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The 50 Worst Cars of All Time

1899-1939

1940-1959

1960-1974

1975-1989

1990-Present

COMPLETE
LIST

1975-1989

30 of 52

1978 AMC Pacer

Robert Tober

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A recent poll by Hagerty Insurance asked
enthusiasts to name the worst car design of all time: This glassine bolus of
dorkiness is the pathetic winner. Remember Richard Teague, designer of the
amputated Gremlin? Him again. But, come on, the Pacer, it's Wayne and Garth's
Mirth-mobile, for Heaven's sake! You can't hate on that. Indeed, my family owned
a dark green Pacer with that Navajo-blanket upholstery, and it worked just fine
until I drove it through a ditch, after which the heavy doors hung off their
hinges like beagle ears. What I remember of this car is that, in the summer, it
was like being an ant under a mean kid's magnifying glass. The air conditioning
was non-existent. You could actually see fumes of volatile petrochemicals
out-gassing from the plastic dash. Wayne, I feel woozy.

Next:
1980 Corvette 305 "California" >>

30 of 52

1899-1939

From the Horsey Horseless to the Model T and the Airflow, ten horror stories
from the auto industry's earliest days

1940-1959

From the Crosley Hotshot to the Dauphine and the King Midget, ten auto
blunders from the '40s and '50s

1960-1974

From the Amphicar to the Pinto and the Gremlin, ten colossal car mistakes
from the Vietnam era

1975-1989

From the Trabant to the Lagonda and the De Lorean, the worst cars of the
1980s

1990-Present

From the Prowler to the Explorer and the GM EV1, the worst cars from the past
17 years

Search
Archive

1899-2007

The
50 Worst Cars of All Time

On the 50th anniversary of the Ford Edsel, TIME and Dan Neil, Pulitzer
Prize-winning automotive critic and syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles
Times, look at the greatest lemons of the automotive industry

More Stories

100 Best TV Shows of All Time

50 Worst: Complete List

1925: Ford Speaks

1962: Chrysler's Lynn Townsend

1964: Lee Iacocca

1980: Detroit's Uphill Battle

1993: Back on the Fast Track

2006: Can Bill Ford Save The Auto
Industry?

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