Top 10 Worst "Car of the Year" Winners

We all make mistakes, no matter how professional we are. Sometimes, something that seemed like a good idea at the time turns into an unmitigated disaster. This can even happen to some of the most respected names in automotive journalism. These 10 cars looked great from the press’ point of view at the time, but they never lived up to the hype. Here are 10 cars that the editors of their respective automotive magazines would like to have back.

10. Ford Thunderbird (2002)

1. One of the biggest busts in the era of “retro-modern” styling, the 11th-generation Ford Thunderbird was a textbook example of mistaken identity. You would think that Ford would’ve learned after the first time they first killed off the Thunderchicken. The personal luxury car was an anachronism long before the last T-Bird even went into production. It didn’t help that the Thunderbird wasn’t all that sporty—it shared the chassis, engine, and automatic transmission from the Jaguar S-Type and the Lincoln LS—and it wasn’t particularly luxurious either. Its steep price tag kept most potential customers far, far away. Motor Trend, ya blew it.

9. (tie) Volkswagen Jetta TDI (2009)/Audi A3 TDI (2010)

In all fairness to the Green Car Journal, they made their decision without the information about VW’s emissions cheating software. And, to their credit, they rescinded the awards for both cars. Still, the two dirty diesels remain the biggest embarrassment in the history of the relatively new Green Car of the Year award.

8. Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid (2008)

Another Green Car Journal pick. This one doesn’t even begin to make sense. Their COTY for 2008 was the 3-ton, big-block V8-based Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid. The fuel consumption ratings were pretty good, but they were measured using the old EPA criteria, which leads me to believe that it would still be pretty rough on the environment and your wallet.

7. Rover 216 Si (1990)

This is a pick that What Car? would like to have back. In fact, the Rover 214 Si was the first of three Rovers picked as COTY by the British magazine. The 214 did little to diffuse Rover’s fully-deserved notoriety for making junk cars, despite the fact that it was built on a Honda platform.

6. Honda Ridgeline (2006)

Both Motor Trend and the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada dropped the ball on this one. In their defense, Honda’s Ridgeline was a well-made, comfortable, and generally well-to-do vehicle. So why is it on my list? Well, the styling was controversial, to say the least. But the biggest problems were: unibody construction, lack of a V8 engine, and a price too high to realistically compete with more capable ¼-ton trucks such as the Toyota Tacoma. This scared off most conventional truck buyers, and gave Honda a not-so-good reputation in the truck-buying crowd.

5. Mercedes-Benz ML320 (1998)

In 1998, the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada gave the Mercedes-Benz ML320 the “Overall Car of the Year” title. At the time, it would seem to make sense to call this COTY. It was one of the first luxury crossovers to hit the market, in the process becoming very popular. The ML-Class was supposed to be the beacon lighting the way for future Mercedes; and in a sense it was, but for all the wrong reasons. The ML became the poster child of everything that was wrong with the DaimlerChrysler merger; and also of the disastrous build quality of turn-of-the-century Mercedes-Benzes.

4. Chevrolet Citation (1980)

Now we start getting into the real scrap heaps.Motor Trend’s 1980 COTY was none other than the infamous Chevrolet Citation. In all fairness to Motor Trend, they wouldn’t have had the demo models long enough to experience the Citation falling apart around the driver. On paper, the FF Citation was a huge breakthrough for General Motors. It was thought to be North America’s answer to the Honda Accord. Had it not been made out of tin foil and Saran Wrap, it very well could have been.

3. Chevrolet Vega (1971)

1. If you’ve heard the name Chevy Vega, you’d probably associate it with everything that was wrong with the auto industry in the 1970s. True, oil prices went through the roof at that time, and it was a challenge to re-jig the assembly lines in order to create low-powered econoboxes. Motor Trend, seeing that the Vega was on that path, they named it COTY in 1971. While the idea may have sounded good, the Vega was, in reality, a slow, smoky and flimsy rust bucket. The Monza that succeeded it wasn’t much better.

2. Ford Mustang II (1974)

Like the Vega, the Ford Pinto was born out of the 1970’s oil crisis. It was so badly made that early models had become notorious for blowing up when they got rear-ended. So, naturally, it made sense to Ford to base the next generation of their crown jewel on the Pinto. The end result was the 1974 Motor Trend COTY, the Ford Mustang II. Although the exploding fuel tank was not a concern, the Mustang II possessed all of the qualities that everybody came to hate in the Pinto: awful body work, rust, pathetic engines, and a list of reliability problems as long as a line up at a Tim Horton’s drive-thru. It was truly an affront to one of the greatest names in the world of automobiles.

1. Renault Alliance (1983)

Oh boy. It might be tough to find a bigger lemon than the Renault Alliance. Yet it was on Car and Driver’s “10 Best List”; and, even more shockingly, it was the Motor Trend COTY as well in 1983. At the time, you would think that the Renault Alliance was the greatest thing to happen to AMC (who was owned by Renault at the time) since the Javelin. You would imagine that, based on the glowing reviews from the automotive press, that Renault would soon establish themselves as a real player in the USDM. Oh no. Even by AMC’s standards, the Alliance was a piece of garbage since the day it left the factory. You could practically watch the thing rust before your eyes, and the underpowered engine was prone to faults and failures. The Alliance is part of the reason why the French have never since tried to sell an automobile in North America. It was complete rubbish, and because of that, it was only worth its weight in rust by the time you got around to selling it.