These Classic American Cars Should Be Avoided At All Costs If You Don’T Want To Regret It.

The creation of an automobile is a long and complex process that involves hundreds of people working thousands of hours to ensure that the design, build quality, and performance of their car will pass the approval of the company standards, national and federal legal requirements and the judgment of the potential buyer.

From conceptualization to the drawing board, down to the production line, car manufacturers in hundreds of millions of dollars refining and developing the car they will eventually sell to the public. This normally every nut and bolt, every weld, every part and parcel of the car has been tested and retested, means everything works as it should be, literally, the car must run like a well-oiled machine.

Ideally, that is what should happen, in reality though, history has repeatedly shown us examples of cars that have questionable or terrible reliability, design, or performance. This list includes several of these vehicles that a buyer should probably pass on given the known problems or issues from them – These classic American cars should be at all cost.

10/10
Chrysler TC

A highly anticipated car due to the collaboration of Chrysler with Maserati, the TC surprisingly ended up as a commercial failure. Critics of the car have noted that despite the prestigious Maserati being attached to the project, the majority of the parts used were from the cheap “K” cars of Chrysler, resulting in poor quality, but expensive disappointment.

9/10
Eagle Premier

With a complicated origin story – First, it was a joint venture by AMC and Renault, then Chrysler bought AMC, then Chrysler created the “Eagle” brand to market the car, but also using Dodge for the same purpose. The result of this mishmash of brands and identities being the Eagle was an unreliable car with the added problem of difficult parts availability for repairs. A

8/10
Dodge Rampage

A coupe/pickup truck, a hybrid design by Dodge that fails to deliver on both counts. With a bed too small to load substantial cargo and a small 2.2 engine compared to what’s expected for a coupe, the Rampage name seems a bit too much for a small odd-looking hybrid.

7/10
Lincoln Versailles

Essentially a rebadged Granada or Mercury Monarch, the Lincoln Versailles was made as a direct competitor to the Cadillac Seville, an objective the Versailles did not win, only receiving a quarter of the total sales of the Seville. With its forced role, its engineering and build quality is not up to par with its purpose-built rivals.

6/10
AMC Matador

With its long proboscis that made it “stand out” against contemporary sedans in the ’70s, the AMC Matador was a facelift of the previous model that still carries the same issues – cooling, transmission, and electrical, making this a lesser choice for a ’70s era saloon.

5/10
1972 Vega

Initially receiving praise and getting good sales figures when it came out, the Vega was a small car with an aluminum block engine and was applied with new rustproofing technology, two important highlights in its manufacture, that ironically was the same two reasons for its demise – Early engine failure and extreme vulnerability to rust.

4/10
Ford Edsel

Made by Ford and was in production for only two years, the Edsel was a $250 million dollar failed experiment from Ford. Quality issues, unreliable performance, and even for its time very weird design made the Edsel a legendary failure, a fact now being used by academics and car manufacturers as a case study on why and how not to fail big time.

3/10
AMC Pacer

Suffering from cheap materials and poorly researched and implemented design, the AMC Pacer quickly the scorn of critics and users alike shortly after it was earned. From interiors that broke or tore apart easily to electrical and air conditioning problems, the Pacer seemed destined to be ranked as one of the worst cars in history.

2/10
AMC Gremlin

With a weird choice of name that oddly suited buyers how it looked, the AMC Gremlin with its odd proportions and aesthetics was another attempt by AMC to create a quirky car it hoped would entice. With low build quality as evidenced by its materials and construction, reliability problems plagued this car from the start.

1/10
Ford Pinto

With a literally explosive history, the Ford Pinto has been considered as the one of the worst cars made, the worst car ever, worst mistake of Ford for its now-infamous exploding gas tank (after being rear-ended). However, more than this flaw, it was the admitted knowledge of Ford executives of the problem, and their decision to pay off lawsuits instead (as they computed it was cheaper to do so) of repairing the defect that finally ended this car.