Suffering from the same problem as the Mustang II, the Ford Pinto, in addition to having a terrible name, was mired in controversy after its particular fuel-tank design damaged the car’s safety reputation. Apparently, there were some very nasty results when the car got rear-ended at a high enough velocity.
The Pinto sales were literally on fire, what with many cases reported of deadly fires starting in relation to the fuel tank rupturing during rear-end collisions. The car put into question Ford’s reputation and ethics, since placing your customers inside a flaming piece of metal wasn’t what most consumers considered, “great customer service”. In 2004, Forbes included the Pinto among its fourteen Worst Cars of All Time.
Acura RLX
At a starting price of almost $55,000, you'd expect the Acura RLX to be a marvel of a car. Regrettably, besides having a comfortable, quiet, and spacious interior, plus some high-tech safety features, the Acura RLX really doesn't stand on its own with its high price. The sedan suffers from an outdated infotainment system, outdated-looking design, subpar ride quality, and handling. The vehicle was also criticized for having a relatively unimpressive fuel efficiency for a hybrid, which combined with its high entry price makes it less than a frugal option.
The industry publication writes that “We like driving the RLX, but the lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto still stings.” It seems that this year the bells didn’t ring for the Acura RLX. If you’re into hybrid cars it would probably be best to go for alternatives such as the Hyundai Ioniq or the Toyota Prius.
1997 EV-1
Being green and environmentally conscious is all the rage today, but back in 1997, the EV-1 was one of the first electric cars ever put in mass production. With one weird exterior design, two doors, and zero emissions, the car had the potential to revolutionize the market the way Tesla is doing today, but unfortunately, it was a little too early since the technology and demand weren’t really there at the time. Another reason that contributed to the failure of the car was its short 100-mile range for battery recharge, and many people drove more than 100 miles every day.
Despite its short life and limited availability, the EV1 was revolutionary in many ways and taught General Motors and the rest of the industry valuable lessons that would end up paving the way for today’s electric cars. The discontinuation of the EV1 is still a controversial topic among environmentalists, electric car supporters, and even EV1 owners that claim General Motors had a personal interest in taking the car off the market to stop possible losses in spare parts sales. People also believed GM falsely claimed that the oil industry was the main culprit since it wanted to keep electric cars off the streets.
1997 Plymouth Prowler
It’s unclear exactly what market the Plymouth Prowler tried to attend to when it was launched in the late '90s. If there was ever a way to look stuck-up in front of your friends, it would be by coming to pick them up in this peculiar beast of a model. The Prowler was offered in a single generation, front-engine, rear-drive, rear-transmission configuration — with an overall production of just over 10,000 models.
In addition to the beast’s exposed and threatening look, it actually had a fairly good engine inside that scary hood. The red devil would accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in just over 7 seconds and was actually built with daily reckless drivers in mind. The Prowler included features such as keyless entry, power windows and other tricks that you probably would have enjoyed showing your friends in the late '90s.
1955 Dodge La Femme
If you were a woman in the 1950s, we would find it hard to believe that your biggest complaint regarding the state of society at that point was, “Why aren’t these locomotives more feminine looking?” Well, apparently, at the time Dodge believed that this was exactly what 50's-era women were looking for. Therefore, they built a car specifically for them. The Dodge La Femme (which only comes in white and pink, by the way), is a female-oriented car meant to help women express themselves by driving in their all-glam car.
The car was essentially a Dodge Royal Lancer but built with "women's needs" in mind. The original Lancer didn’t do too well, so copying it in a new design did seem like a very odd thing to do. Eventually, the car didn’t end up penetrating the market as much as Dodge hoped it would. Not even pink seats could have saved this bust from occurring. La Femme was quickly discarded after just 2 years in production, and we can’t say we've heard our moms and grandmas complain about it much.