Built in East Germany not long after the Second World War during a time of severe food and material shortages, this German car is definitely not what most people mean when they refer to “Quality German Made Cars”. It was built out of duroplast – a cheap plastic that wasn’t durable or efficient. It had no RPM gauge, no indicator for headlights or turn signals, no fuel gauge, no rear seat belts, no external fuel door, and was jokingly referred to as “a spark plug with a roof”.
In addition to looking like something out of the Mr. Bean show, apparently, the Trabant P50 was so poorly built, that the side doors would literally start coming apart at highway speeds (which would never happen, since it only had a measly 18 horsepower to boot). It took the Trabant 21 seconds to accelerate from 0 to its top speed of roughly 100 kilometers per hour, all the while producing a lot of smoke and air pollution (9 times more than the average car). We won’t bore you with more of these gruesome (albeit hilarious) details, but it’s fair to say that this car should never have ever been made.
1958 Zundapp Janus
While Germans are mostly known today for producing some of the highest quality vehicles on the market, the '50s were not a very good time to be a German car manufacturer. Just like the Trabant P50, the Zundapp Janus was another cool idea that ended up not translating very well in practice. With entryways in both its rear and front sides, the car was too uncomfortable and weird for most consumers.
If the weird look and boxy setup wasn’t enough to push all customers away, the car also had a very measly top speed of just 50 miles per hour. Perhaps the German maker wanted to make sure that you’ll have as much time to look at a passing Janus as needed to decide that you want one too. The company spent some serious money to market the car, but ultimately failed in its efforts and the car was long forgotten. The Janus was briefly revived in 2011 when it was sported by Professor Zündapp, one of the antagonists in the animated Pixar feature film Cars 2.
2002 PT Cruiser Convertible
Widely considered one of the best worst cars of all time, the Chrysler PT Cruiser, otherwise known as the 'PT Loser', is a car for people that don't care when you stare at them and ask "how can anyone drive this ugly hunk of metal?" Originally intended for younger crowds, due to its low price, the PT actually caught the attention of older crowds, who must have seen it as a great opportunity to show the world what a great personality they had.
If you don't mind being embarrassed every time you leave the house to drive somewhere, you'd find that the Cruiser actually had fairly good fuel consumption, of around 18-24 mpg. Just make sure to never go on a date driving one of those, unless it happens to be a date with one of those old folks we mentioned earlier, they'd actually appreciate the vintage look, we suppose.
2002 Lexus SC 430
While Lexus is usually known for making top-quality cars, we had to put this car on our list, and we're not happy about it. The SC 430 was featured in the top car DVD, as The Worst Car in the History of the World, in which Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May both agreed that the Lexus SC 430 was indeed the 'worst car in the history of the world'. The car is considered to be half as strong as you'd expect it to be, and extremely heavy to boot. This is probably a car you should avoid buying unless you're into antiques and have extravagant amounts of money burning a hole in your pocket.
The only reason someone might consider buying the Lexus SC 430 doesn’t actually have anything to do with its looks or performance. This car just so happens to be the last produced car that still has a cassette player built into the dashboard. See? We told you it belongs in an antique dealership!
1973 Reliant Robin
Robin was a small three-wheeled car produced by the Reliant Motor Company in Tamworth, England. Though it might save you a bit of money when changing tires, the main downside of it was having only one tire in the front. This made the Reliant Robin, ironically, a very unreliable car. In actuality, it made it very likely that you’d get tossed around the inside of the car whenever making any sharp turn above 20 miles per hour.
The car starred in the famous car show "Top Gear" where Jeremy Clarkson appeared to flip it every time he turned the car. Even though it was later revealed that the car was doctored for the purpose of increased rolling. Clarkson later summarized the car perfectly when he said: "Owning a Reliant Robin is like having a family pet. Yes, it's a nuisance sometimes, and, yes, it can be stubborn and unreliable, but it scampers when you go out together, and if you play with its differential, it will even roll over so you can tickle its tummy."