Worst beater you've ever driven...

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1972 Fiat 128. It only had 26K miles on it when I bought it. First gear synchro was already gone. It had a leak around the windshield that I never did find and when it rained water pooled in the passenger footwell. I drilled a 1/4 hole under the floor mat to let it out. When going up steep inclines the gas tank leaked. I was afraid it would catch fire and blow up someday. The paint was so bad that the 25 cent car wash would blow flakes off of it around the door handles, antenna and roof. I was driving to work one morning and the sensor for the oil pressure idiot light just blew right out of the block. But I drove the heck out of it for 2 years and only sold it for $200 less than I paid for it.
 
My buddy had a CJ-7 jeep, that was so rusted out , when he pushed in the clutch, the body would lift off the frame. I never had real beaters, but I did like the old Cadillac's and had a bunch of them. I bought a 1969 Cadillac Deville that the guy killed himself in with carbon monoxide with the classic garden hose idea. I got it cheap, big surprise. I paid $250.00 for it. It smelled funny, but it eventually came out. Cool car, the seats were really high in it. creped a lot people out. I have to say, I was afraid to look in the rear view driving home late at night, thought I might see a ghost in the back seat. Ran that car for a lot of years and then sold it. No hauntings. I still miss it. It was a tank.
 
Originally Posted By: babyivan
Originally Posted By: Bob_E


I like the concept but unfortunately this had the 225 slant 6. Indestructible but not at all fast...


Some of them had the 318, I believe they were called SE models.... too bad yours wasn't one of them.

The 1976 Aspen SE (Special Addition)

aspen318.png



The 318 was available across the board...standard in the Road Runner and maybe the SE...my friend's 78 wagon has one. It's loaded (everything but the 360 and third seat), I think it is an SE.

Well...it had a 318...now it has a 408ci Magnum stroker.
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Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle


The 318 was available across the board...standard in the Road Runner and maybe the SE...my friend's 78 wagon has one. It's loaded (everything but the 360 and third seat), I think it is an SE.

Well...it had a 318...now it has a 408ci Magnum stroker.
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Nice! I dig wagons!
My two alltime faves are a Roadmaster wagon w/LT1 or an 80's Malibu wagon with the tail lights in the bumper.
 
My worst beater was my first car, the 1975 Chevy Impala that my parents gave me after Dad boutght Mom the '86 Caprice for their 25th anniversary. The car had a ton of body work done over the years due to rust, and the last round included a really bad paint job. Dad tended to take 3 weeks off in August and decided that the car *had* to be painted before he went back to work, and picked probably the worst day to do the job. It looked terrible and there was both primer and final color overspray on the tires. And there was a large dent in the left front fender. The car ran just great but between the dent and the bad paint, looked terrible.

Would you believe that someone actually stole it for parts, including the painted tires *and* the POS AM/FM/*8-track* radio from K-Mart that we installed after a better radio was stolen from the car...!?
 
Back during my senior year of high school (2000), my parents got a new car so I was able to use my father's car, a 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser station wagon. I don't believe my father did much maintenance with it other than the oil changes so by the time I got to drive it, it would have a rough idle for the first few minutes, spew heavy smoke and the suspension would sound like someone jumping on an old bed when it hit any bumps. That and it was an ugly dark blue/purple that was faded/peeling along with being a huge boat.

In summary, was a huge ugly smoking boat, no power and could hear coming a mile away.
 
Originally Posted By: InvalidUserID
Back during my senior year of high school (2000), my parents got a new car so I was able to use my father's car, a 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser station wagon. I don't believe my father did much maintenance with it other than the oil changes so by the time I got to drive it, it would have a rough idle for the first few minutes, spew heavy smoke and the suspension would sound like someone jumping on an old bed when it hit any bumps. That and it was an ugly dark blue/purple that was faded/peeling along with being a huge boat.

In summary, was a huge ugly smoking boat, no power and could hear coming a mile away.


Sounds like it was a real chick magnet!
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A green 1991 Geo Metro. When I bought it it wasn't a bad car. But you give a high schooler anything and he's likely to figure out some way to break it. I was driving the car down an unpaved road I had no business being on, went over a sharp rise, and then nose dived into a small "pond" or very large "puddle" (about 2' deep water, wider and longer than the car).

Hydrolocked the engine and bent a rod. The rod/piston was replaced, but after that it was never the same. There were lingering issues I later had to resolve with bent valves, which I presume had something to do with the water, but it went about 10k-20k miles before that showed up so it's hard to say.
 
^ but with that said, I would *love* to have an opportunity to take an old 3cyl Metro for a drive. I do still have fond memories of it because it was the first car I had that was used for cross country trips.

The one I had simply didn't deserve me as an owner. But it did teach me some valuable lessons about respecting and taking good care of your equipment.
 
That's why my Suzuki Swift didn't make the list for "Worst Beater"

It was a terrible car. Seats weren't very comfortable, it didn't handle well for such a small car, mine was purchased cheap because it had been wrecked...new Geo Metro front clip and it was good to go, and it didn't have A/C. I don't mean the A/C was broken, it did not have it.

But it was completely indifferent to maintenance. I changed the oil with Western Auto's cheapest (usually Exxon Superflo) whenever I felt like it. No maintenance interval. Just whenever. 10K OCI? No worries. Drove it off road chasing a Dakota 4X4. Went through numerous holes that were bigger than the car. Made a terrible sound but the car tracked straight afterwards. I had a hard time getting out of the ruts in the ice on the freeway but it made it 30 miles to and from work in a severe ice storm. I must have changed the plugs 10X experimenting with Rapidfires, Splitfires, etc....whatever the sales reps were willing to comp me. Never had a single problem with the threads in the head. 155/80R13s were $15.99 ($13.59 after employee discount) And the fuel economy! I never got less than 45mpg. It is a terrible 3rd world car but it survives like a 3rd world car should.
 
Every time I did the math mine pulled 50 mpg, driving it with complete indifference to efficiency. With only 50 hp you had to have your foot in it everywhere you went anyway.
 
My 1985 Ford Tempo! Brought it brand new in 1985. The car broke down pretty quickly and by around 1992, the car was known to friends as the "ghetto cruiser."
 
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I bought a 1987 Buick Regal (G-body) in college for $600. The 307 engine knocked some, but it was otherwise okay. It had the relatively rare overdrive/3.08 gear combo (most OD cars had 2.73s). The hood's paint was severely blistered, and there was a big black mark on it (but no other signs of a previous fire). It was a Limited model, with super plush velour seats, power locks, and manual crank windows (odd). I bought an Olds 403 V-8 from a junkyard for $300 and swapped it into the Buick. After about a year, I sold the whole thing for $1,500.
 
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