I have to agree with the Fiat negatives. I can't understand how europe loved Fiat so much during the 60s, 70s, and 80s. You have to work on them constantly! The little Weber carbs had dirty idle jets (that made the car not idle) every month or two. I worked at a Fiat dealer and was embaressed to be seen as associated.

My Dad owned a 73 124 Spyder when we lived in Illinois. While I loved the spiffy little motor and oversteering capabilities (due to the 90/10 front to rear weight ratio), Fiat obviously didn't worry too much about treating body panels for harsh weather! :(

Rust overtook the car within one winter, and the cheap interior parts didn't help either...inside door handles broke so often that we kept a dozen or so around just in case!

Sometime later we procured a Renault LeCar...same issues...fun little motor, but rust was the demise of that car as well... :rolleyes:

1974 124 Fiat Spider The first year for the new air pump emission system. One of the first ones sold was to an attorney that I knew. He started his car up and left it run to warm up about halfway in his garage. The manual choke was set about half way, nice high idle(very rich). The air pump did its job injecting air into the exhaust to help burn that overrich mixture. The exhaust glowed. The carpeting caught on fire. Then the rest of the car, then the garage, then the house. And this all happened to a lawyer. Boy did he collect. Oh yeah, Fiat said "DOH" and added heat shields to their cars.

You have got me started now. The 124 Fiat owners manual said to change the timing belt at 24,000 and it meant it! You think we have a problem because of the chains and guides on the 116 and 117 engines that have to be changed at 100k.
And the 850 spyders would litteraly wear a hole in the timing cover with the timing chain. Yeah, I think they needed to be changed at 36k. POS is too kind of a comment for a Fiat. Oh yeah, the cable window regulators!

those fiats were already rusting out as they sat in the dealer lots! :rolleyes:

'71 Pinto my wife had when we got married. Had the earlier 2.0 liter 4-banger, with auto trannie and A/C. Couldn't pull it's own shadow with the A/C running!:eek: I spent more time keeping the thing together than we did driving it. But the engine was bullet-proof. I constantly manual-shifted the thing at about 7,000 RPM's:D

Yeah, no kidding. I knew a fella that had about the same year Pinto, but he did a major build-up on it. Hot cam, header, dual carbs, and I don't remember what else. I think he had the head ported and polished. Stock bottom end though. He had a lot of fun blowing the doors off Camaros, ect:D (He had a hard time keeping trannies in the thing) I got to drive it once. What a screamer!:eek:

hmm... I'll stick with what I OWNED (it would end up with about 40 cars otherwise..).
The worst: both Grand Wagoneer currently owned and a 1981 Dodge Omni. It takes 10 hrs maintenance to drive 60 miles in the Wag (currently I'm fixing/replacing SECOND generation of the replacemnt parts). in Omni nothing fit including doors and hood.

The best: 1986 CRX Si. The fastest )(*%&^%$ errr... pocket rocket I've driven. I would win from under the lights with Camaros and Trans Ams. 110 hp with a weight of a bicycle (no AC). I would hydroplane at 45mph, but MAN, what fun!! no trouble except gearbox sync bearing. Although it may be that I burned clutch every 15,000 miles

The most surprising - 1982 Renault 5 (so called LeCar here). Similarly fast as CRX. horrific body roll, but once you realized it was not going to tip over, you could do some terrifying driving. Got through 10 inches of snow (unploughed) in Michigan winter.
Also, my ex-wife 1992 Hyundai Excel - loaded, with manual tranni it surprised a few people by screaming by them. relatively trouble free although rotors warped at 10,000 mi.

The most pleasant/comfy and trouble free - 1996 Grand Am GT (4 dr). Not a blessed thing wrong for about 65,000 miles. Good acceleration (although not as good as the 3600 series with an air dam), very comfy seats, good looks.

Re: The worst/most surprising/disappointing car you've ever driven?
 

Ah, the good old AE86. Probably THE car for drifting.
I say the worst car i driven so far is my mom's Nissan Quest, the throttle is overly sensitive, and the steering feels numb.
Surprising was a 1983 Toyota Cressida, it looks like crap and has a head gasket leaking oil, but i was able to sissy-race a riced out Integra, and beat the guy. And all the electronics still work.

worst: 1980's Ford Escort, made from pressed rust. Good for welding class. Drove like the wheels steered independently.

surprising: toyota celica gt4. Bought this in '93 as an insurance write-off. Had been blown up by the IRA in London :eek: (glass damage from office blocks, falling into street). Fixed up the paintwork. After the Ford, this felt absolutely brilliant, but then I guess anything would.

best: my '83 911 turbo. Had it 10 years. fun fun fun. Cheaper than you think.

Had one of those too. Not a bad car up to 100K miles, but they like to crack cylinder heads. But then maybe the Escorts in UK were different from here.
I'd like to hear more about cars from across the pond that we don't see much here. Good, bad, ect. We don't get Renaults, Citroens, Fiats, Trabants(sp?), ect over here anymore.

Worst and most dissapointing = a toss-up between a 95 Ford Taurus and a 98 Hyundai Accent. The Ford was just VERY badly built. Things were rattling everywhere, smelt bad, etc. The Hyundai barely had enough power to go uphill when it was full of people.

Most surprising : Suzuki Aerio.
For Boston roads the Aerio was so comfortable. It had good power, working brakes, amazing amazing ride!

I am surprised that no one has yet mentioned the Vega or the Citation. GM did a great job hyping the Citation. They even had a waiting list. SIx months later, people were complaining about not being able to trade them in for half of what they paid.
Someone correct me of I am wrong but wasn't the term "torque steer" created for the Citation:D heh heh, just being serious

did anyone own any GM product in the 80s that had a 700r4 transmission? What about one of the GM diesel cars or trucks. They actually hurt Mercedes diesel car sales through association.

Worst ... Dawoo Lanos. It was a rental POS. Yeck!!!

Disapointing .. A/C Cobra kit. I was the passener. Huge amounts of power but NO, i repeat NO room for a 6'4" person. My knees were locked to get under the dash. (if we would have crashed, I would be about 2 feet shorter). The driver was at an angle with feet out board due to Trany tunnel. The shifter hit his thigh in 2nd. I had to bend over to see through the windshield or crane my neck to see over it. It used to be my dream car.... snif snif

Surprizing ... AMG test drive at TX motor speed way. They had pro drivers on a closed circut. Man, that was the most fun I ever had with my clothes on lol. It was 2 years ago and I still dream about it.