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We, for the most part love our Aston's. Most likely we've loved many sports cars over the years but there is bound to be one that sucked, was a piece of junk.
Mine was a '73 Jensen-Healey, I know I'm dating myself here. I opted for the Jensen, passing on an Alfa Romeo Sypder at the time. The car was bright red, I succumbed to the lotus engine, clean lines and for the time very good performance. Well, it was the beginning of the end as soon as I got it. Engine overheated within minutes, always, gearbox was a mess, door handles and window winders fell off, top leaked like a sieve, suspension was a pile of junk.... Gone in 4 months for BMW 2002tii.
We, for the most part love our Aston's. Most likely we've loved many sports cars over the years but there is bound to be one that sucked, was a piece of junk.
Mine was a '73 Jensen-Healey, I know I'm dating myself here. I opted for the Jensen, passing on an Alfa Romeo Sypder at the time. The car was bright red, I succumbed to the lotus engine, clean lines and for the time very good performance. Well, it was the beginning of the end as soon as I got it. Engine overheated within minutes, always, gearbox was a mess, door handles and window winders fell off, top leaked like a sieve, suspension was a pile of junk.... Gone in 4 months for BMW 2002tii.
from what I understand, if you own a british sports car and the steering wheel doesn't come off in your hand whilst driving at high speed...you got one of the better built ones.
i had a '93 Mazda RX7 (twin-turbo, FD chassis) that was fantastic to drive... but what a temperamental little b* of a car. if you looked at it wrong, it'd throw a tantrum and something would go wrong.
My sports car history:
74 Fiat X 1/9 (first car)
77 Lancia Scorpion
85 Toyota MR2
94 Mazda RX 7 Twin Turbo
98 Corvette Convertible
2002 Porsche Carrera
2006 Porsche Boxster S
2008 Audi R8
2007 Aston V8 Vantage
2013 Aston Martin V8 Vantage S six speed manual. Still own.
1969 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce (round tail). Just restored.
Last edited by AXARUNNER; 03-14-2016 at 09:29 AM.
Reason: adding info
'01 Audi TT 225. While I can't say it was a bad car (usual Audi build quality, great style, great winter car) it was truly an uninspiring drive: dull, droning engine, no steering feel, don't rush me transmission, and would sir like understeer or understeer?
On the other hand I have only the fondest memories of my '93 Corrado!
'84 Corvette--Rock-Hard riding (even though I had the standard suspension). Had it in the shop at least 6-times because the transmission would slam out of 2nd gear during hard acceleration. Red Paint turned to Purple. Carpet under back window disintegrated. Rear frame broke on the driver's side and had to be re-welded. Drivers window fell down inside door and they wouldn't replace the belt that drove the window--chevy had a re-design and the whole mechanism had to be replaced. Only the transmission was covered under warrantee. The Lexan Top split from the windshield to the back. First time it was replaced under warrantee, second time it was not.
i had a '93 Mazda RX7 (twin-turbo, FD chassis) that was fantastic to drive... but what a temperamental little b* of a car. if you looked at it wrong, it'd throw a tantrum and something would go wrong.
I had one of those. May be the most dangerous car that I have ever owned. I bought mine at a Police auction on Halloween and was the only bidder. I should have known. I wiped out 2-3 times on peoples front lawns and lost my license by spring. I owned that car for 10 months and it cost me more in that time than my V12 with insurance, tickets and legal fees. Still, it was really cool. Even with all of that, the worst car that I have ever owned was a cayenne TT. I know it's not a traditional sports car but it did have 450 HP. It was the first year and I had it in the shop 10 times in one year. In fact I logged more miles on demos than my own car. It was so bad that no one would take it for a trade. I had a broker take it to auction.
I have two. The worst experience I have ever had with any car was my 2009 Porsche C4 997.2 Cabriolet. I still get angry thinking about that car (you can read all about it here: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...long-post.html)
The other one was one of the very first car I ever had, a 1972 Plymouth Volare (the car was older than I was at the time). I got it in HS and both reverse and 4th gear went out on it within the 1st year. Starting it up looked created a smoke screen comparable to what you might see from the Batmobile. I ultimately flipped it over a fire hydrant due to the brakes locking up on ice as I slowed down to turn into my driveway . . . stunningly, I walked away (by crawling out the broken back windshield).
Interestingly, none of that bothered me at the time . . . it was a $500 car. It was meant to be a POS! LOL
Now, for my $110K Porsche on the other hand, that one was supposed to be bulletproof (sigh).
I inherited a Sunbeam Alpine from my stepfather when I was 20 and I had to drive it from the SF Bay area up to Coeur d'Alene ID in December. The drivers seat was mostly worn out. One butt cheek would sink into the center while the other would be putting all of your weight, quite uncomfortably, on the metal frame. There was no way to sit on it that didn’t end up with your pelvis at an odd angle. You sat 1/2 way "in" the seat. At least until I stole a few phone books and jammed them in underneath the seat.
The car had no passenger side window in the door, and the zipper on the rear window of the convertible top was torn on the passenger side as well. The steering wheel felt like it was connected to the front rack with a bunch of old socks. There was lots of play before things actually started doing what you asked. It also still ran a generator instead of an alternator, and was cursed with full Lucas wiring.
As soon as I hit Oregon it rained on me all the way to Seattle, and until I crossed the mountains heading east. I discovered that with the top up, and the tonneau cover over the passenger seat I was able to keep mostly dry.
About a year after making that trip I moved back to California in an 60's vintage VW Bug that was completely stuffed with all my worldly possessions. I was a much more comfortable ride, and I discovered if you really pack a Bug full (like, the passenger and back seats have stuff all the way up to your neck line so you can still see mostly out full) that the bug becomes a very, very quiet car inside. Quite easy to heat too.
I miss the Bug from time to time. I don't mess the Sunbeam at all.
My '07 DB9 Volante is, without a doubt, the single worst car I've ever had this misfortune of owning. It spends more time in the shop than in the road. The things that break on it are unending and disgraceful (for the company). I hate this car and would unload it if I was confident it wouldn't break down on a prospective buyer during a road test.
Not really a sports car but the worst car we have ever owned was a 2000 BMW 740IL. We bought the car over a decade ago right out of CPO warranty and I have never had such an unreliable POS in my life. Radiators (plastic end tanks), coolant overflow tanks (plastic), control arms, alternators (yes multiple), cam position sensors, MAF sensors, idler pulleys (plastic), and the list goes on and on! Thankfully I can work on my own cars, but the utter cost cutting in the engine bay of this car has scared me from ever trying another BMW again. It's a shame too, because the E38 is still in my opinion, the best looking and best driving land yacht ever made. This car could have been one of the greats but what's the point if it's reliability is worse than a 70's British car. After talking with friends it seems by BMW ownership wasn't out of the ordinary.
02-13-2012 | 07:39 AM
