Jump to: canada.com, Newspapers, TV, Radio

--canada.com--

Home

News

Sports

Entertainment

Games

Health

Lifestyle

Technology

Travel

--NEWSPAPERS--

National Post

Victoria Times Colonist

The Province (Vancouver)

Vancouver Sun

Edmonton Journal

Calgary Herald

Regina Leader-Post

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Windsor Star

Ottawa Citizen

The Gazette (Montreal)

DOSE

Vancouver Island Newspapers

VANNET Newspapers

--TELEVISION--

Global TV

Global National

Global BC

Global Calgary

Global Edmonton

Global Lethbridge

Global Saskatoon

Global Regina

Global Winnipeg

Global Ontario

Global Quebec

Global Maritimes

CH TV

CH Vancouver Island

CH Red Deer

CH Hamilton

CH Montreal

Specialty Channels

classifieds home working driving obituaries shopping househunting dating

topics topics

News News

Local Local

National National

World World

Sport Sport

Entertainment Entertainment

Games Games

Photo Photo

Finance Finance

Travel Travel

Health Health

Lifestyle Lifestyle

Technology Technology

Science Science

Astrology Astrology

city guides city guides

Victoria Victoria

Vancouver Vancouver

Edmonton Edmonton

Calgary Calgary

Regina Regina

Saskatoon Saskatoon

Winnipeg Winnipeg

Windsor Windsor

Hamilton Hamilton

Toronto Toronto

Ottawa Ottawa

Montréal Montréal

Halifax Halifax

events events

Movies Movies

Events Events

Restaurants Restaurants

Venues Venues

share it share it

Announcements Announcements

Connecting Connecting

Obituaries Obituaries

Forums Forums

Sound Off Sound Off

Canadian SnapShots Canadian SnapShots

Canadian Voices Canadian Voices

E-Cards E-Cards

find it find it

Find a Person Find a Person

Find a Business Find a Business

Maps Maps

Weather Weather

Contests Contests

TV Listings TV Listings

Find a Therapist Find a Therapist

Lotteries Lotteries

Currency Exchange Currency Exchange

Real Estate Real Estate

Site Map Site Map

shop shop

A Shopper's Secret Diary A Shopper's Secret Diary

What's Hot and What's Not What's Hot and What's Not

Q&A Shopping Advice Q&A Shopping Advice

Shopping Archives Shopping Archives

Ask a Shopping Question Ask a Shopping Question

? Unsure of how to
use our search
feature? Click me to
learn how!

canada.com

web

Home > Topics > News

AMC set pace for ill-designed cars, survey finds

Misty Harris, CanWest News Service
Published: Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Article tools

Printer friendly

E-mail

Font:

*
*
*
*

The much-maligned AMC Pacer, a 1970s icon and pop culture punchline, has a new blight on its resume after being voted the worst car design of all time.

According to an online survey of nearly 2,500 car enthusiasts, the discontinued Pacer - most familiar to the post-production generation as "the mirthmobile" from the 1992 movie Wayne's World - is the most ill-conceived vehicle in automotive history.

Survey respondents likened the Pacer to a "pregnant roller skate" that went "0 to 60 in 4 1/2 hours," with one person observing, "AMC's only conceivable excuse for this engineering and stylistic horror would be if their 1970s design crew was tripping on massive quantities of acid."

The survey was conducted by Hagerty Insurance, the largest U.S. provider of insurance to classic-car collectors. Respondents were all policyholders with the company.

"This is the ugly duckling list of cars," says McKeel Hagerty, chief executive of Hagerty Insurance. "Look at the '70s cars - the Pacer, the Pinto, the Matador and, to a degree, the Corvair - and you see why it was generally not considered a great era of design."

Hagerty acknowledges he's the proud owner of a 1976 Pacer, which he says has "significantly" increased in value since its production.

According to Jeni Panhorst, founder of the Internet's longest-running Pacer enthusiast website, the car's divisive nature is what makes it memorable more than three decades after its introduction.

"People either love it or they hate it," says Panhorst, who has owned three Pacers since she was a teenager in the mid-'90s. "It's so round and bulbous and admittedly odd-looking, especially in the context of its time. It turns heads wherever you go."

Ranking second on the "ugly duckling" list was the Zastava-manufactured Yugo. One survey respondent, writing about the universally ridiculed car, wrote: "I used to work for a dealer and the last (Yugo) on the lot was an '88 model that never got sold. It was there until 1991, when it was given away as a promotional gift on a radio show."

Rounding out the top three was the Ford Pinto, a subcompact that earned a dubious reputation as "the barbecue that seats four" thanks to a design that made it possible for the fuel tank to be easily damaged in a rear-end collision.

Taking fourth and fifth place respectively were the Pontiac Aztek and Chevrolet Vega. The former is the newest model on the list, having been introduced in late 2000 and discontinued a handful of years later. One survey respondent remarked of Pontiac's crossover vehicle: "There must have been a front-end design team and a rear-end design team. And the two teams never spoke to each other!"

The Vega inspired similar amounts of criticism, drawing such comments as: "A car that began to rust on the showroom floor brought a whole new meaning to the term 'planned obsolescence.'"

Ranking sixth through 10th were the AMC Gremlin, described as "the most hideously ill-proportioned car of all time;" the Chevrolet Corvair, derided by respondents as underpowered and unsafe; the AMC Matador, which one person thought looked like a spaceship; Ford's Edsel, described as a "gas-guzzling, three-ton behemoth with a toilet-seat grill;" and the Chevrolet Chevette, which made the list more for poor performance than esthetics.

"These are mostly cars that had a bad reputation," says Hagerty. "Corvairs, for example, were not bad looking. Some were even kind of cute, but having fumes coming into the driver's compartment doesn't help the success of a car."

[email-masked]

© CanWest News Service 2007

Ads by Google

Xtreme on Dose.ca

Watch X-treme TV on Dose.ca

Get your fill of head-spinning, bone-crunching sport programs with X-Treme TV shows on Dose.ca.

Watch X-treme's featured events

See full episodes of Ride Guide

Watch X-treme TV's Surge

Top News Stories

Report: Virginia Tech response too slow

Virginia Tech University officials should have been quicker to notify students and...

Archive: 32 killed in massacre

Archive: Agony turned to anger

Archive: Shooting spree's lessons

Canadian teacher among the dead

Students warn against 'police state'

Feature: Remember Virginia Tech

Taliban free last three Korean hostages

Afghanistan’s Taliban movement freed three remaining South Korean hostages on Thursday...

Canada criticizes South Korea

S. Korea sees end to hostage ordeal

Taliban free 12 Korean hostages

More Top News Stories

GM to cut 1,000 jobs at Oshawa plant

Name of latest Canadian casualty released

Quebec language law ruling on hold

Liberals to focus on end to Afghan mission, Dion says

Activists target Lake Erie coal ship

Top News Videos

Katrina: Two year later

Two years later: Rebuilding their homes and rebuilding...

More Top News Videos

'I am not gay'

School starts without Cedrika

Top Entertainment Stories

"Family Guy" ties into Xbox Live

The first two seasons of "Family Guy" will be available for downloads on the Xbox Live service.

Read more

More news on gaming

PLUS! All new POP!arazzi

Canadian actor among 'Dancing' stars

Canadian actor Cameron Mathison is waltzing on to the new season of Dancing with the Stars.

Read more

See the competitors

PLUS! Gemini noms announced

Is star dating a Canadian?

All new POP!arazzi

Colin Mochrie to host game show

Shopping

Visit Shopping on canada.com

We've got the inside scoop on everything Shopping-related! Get in-the-know today!

Read our Shopping Advice column

What’s Hot & What’s Not?

Secret Shopping Diary

Shop Online for Great Stuff!

Ask our experts a Shopping question!

Inside the canada.com Network.

Britney gets pulled over

Britney Spears got more than she...

Watch Video

canada.com survey

Care to take a quick two minute survey?

The Boss hits the road

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street...

Dangers of 'junk sleep'

British teenagers are damaging...

This ride is a rocket

The 3-year-old kid in the Tim ...

Virtual police to patrol for porn

China is sending out two virtual...

Avoid the annoying plane talker

Flying might not be as glamorous...

Newspapers:

National Post

Victoria Times Colonist

The Province (Vancouver)

Vancouver Sun

Edmonton Journal

Calgary Herald

Regina Leader-Post

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Windsor Star

Ottawa Citizen

The Gazette (Montreal)

DOSE

Vancouver Island Newspapers

VANNET Newspapers

Television:

Global

CH

TVTropolis

CoolTV

DejaView

Fox Sports World Canada

LONESTAR

Men TV

Mystery

X-TREME Sports

Marketplace:

working.com

driving.ca

connecting

celebrating

remembering

househunting

shop

CanWest Countries:

Australia

New Zealand

Ireland

About canada.com

Who We Are

Site Map

FAQs

Privacy

Terms

Contact Us

Copyright & Permission Rules

© 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.