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Ten Biggest Automotive Turkeys Of All Time [w/PICS]

jalopnik.com — A turkey is a special kind of car which, though no lemon, is out-of-date the second it rolls off the lot. Like the bird that gives it its name, it is an inferior creature that lacks an appeal to any superior automotive taste. Here is our list of the ten greatest automotive turkeys, something to give thanks for — especially if you don't own one.

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 26, 2008

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  • Malik112099, on 11/26/2008, -0/+15What, no Pontiac Aztek?
  • mrmod, on 11/26/2008, -1/+8ahh jag, the world's everlasting piece of crap
  • RabbiMarsChen, on 11/26/2008, -2/+9Should be retitled 10 Most Excruciating Holiday Meal Analogies of All Time.
  • rwert, on 11/25/2008, -1/+8It's sad these days that the American automakers can't make turkeys on wheels anymore.
  • ATL, on 06/20/2009, -0/+6Dugg for the 240Z recognition
  • StuartGibson, on 06/14/2009, -1/+6So, not only could you not bothered to read the article, you couldn't even look at the thumbnail?
  • knowitman, on 11/26/2008, -0/+5They are tough to find because fewer then the normal amount of people bought them. That's a turkey.
  • TimDigg, on 11/26/2008, -0/+5X-Type is such garbage, I wouldn't be suprised if it they made taxi cabs out of them...


    Also add my car to the list the 01-03 mitsubishi galant...***** garbage...
  • inactive, on 11/26/2008, -0/+4After the thumbnail picture I was actually shocked that at 10 moments in history people had put wheels on turkeys.
  • truthteller426, on 11/26/2008, -0/+4They left out the Cadillac Cimarron. It was a Chevy Cavalier with a Cadillac emblem. What a piece of crap!
  • Dynamoo, on 11/26/2008, -0/+4Dugg for the Becherovka. Mmmmm. Unless you're not me, when your reaction is.. yukk.

    What about the Renault Avantime: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Avantime. A nice car in my opinion, just a little too radical for the market to cope with. I like it a lot. But then I also like Becherovka.
  • inactive, on 11/26/2008, -0/+3Aztec
  • hardigree, on 11/25/2008, -0/+3I would stay away from the X-type Jag and probably fall out of the BMW, though I'd live to fry up that turkey.
  • Alias1431, on 11/26/2008, -0/+3Where's, "The Homer?"
  • khanable, on 11/26/2008, -1/+4I for one, love my 'turkey' of a Crossfire..

    Brand new for $20k. I can't complain.
  • inactive, on 11/26/2008, -0/+2So, so many more that could be added to that list, but a great start!
  • rupric, on 11/26/2008, -3/+5How was the Pontiac Aztec over looked? That has got to be the uglies car ever made.
  • borez, on 11/26/2008, -1/+3What is up with that hideous Volvo? Surely whoever designed it could see it was just wrong.
  • Tanner, on 11/27/2008, -0/+2The SSR is a truly offensive design.
  • StuartGibson, on 06/14/2009, -0/+2To be fair to the Z1, the guy in the picture is driving with the door open.
  • scabbers, on 11/26/2008, -0/+2None of those cars are notorious for immolating their occupants, cough Ford cough, so let's keep things in perspective.
  • SteelFrog, on 11/26/2008, -0/+2I re-did the paint and body on a 240Z a few years ago; it was a thing of beauty. No one wanted it to leave the shop. It just looked so awesome.
  • inactive, on 11/26/2008, -1/+3No PT Cruiser? The turkey in the picture even has the same rims.
  • truthteller426, on 11/26/2008, -0/+2Taxi drivers have higher standards than that.
  • emkaysmith, on 11/26/2008, -0/+2That was my thought, Bleue. Most of these cars are pretty recent vintage, which suggests the writers of the article are pretty young. My first car, bought in high school in 1959 with summer job earnings, was a 1950 Ford coupe. Wish I still had it.

    The Edsel, as secrity says, wasn't a bad car at all. In high school, my best friend's father owned one, and loved it. The problem was one of marketing: Trying to cram too many innovative features all into one new model, which scared off buyers.

    They make a useful distinction between "lemon" and "turkey," though. The Yugo was practically the dictionary definition of a lemon. The Gremlin wasn't far behind. Both were simply crummy cars, from the road up -- bad concept, bad design, bad engineering, inadequate materials.

    Finally, I don't think it's fair to criticize the late-'70s Datsun for looking like it was designed in the late '70s. I mean, how many of the designers owned leisure suits and wide-lapel disco shirts? (I think I still have a Nehru jacket packed away somewhere. . . .) You can't criticize taste in hindsight.
  • jbmcb, on 11/26/2008, -0/+2This list needs the Aston Martin Lagonda. An utter failure on every front.
  • LJU1492, on 11/26/2008, -2/+3I thought the crossfire was pretty cool :(
  • secrity, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1The Ford Edsel wasn't a bad car; other than having unusual styling, it was the same as any other late 1950's Ford. The Corvair had a few problems related to it being air-cooled, but it was not a bad car.

  • ButtSmudge, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1Imagine if they gave the Honda Insight an extract row, it would of been one of Honda's best selling cars, with the gas price in the last year. Especially when the Civic and now the Fit selling like hotcakes, there was a huge market for compact, fuel efficient cars.
  • thegreatgazoo, on 11/26/2008, -1/+2I drive a Honda Insight. It is 8 years old with 115,000 miles on it, and it still drives like new with all of the original suspension parts in it. It's kind of eccentric with a combination of S2000 handling and ride with a CRX (non SI) accelleration and drive train. The batteries have been replaced for free by Honda because of a computer glitch in the early models.

    It's biggest problem is it came out when gas was 89 cents/gallon. The second biggest problem was trying to sell an all aluminum, hand built car for only $20,000. They probably should have made it look more like the NSX and less like the CRX.

    The biggest headache with it is that the ODB2 system wasn't designed for hybrids, so it sometimes spits out wacky random codes that I have to clear. But that takes about 5 minutes to do.
  • Garmr, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1The 780 Bertone was undoubtedly a far better product. Too bad it was expensive as hell... http://www.volvoadventures.com/780spec.html
  • TheMidnight, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1The X-type reminded me of crappy Hyundais from the early 2000s, holy crap it was ugly. That should have been #1. Either that or a Ford Pinto.
  • Bleue, on 11/26/2008, -2/+3Ford Edsel, Ford Pinto, Gremlin, Pacer, Crosley Hotshot, Fiat Multipla, Trabant, Renault Dauphine, the Yugo, the Janus, Chevrolet Corvair, pontiac Aztec...

    Is no thought given to these lists at all anymore?
  • rowlodge, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1ill drive those turkeys.
  • SadMartigan, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1Skoda Octavia is a very common taxi, based on the same platform.
  • Jektal, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1"You hang out in the deli section of the supermarket long enough, you start to get pissed off at turkeys. There's turkey salami, turkey ham, turkey chicken. Someone needs to tell the turkeys, just be yourself! I already like you little guy..."

    - Mitch (paraphrased, poorly)
  • orangetiki, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1yeah once I saw that Jaguar had a badge toting a 3.0 engine, I knew something was up. Then I saw they were owned by Ford ( at the time ) I died a little. At my first job the neighbor had a old, cool jag with a v10. Those were Jags
  • saikyan, on 11/26/2008, -1/+2Mostly good selections, particularly the Jaguar, Crossfire and TC. I'm not sure if these are the biggest turkeys of "all time" but they are pretty bad.
    I disagree with the Insight though. Flawed, perhaps, but still too desirable to be considered a turkey
  • jbmcb, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1@secrity: Seconded. The Corvair was a great car. It's major shortcoming was that it handled oddly in low traction because the weight distribution was in the rear instead of in front, so people weren't used to it.

    Let most people drive a RWD Porsche 911 without traction control and they'll be wrapping them around trees as well.
  • Finalreminder, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1I like the X-type. Not the best vehicle in the world but for long motorway journeys it's a nice drive.
  • inactive, on 11/26/2008, -1/+2F--- this article for referring to the turkey as an inferior creature.
  • RockNRollBeaver, on 11/26/2008, -1/+1Who else read the title and thought about actual turkeys that you could drive?
  • wem003, on 11/26/2008, -0/+0Off topic - but the tapioca filled buttery pie crust in the Ferrari 400i description sounds awesome.

    Thumbs up if you like tapioca!
  • spepin, on 11/26/2008, -3/+1Why is that Porsche there? Those are tough as hell to find. Totally not a turkey.
  • hardigree, on 11/26/2008, -3/+1hahahahahhaha, thanks.
  • SirChasm, on 11/26/2008, -5/+2The Porsche shouldn't be there.
  • staplemaniac, on 11/25/2008, -13/+7Buried for lack of actual turkeys with wheels.

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