Posted on 09/09/2007 6:36:38 AM PDT by shove_it
... the Model T was a piece of junk, the Yugo of its day...
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
It was a “piece of junk” that people could afford to buy however. Generally speaking, automobiles prior to the T were lovingly constructed one at a time by hand, sparing no expense on the appointments and were pretty much exclusively affordable only to the very, very rich. Think 16 cylinder Duesenbergs. Think Testarossa or Lamborghini being the only cars available pricewise. Sure, nice car but hardly suitable for the masses.
Facts without context are worse than lies, almost.
All yugos came with rear window defrosters so your hands didn’t get cold when pushing it in the wintertime. :-)
“Facts without context are worse than lies, almost.”
This article is FULL of them. Terrible article.
Renault LeCar has to be in that list somewhere.
Mostly he trashes the Model T for starting people buying cars. That’s his real beef.
A bit of leftwing hysteria thrown in, typical CNN.
So the 1995 Ford Explorer is a worst car because it made SUV’s popular with soccer Moms? And if there were fewer of them, it would be a great car?
I forgot to add, how can there be a “worst cars of all time list” and the Fiero NOT be on it? I felt snubbed. ;)
Any car with the word “Fiat” on it.
Worst thesis ever, not the worst car. Restated the argument is that the Model T was one of the worst cars ever because it was so affordable that it made everyone get or want a car. This led to war and environmental problems. Therefore the Model T was so attractive to consumers and so affordable that it was one of the worst cars ever. Time magazine publishes drivel.
LeLunchBox?
Hey! My LeCar allowed me to survive a run in with an 18 wheeler...
"Well, that's just the problem, isn't it? The Model T...conferred to Americans the notion of automobility as something akin to natural law, a right endowed by our Creator. A century later, the consequences of putting every living soul on gas-powered wheels are piling up, from the air over our cities to the sand under our soldiers' boots.
I wonder if the author walks to work, or eats food carried by hand from the farm fields to home. BTW - I've spent time in Afghanistan, and my two oldest kids have done tours in Iraq. Is it just me, or is the author's concern for the sand under my boots less than sincere?
“Any car with the word “Fiat” on it.”
FIX-IT-AGAIN-TONY
Yah, I think it is a good question, even if the article is a steaming pile of . . . nonsense.
I was going to vote for the Ford Pinto in the 1970’s, as unsafe, unreliable, unattractive and uncomfortable. However, it did have the virtue of being affordable, so it could be beaten as the worst car ever.
Exactly. 100 years ago Henry Ford produced the Model T and we don't walk and shovel horses&it everyday. That TERRIBLE!
Could not read beyond it since there is no way I could be sure I could tell the difference between fact or fiction.
Yeah, I closed the window as soon as he said ‘this leads to us all dying from cars’ crap myself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Neil
I found no automotive knowledge there.
It’s Time Magazine. Assume fiction until proven otherwise.
It is likely that the article’s author doesn’t do as much good in the world as he would if his sole job were just to lick the sand from soldier’s boots.
My friend had a Spyder in the 70s. He called it a “Fiatsco.”
LOL - good line! :o)
"It wasn't Marx, but Ford who made the Revolution possible by freeing the proletariat from the idiocy of rural life."
-Lenin
In its very success, the Ford Explorer is responsible for setting this country on the spiral of vehicular obesity that we are still contending with today. People, particularly women drivers, discovered that they liked sitting up high. Even though more fuel-efficient minivans do the kid- and cargo-hauling duties better, people came to prefer the outdoorsy, go-anywhere image of SUVs. In other words, people became addicted to the pose. And, as vehicles got bigger and heavier, buyers sought out even bigger vehicles to make themselves feel safe. Helloooo Hummer. All of that we can lay at the overachieving feet of the Explorer.
I had a 1972 Fiat 128. I was constantly working on it. My father refered to it as “deigo’s dream” (no disrespect to anyone)
Typical Time crappola.
The definition of "worst" seems to be "the writer personally dislikes it."
The Excursion? Please. There was nothing wrong with that vehicle.
1971 Plymouth Cricket.
THREE transmissions in 4700 miles. Massive electrical problems. Mercifully put to death with only 11,000 miles
Heh. When I clicked on the link, I actually did think of the Fiero.
Funny how dems, bin laden, and lenin often have the exact same message.
this writer is a leftist shill masquerading as an auto journalist. what about the hippy vans,prius, they would shutdown on the freeway.
It was government and not industry that put every living soul on the government roads.
What story are you reading? The one linked above is by an LA Times car critic writing for Time Magazine.
Any list of the worst cars without the Vega shouldn’t be taken seriously. Those cars were made of compressed rust just waiting for the paint to fall off.
Ever since those fools allowed the serfs to talk back the world went to hell.
He is basically a social critic who uses the enormously popular automobile as a watering trough for his tortured slop.
And it was linked off cnn.com’s main page too as well.
He makes a snide comment about the V-8 too.
At the time, I was used to working with a jackhammer and could pick up 300 lbs of rock and walk away with it.
Anyway, I got in, the door would not latch because the battery was low, and it would not open either (same reason). After discussing whether we could get jumpers on the battery and other options with the dealer, I pulled the safety pin and tried to open the door from the driver's seat. Uh uh. No go. It took the dealer, a friend, and my own efforts to get the door open far enough to get out.
Keep in mind, this was a 'safety' car and a snug fit to boot, so there was not much room for the driver to move around when you were behind the wheel.
As for being slow, well, as I recall more than a few were wrecked at speeds exceeding 100 mph, and the drivers walked away from the wrecks. So they were fairly safe in a wreck, (as much as that makes sense). It was another 20 years, for instance before another manufacturer was touting side beams in the doors, even though the later models were much lighter in construction.
While some aspects were positive (heavy construction, midships engine) others outweighed them. (Handling, getting in and out).
They were pretty expensive, too (about $10,000, iirc) when other cars were going for $5-7,000.
I noted a few cars in the article which were marketing disasters, but did not really belong on the list of the writer's prejudices had the article really dealt with automotive quality.
Some were only guilty of being ahead of their time.
An interesting compendium, but far from what I would consider an accurate list of the "worst".
For instance, I did not see the Ford Taurus, for its transmission woes or spare parts compatibility (You needed to know the VIN to tie down which week the car was made to get some of the right replacement parts.) I guess the Taurus was too politically correct to make the cut.
It was/is arrogantly huge, overtly militaristic, openly scornful of the common good....It all contributed to GM's emerging image as the Dick Cheney of car companies.
I cannot imagine a crackerbox LeCar being the reason. Must have been the hand of God or just incredible luck. LOL!
“I was going to vote for the Ford Pinto in the 1970’s, as unsafe, unreliable, unattractive and uncomfortable.”
I had a ‘76 when I was a teenager. Crappiest car I’ve ever owned.
Propaganda Tip: whenever the deconstructionists refer to something as a “notion”; rest assured it is almost certainly part of the bedrock of society. See also “cherished delusions.”
Next time, Time should find a car guy, not an environmentalist to write this article.
Then again, they chose America-haters to do articles on our Founding Fathers, foreign policy, etc. so I shouldn’t be surprised.
1981 Dodge Colt. Drove one (brand new)from Fairbanks Alaska to NYC and back. Sold it as soon as trip was over and never had another small car after that.
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