This topic originally came from another car forum that I'm a member of, and it was a lot of fun and got some very interesting responses, so I thought I'd start it here also.

What is the strangest and/or worst car you've ever owned/driven/ridden in? It doesn't matter the make or model since this is the off topic lounge, so it can be anything from anywhere. The more bizarre the car and interesting the story behind it, the better! (Someone on the other forum actually had a car with cookie sheets pop rivetted to the floor of their car because the original floor was rotted through. Serious!)

So, I'll start off with mine:

1989 Dodge Daytona that belongs to a close friend of mine, but it is definately the most interesting car that I've ever experienced thus far. My friend likes to say that it's held together with duct tape and sheer good luck, which after riding it in several times, I believe him. It has a manual trans, and in order to put the car in reverse, the driver has to unscrew the shifter knob and hold the gear shift with pliers to shift it, but only for reverse, the rest of the gears you can shift normally with the knob in it's proper place. Very bizarre sight the first time someone goes somewhere with him and they see him take off the knob and pick up the pair of pliers that live on the center console. Yeah, we've amused several of our friends with that by surprising them when we take the Daytona somewhere.

Good Topic!

My first "Strange Car" was a 1961 Chevy Bellaire. My friend and I removed the 2spd auto, and put in a 3 spd std. The shift pattern was backwards. (Reverse on the left and first on the right.) You should have seen people try and drive it.

Another strange one, but a nice car was a 1974 Renault Fuego..Nuff said there.

I've had a 1965 Catalina 4 dr "Hardtop"

And the 1974 Caddy Fleetwood Hearse

I also had a 74 Maverick that you could see through the trunk. From one fenderwell through the other.

But, the absolute strangest was the 1965 Mercury Montclair. With the back window angled the wrong way. And it was electric, and my friends would sit outside on the trunk lid.

Good Times!!

Good thread!

Mine would have to be my first car, the 1979 Jeep Cherokee. Had the 258 straight 6 that got better gas milage than oil milage. Had the AMC rendition of the Torquflite and a big ol cast iron transfer case. It had Quadra Track, that was operated from the glove box. It used vaccum operated axle lockers and it would go anywhere, provided you had enough oil... (Really, it was about 15 miles to a quart of oil) I knew it was time to start adding oil when the oil pressure gauge would start to drop...

Anyway, If you opened the drivers rear door, the whole side of the body would flex in and out. When I first bought it, the second time I drove it in fact, the drivers seat belt coil fell through the floor. What a feeling that was! Then the starter drive went out, and on my parents wedding day, my step dad and I put a starter in that Jeep... Mom hasnt let him live that one down yet...

It definately had issues. The starter wasnt lined up right, and it really goofed up the ring gear. So in the morning, you had to "wind it up" you would crank, hit a dead spot, then turn the fan to move the crank (it didnt have much compression...) and then crank again, repeating until it started. Couldnt shut it off to get gas or a drink or anything, for fear it might not start. I acutally got 'banned' from filling up at one station, because the thing smoked so much when it was idling! Mosquitoes werent a problem at my house when I had that...

Then there were the other issues. The gas tank had crud in it, but we were afraid to drop the tank for fear it was holding the frame together. So I carried around a spare fuel pump, as well as 3 spare fuel filters. It had the Ford starter and remote soleniod on it, and the thing liked to throw solenoids, so I had a spare one of those too. Top that off with a case of oil and tranny fluid, and some assorted tools, and the back was full. Sometimes it would break in the school parking lot in the morning, so I would go out on my lunch break and fix it... actually almost got suspended for not having a pass to be out there... I wouldnt go in til I was done, boy was the principal pissed off.

One time, in the winter, I was plowed in one day, so I decided to use the lockers to get out... bad idea. They got stuck, so the tires all barked going around the corners... much fun though.

Finally we decided that we were going to get the thing fixed up so it would last through high school. We pulled the engine, replaced the rings, new bearings oil pump, etc... shade tree rebuild. Then we replaced the ring gear, and got the trans leak fixed. We spent alot of time on it. When it all went back together, we didnt have the torque converter on right and it was leaking, so we had to pull the trans again. We ended up pulling that trans 3 times that night only do discover the converter would 'click' down because of a dent in the tip where the input shaft sits. At least thats what we thought. Personally I think it was the input seal, but my dad and I finally got it to quit leaking. We also fixed the lockers so they released, and did a general tune up. For a shadetree rebuild, it really ran great.

The demise of the Jeep was glorious. The rings didnt last long, and it was decided that I needed a new vehicle. So I decided that it needed to go out in style. My high school was on a hill, and you had to drive up a big hill to get to it. I locked the lockers, put er in low gear, and did a 4wd burnout until the tranny gave. That Jeep roasted all 4 baloneys pretty dang well.

It was a bittersweet ending... I really cut my mechanical teeth on this car. One of the first thing it needed was a water pump. My dad handed me a box, and in it was a service manual, the parts, and some tools. He told me that I needed to learn how to maintain my stuff, as its a valuable skill and one I need to learn to make it in life. I found my true passion becuase of this Jeep, and that I will never forget.

Dang, thats a book!

Last year I had a 1992 Pontiac Bonneville SE the odometer died at 156k so Im not sure how many miles were on it. It dials on the dash for the heat and a/c were replaced with old over nobs so for "High" the fan was set at bake or something like that lmao. The turn signals didnt work, the trunk had a hole that was 3 feet by 9 inches on the wheel well. The power windows would get stuck down in the rain, and the sterring column was messed up so the wheel was turned 1/4 turn to go straight. The front sub frame (engine and all) fell out of the car one day while leaving the autozone on Rt 1. I put it in reverse and draged the engine/etc under the car as it backed up (i was about 3 feet out of the ext and the sterring column was busted in 1/2 when the engine fell out so all i could really do was go straight back into the parking lot). Thank god for AAA. It was only a $200 car so I didnt care and i replaced it with my LeSabre which I love.

1986 plymouth horizon.

Not so much a weird car, but a stupid car. It had a 2.2L 4banger, 5 speed standard. Fun to rat bag, but it rode like crap, smelled like crap, and even looked like crap. But, it ran good.

The worst thing about that car was the fact that it was SO narrow, that even I had to hold my arms tight against my sides while driving. No room to even rest my elbow. Good gas milage though. Ten bux of gas was all I ever put in that car. It drove me to work and home again for 2 weeks while the olds was in repair. Then I wanted to cut the roof off of it (some of you may recall) but never ended up doing so. Sold it for and amazing $800. Made money on it too

The worst car I ever owned was a 1979 Toyota Corolla I bought for $200 off this guy who was about to go to the Army. Everything about that car SUCKED--the clutch stuck ( I think I tore my rotator cuff trying to move the stick shift!!) The floor board was damp, the trunk rusty, but the two worst things about it was how the windshield wipers never seemed to work when it rained and the driver front had the extremely annoying habit of popping open. I almost ripped the door off backing my car into the driveway of my parents' house when the damn door opened and caught hold of a shrub. The junk man bought if off me a couple of days later for $25. The only thing I can say nice about it was it ran pretty good and it was good on gas.

Tied with the Corolla was probably my first Oldsmobile--a '85 Ciera I got from my dad. It was strictly a get-me-to-work-and-back car like it was for him, but my dad failed to tell me was that the steering was so bad you'd had to enter a World's Strongest Man contest to turn the thing--especially to the left; and that the transmission didn't like to stay in gear when she was cold--you had to let that car warm up for 10 minutes before you were good to go. But like the Corolla, it ran good, even though I never changed any fluids.

LOL my girlfriend knew someone who drove a car where the power steering was shot. He always said that he never had to work out, he got a workout just turning corners in that car.

I haven't really owned any strange cars unfortunately.....or fortunately?

My dad had this old blue van that was about as weird as you could get....
He was assistant principal at the time, at my old middle school.
It was a Ford Econoline 150, and only remnants of it were blue....most was rust or see through...if you get my drift

The only good part was the 351 Windsor, could always hear that thing coming. That was his daily driver at the time, and that reminds me of how gas prices used to be under or at a dollar...


Everything was rusted on that, some parts of the floor...you didn't wanna step on...cause you might fall through... Just two bucket seats up front, extra passengers....sit on the bare metal floor in back.... (Which did happen because he was also the athletic director/coach of mostly all the sports).

Good times.


TOC Admin
Brando

Worst car I ever owned: Pontiac Tempest aka Chevrolet Corsica 88
with 2.8L 6 cil. automatic. Bought it with 134.000 Km

Engine was stalling while waiting on red light - Replaced Mass Air Flow sensor.
All left turn signals stoped working from relay.
Automatic transmissions will stuck in 3rd gear. Which would cause
engine to stall in slow traffic. Turque converter lock up problem.
Had to figure out which wire comes from turque converter solenoid
and permanently to cut it off.
Replaced alternator (bearing inside the alternator broke)
Gas line leaked.
Gas tank rusted out and started to leak.
Replaced mufler twice.
The car was magor pain in the ... nec.
Sold it for $100 Canadian

my very very first car.........a 89 Chevy cavalier......with a black and white TV sitting right after the shifter, It was fun watching the soaps coming home from school...lol what POS it broke down and i left it somewhere with the title, I just gave it to this guy i used to ride the bus with when i didnt have a car. told him it just needs a alternator, have fun. It felt good doing that though, because i later bought a 98 Jeep grnad Cherokee 5.9

My buddy had a 1989 chrysler dynasty. the paint was peeling off really bad and it looked horrible. We were taking a corner one day going back to school after lunch and the passenger door just swings wide open. So funny but kind of scary.

The weirdest truck I've ever driven (NOT OWNED), was my friends 1953 Dodge Power Wagon.

Straight 6 cylinder, but this thing has torque!!!
We backed it down a ~55 degree grade, and it idled it's way back up.
Top speed is about 45 mph, as such it now reads "Old, slow, and in the way" on back of the tailgate.
Vacuum assisted brakes can stop it so hard it'll do rear end wheelies.

This isn't his, his is in much better condition, but it's very similar.

I work at a busy tire shop, i drive some of the weirdest cars you could think of. I had an immitation Mystery Machine come in one day for a flat repair, and there was also a subaru legacy wagon with the top cut off like a Brat. lol the things people will drive...

Driven that exact firetruck a couple miles. Strangest clutch in the world and shifts a mile long.

PS: You'll notice that location is familiar. It's where we worked on my Delta. Also that's my dad pictured.

1996 Jetta