The Worst Car You've Ever Driven.

[diffwhine]

Yes - I pointed out my error a bit further up the thread.

[Scotty]

Hi, not 1 for me but 3 spring to mind, the first was a 1979 Granada Ghia 2.8 I bought it in 1987 it was the most unreliable car I've ever owned, 2nd was a 1988/89 Sierra Ghia 2.0i I bought that in 1992, i should have learnt my lesson with the Granada only kept it for a couple of months due to a fault the dealer couldn't get to the bottom of which was i could be driving along at a good pace and suddenly it would lose engine power then regain power after a few minutes thankfully the dealer took it back and the 3rd was a mk1 golf that i bought in 1992 which was absolutely dreadful, i bought it for swmbo when she was learning to drive, in fairness it was old then but the gearbox was like stirring soup and the ride was also dreadful it lasted 2 days with us and i took it back to the guy as he'd said if I wasn't 100% happy to do so.

[Scotty]

  Paul

[Alan Drover]

It's a tie between a Land Rover Series 1 and an Austin Allegro

No way. A Land Rover Series 1 has an air of "je ne sais quoi" about it. The Allergic has just "je sais quoi!"

[geoff]

The " All Agro " 

[TimV]

Getting away from cars, onto the worst van you've driven, mine was an Austin (or Morris) J4 diesel. Gutless, incredibly noisy, the gearstick would pop out, shoving it back in and stirring around would find the right place.

The Bedford that came along (all too briefly) had the sliding doors and column change - a breeze to drive!

[Dormy]

3 poor/bad ones for me: -

Chrysler (Hillman) Avenger - Works pool car. Could only put the problem down to very soft engine/gearbox mounts. Anyone who tried to drive it without being warned (who would tell ?) would kangaroo violently off up the road and from every junction thereafter. The only way round it was to floor the throttle like you were in a race for your life, or crawl away slipping the clutch like you had reached your retirement early (ooh,er - I am retired). Workshops said there was nothing wrong with it - I think they were just having a laugh !

Bedford HA (Viva) van. Another pool vehicle which I only ever drove unloaded. Had such a bouncy, flighty rear axle it wanted to go sideways at every corner - No I wasn't driving it that hard !

Hyundai ATOZ  (A to Z - gedit  !). A small 800cc 3 speed-auto town car bought in anticipation of my wife's transfer into the city centre. She stayed working in the county and I used it for a short while to commute to work. This involved a 15 mile drive from one end of a dual carriageway to the other. At 55mph it was howling like a banshee and managed only 30mpg !
To add insult to injury my work colleagues nicknamed it 'The Pope Mobile'!
Google pictures of it and you will see why.
It was replaced six months later.

[NoBeardNoTopKnot]

Bedford HA (Viva) van. Another pool vehicle which I only ever drove unloaded. Had such a bouncy, flighty rear axle it wanted to go sideways at every corner - No I wasn't driving it that hard !

I have to take issue with you there. The Bedford HA was BRILLIANT! That axle is why. You could go everywhere flat out, go round any roundabout or bend,  doing all this, and still be under the speed limit. James Hunt of F1 fame said similar things of his Austin A30 van, he learnt car-control doing just that. The Bedford HA was akin to this, you can drive one, always on the limit... everywhere.

I wouldn't claim to be a talent, but I'm a better driver for hours and hours holding a Bedford HA on its 25mph limit. It telegraphs what it's going to do.

Such fun, you can't do that in a Lamborghini or much else. A WONDERFUL thing. I want mine back.

https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/influx/people/james-hunt-austin-a35/