Sports cars define petrolhead heaven. Great power, great speed, ridiculous lateral Gs, and mind-blowing looks are what make the petrolhead fall deeply in love with this class of vehicles. Thus, whenever a manufacturer builds a vehicle and puts the sports car tag on it, a lot is expected. Sadly, not all of them live up to the name.

Since the first sports car hit the market, manufacturers have had a flurry of misses while trying to build the best sports car for that generation. While different eras prescribe different needs, the reasons for the failure of most of these cars have been the same – low power, low speed, and repulsive looks.

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So, on this list, we’ll look at 10 such sports cars. They’re so bad, that buying any of them will tear down your street cred rather than build it up. So, read on.

10 1969 Porsche 914

Yellow 1969 Porsche 914
Via Wikipedia

Porsche had a lot of tinkering around before they finally got their sports car formula right. And in one of their many experiments, the 1969 Porsche 914 had the worst results.

Aesthetically, Porsche failed to impress with the 914’s design. The car was extremely boxy, featuring a weird-looking B-pillar that some speculate was supposed to double up as the rear spoiler.

To make matters worse, Porsche built a very weak engine for this German machine. Many drivers complained that the car lacked power, robbing them of the thrill of driving a Porsche, especially given that the ’69 914 could be driven with the top down.

9 2012 Toyota GT86

White 2012 Toyota GT86
Via Wikipedia

Toyota is not renowned for making the best sports cars. Save for the Supra, which took over a decade to get a makeover, this Japanese automaker is rather best suited for family vehicles. That’s partly why the 2012 Toyota GT86 was a flop.

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Built alongside the Subaru BRZ, the 2012 Toyota GT86 was no better than its brother. The most prevalent issue was engine problems which saw this car labeled as highly unreliable. This happened despite the flurry of new tech Toyota put in the BRZ, sorry, the GT86, to make it faster and easier to drive.

8 1979 MG Midget

Orange 1979 MG Midget
Via Hemmings Motor News

If ugly was a car, this could have been it. The 1979 MG Midget was a bad take on what a sports car should look like, let alone drive like. To make matters worse, this happened at a time when sports cars were evolving into great looking cars and driver’s cars.

The MG Midget’s biggest flaw, save for the underwhelming design, was an equally underwhelming engine. Compared to other cars of its class, the midget took a slow 15 seconds to get from 0–60mph. This killed the open-air excitement that a little bit more horsepower would have added to this rather odd-looking convertible.

7 2009 Covini C6W

Gray 2009 Covini C6W
Via Top Speed

Now, we all know that sports cars tend to suffer from low traction, given the crazy amounts of power and lateral Gs they’re supposed to withstand. But adding one more set of front wheels isn’t supposed to solve this problem. Rather, it’s bound to make it worse, and mess up the other key thing that sports cars shouldn’t compromise on – looks.

For the 2009 Covini CW, this 6-wheeled experiment flopped faster than it was conceived. The added set of wheels completely jinxed the sports car’s looks. And under the hood, the 4.2L naturally aspirated V8 was not enough to turn heads and make one forget he’s driving a mechanical centipede, despite clocking a massive 500hp.

6 2020 Devel Sixteen

White 2020 Devel Sixteen
Via Supercars

When you give a chap in Dubai the chance to design a sports car, expect it to be outrageous and ridiculously expensive. That’s what aptly describes the 2020 Devel Sixteen. Despite making a huge cameo in high profile videos such as Drake’s I’m Upset, the Devel Sixteen has not made petrolheads happy. Rather, they’re literally upset.

Promised to be more than a sports car, but rather a hypercar capable of slaying the powerful Bugatti Veyron and its best make yet, the Chiron, this 5,000hp machine is yet to get into production. All the public has gotten are teasers since 2013, with the automaker citing engine reliability issues are plaguing the production of the car.

5 2007 Mitsuoka Orochi

Purple 2007 Mitsuoka Orochi
Via Top Speed

There’s nothing sweet that can be said about this “Ninja Warrior” machine. Proclaimed to be the Japanese answer to Ferrari, the Mitsuoka Orochi fell short of twitching Enzo Ferrari’s nerves. If anything, they made him rest soundly as Ferrari maintained its sports car dominance.

This $125,000 car was inspired by the Honda NSX. And interestingly, its build quality was impeccable, the company has lifted parts out of Honda and Lexus to put this car together. However, the 3.3L naturally aspirated V6 engine was a joke, producing only 231hp at the crank. Now, which Ferrari would they have beaten with that?

4 1994 Ford Mustang

Red 1994 Ford Mustang
Via Wikipedia

The Ford Mustangs have evolved from being just pony cars to encore sports cars capable of challenging serious rivals on the track. That was made more evident by how Ford started reimagining the Mustang’s body and aerodynamics. And for the 1994 Ford Mustang, despite the looks suggesting a track-slayer, the result was a glorified sloth.

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The ’94 Mustang’s biggest failure was the V6 engine. Labeled by some pundits as the worst the brand has ever made, this engine struggled to get the massive beast to speed. Some drivers also cited reliability issues, with most hating this model for its lack of character associated with the Mustang family.

3 1976 Porsche 924

Yellow 1976 Porsche 924
Via Reezocar

In 1976, Porsche was still struggling to get the sports car formula right. And yet again, after failing with the 914, seven years later, the 924 was another huge flop. Interestingly though, this time, people had a lot of expectations for the automaker, given the string of great releases they had.

The 924, however, was plagued with serious reliability issues. Drivers claimed that the 924 could break down easily and unannounced. Plus, it wasn’t a powerful Porsche as compared to other stronger releases, which made the car even more unlikable.

2 1982 Ferrari Mondial

Red 1982 Ferrari Mondial
Via Top Speed

The Ferrari Mondial should have been one of Ferrari’s greatest success stories. However, it was a disappointing flop. Reason? This car, just like the Porsche 924, was a master at breaking down. This was a big blow to Ferrari who had been famed for building some of the sturdiest sports cars in the market.

The Mondial had issues trickling down from its electronics to its engine. This made buyers question the build quality of this vehicle, leading to dwindling demand and sale. Thanks to these reliability issues, owners also reported that the car was not fun to drive, ranking it as one of the worst Ferraris ever built.

1 1954 Porsche 356

Blue 1954 Porsche 356
Via YouTube

Now, don’t get this wrong. The Porsche 356s are associated with the great origins of Porsche and is a model massively followed by Porsche fanatics across the globe. However, before the A cars were launched, the Pre-A Porsche 356s were nowhere near sporty.

Why? They were too slow. Based on the VW Beetles, most Pre-A 356s had a 35bhp 1.1L engine that didn’t quite pull the muscle. However, Porsche quickly upped the ante, gracing the new 365Cs with 90bhp engines that brought out the sportiness from these Porsches.

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