infamous models - what made them?

[jphanna]

another in a long line of historical trivea relating to cars. over the last 40 odd years, what models were known for 'unfortunate' stying errors or bad design or manufacturing. eg of the top of my head. (as its a ford forum and lots has been posted about EA and AU....lets give them a break)

Edsel (stying)
corvair (rear suspension)
HD holden - front and rear styling
HQ kingswood - handling
orig falcon - front suspension failure
Camira - smoky engines
sigma - smoky engines
magna - auto gearboxes
VX commodore with 5.7chev (oil consumption)
VL 3.0 (headgaskets)
rotary Mazdas (seals failing)

this is a specialty for mechanics ou there who made a fortune on some of these cars...

[ryanstev]

Plymouth Superbird (styling)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Superbird

[Watto_Cobra]

Originally Posted by ryanstev

Plymouth Superbird (styling)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Superbird

Haha, the "Joe Dirt" special :

Originally Posted by Paxton

Pontiac Aztek

Style (or lack thereof) over substance.

AAAAHHHHH!!! MY EYES!!!

Originally Posted by Gobes32

Paul Gover and Graham Smith are determined to add the Territory to that list, since Ford sorted out a brake recall, they are getting stuck into the ball joints........

I hear ya. Can anyone spell "witch hunt"?

[Paxton]

Pontiac Aztek

Style (or lack thereof) over substance.

[Zedjay]

anything ssangyoung BUT UGLY

[BlackLS]

90s Mazda 626 - auto boxes
N12 Pulsar - manual gearboxes

[Daymoe]

Nissan 300ZX:

- stupid temp guage (Either cold, normal or overheating, nothing in between.)
- Bastard to work on, to do anything is a real pain in the neck. Normal mechanic won't touch them. Any work costs LOTS of $$ in labor.
- Reliability issues.

[Gobes32]

Paul Gover and Graham Smith are determined to add the Territory to that list, since Ford sorted out a brake recall, they are getting stuck into the ball joints........

[Paxton]

Originally Posted by Gobes32

Paul Gover and Graham Smith are determined to add the Territory to that list, since Ford sorted out a brake recall, they are getting stuck into the ball joints........

What, the ones that have been changed for SYII?

[Gobes32]

Originally Posted by Paxton

What, the ones that have been changed for SYII?

No, they want Ford to recall all SX and SY Territorys and replace the ball joints for free..........

[Matt47569]

apex seals lol

[stevepet]

How can anyoned forget the immortal Datsun 120Y the greatest pile of dung ever made.

Anything with an alloy head anyone cracked a cast iron head?

[vztrt]

VT - VXS1 rubbish IRS.....oh wait that's in general.

[J_Tank]

A dozen posts and no mention of the P76!

[TUF_302]

The P76 lol!!, Also i dont think ssyangyong believes in style!!

[flappist]

Or from our side of the road:

XC Falcon, gutless petrol eating monster.
TE Cortina 4.1, dangerous overpowered underhandling underbraking petrol eating monster.
EA Falcon, gutless gasket eating monster.
AU How many synonyms can you think of for the word UGLY
BA1 GT/GT-P/Pursuit (early builds) oil eating, rattly gearbox, clunky diff, relatively slow
BA2 F6 Typhoon, (early build) gutless and clutch failure.

I have owned a new one of all of the above so this is personal observation not third hand anecdotes

[Watto_Cobra]

Originally Posted by flappist

..........TE Cortina 4.1, dangerous overpowered underhandling underbraking petrol eating monster.............

I have extremely fond memories of my TE 4.1L. It handled very nicely with the 25mm sways front and rear and the tyres I had on. But yes, very underbraked for the power it possessed.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Watto_Cobra

I have extremely fond memories of my TE 4.1L. It handled very nicely with the 25mm sways front and rear and the tyres I had on. But yes, very underbraked for the power it possessed.

Yes all the cars I mentioned could be sorted with modifications but out of the factory the Corty was a shocker. If you even drew a picture of a corner on a piece of paper anywhere near the car shed the Corty immediately tried to flip on its roof. This is from new not 20 years later when tyres and suspension got a lot better.

[Watto_Cobra]

Originally Posted by flappist

Yes all the cars I mentioned could be sorted with modifications but out of the factory the Corty was a shocker. If you even drew a picture of a corner on a piece of paper anywhere near the car shed the Corty immediately tried to flip on its roof. This is from new not 20 years later when tyres and suspension got a lot better.

You're not kidding. They had a bit too much go for the factory standard equipment :evilking: I just had to mod the suspension and wheel/tyre package, if only to make it safe to drive Only prob I ever had with that car was sunroof not wanting to wind closed once opened, and it once sheared the key off for the crank timing chain cog.

[Walt Kowalski]

Originally Posted by flappist

If you even drew a picture of a corner on a piece of paper anywhere near the car shed the Corty immediately tried to flip on its roof. .

Good one!!!

Reminds me of the R100 Rotaries.

Anyone remember them, at Bathurst in late 1960's?

Used to flip over at the thought of a corner

BTW Apex seals in rotaries are no longer a problem thanks to an inventive Australian Company PTS (WA I think)

I have them in my 13B turbo and they have survivied incredibly harsh treatment including a complete engine failure where even the eccenric shaft (crankshaft) broke into 2 pieces

The only things we could salvage were the APEX and corner seals, the water pump and the alternator!!!

Even the clutch got bent


My Dad reckoned HD Holden was for "horrible design"

[GasoLane]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned the Lightburn ZETA or worse the ZETA sports!!

http://www.adelaidetalkbacksa.com/fo...read.php?t=868

[GREGXR8]

Originally Posted by flappist

Yes all the cars I mentioned could be sorted with modifications but out of the factory the Corty was a shocker. If you even drew a picture of a corner on a piece of paper anywhere near the car shed the Corty immediately tried to flip on its roof. This is from new not 20 years later when tyres and suspension got a lot better.

Had a TE wagon. 4.1auto on gas a few years ago, drove it up to Yarram every weekend. The mud flaps were all ground on angles from the corners through the Forster hills.

[XC_Lizzard]

Originally Posted by flappist

Or from our side of the road:

TE Cortina 4.1, dangerous overpowered underhandling underbraking petrol eating monster.

Yes, but weren't they fun (I had 2 TE 4.1's and a TD 4.1).

They could also be described as part of the Darwinian selection process, you either learnt to handle unexpected situations, or you died.

[mrniceguy]

Ford Pinto??

[redxm]

3.0 blow me up turbo diesel nissan patrol
same car with 5th gear falling out of the gearbox

[Iggypoppin']

BA brake and diff issues.

VL headgasket

oh and BA handbrake.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by NJXR6

BA brake and diff issues.

VL headgasket

oh and BA handbrake.

Add AU handbrake to that aswell.
Also the Charcol canister in AU V8's that produce the Tickford tick

[v8 tc]

What about magna,triton,sigma any thing with the astron engine?
That mongrel timing chain rattle(that was cool)not : : :

[mickvxbs]

XA-C coupe had a bit of a rust problem..

[calais]

Holden Sunbird? no wait...... Datsun Bluebird "Australias Four Cylinder Limousine!!".......... Shockers... both of them, Holden because of the 'Starfire' four banger which made made a 60's diesel landcruiser seem like a rocket... and the Bluebird because it was just crap in general.