decals.
Road salt didn't kill his Gremlin, though - he got rear-ended at a red light and the frame was completely smashed beyond repair, so it had to be totaled.
He wound up parting out the components that were still viable, so that engine is still speeding around somewhere out there.
@@DementedDistraction I sold my Gremlin to my nephew. He got rear-ended when he pulled out in front of an 18 wheeler. The old girl still got him home after the accident was taken care of by the highway patrol. The gas filler tube was completely crushed along with a huge dent where the semi's bumper hit, so they parked her. I imagine they sold or used parts that weren't damaged.
@@DementedDistraction Thank goodness he didn’t have a Pinto.
Gremlin was certainly a good car that did not get a lot of love. If not for the tops of the front fenders rusting through and that darn rear hatch latch never working, it would have been even better.
A comedian once told one "IF Yugo made a station wagon would it be a Y'all GO!"
I owned a '58 Edsel Pacer & I currently drive an '04 Ion.
How many can say they've had two cars on this list as daily drivers?
I'm kinda proud of it.
A couple years out of high school, bought my first new car, the 1972 Vega! Must have been than mini Camaro look, especially with the black stripe accents and 4 speed. In SoCal I didn't have the rust problems I only heard about, but blew first head gasket at about 35k. A friend who had bought almost the exact model offered to help with the rebuild which I had never done. Remarkably easy to work on. With comparatively large displacement for a 4 of that vintage, even through the '80s we would head up 395 for a day of skiing at Mammoth, passing nearly everything on the road. Finally retired at about 187k, now collecting dust waiting for next rebuild.
WOW You still have it? Thank is awesome! Thanks for watching and for the great read Jack!
Yeah, Jack I fell for the Camaro snout and the 4 spd. See my comment above for a laugh.
ran mine for 160000 miles......never an issue
Had a Cosworth Vega !
The only new car I ever bought was a brand new 1974 Vega. Beautiful car. Station wagon with GT package and Metal Flake Gold paint. 60,000 miles it was in the junk yard after 3 rebuilds. 😒
In 1978 I bought a 1974 Vega GT with a blown engine for $300. A quick trip to the salvage yard netted all the parts from a Buick Skyhawk, including the 231ci V6, to put the Vega back on the road. (It's a bolt-in swap using a Riviera oil pan.) For less than $1000, I had a car that would embarrass a whole lot of "performance" cars.
This is just a comment about a Vega. You could cut the fender wells out and put a Chevy 350 cubic inch engine in it and it would run. It would work very good. It would have a lot of power too. Thank you.
Had a '73 Gremlin ran like a champ very dependable!👍 Be safe everybody!🙏
I lived through two Pintos and one Vega. I lived in northern Wisconsin for the Pintos. I could throw cinder blocks in the trunk and with a set of studded snow tires I could plow through any level of snow like a tank. When you drove a Pinto absolutely nobody would tailgate you. The Vega I bought second hand as emergency transportation until I found a new car I wanted. Ended up liking the Vega so much I drove it for five years. No complaints about it.
The AMC Pacer sold like hot cakes .I wanted one .Got a Hornet V8 , A Gremlin x .
My friend had a gremlin and I used to love driving it when he let me use it,
It was standard drive and I loved it I wish I own one now 👍
Yeah Ricardo, we wish we owned many cars of the era but we settle for producing videos about them for now. lol Thanks for watching.
I had a 76 model, loved that little car.
I had a '73 Mellow Yellow Gremlin...had it for 14 years...loved it! Cost me $3500 cash!
And that kids is the story of how the US gave the auto industry to Japan in a generation.
It's amazing how the U.S. auto industry has just steadfastly refused to accept that quality is the key to long-lasting success. Ford, GM, and what remains of Chrysler will go to their graves trying to save a penny.
I was in Lean Six Sigma class and the instructor brought up how the U.S. manufactures just ignored quality control. Thanks for watching everyone!
@@thehighllama8101 Exactly.
The 77 Gremlin I owned was a real gem. The shifter broke off the transmission linkage, the backing plates for the disk brakes were not install at the factory the factory, wireing harness was replaced. I traded it in for a 75 dodge dart sport.
The best car I ever had was 77 Trans AM, great for speed, didnt fall apart, only changing breaks and tires, the air condensor did freeze by the time my dad fixed I had traded it in, only because I will not drive a car without air. It was the best car I ever had, lots of tickets to, just considered them road repairs. It took me to work fast and home fast. Great car.
Guy I knew in high school had a 77. Put a high lift cam and Holley 750 DP on it. Fast as hell it was.
77 Firebird Formula!
They were awesome until the die cast door handle broke, the door skin came loose, or the door hinges wore out. The T tops were an afterthought and often fell off of the car during cornering. They were fun and pretty quick though.
I bought a 77 Trans Am on July 25, 1978 and I loved it too! Still have it and it’s in very good condition. It was dependable too! But thirsty!
I had a 70 C10 back then that would beat the pants off of any Trans Am. Dead stock Chevy 350, 4 barrel.
I remember Consumer Reports magazine tested a Yugo and reviewed it. The first time they opened the hood, one of its two hinges broke off. And it emitted black smoke the first time they started it. Of course this was a brand new car.
Same with the back hatch. My neighbor had his back hatch duct taped to the car.
Yet, still better than the Russian Lada.
Both were based on the Fiat 124, but with Communist build quality.
@@jimdake6632 I'm surprised Yugo didn't hit #1 on this list. Granted the Aztec was an ugly POS, it didn't fall apart like Yugo.
If our USA commies get their way, Yugo quality cars will be the norm & most won't be able to afford quality imports.
This is hilarious! The USA bombed the factory in a middle east war.
@BekGrou PRIMUS you must be from Chevyland?
Holy Cow! I have owned a '71 Gremlin, a '74 Vega and a 74 Pinto.
You left one off the list, the Chevrolet Chevette. Yes I owned one.
I live in the world of crap.
The good thing is for the last twenty years I have owned a 1990 Plymouth Grand Voyager Mini Van
which now has 163,000 miles on it.
lol. Chevette video drops next Saturday! Thanks Bill!
@@ThisOldCarChannel when does the Chrysler/Mitsubishi garbage video come out?
I remember a comedian telling a tale of how a Chevette saved her life. She was depressed and decided to drive into a bridge abutment. But the Chevette couldn’t go fast enough to cause any damage . . .
What about the Chevy Monza?
Those Chevettes were so bad they made the Pinto look good! The steering wheel was not centered in front of the driver's seat! It's true! My girlfriend get back issues for awhile because of driving the damn family Chevette.
If it were not for my first car, a Vega, I would never have learned how to change a head gasket. Problem being, I never wanted to learn how. But hey, the tape deck I installed in it played Van Halen really loud so I never heard the road noise. Those teen years were great.
My uncle had a Ford Pinto (complete with 8-track player) we used to drive around in that car for years. It was a good car. 2-Door hatchback. When he finally sold it, it was rusting badly and the engine was still running.
Yep, my '72 Pinto's 8-track rocked the whole car.
@@nancyann1014 Yep 🙂
The 94 Chevy Blazer. A transitional year where they tried to blend old technology with new and ended up with a troublesome pos.
My friend had one of those. I remember one time driving a dark stretch of interstate at night and the electronic dash completely crapped the bed. Prior to that the fuel gage never worked right to begin with. It had like 8-10 bars on an electronic readout and would just show "full" until you had about a gallon of gas left and the bars would quickly start disappearing!
I bought the first AMC Pacer sold in Charleston, SC, or so the dealer told me. Overall, a good car. Roomy, great visibility, and with the right size tires very maneuverable. Yes, under powered, and construction quality should have been better. Would love to have one renovated to fix its problems.
I owned a 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser (first year of the model). The engine block and compartment were so poorly designed that you had to remove several parts just to access the battery. One mechanic actually refused to work on it for me.
It wasn’t just your mechanic. I worked for AAA we refused to do anything but jump PT cruisers from those years. Other Chrysler products we would do battery installs but we charged 25 extra dollars to do the install. Those were the cars like the intrepid that involved us jacking it up, pulling the wheel off and pulling out the fender liner just to get at the battery. I wanted to hit those engineers with a pipe for that
You had to remove the battery, battery box, and the left front tire to change the left headlight.
Had 2007 chrysler sebring 2.7 as a first car. To access the battery you had to remove a front wheel because the battery was in the wheelwell. Very poor design choices.
Bought my daughter a PT when she got her licence....used to just stop sometimes in an intersection...coast to the side (no power steering when engine died) restarted just fine.... We dumped it after that............
I worked for Daimler Chrysler at the time (2000”s) in Australia and they gave us a PT cruiser to test drive at HQ. I took it on the road and came back and said ‘who in hades would design a 3 speed auto in this day and age’. At this point we were already up to 5 speeds. The thing drove like a brick with gear changes to match.
I had a gremlin when I was young. It was tough and I drove it all over the country. It got me through some pretty bad snow storms. It was my little tank.
Glad it worked for you Roland! Thanks for watching.
I had a '73 Mellow Yellow Gremlin...had it for 14 years...loved it! Cost me $3500 cash!
Anyone remember any of the Yugo jokes? My favorite was that it needed a rear window defogger. So your hands didn't get cold while pushing it. I think it was Leno that said "Yugo. Yugo about 50 miles then YuWalk". It should have come with a tote bag, would make it easier to collect up all the parts that fell off of it.
Too funny! Thanks for watching!
Man goes into a parts store, told the man I need a wiper blade for a yugo, man at the counter said that sounds like a fair trade
Man, me and a buddy attached our wallet chains to our bike and tied a rope to them and pulled a yugo down the road.
@@jibblesq At some point all Yugos stop being cars and turn into trailers..
Just like toy cars wind it up and yugo
I had a 1972 gremlin. Except for a design flaw that allowed for the premature rusting of the front fenders it was a good reliable, roomy car. It's size was great and was good for city driving.
We're always glad to hear when a particular car works out. Thanks for watchin. Hope you're a subscriber!
I had a '73 Mellow Yellow Gremlin...had it for 14 years...loved it! Cost me $3500 cash!
@@1079walter I bet you wish you still had it........;-)
@@maxr4448 I wish I still had mine. It was a Gremlin X in Maxi Blue with dealer installed American Air.
@@1079walter just for perspective,that would be around $20,000. today. The dollar USED to have value.
I worked for an Oldsmobile dealer in 1979 when they introduced the Diesel engine. It was a slightly modified gas burning 350 engine, and they sucked from the very start. Technicians were given barely any training on them and even the documentation was sketchy. First complaint from almost every customer that bought one was how loud they were. You could barely carry on a conversation while standing next to one while it was running and the sound transferred inside despite a shit ton of cabin insulation. Plus, they tended to seize.
The dealership was in Denver, CO; The Mile High City. I remember one customer took delivery and drove the car home, and brought it to the service department the very next morning. His home was on the other side of the front range, so to get there and back he had to take the car to elevations of over 10,000 feet twice. As he was standing on the service drive, and the advisor was explaining how that's the way a Diesel is supposed to sound, the engine suddenly stopped. It seized right there, while idling, at the dealership. The customer got a new gas engine installed on GM's dime. A LOT of customers did. That kept us very busy. Lube techs were pressed into service replacing engines. It was nuts!
Easily the BIGGEST monumental fail for GM.
My mom had a diesel 1980? Buick Regal and it was an unbelievable lemon. I think she had to replace the transmission twice in the first two years. She wrote an angry letter to Buick and they paid for the second transmission.
I bought a 1979 Mercedes 240D instead of the Oldsmobile Diesel, smart move. The 240D was a great car for me.
Body tech AMC/JEEP 74-77 and the Pacer door was so heavy ,AMC had 2 hinge recalls as 2mo and hinges were bent from weight. Took all of 2 guys to handle.. Painted a lot of hinges
@@lukequigley121 Pacers were good cars for Fat people. Nice and wide inside and a big door easy to get in and out.
Only 2 cars on this list were among he 10 worst cars; the Vega and the Yugo. In the opening you show the Gremlin and call it underpowered, when it was actually the most powerful car in the sub-compact class.
You could get a Gremlin with a 340 V-8. A friend of mine had one. It was like roller skating downhill on ice with a rocket on your back. Scary as hell, but a lot of fun. His even had a 4 speed.
@@BillSmith-pp9sc I believe you mean a 304 V-8, AMC never had a 340 engine.
I agree, I had one and it easily left all others behind when starting from a stoplight.
Good point, but I think that I would also add the Ford Pinto to that list.
One bad thing about all AMC cars of that era was that the hinge pins on the door hinges had a plastic bushing that wore out and the doors would sag and be difficult to close. My family ran a salvage yard in the early 70's and once bought a Gremlin from a guy. The body seams had split along the rear roof panel and the quarter panels. The guy had put caulk in them and then put cables and turnbuckles in an x pattern across the back hatch to hold the car together.
Aztec: the small “Family Truckster”!
Christie Brinkley says hello
Lol! Holiday road!!🤭
@@Zeldarw104 “ you think you hate it now…“
I am very familiar with some of these cars. My parents owned a 1974 Ford Pinto, a 1975 AMC Pacer and a 1976 Chevy Vega. My parents always bought these cheap used cars. Trust me there were reasons why they were cheap. They were all bombs. This video gives me memories of the 70s and 80s.
Glad the video took you back to those days. This is our intention. Obviously our channel has awesome viewers that know every bit of a car and will call us out on facts. lol..... We welcome knowledge! Thanks for watching Subscribe if you haven't already!
Wow! The suckyness trifecta.
A friend in high school had a Vega. Yikes that thing was in the shop all the time! Hunk of junk.
@@boataxe4605 today it's Hondas, Toyota, Nissan! LOL See what they cost to run out of water, oil, or crash.
My first ride was a 1967 Rambler Rebel. Sweet ride. I kept it spotless.Very fast it could out run other cars. I have many fond memories. When I got rid of it, I missed it very much!
I remember an episode of Newhart where George Utley was selling used cars at the local dealer during the Pacermania sale. “We’re going to stay open 24/7 until we sell that darn Pacer!”
Back in the 80's a British car reviewer reviewed some eastern European cars and the Yugo was by the best out of all of them so you can imagine how bad the other cars were.
Yeah, Wartburg, Polonez, Trabant and so on weren’t exactly better 🙂
Yikes !!!
The pinto and the Gremlin were full framed simple to fix and 2 of the most reliable cars ever and were the base of half of the kit car’s made
Exactly! As soon as any ‘worst of’ list starts with one of these two..., I know it’s going to be crap.
Wasn't the issue with the Pinto the fact that it was likely to burst in flames when it was rear ended? Im only 30 so i wasnt around when Pintos were. Im open to an education from anyone who is knowledgeable about Pintos.
@@Bizkit-ey8tw the truth about the Pinto is they weren’t any more dangerous or safer than other cars of its time, this has been well established. Unfortunately, they fell victim to alarmism manufactured by the media of the time. The flip side is they were super reliable, well handling and very efficient. Much more so (on balance) compared to the imports they were intended to compete against at the time.
My sister had a Pinto, she never had a problem with it.
I knew someone who owned a Gremlin. They had taken off the steering wheel and put one of those old chrome chain steering wheels which was about half the size of a normal steering wheel. That little tank was so fun to drive!
It's too bad Edsels were so poorly designed because they looked great!
My uncle had a purple gremlin with 14 inch craiger mags chain steering wheel and the dingle berries hang from the sun visors , I wont mention the giant equalizer and house speakers . 😆
Where I used to live a guy wedged a 460 into a Gremlin and put a Ford 9 inch rear end with N 50’s and called it Fast Break! In the 70’s there were a lot of small cars and trucks with V-8’s like the Mercury Bobcat or the Chevy Luv and you could hot rod them because they were light and cheap to beef up.
Friend I worked with for years had Vega he dropped a 400 into.
I loved my Gremlin. Had it for years. Great memories too. Cool gas tank lid.
Thanks for watching Mary and the comment. Glad the car worked out for you!
That car was the best. I still talk about it.v the gas tank cap had a Gremlin on it! So cool someone stole it. I now have a Kona which helps the memory too. @@ThisOldCarChannel
The best gas cap
I worked in an auto parts store in the late 80's to early 90's. There was a woman who for some reason purchased a used Yugo and had us on speed dial. She easily spent more money on parts than the car's original sticker price.
I didn't know there was speed dial in the 1980s
@TH-cam WantsToSilenceMe i just memorized phone numbers until senility set in
So this woman was buying auto parts at your store? Who was diagnosing the problem, and who was installing the parts she was buying?
🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
@TH-cam WantsToSilenceMe For somebody who's being silenced, you're doing an awful lot of talking.
My first brand-new car was the 74 Ford Mustang. I drove that car for more than 10 years. I loved her!
Had a Gremlin bought used. I had it for 3 years and it ran great. I sold it to a friend for what I paid for it! My wife had a used Vega for 2 years that ran well and didn’t drip oil! 🤷🏻♂️
I bought a used Gremlin and drove it for several years. No problems, it was a great economy car.
Damn, you found the Unicorn 😂 I lost count on the problems with my Vega… any bump bottomed it out; leaked oil incredibly and a oil pressure sensor that kept falling out of the bottom of the engine, stalling the engine.
My Dad got over 400,000 miles out of his v-8 Gremlin before my sister wrecked it.
I had a '73 Mellow Yellow Gremlin...had it for 14 years...loved it! Cost me $3500 cash!
Some friend you are...
Gremlin, 1972, was a great sub-compact. Odd looking, good mileage, great power & zip, park anywhere radius, well built, lasted as well as later 'k-cars'. Popular only briefly, but I drove mine for a dozen years & gave less trouble than my Aspen, K, & Mercury Sable. BTW...Dodge Aspen was a huge heavy piece of junk incapable of passing a dead turtle. TgT
Spot on!
So many more should be on that list😊👍
One of my kids had an Aztec for years and loved it.
2:14 "Ford decided to compress the normal drafting-board-to-showroom time of about three and a half years to in to two."
They also compressed rust as material to build it.
LMAO
The 71 Gremlin was the best one, it was a basic stick six, all any car needs to be. The only
drawback and mistake they made was the unsynchronized 1st gear, three times it failed even , after I perfected double clutching techniques. Mileage wise it was good for 20 Mpg. It was a powerful Six with quick pickup.
Glad it worked out for you Jim! Thanks for watching. Hope you've subscribed to our channel!
I, too, had a 1971 Gremlin, metallic blue (B6) and it's 22 gallon gas tank made the gas shortage not so bad. I had the basic stick and six cylinder. Plenty of power. Cost new: $1,999
Your 10 choices are appropriate but should've been expanded to a Top 20 Countdown. That list would have included GM X-body (Chevrolet Citation, etc.), GM H-body (Chevrolet Monza 2+2, etc.), 1980 to 1982 Chevrolet Corvette, Plymouth Volare/Dodge Aspen, Chrysler R-body (Dodge St. Regis, etc.), and Ford Tempo/Mercury Topaz.
Agree. Thanks for watching.
I agree, those were all garbage.
I didn't know it was a countdown until he got to number 1.
@@mexicanspec haha! Thanks for watching. We'll keep that in mind.
You may not have liked those cars, but some of them were top sellers and kept the manufacturers alive!
We had the 72' Pinto Wagon and loved it. We bought a new 78' Mercury BOBCAT wagon and we had tons of problems. We learned that our car was pieced together from earlier Pintos
and Bobcats. We kept that car until 82' and switched to a Buick Skylark. We purchased GM vehicles until 2000 and drove Lexus. This year I purchased a Chevy Volt Premier, my fully electric
vehicle and we love it. Have a level two charger in the garage. We use the car for all our around town driving
I had a 73 Gremlin and loved that car, full of character and very dependable. I have actually thought of restoring one.
Hey Charlie, I saw one here in San Antonio on CL. Almost bought it but thought I'd fix my vette that has been sitting in the garage for months! lol Thanks for watching. Hope you're a subscriber!
Want to sale it?
Lol.
I loved mine.
They never got the engine they wanted in the pacer
The Gremlin was so well though out they thought to hack off the trunk of a Hornet!
I loved my Vega! It was a bit problematic but I could fix it myself instead of expensive dealerships. It had 4 on the floor so if the starter was bad, I could push start it. I loved my Pinto too but I could never find the right carborator for that year to fix it; there were 4.
My friend Tom had a dark green Vega GT, he was rear ended on a highway, the car spun around, his seat back broke and he was looking up while spinning around. He was ok but the car was totaled!
My uncle has a ‘73 Vega GT wagon and I have a ‘75 GT Wagon 👍🏼
I had a Vega too. I loved it. Never had problems. Drove it many years.
You must miss the good old days. You are the typical right wing racist Trump supporter.
I owned 3 different Gremlins, the one with vacuum wipers was a bit of a problem once but all 3 were good cars for me and the family.
Thanks for watching Richard. The Top 10 - 2.0 Edition will be released Saturday. You will be surprised. :)
I am very surprised that you did not feature Volkswagen "Thing" Cars.
The Pinto wasn't bad except for the gas tank. Some of them ran for years.
My sister tried to blow hers up. More she beat on it the better it ran. The motor had three different bodies before going to the crusher
My grandpa had one and drove it everywhere. Sometimes like a 4 wheel drive.
Our 2002 Aztek was our favorite vehicle. It was roomy and my wife and I enjoyed camping in it with the tent package. We did, however, have $4000 in repairs in the first two years, including a head gasket. I believe the warranty was 12 months or 12,000 miles, so nothing was covered by the warranty. I discovered via the internet that the problems were common. I negotiated with Pontiac customer service and they gave me $2000 toward the repairs. Still, it is our second favorite vehicle next to the Ford Flex. Ugly does not bother us.
I know. It's what's in the inside. Thanks David. And please subscribe.
Styling of the Aztek was ahead of it's time .
I ran into the back of a Pinto with a Vega and neither one exploded !
Darn! LOL Thanks for watching Marc!
That Pinto was probably out of gas.
Had a Gremlin, bought used while in Air Force. Drove it a hard, sold it for more than I paid for it.
Liked it.
Yup, Bought my girlfriend a used gremlin in '80. She loved it and drove it for years.
Cheap to buy and easy to repair. Think I paid $700 for it. Had a straight 6, plenty of power. Those were much simpler times. We were together for 41 yrs.
I can say for a fact that Yugo was strictly a point A to point B car. My sister bought one brand new because it was cheap. She let me drive it once and I can say for sure that it was the most uncomfortable car I've ever driven and after just a few miles it felt like someone was drilling me in the back with railroad spikes. That was one car I was thrilled to see go away. The term "Yugo, it don't" hit the nail on the head with that one. I almost made the mistake of buying a Pacer. Initially I thought it was interesting because of all the windows in it. I figured I'd give one a test drive. Well, after just one test drive of about 4 or 5 miles, I told the car dealer I wasn't interested. Like the video here says, it was like being in a fish bowl. It had no power to speak of and it had the turning radius of a semi truck. Needless to say I thought it was a pretty horrible car. Now the Pinto? Back in the late 80's I had a 78 Pinto wagon that I drove for about a year. No real problems with the car and it was reliable enough till the engine blew up. Ah well, live and learn eh? LOL!
At least it was the engine that blew up and not you from a rear end job!
@@jtandme-ot9cl Hahahaha! Oh yeah. I'm happy about that too.
ya just spoiled
Don’t all cars drive from some point A to some point B…?
The Vega was a real oil burner.Every time they came into my gas station to fuel up, they took a quart of oil. The Cavalier and Sunfire were much better cars.
Thanks for watching!!! Brian.
Yes, Indeed The Chevy Vega belongs on this list. Enjoyed this post even though it brought back painful memories. I feel your oil pain. I used to keep a case of oil in my Vega’s trunk at all times. I bought my used Vega when I got my first big job at age 18. It wasn’t long before I was paying 2 car notes at a time. Paying off the Vega & paying for a new Datsun B 210. Apx 1976, That Datsun cost around $4,000 & I drove it for 13 years. Sold it for $2,000. In 1981 my husband bought a Buick Century as a family car. I think it was recalled apx 18 times in 4 years. Definitely a bumber.
1984 Subaru. Worst car I ever owned, worst I ever drove, worst I ever sat in. In the repair shop twice a week until I sold it. Never again.
Subaru? Really?
Guess all brands will have lemons, but I had a 98 Subaru legacy wagon, best car ever owned. Finally sold it for parts at 345k as everything needed replacement except engine and transmission that were running like new. At the time got rid of it was burning maybe a quart of oil per 1k. That drivetrain is a rock🙂
I had the impression that the Pinto's fuel tank layout and flammability were shared by small European cars. The reason it was so noticeable in the US was that in the "full size" cars the gas tank was a saddle over the rear axle, pretty much unaffected by rear-end collisions.. Similarly, Ralph Nader made his name by attacking the rear engined Chevy Corvair, when he could equally have attacked the VW bug/beetle. Going after an American manufacturer was easier and more profitable.
Wasn't there something about the rear bumper on the car as well? Like the material in the metal? I could be wrong though🤔
My step dad had a pinto that had close to 300,000 miles when he sold it.
The only reason the Pinto made it through crash testing, is that it had a rubber fuel bladder inside the gas tank(Like all military helicopters), which was removed to save costs when it went into production. If the fuel bladder had been retained, it would have suffered very few fires.
I remember Ralph Nader calling the Dodge Omni junk. It was one of the best cars I ever owned. Four-on-the-floor, radio and a heater. I put over 150,000 miles on it with no problems. Why did I get rid of it? The body was falling apart but mechanically, it was sound.
ha! Good read Toy. Thanks for watching and for the comment!
The Omni GLH (goes like h*ll) was a pretty cool and fast car. Very impressive.
Yep rust is what usually did them in.
@@pcthayer Used to see those. 2.2 I think. As soon as he said Omni I thought of the GLH. Guess it's an easy name to remember.
I owned a '78 Horizon (same car, different nameplate). Never ever again will I buy a car in its first model year. Constant door handle failures, air conditioning issues, fan belts, my God, it was always something. The only good things were the engine (from VW then) and the air conditioning.
The. Pinto was a victim of totally inaccurate news reporting. All small cars and even larger cars of the era had poorly designed fuel tanks and fillers. Remember many had a fillet under the license plate. The number of deaths in the Pinto were proven to be grossly overstated and were actually less then many other cars of the era. Ford today would love to sell 170,000 Mustang's but don't come close today. It was not that bad of car and don't forget the original Mustang was off the 1960 Ford Falcon frame.
The design of the fuel tank was not the problem...it was the bolts that punctured the fuel tank during a rear collision.
The Mustang II was well-styled but happened to come during the "malaise" era, with strangled engines to meet smog requirements. C'mon...a TWO BARREL 302 Windsor small block as the "performance" option, barely wheezing out 130 hp. Sez it all.
The recall was a Teflon plate between the gas tank and the rear differential bolts. If you wanted extra protection, you would get rid of the bolts with the sharp ridge on the head.
Don't forget the sparking they used to ignite the tanks in many of those "independent" studies that came to light years later.
There were 10 cars on that dangerous list. Datsun, Honda, Toyota and the 64 1/2 -66 mustang were also on that list, but the pinto was the only one fixed.
Walter White's Aztek is the best :D
Mmmmmm, roof pizza.
I would drive that over a Yugo or r a Pacer any day of the week!
It was for sure chosen as his car because it is THE ULTIMATE POS. Fuck those things and the people that drive them.
I'll take Wayne and Garths Pacer.
The true issue with the Mustang II was with the tuning. I had a few of these (they were really cheap to get in the 90s). All you had to do was advance the timing and open up the jets on the carbs to get the needed power out of the engines. You could get the 2.4L I-4 up from 70-80Hp to 140hp. You could also get the 2.8L v6 up from 88-100Hp to 140-180Hp from just tuning. Also still got around 20Mph.
it was cheap and ugly, tuning was not going to help
@@johnm948 to each their own with that. For the time period, it wasn't bad looking, especially the cobra II and King Cobra. I can list off a myriad of issues that you would have getting one now, especially with the plastics which are extremely brittle in the fuse box and instrument cluster. The last one I had I was planning to rebuild the dash with all new materials, but ended up getting married and got rid of it for something better for hauling kiddos in
@@malsell You know for time they actually styling did work. I am probably polarized on them because I really liked previous models. When they were around I was driving European cars (old and somewhat ratty). I dreamed of getting cars that I now think are horrible. There is another good point about the Pony II, Farrah Fawcett drove one in Charlie's Angels.
@@johnm948 I had a 78 4cyl 4 spd, and it was like driving a go kart. No wonder so many were hacked up to use in hot rods, even on 13 inch tires that things could handle like some European cars I've driven. Far better than most cars of the era.
I had a 78 II in 1985, it had a 302 v8 Troof hatchback. It was essentially a Cobra without the paint. I only sold it because the T roof leaked. It wasn't a bad car as most cars were crapin that age. 78 was the last year as 79 went to a Fox body.
I loved my 1977 Pacer wagon, 6 cyl 4 on the floor...except when parts fell off or the transmission linkage fell apart, or when figuring out it's gas mileage... Made me wish I'd kept my 1975 Mercury Monarch
I had a toy plastic Pacer as a little kid😄
Thanks for watching. Please subscribe!
Gee, that's kinda like, too bad.
@@HMMELD quality construction
My neighbor bought his 17 year old Son a 1971 Pinto and take a College deferment to avoid being drafted.
After a year he said at a party one night that it wouod of been safer to let his boy go to Vietnam then drive that Pinto another mile.
I learned to drive in a '74 Mercury Bobcat (a pinto). It was a 4 speed manual and the steering was completely mechanical -no power assist. I have good memories of times in that car.
Thanks for watching Ron!
I learned to drive in a very rural county on an International Harvester tractor. And I like that the refrigerator in the TV show Friends was also made by International Harvester.
GM Lumina from the early '90's deserves honorable mention. Got talked into buying it. Never owned another GM product since.
The Lumina was a POS.
It's amazing how the American car industry was able to survive through the 70s and 80s.
@Account NumberEight but a lot of foreign car companies build its cars here in the states.
Gremlin X is one of my most favourite….fast fast fast
I had a gremlin x, and it ran great! Much better than the check engine light pieces of crap.
hahaha! Thanks for watching.
Say what you will about the Gremlin, you don't have to worry about the check engine light! (I like Gremlins).
The Pinto was a great little car. So was the Vega. And the Mustang II was a fantastic car for the time, it saved the brand and was the 2nd best selling body style.
Had pinto it took $7 of regular gasoline to fill the tank went to Los Vegas from Los Angeles then back on $14 of gasoline that was in “88”
My Dad bought a Pinto hatchback, bright orange. He rebuilt the engine and it became his daily driver. He loved that car ever with all it's faults.
Pinto-True, I had one, my sister had one and my cousins wife had one. We did not buy them to get smashed into. Any car if smashed into from the rear can be a bad experience.
I had a 2004 AWD Aztek and we loved it. Hated the styling but when driving it, the weird outside parts were hard to see! We loved the utilitarian design of the interior and folding up the back seats gave a good amount of room and openess. On the bad side, safety wise, get into a tight turn on a winding road with the independent rear suspension, the outside rear tire would start to tuck and it felt like you were losing control and ready to roll the car.
lol.....Thanks for the info on the car Andrew. Thanks for watching! My brother and I hope you enjoyed the video and subscribed to our channel to help us out.
We had the premium bose tailgate stereo in ours...loved it!!
The Hyundai Pony deserved to be somewhere on this list.
Yes LoL
@@blairkinsman3477 The old Hyundais may have been rust buckets but they did have some good commercials. th-cam.com/video/K15jW27EFgM/w-d-xo.html
I was going to defend the Gremlin, which I thought I saw in the lineup. The Aztec has proven to be an unsung hero, quite popular nowadays.
I'll bet those people who own a Aztec own a Prius too!!!
About 10 years ago I actually spotted a gremlin on the road in NY.
@@droneview8351
I swear I just saw one not two days ago in Akron. Might have been another AMC car but it definitely wasnt the pacer.
I thought the Gremlin featured in American Made was cool. Too bad it exploded..
Had a friend whose Dad put a 440 Dodge motor in a Gremlin with a 411 dana rear end , that car would pull the front wheels 2 inches of the ground..Sick
Compared to the others on this list the Edsel is a dream car! I owned one and other than the expected problems from a 45 year-old car I had no problems with it to speak of. The Edsel's biggest problem was that the market it was intended for was already saturated with cars in the Edsel's price range. Also the Big E was introduced in the midst of the first serious postwar recession. Yes, there were bugs in it but you expect those from a first year, fresh as paint car. The Edsel always gets an unfair rap. I had no problem with the Tele-touch transmission.
My neighbors in the 1970s, which included a childhood friend and his influential older brother, were an AMC family. They had a Matador, a Pacer, and a purple Gremlin which the brother put on chrome mags and beefed-up engine. Total pieces of crap, but the Gremlin did make a hefty growl in the driveway and it had a good stereo (RUSH 2112!!!) ;-)
hahaha! Thank you for the comment!
I had an uncle that was an AMC fan by having a Rambler, a Hornet and a Ambassador wagon. Really took care of those cars for year's.
At the time police departments were the biggest buyers of the AMC Matadors (the 1971s to about 1973) A cop at the time told me they were the most gutless pieces of crap for police work and were junk for chases. They were glad when they were retired.
Mustang II and the Pinto were sales leaders and reasonably reliable
but for the infamous Pinto rear bumper
It was the bolts that were pushed into the Pinto's gas tank during a rear collision that was the problem.
The bottom of the trunk was the top of the fuel tank.
The Mustang only shared the rear wheel wells and floor pan with the Pinto. So whenever you hear these talking heads compare the two.. remember that are not car guys.. neither are the script writers.
Iv seen alot of pintos turning into 1/4. Mile dag cars after being junked they looked awsome with big rear end monster tires and a fancy paintjob. Vegas were good drag cars too
Yugo straight from the showroom to the junkyard
Being a auto technician for almost 35 years I've worked on most of these and owned a couple of them, oddly I enjoyed actually fixing cars, now I just update ecu's and fix customers...
Fix customers? lol... Thanks for watching. Hope you've subscribed to our channel!
I owned a 1974 AMC Gremlin “Levi’s Edition “. No problems in general. I liked it because it had a 21 gallon gas tank. No range anxiety there!
I remember that car - I like that one!
The Vega is such a shame. I really like the styling. Imagine if it had build quality and at least decent handling.
The Vega was unreliable, but it handled well. I owned a ‘74.
I knew a guy who had a Vega that was recalled for about the 12th time because of engine issues. On the drive to the dealer, the engine blew up. I know this because he called me to come pick him up and I saw the corpse of his car.
I loved how my Vega looked. Parents gave me a new one for graduation. I remember they talked about it had won awards from car-focused groups; and they “bought American” as SOP..
The rust was really bad by around 15,000 miles. At just under 40k the engine exploded in the middle of a miles-long bridge in S. Florida.
Parents kept saying “but it’s GM. How can this happen?”
As said, Toyotas ever since 😆
What about the Daewoos? I remember near the end of that brand's existence they were practically giving them away. The little hatchbacks were going for about $3K around 2000-01 or so, but I wouldn't have paid $3 for one.
Yeah....That should have been on the list! lol Thanks for watching Digital...
Yeah, it was called the Pontiac LeMans.
My brother still has his Caddy Cimmeron..its got 250,000 original miles & still is going 💪strong👍
You mentioned the Yugo, my brother had one to get to and from college with. You could get it over 65mph going downhill with a tailwind. Rolled down a hill and lived to talk about it. Another small car that should be on this list is the Renault Le Car my mom had one, my dad liked Renault products back in the day. I think a race between a Le Car and a Yugo would be awesome. Wouldn't need a stop watch could use a sun dial instead 🤣
BAZINGA!!
"wouldn't need a stopwatch use a sundial instead."
Priceless!!
😄🤣🙃🤣😄😁
Nice to see one of these lists that doesn't include the Gremlin. The Gremlin is actually a well-thought out and well built car in comparison to the Pacer.
My cousin's BF now husband of 30 years had a Pacer! We called it the fish bowl. Know that I think of it her sisters BF had a Subaru Brat! The little truck w/ the seats in the bed!
@@samanthab1923 Bi-Drive Recreational All-Terrain Transport. No, I didn't own one. I wanted the SVX. I've been to many a Subaru dealer.
@@Total_Recall Would they be outlawed today?
I had a 1978 Ford Pinto. It was actually a pretty good car. It had the Ford 2.3L engine. Manual transmission. It was reliable and it ran well.
Glad it worked out for you Nick. Thanks for watching!
By 1978, the gas tank issue was fixed, but the reputational damage was done.
This was funnier than anything I've seen in a while thanks for the humor.
I thought my '71 Vega was perfect for a teen driver in Cambridge MA in 1977 although it did burn a lot of oil. It was bright yellow and people would always wave at me in heavy traffic thinking they were hailing a cab. The worst thing about Cambridge was a stop sign at every block. My previous POS was a '71 Fiat 850 that would stall at every stop sign so when I sold that rust bucket I loved the Vega for $300 with the 2 speed power glide. As any teenager I would round the corner and pop it in low, then once up to speed click it into D and back down to low as I coasted up to the next stop sign. It was a perfect inner city commuter car for a high school senior.
A Vega with a small block, couldn't keep tires on it
I saw a Fiat 850 Spyder in San Rafael, CA, just a week or two ago. Very cute things. Crash resistance similar to that of a laundry basket, though.
Ok you're first problem is you lived in Cambridge. Which H.S.? Your perceptions are warped from the start.
@@aspenrebel Haha, Cambridge High & Latin but I was a a satellite school named Rindge Tech over near MIT. I sold the Vega and eventually bought a mint 1967 Polara wagon, 383 for $250. It wasn't fast but I drove it Fast, It was also great for bumper tag as your opponent was exiting into a rotary or the freeway.
@@garthlocklin6355 that's what I was asking by which H.S. I can't stand going to Cambridge, I get an anxiety attack every time I cross the river. I drove a '67 Lincoln Hardtop Convertible to Newton North.
The AMC Pacer is fast enough to outrun a Terminator.
I hope you mean the android and not the 03 and 04 cobra mustang known as the terminator.
@@gsdfan8455 Try watching Wayne's World
@@thisismagacountry1318 I know the scene. I was just having a little fun with you. That is one of my favorite parts of that movie. Also, great name 👍
hahaha!
I had a pacer lol, people said it looked like fish aquarium and when the motor blew up parts went all over the highway
I had a 76 Vega - Loved that car! Only traded when I moved from IL to FL - that car had a black interior and on AC😏
My first car was a 75 Gremlin. White with a blue stripe. I have fond memories of the car since it was my gateway to freedom and I raised a lot hell in it! Put a great stereo in it and would frequently crank Led Zeppelin at full volume. Only down side was it had chronic electronic ignition problems which caused it to cut out.
I had an AMC hornet with a 258 6 cylinder ..that was one of the best cars I ever owned ..one time it was well below zero and my car was the only car that started in the parking lot ..I ran around and jumped everybody.
hahaha! Thanks for watching John!
Drove a company AMC Concord. Friend of mine had the AMC Eagle 4wd. Kept it for over 14 yrs.