Interesting link.
Strangely enough, I saw my first Merc R class just the other day.
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At a quick glance I would disagree with the Austin Maxi, Austin etc 1800, Hillman Imp and the Jaguar S Type. My parents had a Maxi and an 1800. They always reckoned that the 1800 was the best family car they owned.
It all depends on how you define a "flop". Surely, the failure to sell the anticipated number of vehicles OR an inherent flaw would constitute a flop. If so, then the cars above would not qualify however unfashionable they might be.
My nominations, if not already listed, would include:
Lancia Beta ? great car for 5 mins until it rusted away.
Sinclair C5 ? spot the inherent flaw!
Vauxhall Victor 101 (FC) ? excessive rust again.
Renault Safrane
VW Phaeton ? the jury is still out??.
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I am afraid they all qualify as flops under your criteria.
The maxi due to flaws and volume, the 1800 due to volume, the imp due to flaws and volume and the s type due to volume.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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OK, maybe I need to look at my definition, but I would have thought that the sales of the likes of the 1800 and Maxi were pretty good. Problem with BMC/BLMC was that they ran production of the models long beyond their natural shelf life.
There was nothing that wrong with these cars initially, it's just that Ford and later the Japanese started to get their act together (Cortina etc) and BMC/BLMC failed to react.
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Sales of the 1800 were very poor indeed right from the outset. A pity, it had huge space inside, and excelent ride. Buyers didnt want it tho at its price point.
The maxi was an excelent concept, very poorly executed and made. Sold well at first till its reputation caught up with it, and it was downhill from there.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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The Maxi, with the R16, was one of the very first modern hatchbacks (I'm ignoring the few Citroen Light 15 hatches - they were a bit of a one-off), blazing the trail for what is now considered normal.
Yes, it was poorly executed, but the idea was spot on.
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I have fond childhood memories of my dad's Maxi (a 1750 HL)
I remember it being one of the first cars I'd ever seen with a 5 speed box, and I remember it being very reliable.
I also remember helping dad change the oil once, and hearing a "PLUNK" noise as the oil started draining. When we looked in the oil drain pan, there was a marble sized ball bearing that had dropped out with the engine oil. The car started, ran and drove afterwards with no apparent ill effects. Where it had come from, and how long it had been sloshing around in the sump, who knows?
We also had an Allegro for a short time, which my dad still describes as the most awful car he has ever owned. Despite a genuine 35,000 miles, it burned or dumped on the road (in equal measure) about a litre of oil ever 500 miles. Gutless, noisy and unreliable - complete and utter carp.
But the Maxi, we all remember fondly. Of all the cars dad had, I remember this and the Princess 2 as being my favourite. The Princess was ugly, but rode like a limo (Hydragas and long wheelbase), and had acres of room in the back.
Cheers
DP
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Now aint that funny, I thought the princess (Mk1) was, and still is, a fabulous looking car.
Pure wedge,
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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And who among you is suprised that a thread entitled "top 50 car flops" should quickly descend into talk about BL.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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>>a fabulous looking car>>
Agreed. In fact my father replaced an 1800 with one.
However, it was the only car I've personally known that developed a rust hole on the roof...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Agreed. In fact my father replaced an 1800 with one. However it was the only car I've personally known that developed a rust hole on the roof...:-) Was that a factory fitted sunroof ??
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>>Was that a factory fitted sunroof ??>>
No, a normal roof panel.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Now aint that funny I thought the princess (Mk1) was and still is a fabulous looking car.
I think it was the plastic grille, rubber bumpers and (yuck of all yucks) vinyl roof rather than the shape. That and the fact this particular example was in a very fetching shade of orange!
XJH572T. The odds are tiny, but I wonder if it's still about...
Cheers
DP
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This looks like a typical piece churned out by some teenager on work experience with aol who was told to think up a feature and has never actually seen or used any of the cars that are slagged off, but once heard their dad say some model or other wasn't very good.
How any car that sold in hundreds of thousands can be called a flop defeats me.
Not worthy of debate.
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We also had an Allegro for a short time which my dad still describes as the most awful car he has ever owned. Despite a genuine 35 000 miles it burned or dumped on the road (in equal measure) about a litre of oil ever 500 miles. Gutless noisy and unreliable - complete and utter carp.
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I had an 1100 Alegro from nearly new. It was quite reliable but was noisey and did absolutely drink engine oil. We never knew where the oil went, as the engine was always smoke free and we could nvere see any leaks. But nevertheless it did use about 1/2 litre can every 300 miles or so.
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The Allegro was a truly hideous thing. In some kind of misguided loyalty, my Grandmother used to buy from the pitiful BL stable. Minis and Allagros generally featured in her garage. When she gave up driving, she offered me her old Allagro. Thanks, but no thanks.
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I had an Allegro 1500 Estate for a while and it was not that bad a car, and in estate form it was not too bad looking if you ignored the gaping wheelarches. It served me well as a runabout and was surprisingly un-rusty when I sold it.
People mock the Allegro but forget that contemporary offerengs from the likes of Renault (14), Fiat (Strada) to name just two manufacturers, were little better either in quality, looks or performance.
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I just wonder, should we be including the VW Phaeton? I don't exactly own one. I think the running costs of Phaeton are a little bit higher than my Seat Toledo TDiSE !!!!
The Phaeton is an absolutely superb car. A great many bits come straight from Bentley. The main reason people don't buy such an expensive car is because it has a VW badge and the depreciation is bad.I dearly wish people would realise the true quality of the product. One man sent in a Youtube and said that he had driven many top cars ( the best known ones). He said the Phaeton was far the nicest to drive. Remamber VW also own Lambourgini, the Bugatti Veyron etc etc. One can only say that in this correct world we try to live in ( genuine serious global warming), there can't be room for cars like that. What a shame!
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