To an extent, European sports cars did what American muscle cars did back in the '60s - they started a trend in the automobile sector. The homemade “sports cars” failed in front of European prowess, except for the Chevrolet Corvette that survived pretty well, and is still a much-in-demand brand to date. That said; does that mean every European car was great?
Hardly! While there have been many amazing European cars that we have loved over the years, some were pretty disappointing, and others were downright terrible. It’s just that we are so used to looking at the European greats on wheels, that we forget that European carmakers could and did make some pretty bad cars for their time as well.
And if anyone of us has any one of these embarrassing cars still lolling about in our garages, well, shame on us! And shame on the carmakers who made these terrible cars, known for bad styling, weak performance, and terrible reviews.
15 1975-1981 Triumph TR7: The Cheapest Wedge On Wheels
The same company that makes the awesome Triumph Motorcycles once made cars. And between 1975 and 1981, they made the TR7, that looked like a wedge on wheels, enough to make Italian car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro gasp in horror at the abysmal design. Triumph took the TR6, made it as cheap and ugly as possible, and dubbed it the TR7.
14 2003-2010 Citroën C3 Pluriel: Had Problems In Plural
The Citroën C3 is a good, stable, and well-renowned car, and it would have had better rating had they not ruined the same with the introduction of the C3 Pluriel, from 2003 to 2010, with five open-top variations. Meaning you could adjust the roof five different ways - a phenomenon Top Gear magazine called “as useful as a chocolate teapot”. Which isn’t useful at all, is it?
13 1987-1991 Sterling 825/827: When Britain + Japan Equals Failure
The Sterling 825/827 was a rebadged Rover 800, which in turn shared components with the Acura Legend. Now, while the Acura Legend was a huge success, the Sterling failed, with mud in its face. The build quality of the Sterling was so shoddy, the cars rusted, had paint problems, and had plastic parts that leached color in the sun.
12 1971-1980 Morris Marina: A Bad Car That Sold Well
Out of the more than 800,000 Morris Marinas that sold, only around 750 survived in 2006, and by now we doubt any of those 750 are up and running. The sibling to the Austin Allegro, the Morris Marina suffered from poor build quality that turned it into a rust bucket pretty soon after it was purchased. It was panned everywhere because it deserved to be.
11 1985-1992 Yugo GV: You Go? More Like You Stop
Before the Bricklin SV-1, an overhyped race car that failed before it even began, Malcolm Bricklin decided to import the worst car in the world: the Yugo GV, with perhaps the worst build-quality ever. This was the kind of car that had parts fall off it even on smooth roads, and the engine was equally temperamental.
10 2003-2005 Rover City Rover: The Car That Broke MG
The City Rover was a supermini - a small car with sports car-like performance. However, this was nothing more than a rebadged Tata Indica, an intensely popular mini hatchback in India that did not remotely resemble a sports car in performance or handling. Needless to say, the car tanked, and with it, MG declared bankruptcy as well.
9 1998-Present Daimler AG Smart Fortwo: Not So Smart, After All
Unless you live in a city that is low on parking space, as well as road space, and your car budget means all you can afford is a wheel, the Smart Fortwo will not impress you. But for anyone on a shoestring budget and a parking space viable for a bike only, it is perfect. Be prepared for a really bad transmission, though!
8 1978-2002 FSO Polonez: Yet Another Wedge?
For someone who disliked the Triumph TR7 and called it a wedge, we wonder why car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro would go on to design a wedge-like Polish car? Named after the Polish dance, the polonaise, the FSO Polonez was a safe but outdated car, built on old Fiat car specifications. Plus, its performance could best be described as terrible.
7 2012-Present Fiat 500L: The Worst Minivan Ever
The sales are bad, the reviews are worse, and yet, Fiat keeps on making the Fiat 500L. Okay, it does have gargantuan cargo space, but that’s where its USP starts and ends. Plus, its made in the same factory that the Yugo was once made, and it too has the same build quality and unreliability issues like the Yugo. So, why are they still making it?
6 2002-2009 Renault Vel Satis: Redefining Ugly
Supposed to be a four-door executive car/hatchback limo, the Vel Statis may have been a comfortable ride but was dissed for its bad design to the point that sales never took off at all. Renault wanted to make a sleek car, the kind the road takes pride in. Instead, the Vel Statis became a laughing stock because of its bad design and mediocre performance.
5 1983-1987 Alfa Romeo Arna: The Car Destroyed The Brand
As a bid to increase sales, Alfa Romeo partnered up with Nissan and created the Alfa Romeo Nissan Autoveicoli S.p.A. Sadly, all this merger produced was the Arna, with suspension and brakes from Nissan and everything else from Alfa Romeo. It looked dull, drove duller, and accordingly, the sales were the dullest ever. Soon after, Alfa Romeo went up for sale and was grabbed by Fiat who promptly canned the Arna.
4 1999-2007 Jaguar S-Type: Fast But Bad Handling
It was the fastest sedan of its time, so that was one good thing about the Jaguar S-Type. Sadly, it was never one of the best looking cars from Jaguar, and the interiors were equally ugly and classless. All this, along with poor handling that could prove deadly at fast speeds, took its popularity on a downward spiral.
3 2011-2013 Aston Martin Cygnet: Overpriced, Overhyped, And Over
Take a Toyota/Scion iQ, restyle and rebadge it, and then take the price some three times higher. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, and that’s exactly what the Aston Martin Cygnet proved to be, with the initial-year sales of 4,000 falling way, way short at just 150 Cygnets sold. It may have called itself an Aston Martin, but it was a majorly overpriced iQ at heart.
2 1980-1982 Ferrari Mondial 8: The Ferrari For All
A Ferrari doesn’t come cheap, and if it does, well, you cannot expect it to be as good as the ones that you cannot afford. And that’s exactly the slot the Mondial 8, the first Mondial, fell into. Consequentially, the power output wasn’t all that good, and it often needed expensive repairs, that killed the whole affordability in the first place. Plus, it's not the best looking Ferrari either.
1 1981-1994 Maserati Biturbo: A Spectacular Italian Fail
The Biturbo is not only unattractive but also so vastly unreliable, underpowered, and full of everything cheap that it has become Maserati's most famous automotive failure. “expensive fail”. Maserati was nearly bankrupt at the time, and the desperation shows in the car.