Hooniverse Asks: Have You Ever Been in a Car That Made You Feel Unsafe?

Briggs-Stratton-Flyer-4th-most-unsafe-car
I have a 1961 Austin Healey Sprite, a little car that’s about as basic as they come. It lacks creature comforts like, oh say, side windows and a top that doesn’t earn you a merit badge every time you erect it. Most notably perhaps, it lacks seat belts, crumple zones or even so much as a collapsible steering column.  While people used to drive these things all over the place, it’s my Sunday morning when everybody else is asleep ride.
Modern cars have given us all a taste of what safety looks like, and to be honest with you, it hasn’t come at the expected expense of performance or convenience. Oh sure, we all kissed simplicity and lightness goodbye a long time ago, but with both cars and traffic today being heavier I think it was a fair trade.
But let’s get back to my Sprite. Now, I don’t find it inherently unsafe, However, mixed with other cars and your typical brain dead drivers a situation that’s probably just asking for trouble. I’ve feel a similar situation riding in my friend’s Dodge A100 and my father in law’s MGTF. Maybe modern cars have given me an expectation for safety that I now hold as a gold standard, but I am extra vigilant when driving any of my, or others’ old cars. Do you have the same experience? Or, have you ever been in a car that for some other reason just made you a little leery of your survival? Have you ever been in a car that just plain made you feel unsafe?
Image: BuzzInBiz

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105 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: Have You Ever Been in a Car That Made You Feel Unsafe?”

  1. tonyola Avatar
    tonyola

    I can’t think of a car that ever made me feel unsafe, but I can definitely think of a few drivers who made me wonder whether we’d reach our destination alive.

    1. engineerd Avatar
      engineerd

      My first thought exactly. I have a coworker that has made me the happiest man alive when we reached our destination…alive.

      1. Alff Avatar
        Alff

        Are you the unhappiest man alive when you reach your destination dead?

        1. engineerd Avatar
          engineerd

          yes.

    2. spotarama Avatar
      spotarama

      again,not so much the car as the driver…one that springs to mind was the ‘platonic’ friend of a girl i was shagging and methinks he was a touch jealous (think Ducky Boy in the film Pretty In Pink) and i somehow ended up getting driven in his car one afternoon, he was deliberately driving like an a$$hole, swerving, sudden braking etc, he didn’t have me that worried as i knew he wouldn’t deliberately wreck his own car but by god he came close to getting a serious smack in the face, driving or not…it was only the risk of the withdrawal of conjugal rights from the girl involved that restrained me.
      as it turned out i was only one of four young gentlemen enjoying the favours of the dear girl (who was apparently trying her bestest to get pregnant), she rang me a couple of months later asking (in somewhat strident terms) why i was claiming to be the father of her child……..i was more than happy to inform her that, as far as i was aware, i was the only one NOT claiming to be the proud father as i was apparently the only one who could calculate dates backwards from a calendar and work out i was in the clear
      but back to the matter in hand, i had a hillman hunter with (worn out) retreaded Turkish branded tyres (i didn’t even know there was a Turkish tyre industry) which were close to lethal in the wet, no grip accelarating, braking, cornering, stood still, nothing…pure evil , they were even ‘orrible in the dry

  2. Tiberiuswise Avatar

    I’ve spent enough time behind the wheel of various Model-As. Some stock, some modified. One that does the 1/4 mile in under 15 seconds. All of them make my CJ-5 seem relatively safe. Between the barely functioning brakes, non-safety glass windscreen, and the dashboard mounted fuel tank, they’re just not very reassuring cars to drive.

  3. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    I had a Georgia Metro rental car once when my K5 Blazer was in the shop after a wreck. I returned the Metro the next day and exchanged it for a Ford Tempo.

    1. irishzombieman Avatar
      irishzombieman

      I used to think my Metro would be a great first car for my kids–nothing but the basics, no bells or whistles, a car and nothing more.
      But I drive like a hyper-aggressive lunatic when I’m in it, and I do that because of the way other people treat me on the road. People pull out in front of me when they’d’ve waited for a Civic. Old ladies in old Corollas pass me on the right and try to cut me off. Don’t even get me started on high school football players with backwards baseball caps driving bro trucks.
      I don’t know why my little car commands such disrespect, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to trust the other a**holes on the road while my kids don’t have the skills or instincts to deal with them.

      1. Sjalabais Avatar
        Sjalabais

        My first car had all-round rubber bumpers and, boy, did that help. People would swerve around me. I also learned to park by “feeling”, which has been seriously hard to unlearn. This definitely was a good car to have as a first, even though I doubt that even half the safety features or underlying structure were still functional…
        http://olinorge.tripod.com/4/images/bild87.jpg
        http://home.arcor.de/olinorwegen/images/bild094.jpg
        [I can’t believe these photos are still online…uploaded in 2003/04. Didn’t remember this beauty to have been so shabby either…]

        1. BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ Avatar
          BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ

          But with half the safety features it was still safer than many other new cars.

        2. irishzombieman Avatar
          irishzombieman

          I love how your car looks with the steel wheels and snow tires. 🙂
          The Volvo 200 is on my short list for the kiddos, though I’ve been leaning lately toward a diesel Mercedes W123. Hell of a looker, and almost as safe as the Volvo, the diesel designation would avoid any California smog certification (even if I replaced it with a petrol motor). The 240d gets something like 30 miles per gallon too, and a turbo 300d is a genuine performer.
          http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3vjXYI3UTL8/TQStt91noKI/AAAAAAAAAEo/e6oKoUQ5t9c/s1600/Mercedes-Benz_W123.jpg

          1. Sjalabais Avatar
            Sjalabais

            Even as a Volvo-nut I consider these two equals. Around here, you can buy 240-parts everywhere and the Mercedes is considered the way more expensive alternative, but I think both are the result of rare engineering-driven design. The result is actually pretty similar.
            What’s the pros and cons for these two in your decisionmaking?
            I don’t really get this “buy an exempt diesel and change the engine”-talk – that pops up regularly on BaT etc, too. Is is just a hole in legislation? It doesn’t make sense, rationally, that one sort of engine is smog-exempt, and the car remains so even without the engine. Otherwise, I’d say that inducing the love for cars would require a couple more explosions per minute… 🙂
            Wagon’s my favourite:
            https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Mercedes_Benz_W123_Kombi_Jesus_Green.jpg

          2. irishzombieman Avatar
            irishzombieman

            Smog certification in California is required on all petrol-engined cars 1976 and newer. Diesels weren’t regulated until, I think, 1998. Given a Volvo and a Mercedes in similar condition and similarly priced, a diesel engine would be the deciding factor.
            There’s no required vehicle safety inspection in this state, just a smog inspection every two years, so the Department of Motor Vehicles never knows. And while most of the older cars have fairly simple smog systems, they all have to have factory stock smog equipment*. This leads to grief with, for instance, older BMWs and their thermal reactor systems–they never worked well in the first place, they don’t work well now, and parts are impossible to find.
            So the diesel means no hassles, ever, and no $70-plus-repairs bi-annual cash expense. The more I think about it, the better it sounds. . .
            *You can take non-standard stuff to a smog referee, who might or might not certify your system as clean enough to pass. More $ though, and more hoops to jump through.

          3. Batshitbox Avatar
            Batshitbox

            The turbo is a must. My housemate had a 3-liter, 5 cylinder turbo and it was achingly slow. Even so, my other pal with a non-turbo was considering buying it and dumping the naturally aspirated one, though it was in a bit better shape.
            Mr Non-Turbo said he felt endangered going up grades like the 280 or the Altamont Pass. Average speeds are much higher now than they were in the ’80s!

          4. Sjalabais Avatar
            Sjalabais

            A great option then….but there are alternatives:

            Rare Diesel Six/4-Speed: Well Kept 1984 Volvo 244

          5. irishzombieman Avatar
            irishzombieman

            /scales tip back other way. . .

          6. dead_elvis Avatar
            dead_elvis

            Just swap those color-matched ‘caps for some stainless or chrome ones – maybe even some baby moons – and I’m right there with you.

          7. Sjalabais Avatar
            Sjalabais

            The original caps are chrome, and I had them on my winter tires back then (sold the car 11 years ago). I am also a great fan of moon disks,and I would love them on my van. But I’m afraid they’d take the air off my brakes.

          8. dead_elvis Avatar
            dead_elvis

            Oh, no, I meant the maroon Benz hubcaps. Bleah. Plain steelies, or nearly anything else, look better.
            I dig the small, early 240 center caps. I wonder if they fit late 240s wheels too?

          9. Sjalabais Avatar
            Sjalabais

            I guess they’re all 14” anyway (oddly, the 140 has 15” wheels), so it’s worth a try. And, yes, I agree on painted hubcaps, for the exception of dark green. Dark green always works.

          10. dead_elvis Avatar
            dead_elvis

            There were a few 15″ wheels as standard equipment (the Virgo wheels on the 240 Turbo sedans & wagons, for example), and I think all 15″ wheels offered on the 7/9 series fit the 240. There were some “big brake” packages that can be retrofitted to the 240s that require specific 15″ wheels for brake clearance.
            Like the 140-15″>240-14″ move, the splitwindow VW bus (-67) wore 15″ rims, but the baywindow/breadloaf introduced in 1968 was shod with 14s.

          11. Sjalabais Avatar
            Sjalabais

            Hehe, you are absolutely right – again, my approach to the car world (basic cheap models only) is uncovered by implication.

          12. dead_elvis Avatar
            dead_elvis

            I daily an elderly 240DL, and have been seriously considering adding a W123. But for a new driver (and really, everyone), even a cheap, semi-disposable 15 year old car is going to be a hell of a lot safer in a collision. Figure the newest 240 is now 24 years old, and well-kept ones – especially in wagon and/or manual transmission form – are really starting to go for crazy prices.
            Volvo 940s aren’t terribly different from a 240/740 under the skin, and have the advantage of being slightly newer less OLD & often much cheaper, while also being better re: passive safety & overall crash-worthiness. The turbos get shitty mileage, NA considerably better than any reblock in a 240. I don’t think the US ever got the 9 series with a manual, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong.

          13. irishzombieman Avatar
            irishzombieman

            Hmmmm. There’s a 940 wagon hereabouts for $900. Will look into those.
            Out of curiosity, any thoughts on the S40/V40 line? Those are getting surprisingly cheap sometimes.

          14. dead_elvis Avatar
            dead_elvis

            I don’t have much direct experience with them, except as a passenger. Pretty cramped compared to a redblock-powered brick. People on Swedishbricks.net don’t seem to care for them generally, even if they otherwise like the whiteblock engines.
            Probably safer than the older ones – more airbags, etc.

        3. dead_elvis Avatar
          dead_elvis

          Looks a hell of a lot better than the ’76 244DL I bought in 1990 or so. Love these old ones in orange (so much better than the beige/Bandaid color mine was, where it wasn’t rusty).

    2. salguod Avatar

      I did a Google image search for “georgia metro car” and found this, which is rather scary:
      http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/4x4metro.jpg

      1. P161911 Avatar
        P161911

        Damn phone auto correct!

  4. GTXcellent Avatar
    GTXcellent

    Oh man, the garbage rides that my buddies and I drove back in our teens and early 20’s – how did any of us live this long? Some of the very worst, a ’69 440 powered Dodge Charger, with mixed bias ply and radial tires, that kept blowing u-joints and was truly the closest I’ve ever come to death, a 72 Skylark that was so rusty the metal would flap in the wind, my ’65 Chevy pickup had no seat belts, no reverse lights, leaky gas tank behind the seat, and barely enough power to get out of the way.

  5. JayP Avatar
    JayP

    I got a Yaris automatic as a rental for a day. Couldn’t keep up with traffic, felt like the car was about to fold in half. Took it back and got a Focus.

  6. smalleyxb122 Avatar
    smalleyxb122

    The first car that came to mind for the question was a first-gen Honda CR-V. It wasn’t the least safe that I ever felt in a car, but it was the most unexpectedly unsafe feeling. The car was fine, but I felt incredibly vulnerable in it.
    The most unsafe was an ’89 F150 that I overpaid for at $800.
    The brakes were terrible – leaking axle seals meant the rears were doing nothing, and the vacuum booster was clearly just for show.
    The steering was shot. There was roughly 90 degrees of slop in the steering linkage, and the steering pump was dead.
    The tires were mismatched – worn, cracked, studded. The wheel bearings were howling, and the seat belt mounts were completely rusted away.
    It’s a small miracle that the truck and I made the 135 mile journey home, and I can’t believe I had the poor judgement to try.

  7. Fred Talmadge Avatar
    Fred Talmadge

    Every time I put my Elan on the freeway.

  8. Kiefmo Avatar
    Kiefmo

    The 1980 Rabbit ‘vert I owned for a while was pretty damned sketchy. I drove it home after buying it, misfiring the whole way and topping out at about 40mph because the fuel pump barely worked. Also, it was raining at the time. Also, the car had no top, just the frame. Also, there was a leak in the brake line F-R distro block and I lost brakes completely once. Also, the dampeners were completely shot. Also, both springs on the driver’s side had rusted through one coil, which broke off when I went to replace the dampeners, so I cut the coils on the passenger side to match. It also had 155R13 tires that gave it great turn-in sharpness, but zero grip. It was also rusted out in both rockers, but the floor was solid.
    But once it was running right (however briefly), had 195-width tires on 15″ wheels, and got new dampeners, it was a fun little runner, despite being a roofless version of a hatchback with some structural rust.

  9. Citric Avatar
    Citric

    One of these, though the one in question was blue:
    http://images.allcarsincanada.com/nlarge/1966_gmc_grain_truck_913014.jpg
    Simple reason: No brakes. It is somewhat terrifying to drive a vehicle filled with grain which you know has the stopping power of a tiny dog on ice.

    1. Alff Avatar
      Alff

      My first job at 16 had me delivering widows in a crowded city in one of these. The brakes were marginal but the six inches of slop in the steering when going straight made it even more interesting.

      1. Kiefmo Avatar
        Kiefmo

        You must have had quite a few widows to move about that you needed a dump truck to contain them all.

        1. Alff Avatar
          Alff

          It was a stakebed. I worked for a window factory.

          1. BigRedCaveTroll Avatar
            BigRedCaveTroll

            Were they vampire widows?

          2. Alff Avatar
            Alff

            I have no idea what the two of you are on about.

          3. Alff Avatar
            Alff

            The first pic was better!

          4. Tiberiuswise Avatar

            But it wasn’t showing up. Then it did, and then it didn’t.
            https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/94/b9/e3/94b9e3d3ba567562c932bae2d30b6414.jpg

    2. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      So you became a solid fan of motorbraking?

  10. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    Yes. It was heavily modified in a way that moved the center of gravity up by probably 5 feet, on the stock suspension, and all the seats were removed so everyone had to stand. The builder/driver couldn’t have been any more reckless if he downed a six pack before climbing behind the wheel.

    1. Tanshanomi Avatar

      A friend of mine had a lifted Bronco II. Like, really lifted. It was…an experience.

      1. irishzombieman Avatar
        irishzombieman

        Lifted Samurai. Same terrifying thing.

  11. Borkwagen Avatar
    Borkwagen

    I rented one of these to go to a job interview. What a tippy and horrible-handling mofo.
    http://static.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/images/Auto/izmo/335838/2012_dodge_caliber_angularfront.jpg

    1. Rover 1 Avatar
      Rover 1

      Wait till you drive a fifties or sixties car on crossply tires with drum brakes. No modern cars are THAT bad.

      1. Borkwagen Avatar
        Borkwagen

        Interesting, because I had a 1973 Saab 96 and even on old crossplies it was less of a handful than the Caliber. It had front discs though so it’s somewhat modern in that regard.

  12. JohnComposMentis Avatar
    JohnComposMentis

    In the late 1970s my brother had a ~10-year-old VW Beetle. I rode in it many times and drove it a few times, never giving any particular thought to it feeling unsafe. He eventually traded it in for a new Honda Accord. A few years went by, then in the mid-90s I again rode in someone else’s old Beetle. This time, something about the closeness of the flat windshield and the narrowness of the interior made me feel claustrophobic, as if any sudden stop would send me face-first into the windshield.

    1. JayP Avatar
      JayP

      As a toddler my son was in love with Things. A friend of my neighbor offered his Thing for me to take the kid for a ride. It was like riding on a thrashing machine, except the thrashing machine would have had brakes.

  13. Tanshanomi Avatar

    Crude suspension, short wheelbase, tippy handling, lousy brakes, no crumple zone. Frighteningly unsafe, but I loved it.
    http://tanshanomi.com/temp/gmcvan.jpg

    1. 0A5599 Avatar
      0A5599

      We used to have a Dodge A-108 and later an A-100 as family transportation. The two front seats were present, but everyone else rode in folding chairs or bean bag chairs set up in the rear, or we sat on the doghouse. Not a seatbelt in sight. The A100 had a side cargo door that would unlatch on sharp-ish turns, so my parents took the important safety measure of not allowing us to sit within 3 feet of it.

  14. Tanshanomi Avatar

    The Tuesday answer: it was like taking a ride on an easily distracted puppy on waxed linoleum.
    http://vesparide.com/vespa-specs-4.jpg

    1. Batshitbox Avatar
      Batshitbox

      One thing you can say for mopeds is they do have taller rims, and are therefore a bit less squirrely than scooters. Fine distinction, though.

    2. Kiefmo Avatar
      Kiefmo

      Small-wheeled scooters are a hoot at surface street speeds. Beyond that, you really, REALLY want a longer wheelbase and larger wheels.

      1. mdharrell Avatar

        I’m with you on the “longer wheelbase” part. A slightly wider track than a scooter’s is nice, too.
        http://www.microcar.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/KVMini1side.jpg

        1. Vairship Avatar
          Vairship

          Clearly this is a very safe car: the crumple zone compared to the size of the vehicle is HUGE, meaning the crash energy is easily and gently absorbed.

          1. mdharrell Avatar

            It’s perfectly safe. The state made me add seatbelts.

          2. Vairship Avatar
            Vairship

            Hmm. I think this might be one of the few instances where being “thrown clear” might be preferable…

    3. BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ Avatar
      BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ

      I did have a 1962 model which wasn’t too bad once you get accustomed to the behavior of the suspension. It got me more looks than any other bike I’ve owned afterwards. https://scontent-gru2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/318214_3568852269709_1445149514_n.jpg?oh=679962e7daa11a6230c616595f9fae6f&oe=576A8BBD

    4. spotarama Avatar
      spotarama

      i rode those things for years, never really scared me until the accidents started getting serious (head first through a windscreen, broke my leg, ripped my other leg open to the bone, etc etc) about that time i bought a m/cycle as a slightly more practical DD and all of a sudden completely stopped having accidents, still had a few more scooters but had no desire to ride them any more
      (for the record, 13 scooters and 30 accidents in 28 months, 20 bikes and 3 (very minor) accidents in 90 years)
      problem with scooters is, no power, no brakes, very low centre of gravity which is screwed up by putting a rider on, skinny tyres, little wheels that disappear into pot holes, crap grip on the tyres (way back when we couldn’t actually buy road legal scooter size tyres so we were using wheelbarrow tyres….)
      EDIT – there were several models of vespa you could carry approx 40 cans of beer in the glovebox/sidepanel storage areas, so not all bad then

      1. Vairship Avatar
        Vairship

        You’ve been riding motorbikes for 90 years? That’s impressive! 😉

        1. spotarama Avatar
          spotarama

          silly me, that should have been 30 years

  15. Batshitbox Avatar
    Batshitbox

    State or repair makes a big difference. My 1961 Scout had a driver’s door that wouldn’t stay closed, and a transmission that would pop out of second gear. Going around a corner one day both happened at once, leaving me with no hands on the wheel. Add to that my experience of having the rear wheel fall off ( http://jalopnik.com/5609631/this-was-the-right-rear-wheel-falling-off?tag=garage%20of%20horror ) and it became apparent that that truck was going to kill either me or some innocent bystander.
    But even in top nick, a Scout 80 is a roll-bar-less, folding-windscreen, lap-belted, single-circuit-brake ticking time bomb. My 1963 Scout had many of the same problems as the ’61, but I fixed them and felt only moderately safer.

    1. JRise Avatar
      JRise

      State of repair did not help much, my Opel Manta was in near mint condition, but still made me feel unsafe. Looking at the spaghetti-thin A-pillars (compared to my Mondeo mk3 daily driver at the time) made me think what would happen if I hit something heavy.
      Strange thing, I had the sibling Ascona A 20 years earlier, when I was 18, didn’t have the slightest feeling of unsafety. It must be an age thing I guess 🙂

  16. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    Four of us decided to make a beer run at a party. Little did I know that the guy who volunteered to drive dailied a fully caged 65 Malibu with a race-cammed SBC, open headers and rear tires that were just this side of slicks. With my buddy and I huddled on the floor where a rear seat once resided, this clown got us to the minimart and back mostly slideways.

    1. roguetoaster Avatar
      roguetoaster

      If you haven’t seen Death Proof already you ought to watch it. The whole movie more of less hinges around a reenactment of your beer run.

    2. dead_elvis Avatar
      dead_elvis

      Beer run!

      Dog bless both Todd Snider and REK.

  17. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    Citroën C4 – we rented one of these in Spain once. The steering was so imprecise, I had bad dreams about understeering into oncoming traffic for months afterwards. I had a knee injury at the time, too, and operating the clutch hurt a lot. The whole experience took Citroën out of my heart, after I had owned a dysfunctional Xsara wagon for two weeks, too.
    http://media.citroen.no/image/35/9/-0mm00n9p-1cb7a5szzzzzzz1z-zzzzzzzz-001-01.152359.png

    1. Rover 1 Avatar
      Rover 1

      It can be hard to judge with rental cars, the wheel alignment is often way out, and that ruins the wear patterns on the tyres and consequently the steering .

      1. Sjalabais Avatar
        Sjalabais

        True, but I think it had something like 3000km on the dodometer. That last word is a typo, but I like it.

        1. Vairship Avatar
          Vairship

          Thumbs up for ‘dodometer’. It seems appropriate for your story!

    2. spotarama Avatar
      spotarama

      mrs spotty has a C4 of that vintage and i must admit its not the most confidence inspiring of vehicles (i try to avoid driving it if at all possible) but after slamming into the side of an illegally turning 280 Mercedes and the (admittedly French) airbags went on strike just when one might have appreciated them functioning i have even less faith in its inherently plastic personality

      1. Sjalabais Avatar
        Sjalabais

        Whoa, that is decidedly not good. I hope everyone was well afterwards? How does Mrs Spotty like it, and why did she buy it in the first place?

        1. spotarama Avatar
          spotarama

          she likes it fine except for its ‘orrible auto-trans problems (puts itself back into neutral when stopped and only a good footfull of accelarator will persuade it back into drive, which can mean a bit (or quite a lot) of rollback on hills before it gets its act together, and as we are planning on moving up into the hills its days are numbered….
          she bought it cos it was cute, had low km’s and was black……
          it will soon be replaced by a 4WD mazda CX5 (and diesel at that….)

          1. Sjalabais Avatar
            Sjalabais

            Strange to see how bad quality cars still let people gravitate towards the East Asian offerings of late. Goid luck with moving to the mountains – whereever they are, you won’t regret it. 🙂
            https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3OK5-Vy-U-w

  18. The Real Number_Six Avatar
    The Real Number_Six

    At a leggy 6’2″, driving an MG Midget around Ireland was an exercise in crumple zone fear/dread management.

  19. BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ Avatar
    BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ

    Yes, several! My brother used to have a Suzuki Carry, very scary when your knees are the crumple zone.
    I self had in the past, my first road worthy car, a Citroen Dyane, I felt so unsafe in it that after this car I had several Volvo’s 140 series. http://www.thenewautos.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/2015-citroen-dyane-6.jpg http://pictures.topspeed.com/IMG/crop/201205/1999-suzuki-carry-6_600x0w.jpg

    1. Alff Avatar
      Alff

      Isn’t the Dyane the car with different wheelbases, side-to-side? If always wondered if that was noticeable from the driver’s seat.

      1. BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ Avatar
        BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ

        I don’t think you can notice that, at least the conditioning mine was in, mine was at least as crappy as the one pictured.

  20. pj134 Avatar
    pj134

    I had a 91 Cherokee on bald 31’s with barely any brakes. The steering wheel would adjust itself freely and it shuddered anytime I went over 60. I’ve ridden in the “back seat” of a completely stripped S13 240sx while by buddy showed my other friend “what it could do”. I’ve ridden in trunks knowing that I was part of the crumple zone. The dealership I had worked at had a parts truck with roughly a third of the floorboard missing. I drove a 70’s brougham that had 270 degrees of rotation before you started to effect what direction you were traveling and a stopping distance that would be put to shame by an iowa class battleship. These are just the ones that came to mind quickly. I’ve definitely felt unsafe, but there’s something primal to it. I kind of miss when I don’t have a driving experience that scares me every once in while.

    1. dead_elvis Avatar
      dead_elvis

      I’ve owned plenty of sketchy beaters, but they’re a lot easier to manage if you’re living/driving out in the sticks, not in a city.
      More room to park a whole fleet of ’em, for starters!

      1. pj134 Avatar
        pj134

        I can imagine just straight country being really nice for beaters. I think you would need the patience of a saint where I live to regularly drive one any kind of distance. I’m in a really weird area when it comes to population. My borough has ~10k packed in 2 square miles, my county has 600k. 10 minutes north is sticks, 30 minutes south is the fifth most populated city in the country. Land costs way too much in my area to have a fleet.

    1. 0A5599 Avatar
      0A5599

      I predicted you would have gone with the lost wheel picture.

      1. mdharrell Avatar

        No, I’ve seldom had the sensation of looming peril while on track, mostly because my rearward visibility is nearly nil.
        https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash2/v/t1.0-9/536885_10151614452584495_1181991237_n.jpg?oh=a037a20ce54ae4c0d36cc18d9b82ceb5&oe=5764E156

        1. Sjalabais Avatar
          Sjalabais

          The “leading an angry pack”-shot?

          1. mdharrell Avatar

            It’s more the “briefly inconveniencing an angry pack that has better things to do” shot.

        2. Guest Avatar
          Guest

          That picture reminds me of this picture.

          http://40.media.tumblr.com/9699af2b2e76ab20aa6cb8da43b923b2/tumblr_nkhvfu2BcN1tp42tfo1_500.jpg

          FYI: In no way do I condone selfies.

          1. Vairship Avatar
            Vairship

            Even the ‘ears’ on the ‘dog’ on the right match between the two pictures…

  21. BigRedCaveTroll Avatar
    BigRedCaveTroll

    These two are the only two cars I’ve owned that I felt unsafe in when I was driving. The white Camaro was missing a large part of the floor underneath the driver’s seat, so the seat was held up with a 2×4 and carpet, and just by being a 3rd gen Camaro it somehow felt unsafe (although it did survive a run-in with a guard rail at around 60 MPH with just a dent in the fender after some jackwad ran me off the road). The 4Runner was genuinely unsafe. Everything was rusted through and through, it didn’t have any doors, and eventually I split the frame in half jumping it over a hill, and with it went the rear brake lines. I drove it like that for about a week until I found a replacement vehicle I could afford, adding in brake fluid as needed.

  22. Jaap Avatar
    Jaap

    The Renault 16 had different wheelbases. You’d expect differences in left or right corners.

  23. sunbeammadd Avatar

    I was provided a Holden Commodore courtesy car once. As I slithered and opposite locked my way along the greasy road in an attempt to reach something approaching the speed limit I had every digit crossed hoping I wouldn’t need more than a gentle application of the iffy brakes.
    I later noticed the garage kept a pile of ceramic tiles in the boot in an attempt to get some rear wheel traction.

  24. ol shel Avatar
    ol shel

    I was leaning on the door of a friend’s VW combi while making a left through an intersection. The door opened and I swung out. Luckily, I had a good grip.
    Once back inside and underway, I was not comforted when I realized that my legs were the crumple zone.

  25. duurtlang Avatar
    duurtlang

    In two instances, due to very different reasons.
    One: brand new VW Touareg. It felt like a floaty couch, totally disconnected from the act of driving. The slushbox connected to the silent diesel didn’t help. Probably a very safe car, but it made me feel rather uncomfortable. I was glad when I got the chance to get out.
    Two: 1980s or 90s Fiat Panda. It was 1999, I was 16 and I participated in a school exchange program with 16 year old Italian. I’d spend a week with an Italian family who had a son my age, that son would spend a week with mine. One of my classmate’s host family lived very close to mine. On the first day my friend’s host dad combined with both Italian kids came to pick us two up in that one mk1 Fiat Panda. Our stuff in the trunk, the two Italian kids plus my classmate on the back seat and me being the tallest in the passenger seat. It turned out our destination wasn’t in that same city we were picked up from. No, it was in some little village in the mountains. The overloaded yet tiny Panda was driven over those mountain roads like a true rally car, with an ideal line through curves. With a pure disregard to opposing traffic in blind turns.
    This trip was the closest I’ve ever gotten to having to change my underwear prematurely.
    http://www.conceptcarz.com/images/Volkswagen/2013-Volkswagen-Touareg-SUV_Image-09.jpg
    http://www.autoviva.com/img/photos/210/fiat_panda_30_years_of_history__large_25210.jpg

    1. dead_elvis Avatar
      dead_elvis

      I so badly want to go to Italy, in part just for the driving experience! It’s like the entire population subscribes to “slow car fast!”. Plus, land of my people, I make wine for a living, cheese & pasta junkie, etc.

  26. Van_Sarockin Avatar
    Van_Sarockin

    I once drove a beloved E100 to its final rest in a splendid field. But it involved more than a hundred miles of Interstates and state highways. The steering slop was easily a half turn. Every pothole was a mandatory lane change. Your guess which way. I sure miss that truck. And your knees were most certainly the crumple zone. Encouraged you to pay attention.

  27. Turbobrick Avatar
    Turbobrick

    Yes, the back seat of Volvo Amazon with no seat belts or grab handles going 70 mph down a tiny road that had 25 mph limit because the seller wanted to show that it has good pickup.

  28. salguod Avatar

    My wife’s 2007 Prius in freezing rain. Numb steering means you can’t tell that it’s sliding until you feel the car moving in an unexpected direction. Absolutely zero feedback through the wheel.
    It has given me new found sympathy for slow Prius drivers. It’s not entirely their fault, it seems that the car is designed to make any reasonable speed feel careless and unsafe.

  29. outback_ute Avatar
    outback_ute

    A mate’s Morris Mini panel van, when riding in the back sitting on the floor in one side bracing against the opposite side with my feet, needed to do that because like many Mini drivers he was a bit mad. The car had a roll bar/cargo barrier that with no inside handles on the rear door meant you could not get out. He thought it would be a great laugh to pretend to walk away and leave me one day until he saw I was opening the large toolbox he kept in the back.
    Apart from generally being unsafe I have a vivid memory of heading towards a traffic island full of light poles at high speed because the lane we were in was about to go around a corner and he was going straight ahead, luckily there was a gap in the traffic, a Mini does not need a very big gap!
    A school friend had a hot Mini and was even more mad, I remember a passenger of his coming back from a ride saying “we nearly slid into a house!”
    I can relate to Robert’s experience too, did a 1000 mile trip in a 1500 lb car with no seat belts, another in the same car with lap belts fitted which I am not convinced was any safer.
    Lastly had I been driving on public roads a Mini Moke would probably be the most unsafe! There is basically no body structure above knee height.

    1. Vairship Avatar
      Vairship

      Re: the Mini Moke: that box structure next to you that forms the “frame”? That’s the fuel tank… https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Austin_Mini_Moke_1967.JPG

      1. outback_ute Avatar
        outback_ute

        Yes but the bumper of the car that hits you will go straight over the top of that!

  30. ConstantReader Avatar
    ConstantReader

    All that had no seatbelts: 1958 Borgward Isabella, 1960 Chevy, 1965 Chevelle and an old Henry J. Worst experience was when I rode/drove a 1962 VW Bus across the U.S. My whole body was a crumple zone. Today, they are charming relics of days gone by, but I would never do more than look at any thing air cooled.

  31. VELO Snus Avatar

    I really appreciate such high quality contributions. I have just forwarded this to a good friend of mine.