You know what? Not all cars are created equal. There have been some true works of art made over the years, and we wouldn’t mind seeing them stop through our car wash. In fact, we even wrote a blog about some of our favorites we’d like to see pull up for a full-service car wash.
Then there are the cars that we seldom see, mostly because they fell apart years ago! And if they ever show up at a typical car wash, their poor construction will probably cause them to fall apart even more under the high-pressure jets of water. (We would, however, like to draw your attention to the title of this article. It’s about cars that might be damaged by a typical car wash. Here at Speedy Sparkle, we’ll still wash your Yugo if you really want us to.)
So today we’d like to go over a list of some of the worst cars ever made, most of which are long-since off the road due to their poor construction. And yes, we’re going to start with that mid-80s punchline…
The Yugo
The Yugo was an import from the country of Yugoslavia in an attempt to take control of the small car market in the United States. At $3990, it certainly seemed like a bargain for a new car, but most reviews said that you’d be much better off with just about any used car. It performed poorly and was a very unsafe vehicle, and it’s poor build quality meant that it started falling apart almost immediately off the lot. It has topped many lists and has been called “the worst car ever sold to the American public” and “the worst car of the millennium.” You certainly won’t see any Yugos on the highway today. If you ever do see one it will probably be at the gas station; with a five-gallon gas tank, it couldn’t get very far!
The AMC Pacer
Every so often one of these will pass you on the street and you’ll say “what the heck was that?” It might have been a Pacer. It’s not so much the build of this car that people mock, but the look of it. It’s certainly a car of its time, coming out in 1975 and being discontinued in 1979.
Sometimes called “the fishbowl,” the Pacer’s exterior was 37% glass, much more than the average car at the time. While this might have improved visibility to some degree, it also led to expensive broken windows. It’s also made many of “the worst cars of all time” lists.
Fun side note: the AMC Pacer is the car that the titular character uses in the movie Wayne’s World, a movie which brought back something awesome (Bohemian Rhapsody) and something much less awesome (The Pacer).
Ford Pinto
If you know anything about the most hated cars of all time, you knew very well that we’d get around to the Ford Pinto. While the car initially sold well, despite its strange name (“Is it some sort of olive?”), it lost most of its sales when was found that it would catch fire in a fender bender! That’s not something that instills a lot of confidence in the American public. Even worse was the fact that Ford knew about this before the car started selling, and, instead of doing anything about it, let the cars burn and just decided it would be cheaper to pay the lawsuits instead. Corporate greed at its finest.
We made ourselves sad with that one, so we’re going to stop here. We’ll be back soon with some more fun cars that might not survive the average automatic car wash. They’d make though Speed Sparkle, though…as long as they didn’t explode.
Head to the Nearest Car Wash
Are you tired of the same old automatic car wash? Then it’s time to take your vehicle somewhere else. Speedy Sparkle has been named Loveland’s best car wash for six years running and we’re only getting better.
What exactly makes Speedy Sparkle different? Well, when you sign up for our Unlimited Wash Club, you can basically have a clean car or truck all the time. That’s pretty cool if you ask us!
Don’t make the mistake of assuming every car wash provides the same results. Stop by our environmentally friendly auto detailing center today!
