The common definition of a classic car is a car that is more than 20 years old and has some historical significance, making it worth preserving or restoring.
Some historically significant cars can be incredible vehicles, muscle cars, hot hatches, and supercars can all fall into this category, but other historically significant cars, are just cars. Cars that gave people essential mobility, a means to an end, often more like an appliance than something you would actually want to drive.
There are gorgeous classics we all want to drive, oozing soul and turning heads wherever they go, then there is this lot. 10 classics we wouldn’t drive if you paid us.
10 Ford Model T
The Model T gave the world its first mass-produced car, the first real car of the people. It was also the first poorly made automobile, casting aside the bespoke carriage-works cars of the era in favor of something that was clearly made on an assembly line as cheaply as possible.
It was not easy to drive either, with controls more closely related to a boat than a modern car.
9 VW Beetle
When it comes to historical significance, the Beetle will always come close to the top of that list. Commissioned just before the war by Adolf himself, it was to be a people’s car (or a Volkswagen, in German).
During, and sometime after the war, the project looked still-born, with post-war Germany in tatters, but the need for cheap transport finally saw this project see the light of day, and very quickly the icon was born. The 30s suspension, brake, and steering components that continued to be produced until the late 70s were unsafe straight from the factory, even more so today.
8 BMW Isetta
This is a curious take on what people envisioned urban mobility to be in the early ’50s. It was often referred to as the Isetta Bubble Car, for good reason, because that is exactly what the weird little motorcycle-cum-car looked like.
Not dissimilar to what Toyota recently cooked up, history may well repeat itself, the Isetta was slow, cramped and not really suitable for two occupants.
7 Chevrolet Corvair
“Unsafe At Any Speed” was published while the Corvair was still in the middle of its production run, it was almost erased from history because of this expose'. The book targeted the industry as a whole, with cars of the era having far more power than they could safely handle and road deaths were at an all-time high.
The Corvair just happened to be one of the vehicles specifically called out, and for good reason, as it had seriously flawed handling and a hood that had a nasty habit of flying off and impaling people.
6 Ford Pinto
The Corvair may have been “Unsafe At Any Speed” but the Pinto is even deadly at a standstill! With a gas-tank too close to the rear that exploded upon impact.
Ford made the ultimate cold-hearted decision; choosing to pay out a large settlement instead of just fixing the issue. It is historically infamous, rather than significant.
5 Ford Mustang II
The II is still a stain on a nameplate that has become something of an American icon, even if some thought it was more of a secretaries’ car way back when it was launched. It was so much more than just a disappointment; it was a complete failure in every respect.
Low spec, under-powered engines strangled by both stricter emissions standards and the oil embargo, which didn’t give the unattractive design anywhere to hide.
4 Chevrolet Camaro Iron Duke
Another tepid excuse for a sports car, whoever in GM thought the best solution for lower emissions was the Iron Duke surely didn’t understand the laws of power to weight and the adverse effects a poor ratio will have on fuel economy.
It will literally get left in the dust by a school bus, painfully slow and still painfully inefficient.
3 De Lorean DMC-12
The DeLorean promised so much and delivered so very little. The story of the rise and fall of John DeLorean could one day be a Hollywood blockbuster, much like the Back To The Future movies that ended up immortalizing the car.
The car itself was a disaster, a beautiful disaster that had to cut costs all over the place, including the woeful PVR sourced V6 engine that had to be rear-mounted, destroying the performance and handling in one fell swoop.
2 Amphicar
The Amphicar is admittedly not a terrible boat, but it is a terrible car. It is something seemingly dreamed up by a child, then somehow made its way to full production.
It is one of those vehicles made purely for fun, although not much fun on the road with almost no safety features and even less power.
1 Reliant Robin
It is almost bizarre that this car was produced (on and off) for 30 years. Its significance lies in its very obvious 3 wheeled design, it was just a cheap form of transportation, a painful driving lesson that some costs just should not be cut.
In the case of the Robin, pretty much all the corners they cut in order to save costs had something to do with safety.