Anecdotal proof that the Renault Dauphine was a crap car.

[Boatbum]

Like many swing axle rear engined cars of the day, they had a distressing way of biting you if pushed too hard. There was a Gordini version, which was about as quick as a Mini.
Friend's mother had a Gordini. Late for a train, turned into the station a bit hard and ended backwards up the steps to the booking office

The Yugo was based on the Fiat 127 (not a bad car..) and a car mag tested one, saying "Unless you have to have a new car, you would be better buying almost any other second hand car for the money"
They couldn't understand how such a bad car could be made from a half decent one.

I recall a Cadillac dealer that was giving away a Yugo with every purchase of a new Caddie. I guess if you needed a new boat to drive and you had a 16 year old kid, you could give them the Yugo as a sort of disposable car.

[John B]

Hugo said ' you go'..

[Dan McCosh]

I suppose everybody knows that the Yugo was Macomb Bricklin's successor to his earlier idea--Subaru of America. In the midst of building his own Bricklin sports car.

[sandtown]

^ Dumfounding Didact should be added to that list.

A surprising number of people really do believe that anecdotes are evidence. Are you one of them ??

And I shall refrain from bragging about my chick magnet Karmann Ghia, into which I can no longer even fit.

[ShorelineJohn]

FWIW, Sprites are going for some $20,000 today/ Yugos about $6,000.

For a Bug-eyed (Frog-eyed depending on where you live) not for a Spridget.
https://www.carandclassic.com/list/8/sprite/
There is one there for 12,000 but this

https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1472315

or this is much more typical.

https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1209921

But sure, I'll take $20,000 for it.
truck,sprite.jpg

[John Meachen]

Does anyone remember the Borgward Isabella?

I remember a teacher who drove one of those.Did the quite pretty Renault Caravelle find it's way across the Atlantic?

[hawkeye54]

^ a few did - even to Chicago ! ! !

[Garret]

^ a few did - even to Chicago ! ! !

Yep - a friend had one.

[Gerarddm]

Talk about rustmobiles: the very desirable, expensive, but fragile BMW 3.0 CS. Supposedly BMW used East German steel in them to save some money, and rust rot ate them alive. In 1972 I pondered a CS and chose the 2002 instead.

[ShorelineJohn]

Probably shouldn't post this picture.......

sprite.jpg

I told you I really like the Ford Cologne V-6.

Beside the BMC A-series engine is the worst engine one could put in a sports car.

[Garret]

She'll run fine after a tune-up.

[blacksmith]

Nothing rotted out faster than the International , up to the door handles in a flash. Recalling the Dodge Omni, I bought an Omni and a Dodge Dakota pick up brand new! The worst vehicles I ever owned. Even the dealer was amazed at how bad they were.

[Nicholas Carey]

Didn't the Omni/Horizon have a 60k km engine life.
VW built IIRC
R

Chrysler cloned the VW Rabbit, stretched in in all dimensions and called it the Omni/Horizon.

Engine was a terrible clone of VWs engine. We had a '78 Omni. Valve guides and valves suicided after maybe 50,000 miles.

It was a better engine than a Chevy Vega's engine, it that's a phenomenally low bar.

[Jim Bow]

All hail the slant six !!!

[WX]

The Mitsubishi L300 van rusted quite well.

[Garret]

Saab had a bunch of 99s built in Belgium & they stored the front fenders outdoors. Lots of recalls on those, as they literally sprayed the paint over the existing rust.

[Chip-skiff]

My wacko mate, Duane, wanted to build a desert buggy, c.1964. He paid $100 for a Renault Dauphine that had been rolled.



We cut the body off with chisels and hacksaws, hard yakka. Left the seats, steering, engine, and drivetrain intact. I was thinking there didn't appear to be a frame as such, when Duane hopped into the driver's seat and the thing sagged and almost hit the ground.

I later looked it up: monocoque design.

[epoxyboy]

Attachment 122815


Don’t see many of these around. I always liked them.

Jeff C

I've always liked them too, but they were a real Ford UK parts bin car, and never really as good as they could have been.
There are still plenty of them around in NZ, though you pay silly money for a tidy one. No salt on the roads here, so the tinworm doesn't bite quite as hard or fast.
They were available here with a bewildering range of engines over the years - the old 1300 and 1600 escort motor (totally gutless in a car that size), the 2.0l pinto motor, a hideous 2.0l V4 out of the Transit van, an injected 2.8l out of Germany, and a 3.0l V6.
It was even worse in the UK.
The cunning South Africans (Perana) built a factory licenced 5.0l V8 Capri, homologated for racing - they are rare as rocking horse poo though.

Pete

[Landrith]

In 1982, I felt it was sensible or expedient to roll my Renault Dauphine on to its side on old tires to replace the brake cylinder. I guess I might not have had much respect for it. Probably the repeated random results I got from the push button transmission while driving it. I had a Simca Bertone 1000s body shell, but could not get an engine for it. Mostly I ran VW bugs.