1997 Ford Ranger Had a Horrible Transmission
Ford is well known both in the United States and across the globe as being a great vehicle company. The manufacturer produces some of the best cars in the entry-level market and is the maker of the most popular and longest-lasting muscle car of all time, the Ford Mustang. That’s why when Ford came out with the 1997 Ranger pickup truck, expectations were high as usual. Unfortunately, the company put one of the worst transmissions of any pickup truck in history inside it.
The car had some relatively good specs, which made it even sadder that the main reason that it became such a hated vehicle was its crappy transmission. A few examples of the 1997 Ranger’s horrible transmission include upshifting failure, loss of gears, gear slipping, loss of reverse gear, solenoid failure, and a delayed gear shift response. Even Mercedes tried its luck in the pickup truck market but failed miserably with the now-forgotten X-Class, up next.
The Dude Was An Enigma
Another one of Dodge's weird explorations of the most insane ideas for pickup trucks was their 1969 Dodge Dude. This truck was basically a modified Dodge D100 with a few special stickers put on it. The Dude only survived for one year before being canceled after the executives at Dodge realized that they weren't selling these pickup trucks to college students.
Unfortunately for humanity, someone at the company had the bright idea of relaunching the Dude in 2004 with a few extra features. The 2004 Dodge Dude had a cat-back dual exhaust, lowered suspension, and composite hood inspired by the Viper-powered Dodge Ram SRT10. This doesn't mean in any way, shape, or form that we condone buying this machine because we believe that no car with the model name of "Dude" should ever make it past the concept stage.
The Chevrolet Colorado Suffers From a Small Flatbed and Low Reliability
When Chevrolet released Colorado, its goal was to create a great competitor in the compact pickup trucks market. The model was extremely close to doing that but failed to hit the target due to two major problems. First, although it was built as a compact pickup, the flatbed was way too small for most consumers, making it easy to skip on it despite the truck’s advantages.
The next problem with Colorado stems from its low reliability due to having a faulty climate system, suspension, and fuel system. It’s not necessarily a bad purchase, but there are a lot better alternatives if you’re in the market for a compact pickup truck. Vehicles such as the Ford Ranger, which has this one beat by a margin. Still, if you’re really interested in Colorado, you should check out the 2019 version, which is looking to be a lot better than previous models.
The 2002 Lincoln Blackwood Was Tiny
Lincoln is well known for producing some of the most luxurious high-end town cars currently on the market. It's one of the last few remaining companies that have managed to keep their old-school charm and traditional look while updating themselves with the latest in advancements in-car tech. Unfortunately, when Lincoln attempted to stride their way into the pickup truck market in 2002, the results were much worse than expected and led to the creation of one of the most unusable pickup trucks in the world.
In a great example of why companies should stick to their strengths rather than trying to focus on their weaknesses, Lincoln’s 2002 Blackwood pickup truck lacked many key things that a great pickup needs to have — It had a small interior, a tiny bed, and it lacked durability. All of these made the car extremely unattractive and resulted in Lincoln giving up on their quest to create the next great pickup truck almost immediately.
The 1976 Cadillac Mirage Was Real
Cadillac’s weird attempt at creating a pickup truck was one of the company’s most disastrous creations. The automaker is usually known for making some of the most luxurious and high-quality American vehicles you can find on the market. This is why the 1976 Mirage just looks like a bad joke. This car was a hybrid between a coupe and a pickup truck, which basically removed the backseat of the car and slapped a long flatbed on instead. It was extremely expensive at the time and had very little functionality both as a truck and as a vehicle.
The Mirage was extremely unpopular with consumers, and Cadillac reportedly only sold a few hundred vehicles of its kind. We assume that most of the purchases had nothing to do with towing or off-road driving but were mostly constituted of gangsters who needed an extremely convenient car to dump bodies in. We’re joking, of course, because this car would make you stick out like a sore thumb. Cadillac was quick to notice that nobody was interested in this trashy car and quickly disposed of it from its lineup. The Mirage was gone, almost as if it was just an illusion.