A car that makes you cry "Uncle!"

My 1979 Trans Am.

I've had it since 2002. It's a 403 Olds/TH350 WS6 car, or at least it was. It was previously owned by a dirt bag that shouldn't have been allowed to lift a wrench. Everything he touched on the car had to be re-done or replaced. Not only that, but I think this damn car is cursed. The original engine spun a rod bearing about a year into owning it. I had to replace the crank and do a mild rebuild, but it would leak oil out from where the head met the block on the passenger side. I got fed up with that lump and gave up after spending a lot of money on it.

That motor came out and a built Pontiac 400 went in its place. It runs much better, when it's running, that is. Ever since putting that motor in there, the starter has been acting up. The Summit headers in the car now run real close to the starter and hit everything. I went and bought a Summit mini-starter, thinking that heat soak might be an issue. It doesn't fit with the headers. Let me remind you that these parts are from the same company, and for the same engine! So now it sits until I can afford a set of Ram Air Restorations cast iron manifolds, or headers that actually fit.

And I didn't even get into the 4-wheel disc brakes never working right, the wiper motor fiasco (went through 6 reman wiper motors before getting a working one) or it catching fire and almost killing me while I was driving it. I can go on and on.

And like an idiot, I still own it and want to fix it all.

1984 Bronco, 1989 Range Rover, 1990 Range Rover. Three of my worst vehicle buying decisions ever. The Bronco was beat up and hillbilly fixed enough to blind me into overpaying for it, paid $3500 and sold it after many hundreds in repairs for $1200. I was young and dumb. The Range Rovers took further advantage of my naivete by being British. I like to think I've wised up, but really I just gamble with money I can afford to lose now.

1992 Nissan 240SX coupe. My first car. It was the definition of a rust-bucket and basket-case (I've mentioned all of the problems it had many times here before). It held together for a year before I finally overheated the engine to meltdown levels. I had no mechanical skills, money, or time to fix it and the body wasn't worth salvaging anyways, so off to the scrapyard it went.

1995 Saab 900S. Second car and my first manual. Boring, practical, PITA to shift. I spun it into a barrier on a curved overpass during a very slushy day, but it still ran. I had a radiator and new headlight installed and drive it for 3 months with the left front sheared off until I got my next car.

1998 Subaru Impreza L coupe. Third car. Was mechanically alright when I first got it, and had little rust on the body itself but the suspension was rotten, which killed my dreams of making an STi clone out of it. It was star-crossed: I got followed EVERYWHERE by the police and was even once patted down and searched over a bad inspection sticker! The exhaust eventually had two rust holes in it, it leaked oil, and it was vandalized twice, leading to damage to the front and rear windshields, spoiler, center brake light, and dashboard. I was so sick of it, it sat for four months after the pat-down while I thrashed my RX-7 back together and DD'ed that. I traded the Subaru towards my Mazdaspeed3 five months after I parked it. The MS3 has over twice the HP as the Subaru and yet it doesn't get a second glance- go figure.

My rallycar is doing its darndest to get on this list. Do final assy, after a huge job (engine rebuild, gearbox/shafts/rear end conversion), fire it up, and see it peeing motor oil into the bellhousing. Now it all has to come back out, so we can replace the rear main that undoubtedly got damaged somehow during assembly. Right now I wanna nuke it form orbit.

For me, it was my 95 E36 325is. What a POS...

The next worse was my 84 VW Scirocco in college. Another wonderful piece of German engineering...

For me... it's been my E30... every task I've had to do on this car has fought me every step of the way... I simply dread working on it... whereas I find a VW Mk IV or one of our MINI's rather easy to work on...

Other than Rot.. which caused me to move mechanicals from one body to another.. the only car that "won" was my poor old 94 Saab 900SE Turbo.

Car looked to be in decent shape when I picked it up. It had a small dent in the passenger rear, headliner was starting to fall, radio was inop without the code, the Aircon didn't work, and the trans had no reverse

Stripped her down for a repaint that I screwed up. While Doing that, I replaced the trans and clutch. While the car was in there, the Driver's side rear brake (that worked before) Siezed.

Drove her for the winter and took her off the road again to attempt to repaint again. During this time the starter died, the alternator siezed and shredded the belts, the Automatic Climate control got stuck on Hot as Hell, and it came with with a massive short that I could not trace.

It's still in my garage, about to give up it's interior and engine/trans to help my classic 900 (trans being sold, head and T5 injection going into the Classic)

Sidebar...

Who needs to get rid of one RIGHT NOW?

I have befriended a "worst decision ever" car that I am trying to help get it on the road. I either need to replace the automatic transmission with one that is apparently impossible to find good and cheap (with zero down and zero monthly payments, the girl ain't got no money) or find a suitable drivetrain swap car. I am, however, happy I didn't buy the car.

aussiesmg wrote:

And yet, I love your Range Rover more than reason or yellowness alone can explain. Probably because it's yours and not mine.

The two major ones for me were an 87 Scirocco 16V and 81 VW caddy.