The ugly vehicle thread

Well, yeah, it's disturbing. I mean, really...it's a 4-door! Sheesh! LOL Love the saw blade sun visor. Not sure what the doll's head is attached to, but it's a hoot. The chains are a nice touch, too, though I might have opted for barbed wire, myself. ;) Diggin' the little '64/'65 Falcon wagon that's beside it. Love the steelies and poverty caps!
You'll never hear me say anything negative about a Falcon. My grandad drove around in a white Ranchero version my entire childhood. He even built a rack for it to haul his jon boat over the cab! Awesome vehicle with many memories of going fishing in it!
 
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One car I hope to own before my time is through is a nice little '63 Falcon Sprint or convertible. My grandfather had a robin's egg blue convertible, and I remember I cried when he sold it. I think I was about four years old, and I already was obsessed with cars. I told myself that someday I would own one just like it. I still look for one every now and then...
 
It looks like a Lego Jeep. Or as a co-worker said "It looks like a lawn tractor!"

https://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/d/patton-custom-jeep-wrangler/6829689860.html
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I've enjoyed this thread as it reminded me of my sisters and brother cars when I was too young to drive. In my family growing up in the 70's and 80's we had two Ford Pinto's, a Cadillac Cimarron ("a three pedal Caddy" my brother used to say), AMC Gremlin, AMC Pacer, a Yugo and my first car was a Datsun 210 (or maybe 310 can't remember).
 
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I've enjoyed this thread as it reminded me of my sisters and brother cars when I was too young to drive. In my family growing up in the 70's and 80's we had two Ford Pinto's, a Cadillac Cimarron ("a three pedal Caddy" my brother used to say), AMC Gremlin, AMC Pacer, a Yugo and my first car was a Datsun 210 (or maybe 310 can't remember).
The Cimarron. Now there's a forgettable car (unless you just had to have a gussied-up rebadged Chevy Cavalier!).
 
I remember when the Aztec came out. My Dad saw a picture of one with a tent on the back of it. And he fell in love. My father wasn't known for making great financial decisions. And I was afraid this was one of them. It just looked so hideous to me. I couldn't imagine the car being successful. And sure enough it wasn't. The first article on google is one about it being the biggest failure ever. lol. (I just read the headline. Not positive that is true. But I would believe it. That thing was FUGLY.)

The other one I couldn't stand was the PT Cruiser. And my Dads' best friend had one that he would take to car shows. LMAO! I could see they were trying to emulate the old GM wagons or panel vans maybe(?) from the 50's. And bring in that older age group that at the time had grown up wanting a cool hot rodded one. But who's age group could also afford one. But it just never hit the mark for me. Cause they are so damn small. Maybe I'm way off on the old 50's wagons or panel trucks I guess they called them - thing. But it just always looked like a failed attempt at that.
 
I remember when the Aztec came out. My Dad saw a picture of one with a tent on the back of it. And he fell in love. My father wasn't known for making great financial decisions. And I was afraid this was one of them. It just looked so hideous to me. I couldn't imagine the car being successful. And sure enough it wasn't. The first article on google is one about it being the biggest failure ever. lol. (I just read the headline. Not positive that is true. But I would believe it. That thing was FUGLY.)

The other one I couldn't stand was the PT Cruiser. And my Dads' best friend had one that he would take to car shows. LMAO! I could see they were trying to emulate the old GM wagons or panel vans maybe(?) from the 50's. And bring in that older age group that at the time had grown up wanting a cool hot rodded one. But who's age group could also afford one. But it just never hit the mark for me. Cause they are so damn small. Maybe I'm way off on the old 50's wagons or panel trucks I guess they called them - thing. But it just always looked like a failed attempt at that.
Some interesting production numbers for you to ponder...

AMC Gremlin______1970-1978____ 671,475 units
PT Cruiser______2000-2011____ 1,091,236 units
Ford Pinto_______1971-1980____ 3,173,491 units
Not bad numbers, I'd say. Obviously someone saw fit to buy them for a fair number of years...

Now, some that didn't sell as well as hoped:
AMC Pacer______1975-1980____ 280,858 units
Pontiac Aztek______2000-2007____ 119,650 units
Edsel_________1958-1960____ 118,287 units

But my personal favorite is the following:
Rambler/AMC Marlin____1965-1967____17,419 units.
*As a sidebar, the '67 Marlin was completely different from the previous years. New chassis, new drivetrain, and sleeker styling. It sold a grand total of 2,545 units. Ouch!

I've owned a number of the cars I've listed above (still own some, in fact), and enjoyed every one of them. While the styling may be quirky, the mechanicals are often shared with a number of other models. The longevity of the production runs must say something about these vehicles that folks now love to ridicule. Gremlin-9 years. PT Cruiser-12 years. Even the Aztek ran for 8 years. So, what truly qualifies as a failure, or a bad car? Guess it's a matter of opinion. ;)
 
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While I am the one that posted the picture of the AMC Pacer earlier in this thread, I have a love for Ford Pintos.

I owned and operated and was my own pit crew for my race car in the 90s in the “mini stock” class at my local ¼ mile asphalt track. My race car was a 77 Ford Pinto (#83). It had a 2300cc engine bored 60 over with cam, Ford 9 inch rear end, full roll cage and gutted interior with racing seat etc.

Believe it or not this things made great little race cars. They were fast when set up correctly (caster/camber/toe etc.). The tires were full on race tires. The track had very little banking and we used to get around it in right at 16seconds. Used to wind that engine up to 8500RPM going around that track

Won my fair share of races and had my fair share of wrecks too. Such an expensive hobby though. I remember finishing 3rd in the annual championship race (100 laps)... they made us pull pistons right there in the tech lane after the race to check for being within spec/rules. My prize money for that finish was $225 and it cost me over $200 to put the engine back together...since I had to tear it completely down in a controlled environment afterward to make sure there were no contaminants from the tech lane tear down in the dirt.
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While I am the one that posted the picture of the AMC Pacer earlier in this thread, I have a love for Ford Pintos.

I owned and operated and was my own pit crew for my race car in the 90s in the “mini stock” class at my local ¼ mile asphalt track. My race car was a 77 Ford Pinto (#83). It had a 2300cc engine bored 60 over with cam, Ford 9 inch rear end, full roll cage and gutted interior with racing seat etc.

Believe it or not this things made great little race cars. They were fast when set up correctly (caster/camber/toe etc.). The tires were full on race tires. The track had very little banking and we used to get around it in right at 16seconds. Used to wind that engine up to 8500RPM going around that track

Won my fair share of races and had my fair share of wrecks too. Such an expensive hobby though. I remember finishing 3rd in the annual championship race (100 laps)... they made us pull pistons right there in the tech lane after the race to check for being within spec/rules. My prize money for that finish was $225 and it cost me over $200 to put the engine back together...since I had to tear it completely down in a controlled environment afterward to make sure there were no contaminants from the tech lane tear down in the dirt.
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I am a fan too. We had 11 at one time. We parted some and kept some. We are down to 7 now. LOL 6 are in a shed, 3 on the ground and 3 on shelves. :D

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We originally bought the sedans as it was my favorite. Child hood memory thing that got out of hand. LOL We then started buying the wagons. We are now going to start selling them off as we just don't have the time to restore them all. We plan on keeping 2 of the wagons and possibly one of the sedans. LOL Just can't seem to let all of them go. :D

The yellow wagon in the pic above and this gold one are the 2 we are keeping. The yellow one has sentimental value to me and the gold one hubby wants to keep because of it's condition. It has just over 40000 original miles with all the original rubber and engine and all. It belonged to an older lady that rarely drove it and it was garage kept it's whole life.

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I am a fan too. We had 11 at one time. We parted some and kept some. We are down to 7 now. LOL 6 are in a shed, 3 on the ground and 3 on shelves. :D

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View attachment 82263

We originally bought the sedans as it was my favorite. Child hood memory thing that got out of hand. LOL We then started buying the wagons. We are now going to start selling them off as we just don't have the time to restore them all. We plan on keeping 2 of the wagons and possibly one of the sedans. LOL Just can't seem to let all of them go. :D

The yellow wagon in the pic above and this gold one are the 2 we are keeping. The yellow one has sentimental value to me and the gold one hubby wants to keep because of it's condition. It has just over 40000 original miles with all the original rubber and engine and all. It belonged to an older lady that rarely drove it and it was garage kept it's whole life.

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Now that is way cool! In fact I don’t even remember the station wagons with the circular windows. That orange one is probably the coolest Pinto I’ve seen. That picture of your gold woody wagon looks real nice. I’m jealous.

I had a mustard yellow 71 (I referred to it as baby sh1t yellow - same color as your yellow woody wagon I think) with 34k original miles that I sold back in 2002. It was pristine except a tiny crack on the dash. A guy from out west flew in and drove it home 2000 miles. It didn’t have AC and had the 2000cc engine that in stock form, especially with an auto trans, couldn’t get out of its own way.

If I had another it would be a wagon with 2300cc, manual trans and factory AC...
 
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I am a fan too. We had 11 at one time. We parted some and kept some. We are down to 7 now. LOL 6 are in a shed, 3 on the ground and 3 on shelves. :D

View attachment 82262


View attachment 82263

We originally bought the sedans as it was my favorite. Child hood memory thing that got out of hand. LOL We then started buying the wagons. We are now going to start selling them off as we just don't have the time to restore them all. We plan on keeping 2 of the wagons and possibly one of the sedans. LOL Just can't seem to let all of them go. :D

The yellow wagon in the pic above and this gold one are the 2 we are keeping. The yellow one has sentimental value to me and the gold one hubby wants to keep because of it's condition. It has just over 40000 original miles with all the original rubber and engine and all. It belonged to an older lady that rarely drove it and it was garage kept it's whole life.

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Can I ask how you got them on the top shelf?
 
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