Cartalk names Top 10 Scariest Cars
What do the 1980 Chevy Monza and the 1973 VW Microbus have in common? They are among Car Talk hosts Tom and Ray Magliozzi's Top 10 Scariest Cars list. Of the Monza they say, " Whenever one of these beauties reared its ugly grille in front of the garage, every mechanic with more than six weeks' experience would go running for the men's room and lock the door." Another car on the list, the 1987 Ford Festiva, gets this derision from the brothers: "We once got in trouble for saying this car came right from the factory with a funeral wreath on the grille."
If these cars aren't scary enough, submit your own nomination.
The whole list after the jump.
[Source: cartalk.com]
1969 Ford Mustang
Scary for: Bystanders and other drivers
1969 Pontiac Trans Am
Scary for: Bystanders and other drivers
1971 Ford Pinto
Scary for: Firefighters and plastic surgeons
1973 Volkswagen Microbus
Scary for: Drivers
1974 Volkswagen Thing
Scary for: Onlookers
1980 Chevrolet Monza
Scary for: Mechanics
1986 Suzuki Samurai
Scary for: Drivers
1987 Ford Festiva
Scary for: Drivers
2004 Hummer H1
Scary for: Society, the environment and therapists
2005 Pontiac Aztek
Scary for: Onlookers
Scary for: Bystanders and other drivers
1969 Pontiac Trans Am
Scary for: Bystanders and other drivers
1971 Ford Pinto
Scary for: Firefighters and plastic surgeons
1973 Volkswagen Microbus
Scary for: Drivers
1974 Volkswagen Thing
Scary for: Onlookers
1980 Chevrolet Monza
Scary for: Mechanics
1986 Suzuki Samurai
Scary for: Drivers
1987 Ford Festiva
Scary for: Drivers
2004 Hummer H1
Scary for: Society, the environment and therapists
2005 Pontiac Aztek
Scary for: Onlookers
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mark Skotek 7:20AM (3/29/2009)
todays article on foul smell inside the car can be caused by a gassy battery in the engine compartment. I usually detect this by feeling the battery after a drive to detect if it is hot or even warm. This usually gives off a rotten egg smell that is hard to tollerate.
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JON 8:15PM (10/30/2006)
The Hugo.Scary for;?
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retsel 8:20PM (10/30/2006)
a crown vic in any color...
the preferred car of the fuzz, the man, the pigs, 5 Ohhh .. etc...
In Baltimore there were over 100,000 arrests in 2005 in a city of just over 600,000...
trust me u don't what to know...
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Kowell 8:23PM (10/30/2006)
The Old Toyota Previa (1995+ model) looks like a giant suppository
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crazy2 8:31PM (10/30/2006)
LOL.........Kowell you are killing me......LMAO....HA-HA-HA :)
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JW 8:46PM (10/30/2006)
Any Toyota
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Moses 9:00PM (10/30/2006)
I owned a 1969 Mustang Mach I and these guys are full of crap. It was a great car, if it stood up to my teenage rawhiding and is still runing around town today and lookin' fine, it couldn't have been all that bad......and yes I drove it at 115mph and it handled just fine. These guys are off their rocker, and are clueless.
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Howard Kerr 9:17PM (10/30/2006)
I wonder what the criteria was for being deemed SCARY.
A '69 Mustang? Don't think so. My aunt had one, I drove it several times, it's just a 60s Mustang with a longer hood. A '69 Trans Am? Gee, most motorheads consider a T/A to be a collectible. Now the '80 or '81? That's a scary car. A '71 Pinto? Don't think so. Strange, but I've never seen a burned one in a junkyard, ANYWHERE. I did own a '76...a VERY reliable car, just ridiculously gas hungry. Can you say 22 miles per gallon?
Maybe instead of scary for bystanders, they should have said...UGLY.
The only truely scary car listed? A Suzuki Samurai. The Samurai has absolutely no crush zones, the wheelbase makes it VERY susceptible to flipping, and the TINY engine makes it a tempting speedbump for any other vehicle on the road.
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SHF 9:15PM (10/30/2006)
the 1969 was a great car, that's why it is scary... to OTHER drivers and bystanders. Car had alot of power. I'd personally put the 1968 Shelby GT-500 KR ahead of it because of the intimidation factor but based on looks, the 1969 was a beast not many would want to challenge.
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Matt 9:23PM (10/30/2006)
11. 2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca
Scary for: Anyone with eyes
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Jackg 9:41PM (10/30/2006)
1974 AMC Hornet
Scary for: metallurgists...my neighbor had one that started rusting the day he brought it home new from the dealer
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stirling 9:56PM (10/30/2006)
I'd say the VW thing was most scary, due to being designed by ze Germans back in teh WWII days....
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Matt M 9:57PM (10/30/2006)
The fact that these morons put a '69 Mustang and a '69 Trans-Am on the list shows what a bunch of sissy footed, unskilled drivers the pansies are. Yes the hi-po versions of various cars during the musclecar era made more power which in turn would make the car harder to keep a handle on. But at the same time you don't go out and buy something with a 428 CJ (Mustang) or a Ram Air 400 (Firebird) to get stupid with in the rain. Considering I've seen pictures of AWD GT-Rs, Scoobys and Evos wrapped around trees the same thing rings true today even with all the advancements that have been made in the automotive industry such as AWD, traction and stability control. Stupid.
Like someone said, a Crown Vic is the perfect candadite for that list for two reasons. Scary to speeders, and scary to cops due to the fact that their frame rails have a tendency to develop premature rust. It annoys me when people who know nothing about cars try to make "top xxx" lists about cars. Try again guys.
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Dick Bhagg 9:58PM (10/30/2006)
Chevy Vega. Scary for everyone.
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Vinny 10:12PM (10/30/2006)
Edsel
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leather bear 10:13PM (10/30/2006)
Rather than the 2 VW models nominated, how about a 1968-73 VW Type 3 with dealer installed air conditioning. I would have argued strongly against its purchase had I had the chance to peek into the engine compartment before my mother bought the dealer's 1970 demo. The stock version was no picnic to work on, but add air and it became an absolute nightmare to service.
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Richard Warren 10:23PM (10/30/2006)
Porsche 914 6 in wet weather, will turn around with a vengence.
356 Porsche, see above.
Early Corvair, same reason.
VW bus in a high side wind.
Any English car with Lucas electrics in the rain.
Original GTO when you have to make the first turn at speed.
But, they were all fun to drive.
The scariest, the Chevy van decked out as a sin bin in which many a yong girl lost her virtue, only to have Dad bang on the door while going at it!
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John B 10:59AM (10/31/2006)
Early Corvair on a wet road. I speak from experience, I had a '63 model.
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salguod 12:06AM (10/31/2006)
I agree, they're off their rocker with the Mustang and the T/A. Great cars.
I had a 1980 Monza, looked exactly like their picture, except brown. I'd agree, it was a lousy car. Mine suffered from a tear in the firewall when the clutch cable froze, the driver's door upper hinge pin would fall out when driving, the heater worked only when it wanted too and it caught fire. Twice. Once when at the shop. The starter would stick on, even with the key removed, and it over heated and the oil it was soaked in ignited. The last few months I owned it I had to park on a hill and roll start it.
But hard to look at? No, good looks and clean lines was the one thing it had going for it. I added a rear spoiler and swapped the chrome bumper, round headlight nose for the quad light, endura nose. Of course, being the late 80's, I had rear window louvers too. :-D
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Spaceweasel 12:26AM (10/31/2006)
Is SHF the only one who got the reference to OTHER drivers in placing the Mustang and Trans-Am on the list? No matter what you drive, you don't want to line up against one of them.
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