Media post: Cars that didn’t need to be built
Ford Pinto
Every company makes mistakes but, with a little luck, they are small ones that no one really notices. The problem with making mistakes in the car business is that when it happens, the results are put on display for the whole world to see. In this article, we worked with ADA Dodge of Ada, a local Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram dealer in Ada, OK, and compiled a collection of several high-profile “mistake cars.” Although these cars may have seemed right at the time, the motoring public felt otherwise and was plenty vocal about it.
AMC Pacer
In the mid-1970s, tiny Wisconsin-based American Motors designed an innovative car called the Pacer. It was advanced for the time and had many features that others didn’t, things like rack-and-pinion steering, an elongated passenger door (for rear seat access) and an integrated roll bar. One particularly interesting feature was its external design which looked like a odd fishbowl (Google it to see a picture). It’s hard to believe that AMC made the pacer for 5 years because people didn’t like it and sales were terrible.
Ford Pinto
The Pinto was supposed to be Ford’s economy car of the ’70s. Ford made them from 1971 until 1980 and the car nearly destroyed the company. Anyone who was alive in the 1970s probably knows the story but for those who weren’t, here’s what happened. According to industry insiders, to save $11 in the manufacturing costs of every Pinto, Ford decided to place the Pinto’s gas tank in a place where it could be punctured easily when involved in rear end accidents. The result was that over 900 people died in fiery crashes because of this defect. In 1978, Ford finally recalled over 1.5 million of their Pintos and fixed them, but it was too late by then. The car had a reputation as a fire trap.
Cadillac Cimarron
During the ’80s, Mercedes-Benz was making huge inroads in the American market. The executives at General Motors didn’t understand why and responded with a “Mercedes-killer”: The Cimarron. The problem was that the public saw through it quickly. The Cimarron was essentially front-wheel drive Chevy Cavalier with fancy styling and a nice leather interior. Not helping was the fact that Cimarron sold for over 2.5 times what the Chevy sold for. By 1988, it had disappeared in a cloud of ignominy.
Ford Edsel
No list of automotive blunders would be complete without a mention of the Ford Edsel. Meant to occupy a niche just below their top-shelf Lincoln line, the Edsel was a 100% ground-up new car. The problem was that despite all the experts and researchers they hired to design the Edsel, no one actually polled the general public. When the Edsel started shipping, the car was rejected quickly because of its overall garish styling. Today the Edsel is a basic case study of how not to launch a new brand.
Plymouth Prowler
Around the mid-nineties, the folks at Plymouth needed to inject a little pizazz back into the stale Plymouth brand. The way they attempted this was by making a factory-rendition of a custom convertible coupe hotrod. The styling was interesting. It had open wheel design, wedge-shaped fuselage and wild colors. One of the problems with the Prowler was that the car was powered by Chrysler’s 3.5-liter V6 with all of 250 horsepower. This turned off a majority of potential buyers who naturally expected the car to have a potent V8. Another problem was that this wasn’t good for carrying passengers (2-seater) or carrying gear (tiny trunk). Basically, it wasn’t a very useful car. Plymouth built the Prowler for just three years.
