The automotive industry, allowing people to get to their destinations in ways that would have never been possible just a little over one hundred years ago, has changed the way that we view transportation. Ford Motor Company was one of the innovators who pioneered the first affordable and mass-produced vehicle for the general public, and since that time, the brand has remained an integral part of the automotive industry. Whether you like Ford vehicles or not, you have to admit that the brand has made some special models over time including the legendary Mustang brand. The Ford brand is home to a strong brand recognition, and the traditional Ford buyers are very loyal to the brand and continue to shop it over and over again.

Like with any major automotive manufacturer, Ford hasn't been without its faults, and there were quite a few times that the company was on the brink of bankruptcy due to mismanagement and poorly executed products such as the second-generation Ford Explorer, which was notorious for its rollover deaths and tire explosions. There were many models that were just plain bad, and this led Ford to make many notable changes over the past few decades in their product cycles. The company has made a major turnaround for profitability in the past few years, and now, Ford products are some of the most advanced vehicles on the road, and the company looks toward a bright future with many new anxiously awaited models on the horizon.

25 Ford Tempo

Via: Bing

During the late eighties, the Ford Motor Company had to come out and make a small car that was gas efficient and affordable to buy. The Ford Tempo was supposed to fit this bill, but the car was notoriously unreliable and suffered from inferior build quality.

This left many to question Ford reliability and even to coin the famous acronym for FORD: Fix Or Repair Daily.

The Ford Tempo was manufactured well into the nineties, but the car was more of a headache for Ford owners than most people wanted to deal with. (Car complaints)

24 Ford Pinto

Via: Bing

The Ford Pinto is one of the most well-known cars in history, but that's not always a good thing. During the seventies, the Ford Pinto was at the focal point of an investigation due to the placement of the rear gas tank, which was prone to explosion. The resulting lawsuits ended up costing the company millions, and to this day, the Ford Pinto remains one of the most unsafe cars on the road. The Ford Pinto will undoubtedly go down in history as the exploding Ford, although this car still has a big aftermarket community who love to cram V8 engines into these little hatchbacks. (Motor Trend)

23 Ford Aerostar

Via: Bing

Chrysler Corporation innovated the Minivan market like never before with their trio of lightweight, affordable, and gas-efficient vans such as the Caravan and the Voyager. There was a time during the late eighties and nineties that no other automaker could touch Chrysler in terms of sales volume, and most other vans were inferior compared to the Chrysler products.

The Ford Aerostar was one such disaster, known for its awkward and lumpy styling as well as a hard to navigate engine placement. 

These weaknesses made the van a painful experience to work on. (Car complaints)

22 Ford Bronco II

Via: Bing

The original Ford Bronco was a big, strong SUV complete with a removable top and enough ground clearance to let the thing roam anywhere. What Ford was thinking when they released the Bronco II is beside me because the little Bronco never really had a chance against the much-larger slew of SUVs that came into the marketplace. The Ford Bronco II didn't have a removable top, and the underpowered engine was a joke compared to previous and current full-size Bronco models. (Motor Trend)

21 1985-1986 Ford Mustang

Via: Bing

The eighties were a trying time for domestic automakers, as new and affordable imports were making their way onto the market. The 1985-1986 Ford Mustang is one such vehicle that was designed to offer fuel efficiency and performance hand in hand. Unfortunately, there was also a four-cylinder model of this Mustang generation that was a joke, not only vastly underpowered but also vastly unreliable, which caused an issue for most owners who were hoping for a reliable and stylish sports car. (Car complaints)

20 1974-1978 Ford Mustang

Via: Bing

The gasoline crisis was a trying time for automakers, and the 1974-1978 Ford Mustang is no exception. Designed off the heels of the popular first-generation model, the 1974-1978 Ford Mustang looked to offer consumers a gas-efficient Mustang that still offered the performance and stature of the original model.

Unfortunately, what you got was a poorly designed pony car that was rushed to the market without the proper research.

The car was also vastly unreliable due to all of the new emissions equipment. (Car complaints)

19 1994-2004 Ford Mustang

Via: Bing

The '90s and the early 2000s were a time of transition for Ford, as they tried to improve upon their product line and get rid of some of the dying brands such as the Thunderbird and the Bronco. The 1994-2004 Ford Mustang was known for its underpowered V8 engine and a whole lot of plastic in the interior, which gave the car a cheaper feeling than people got with previous Mustang models before it. The 1994-2004 Ford Mustang was also constantly beaten in horsepower numbers by the Chevrolet Camaro, which came with a Corvette-derived LS1 V8. (Car complaints)

18 Ford Taurus 1986-1991

Via: Bing

The first-generation Taurus was a longshot, introduced at a time when station wagons and large family sedans were still the norms. The Ford Taurus 1986-1991 was a lightweight vehicle that was gas efficient and still offered a good amount of interior space.

While the car was a gamble for Ford, it paid off in the long run.

The Ford Taurus ended up being one of the best-selling nameplates for the blue oval and gave the company a real footing in the family sedan market until the next decade when the Toyota Camry took over. (Motor Trend)

17 1992-1995 Ford Taurus

Via: Bing

Right on the heels of the success of the first-generation Ford Taurus, the 1992-1995 Ford Taurus was a light refresh that gave the car a more modern look. This generation was a big gamble for Ford because the company didn't want to endanger the success of the already-popular Taurus line, and thus, the redesign was carefully planned out, and the car received light touches to make it have a more modern and refreshed appearance. The 1992-1995 Ford Taurus also introduced the world to a new and more modern Taurus SHO model. (Motor Trend)

16 1996-1999 Ford Taurus

Via: Bing

The 1996-1999 Ford Taurus was one of the most anticipated redesigns in the automotive industry, but the finished product was a notorious failure and caused the Ford Taurus to drop off of the radar of many family-sedan buyers.

The 1996-1999 Ford Taurus was known for its overly oval design, which gave the car one of the most unique and awkward designs of the nineties.

The 1996-1999 Ford Taurus was a bit unique in the sense that it introduced the world to a V8 version of the Taurus SHO, which is both unique and rare. (Motor Trend)

15 2008 Taurus X

Via: Bing

When Ford discontinued the Taurus line, the company faced a backlash from loyal consumers who had been faithful to the brand name since the eighties. The 2008 Taurus X was released to replace the Ford Freestyle, which was a wagon crossover, but all the company did was slap a mild redesign and some Taurus badges all over the car. This left a bad taste in the mouths of consumers who had been loyal to the brand over the past couple of decades, and the 2008 Taurus X sold very poorly. (Motor Trend)

14 1981-1990 Ford Escort

Via: Bing

Being cheap and economical was what the 1981–1990 Ford Escort was famous for, and for the most part, the car was a sales success for the Ford Motor Company. Unfortunately, the car also had a good deal of faults to it including a notorious problem with overheating. This caused the 1981-1990 Ford Escort to be known as one of the more unreliable models to be sold, although the 1981-1990 model years were known for having a sporty and nimble appearance and ride, which initially made the car fun to drive. (Motor Week)

13 1984 Ford Escort GL Diesel Wagon

Via: Bing

Ford has long been one of the premier companies to market and sells domestic pickup trucks, but the company wasn't very popular in the realm of economy cars.

The 1984 Ford Escort GL Diesel Wagon is a rare vehicle that never really sold well domestically, as it featured a diesel engine, unlike the gasoline counterparts.

At the time of release, the 1984 Ford Escort GL Diesel Wagon was one of the few compact cars on the market with an actual diesel engine, and thus, the technology hadn't been perfected yet. (Motor Week)

12 1981 Ford Escort GLX 3-door

Via: Bing

The 1981 Ford Escort GLX 3-door was another unique hatchback model that added another interesting body style to the Ford Escort line. The 1981 Ford Escort GLX 3-door is one of the more unreliable models that came out of the Escort line during the eighties. The issues with this generation of the Escort were related to overheating, electrical malfunction, and fuel pump issues, which made the car a general headache for owners to repair. The 1981 Ford Escort GLX 3-door is one of the better-looking Escort models of this generation, but the reliability issues make the car a pain to deal with. (Motor Week)

11 1986-1988 Ford Escort 5-door

Via: Bing

While the Ford Escort line is one of the best-selling vehicle lines to come out of a Ford showroom, the 1986-1988 Ford Escort 5-door was a rather different model that never really managed to move as the 3-door models did. The late eighties were a time when five-door hatchbacks were coming into style with the likes of the Dodge Omni model and a few others.

The 1986-1988 Ford Escort 5-door never really caught on with the buying public.

This created a long-term sales issue for Ford. (Motor Trend)

10 1988-1990 Ford Escort LX wagon

Via: Bing

The Ford Escort was one of the sales leaders for the Ford brand during the late eighties and early nineties as an affordable compact car that combined style with a good deal of roominess. Nevertheless, the 1988-1990 Ford Escort LX wagon wasn't as much of a sales success as the more well-known models. This was partly due to the fact that station wagons were on their way out and the minivan market was heating up. The 1988-1990 Ford Escort LX wagon did have some positives such as a big cargo area. (Motor Week)

9 1991-1996 Ford Escort

Via: Bing

A mid-cycle refresh is never a bad thing for a vehicle line, but the 1991-1996 Ford Escort was a mid-cycle refresh that never really managed to improve the brand image or the product.

The 1991-1996 Ford Escort still suffered from a lot of the same issues as the previous generation did.

This caused a lot of problems with buyers who had purchased this vehicle while it was new. The 1991-1996 Ford Escort wagon was an improvement over the previous generation, but not by much. (Motor Week)

8 Ford Escort 1997-2003

Via: Bing

The final generation of the Ford Escort, with a bland exterior styling and an underpowered engine, was probably the most lackluster of the entire product line. The Ford Escort 1997-2003 lost a lot of ground to rivals like the Toyota Corolla because Ford just failed to offer a competitive product, which meant that the compact car was slipping away. The Ford Escort 1997-2003 also gave birth to the sporty ZR2 model, which didn’t have sufficient power to back up its sporty looks and was characterized by cheap build quality. (Motor Week)

7 Ford Fiesta XR2

Via: Bing

The Ford Fiesta line was, for a long time, one of the most basic entry-level models that the company sold both domestically and overseas.

The Ford Fiesta XR2 was a sports model that was supposed to compete with other hot hatches in the industry, but instead, the car was a lackluster representation of what you'd expect a powerful little hatchback to be.

The Ford Fiesta XR2 failed to compete with other hot hatch models such as the Suzuki Swift GTI, which, at the time, was one of the most popular models. (Motor Week)

6 1979 Fiesta Ghia

Via: Bing

After the disaster that was the Ford Pinto, you’d think that the company would take a break. But the 1979 Fiesta Ghia is an example of what happens when a company gets a little too far ahead of themselves. The 1979 Fiesta Ghia is a fine concept, but the actual production model was made of inferior build quality, which really took away from what the brand had to offer. The 1979 Fiesta Ghia was a spectacle of engineering mistakes, from the reliability to the knobs that go on the radio dials, making for a miserable little car. (Motor Week)