Well this question could certainly get interesting. If you could wave a magic wand and make one particular model of car disappear, meaning the entire run of that model, which one would it be? No selecting a generation, era, or sub-model of the car you want to make vanish. Whatever you choose, they all go away….forever.
Knowing that the whole history of the model gets wiped out does make this a little tougher to answer quickly. Why, you ask? Well, here’s our example. We’d pick the Ford Thunderbird to get the Houdini disappearing treatment, but we wince a little at that because normally our stance is that we only truly want all the T-Birds built after 1957 to be placed adjacent to the Titanic. Those 55-57 models are dead sexy and cool! Unfortunately for the purposes of this exercise, they’re gone as well. Hasta la Vista!
So, going on that example, what is the one model of car (or truck) you’d like to see wiped from the annals of automotive history?
(Here’s a random shot of a Chevette with huge tires to get you thinking)
Its not a tough question, AMC Pacer, need I say more!
corvair……fiesta…….porsche 912
Yeah,,,,,,,YUGO!!!!!!!!!! LOL
Hey jerry Z, enlighten yourself a little, read this ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Pacer ). it might change your mind, or not. yeah it’s ugly, but its also innovative, not earth shattering, but innovative none the less, It deserves more respect than it gets.
that said, My choice would have to be. the LeCar, never had one, never wanted one, or knew anyone who did. Pretty much the most useless car ever sold in America.
Its still ugly!
The 1980 Chevrolet Citation. This is the car that GM decided to pattern its entire line of cars from then on and hastened its demise as the “Mark of Excellence”.
Bologna! That was my first car, and there were 3 in my family…All went to near 200k miles before we replaced them, and they were still running. They were GREAT cars!
I agree with either the LeCar or Yugo.
You can’t get rid of the Pacer without getting rid of the Scrambler, and the AMX. My 49 Ford thanks the Pacer for it’s disc brake independent front clip conversion as well. I’ll go with the Hupmobile.
I’ll cheat and say two …. from the same maker
The AMC Gremlin …. and that fishbowl on wheels they called the Pacer . Eeeesh !
Come to think of it …. I’ll cheat once again and add one more ;
Each and every Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth K Car ever conceived !!!!
As much as I blame Ia-CHOKE-a and his bean-counters for the anti-performance FWD malaise afflicting American motoring over the past few decades, the K-Based minivans and turbo cars were sort of worthwhile.
Make mine one of the 1,208 Dodge Spirit R/Ts . . . .
Toyota Camry
The world needs fewer appliances.
That is the dumbest thing I’ve every heard Toyota makes amazing cars and trucks check oit what top gear did to the t series pickup.
Where in his post did Dutch mention Toyota trucks? He wants to abolish the CAMRY, not the Hilux (a la top gear). And I would not be the least bit sad to see it go. “The world needs fewer appliances” x2!
3rd vote.
” We’d pick the Ford Thunderbird to get the Houdini disappearing treatment . . . .”
That would have saved me a lot of money over the years . . . and a lot of time and money this summer . . . .
I say it’s a solid tie between the Toyota Corolla and the VW Type 1 “Beetle” as gutless appliances that should be erased from the history of man.
any model of any make that’s a police car
Ford Granada/Mercury Monarch.
Toyta Prius and Smart Car
Prius and Yaris
Prius, any and all Prius models as well as the self righteous peons driving them.
The Omni/Horizon twins. Worked for a Dodge dealer for a while in the late 80’s early 90’2 and they were hands down the biggest piles of crap I’ve ever had the misfortune to lay a wrench on.
Bigger piles than the Chevy Vega? That’s hard to believe.
Every L-body I’ve been associated with has been a great car.
Yea but then there’d be no Omni GLH!
Ford Probe and the J-bodies.
Are we allowed to eliminated the W-body without killing off the great nameplates they desecrated?
Ford Fairmont
Only if the fox platform stays put. Take the fairmont but leave the mustang.
1981 through 1983 Imperial. Butt ugly, lacking in luxury features appropriate to a halo car and with the disastrous EFI on its 318.
Oops, didn’t read the rules. That’s a generation.
The Cordoba — that Imperial’s ugly little sister.
Saturn. The whole company. Think of all the resources (time, money, personnel) wasted on developing and maintaining an entirely new and separate (and by definition, redundant) car division from scratch. Then, without ever having recovered the initial investment, shutting the whole thing down.
Don’t get me wrong, Saturn innovated some very good ideas, but think of the missed opportunities. Think about the things that could have been accomplished if all the resources wasted on Saturn had been directed towards Pontiac or the rest of GM.
Great set of points.
Pontiac Aztec
Anything that can be classified as an SUV or Minivan.
Anything with an Asian badge on it. Period.
Corvette….
Pontiac Transport. Because deciding that Pontiac needed a minivan officially marked the point where GM declared they didn’t have a bloody clue how to make it their excitement division.
mid 70s mustang 2
Sure, Ia-CHOKE-a’s “Little TURD . . . er . . . Jewel” nearly ruined the pony car, but the ’74-’78 “Deuce” is a necessary link between the Gen I ‘Stangs and the Fox-Body revival.
SVT’s John Clor makes the best argument for the necessity of the Mustang II to continuing the Mustang nameplate through the dark days of the ’70s.
The Mustang II did have some success as an NHRA Pro Stocker . . . (See e.g. Dyno Don)
Besides, without the Mustang II, where would literally thousands of NSRA/Goodguys street rods get their front suspensions?
get ride of mustangs, unfortunately, the 1974-1978 mustang II (pinto) absolutely destroyed all the previous generations greatness. second choice chryCo’s K-cars, utterly disposable dumpsters on wheels, (and i fell for it in 82) third choice GM J or X cars, badge engineering at its absolute worst. Then again, just my opinion….
So you would eradicate the 2013 Shelby GT500 with 660hp just because you don’t like one brief period in an otherwise stellar 50 year production run? Your logic eludes me…
No Mustangs? No Camaro/Firebird to compete with it, and then ChryCo doesn’t do their own clones with the Challenger/Cuda. It eliminates the whole market segment.
And K cars? Chryslers whole lineup was K-car platform and trucks for nearly ten years. Without the K-car Chrysler is out of business in the late 70’s.
You get rid of a car line, the will be follow on effects.
The Barracuda was introduced before the Mustang, the Mustang just ended up the more popular one.
Pontiac Aztec
1975 to 1985 period,boom gone give or take a year
while i agree the k cars were pooh,so were chevettes(and i had such great hopes for them,just going by their name,before they came out),i think i’ll go with the saturn—she who must be obeyed has one,it cost the better part of 2k to put a timing belt in it,no one wants to work on them,they require special tools that no independent shop wants to invest in,and now,the stupid pos needs a fuel pump…this on a car that is not thrashed,gets more attention than me,and only has 105k on it!!–i’ll stick with my elky,thank you very much!!
Any or all of the small gm cars that were rebadged as cadillacs..
Without fail the Chevy Citation, I agree with the above poster that this car single handidly destroyed the great legacy of GM simply due to the fact that they molded everything that came after it from it. The Toyota Camry because I dont need a washing machine in my driveway as well as basement . I hate Chevy Corsicas too,flush em and every mini van ever made and the Prius and Ford Contours and that stupid Leaf car from Nissan.
Saturn too, the Sky was cool but the rest and the stupid marketing I wish it was all erased.
Dump saturn and the sky, the solstice will hold its place 🙂
Toyota Prius.
3-Series BMWs and all the D-Bags who drive them.
Same for all Audis. Yes, ALL. Even the Quattro.
Datsun 1200, that way I couldn’t have had one for a first car (anything else would have been cooler).
The 67 camaro cause if it were not for the Camaro guys at GM the L79 Nova (a factory altered wheelbase car) would be the hot it car. I meen if The Groump chose the Nova then he knew they were great cars. So sorry Camaro boys but the Nova Men know a real race car!!!
Anything labeled by it’s manufacturer as a “crossover vehicle”…
Eliminate the Prius (and the inept insipid folks that drive them and clog the roads)…
Easy, the Ford Mustang. I hated the way it looked in 1964 1/2, and it’s still just as butt ugly every time Ford brings back that same tired old body style.
My 68 Mustang has turned lots of heads and dropped plenty of panties. Also it is among the longest running models in history, so I guess not everyone thinks they are hideous.
the 66 Torinado and all other full sized front drive cars from the era….effing butt a$$ ugly!
Chevy Cavalier! Worst car I ever owned!
The Buick Reatta. I wish I could have also erased this car from the minds of the GM executives that thought this is the car that Buick owners really want as a replacement for the Grand National. Fools.
3rd gen Camaro’s/Firebird’s.
Fiero – Pontiac’s marriage of Chevette front end and Citation front end in a 2 seater. Those first cars were terrible. (Later versions make for fun conversions with Northstar or SBC engines)