Automotive magazines love to create lists for the top cars of the year, but even they can get it wrong. Car and Driver.com has put together a list of some of the worst “best” picks of all time.
In 1980, Motor Trend named the Chevrolet Citation its “Car of the Year.” The Citation was one of several so called “X-cars” which were thought to be a rival to the upcoming Japanese revolution, which included the Honda Accord. Things went wrong for the car almost from the beginning.
“While staring down 60 -month payment books, Citation owners were having trim bits fall off in their hands, hearing their transmissions groan and seize, and finding that if they listened closely enough they could hear their cars rust,” writes Car and Driver.com.
In more recent year, Motor Trend picked the Ford Thunderbird as its top car for 2002. Ford re-released the popular 1950s Thunderbird to much acclaim but the website says cheap engineering marked the downfall for the car. According to the site, only 19,085 cars were sold the first year and the car was discontinued in 2005.
Even a venerated Ford model makes this list with Motor Trend picking the Mustang II as the best car for 1974. Unfortunately for Mustang lovers, this car was nothing more than a Pinto with a Mustang logo according to the website.
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