20. 1971 Chevy Vega

The Chevrolet Vega, one of the most maligned cars ever made, is a case study of how to get just about everything wrong. Its life was troubled, but its birth was heralded by General Motors executives and the press. GM hailed it as the car with “innovative design and new assembly techniques to assure high quality,” a vehicle that would be a pioneer in a new generation of high-quality American small cars. Unfortunately, the glory days didn’t last long. The Vega had almost all possible problems a car could. It was so unreliable that it seemed the only time anyone saw a Vega on the road not puking out oil smoke was when it was being towed. There is no surprise its star faded quickly and for good.

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