The Worst Car You've Ever Driven.

[Alan Drover]

Was the original design by Harris Mann?

[Theshed]

I believe the quartic steering wheel is making a comeback.
Like many Austin/Morris foibles of the day they are back in fashion.
The City Rover, though pretty odd at the time similar cars are around now, Renault Captur ?
Who would have NOT made the Princess a hatchback ? I wonder did Harris Mann include that in his original design.
They where pilloried for Badge Engineering as where Ford/Jaguar, now everyone does it.
BTW the 'Original' Allegro was a lot better than what appeared, but like most things it was down to cost.

[Alan Drover]

The Allergic estate wasn't a bad vehicle.

[Wittsend]

My mother had 2 Allegros from new.

They were good cars, no problems. I quite liked the "square" wheel. Once driving you never noticed it.


 

[Alan Drover]

There was the Vanden Plas and a run out go faster 1.7.

[diffwhine]

All I know is that we had an Aggro Vanden Plas automatic as Job Card No 1 at our Land Rover workshop in SW London in 1988. When we finally closed the doors of the business in 1993, Job Card No 1 was finally cancelled... Nobody could face touching the car for 5 years. The owner actually died waiting for us to look at it.

Why did a Land Rover garage take on an Allegro automatic job? I will never know.

[Wittsend]

IN the early '70s my mother had a Simca 1100 - a truly horrible car which my sister rolled into a ditch (best place for it).
This lead to the purchase of the afore mentioned Allegro. This met its end when a couple of beer barrels rolled off a drey lorry. This was replaced with another Allegro (with a round steering wheel).


 

[Ken]

The Allegro sketch was Harris's as was the design of the princess and TR7. Harris , is or was ( I'm not sure which) a very decent man, he was very patient in fielding calls from me when I was looking to get into a design studio and alerted me to the vacancy I went on to fill.
AM at one point had a bit of a thing about designs from Italy. Harris became so exasperated by it he began signing sketches Harrisio Manalotti.
I've been trying to think of the worst car I've driven and it turns out to be a 3 series BMW which had a serious flaw in the rear suspension which made in a death trap, a bit unfair as the other 3 series were fine cars. A spitfire would be up there, due to it feeling as if it had only 1 wheel at the rear and I guess for the same reason a herald would be the worst car I've never driven.

[Betsy1969]

Not a car but a VW camper van of mid 70's vintage. Owned by the boss and used as a delivery van during the week ( with the camping bits removed ). It struggled up many a hill even when empty , often needing a down change or two to make it to the top , the gearbox was anyone's guess due to the ridiculously long and complicated linkage from the driving position to the other end of the van where the 'box was. The heater was so efficient that even on full we needed blankets over our knees to stay cold. It decided to lose its linkage one day in Bradford when I was out with the bosses son ( he's older than me and was driving ) The old man had to rent a Luton van in Rotherham and come to our rescue.The son stayed with the stricken van and the old man and me continued our deliveries in the Luton.When we got back to work we were informed that the boss had driven onto the front of a customers shop and taken the phone line down to all the shops in the row !

[w3526602]

Hi,

The pre-war Austin 7s had transvers front suspension similar to the Ford. As you went into a corner, the outside side spring flexed, causing that side of the axle to move foreward, causing severe oversteer.
 
OK, with practice, you got used to it, and could even use it to your advantage.

But my prize must go to my brand new 1971 Moskvitch van. OK.I suspect my local dealer took delivery of more cars and vans than would fit on his premises, so had to get rid of them ASAP, so stuff the pre-delivery. One does not expect the prop-shaft nuts to come loose in a few hundred miles ... nor the pinion drive flange nut to come loose (a noise once heard will never be forgotten). I had to drive home with one foot on the accelerator, and the other foot gently on the brake pedal, to keep everything firmly in mesh. 

602

[Alan Drover]

Tony Lanfranchi used to race Moskvich cars. How he survived is a miracle.

[Alan Drover]

An AC Invacar. An insult to the disabled.

[dartymoor]

A Mitsubishi Colt.

My Austin Allegro got stolen in the 90s, along with  CB and all my tools. I needed another car fast or I wouldn't be able to work, and the only car I could find was from the dodgy Gypsy who ran the local council tip. He told me to come back the following day for the MOT (they were paper only in those days)  Omyf course, that never existed but it took me a few wasted journeys to wise up. And there was no way it could have passed - rotted through, with holes under the floormats and so much rust. Would lurch on every corner because the suspension was only loosely connected to the shell.  I've driven some right sheds over the years through practicing Bangernomics, but that was the peach.

I owned another Colt a couple of decades later and that was brilliant. Had to sell as I got a company van, but wish I'd kept it.

[Myles (Mr Fox) Davison]

We were given a 2018-ish Vauxhall Corsa as a courtesy car for a few days last year. It look literally 20 yards of driving (me putting it back on our drive from where the delivery driver left it) to realise that I never wanted to drive it again - fortunately, we had other vehicles so I was happy to leave it untouched until it was collected...

...which it wasn't! They forced me to drive to the workshop a few days later and swap it over!

I can't recall the full details of the horror - I think it was beyond gutless with a hideous clutch (possibly just worn out by courtesy use) and dreadful over assistance of the brakes and steering.

[diffwhine]

5 Tonnes of Armoured Range Rover Classic with no shock absorbers fitted. My workshop team sent me round the block in it in Sarajevo just to see if it was possible to drive. I was stupid enough to agree. I did it, but it felt like driving a 5 tonne pogo stick.