There are many reasons why The Autopian doesn’t make those hackneyed “worst car” lists. First of all, they’ve been done to death, and second, we’re pro-car here. “Bad” cars from the Yugo to the Lexus SC430 all have their merits, and their makers tried, and they aren’t nearly as bad as those click-bait posts would have you believe.
That said, we readily admit that there have been cars over the years with more than their fair share of issues. However, certain versions of these notorious rides were a lot better than the run-of-the-mill examples. They usually had plenty of the same imperfections to be sure, but enough positives to possibly outweigh the negatives. And those are the cars we’re Autopian Asking about today.
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The new-for-1980 GM X-Body cars were revolutionary front-wheel-drive replacements for ancient compacts like the Chevy Nova, and it’s hard to think of a more dramatic one-year change in almost any car line ever produced. It could even tow a trailer with just THREE of its wheels!
Mercedes Streeter would get some twin-turbo, ten-liter F850 thing to tow that boat, but a Citation and three good tires is all anyone needs.
Sadly, in the typical fashion of GM at the time, many of the bugs were worked out by the first buyers instead of the engineering team, resulting in what was possibly the most recalled car in automotive history and a horrible reputation.
Chevy’s version of the X-Body was the Citation, and the initial X-11 “sporting” version wasn’t much more than a cosmetic package. Most people rightfully turned away, but in 1981 GM turned the X-11 into something far more formidable than a mere sticker set. The X-mobile’s suspension, tires, and V6 engine were all changed, tuned, and tweaked to make a spacious manual-transmission driver’s coupe that could get to sixty in a then-speedy 8.5 seconds and pull over .8g on the skidpad.
In size and spec, this thing compared favorably to the far more expensive Saab 900 Turbo, at least on paper or a smooth road. Need proof? In 1982 and 1984, the SCCA Showroom Stock Championship for the import-packed Class B was won by a 1981 Citation X-11.
If we fast-forward a couple of decades and swing by Chrysler HQ, we find the PT Cruiser is making its debut. Performance of the initial rental-car-spec models wasn’t thrilling and the PT Cruiser’s funky styling was lambasted mercilessly by the unimaginative, but buyers loved the retro look, and the Cruiser gained performance cred when the GT model hit the streets with 230 turbocharged horsepower and a five-speed manual.
While not earth-shattering, the GT’s zero-to-sixty time of under seven seconds and sport-tuned suspension made for a rather formidable and extremely unlikely “hot hatch.” So much for your “PT Loser” jokes, haters.
There are plenty more examples of cars that went from sad to solid, but I’m just going to stop here and leave it to you. What are some of the best versions of maligned cars can you think of?
Someone already mentioned the Omni GLH, but another good example is the Syclone/Typhoon. As a small truck, the S10 was outclassed by offerings from Japan, and the Jimmy was pure awful – if you wanted an SUV back then, you probably wanted the Explorer.
But then the Sy/Ty came out and you could buy one and beat Porsches in drag races. In a truck.They were hilariously awesome and I’m tempted to get one even today.