Ever had a vehicle that was nothing but bad luck?
This isn’t necessarily the easiest question for the Hagerty Community to answer. Referencing Christine, a book by Stephen King about a 1958 Plymouth possessed by supernatural forces, is also an extreme case that has no peer. But how many times have you considered that your car might be possessed?
And even if the car didn’t wind up hurting you, have you ever felt like a vehicle “had it out” for you?
Personally speaking, many of my projects give the “I have it out for you” vibe on certain occasions. I know old cars have specific defects, either by design, with neglect, from poor repairs, or just due to the effects of time. But I had all four of those hit me in rapid succession: a failed window regulator, a collapsed engine mount, a leather re-dye job that didn’t stick, and a leaky power steering system.
Oh, and all of them crashed down on me in less than a week, and two happened at the same time. The window regulator broke as I was leaving the leather restoration shop. Saying goodbye to the owner cost me a pretty penny!
Running around town in 95+ degree weather with an open window was no fun, and the hot, sticky leather seats gave my clothes a dark blue parting gift when I got home. Maybe my car wasn’t possessed, but Essex Continentals are indeed plagued with bad luck from the moment they rolled off the assembly line. Thankfully, I don’t need this car for daily driver duties, so the moments of bad luck make its story more interesting. In hindsight, it’s even quite fun at times.
So let’s end this with a final call for your thoughts: Did you ever have a car that was nothing but bad luck?
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My father in law had a 66 GTO that seemed to be possessed. It was a rust bucket but with a tri-power 428 (I guess it added lightness?).
Anyway, the car would start honking as you walked away from it every so often. And then stop as you approached the car. Like your pet dog at the screen door as you walked away.
My bad luck Corvette seemed to break regularly. A weird, unusual crank no start problem cause me to fire the parts cannon at it. I FINALLY got it running and then shortly after it bent two pushrods because of an unrelated overheating issue. I got it running and shortly after the fuel pump relay died. I got it running and then the positive lead the coil burned through. I got it running and it needed a battery (and later a starter) because of the constant abuse from trying to diagnose all these issues in my driveway…..
1988 VW Fox GL sport sedan . The rear brake line melted by the exhaust pipe – thankfully the parking brake worked , water in headlights , and various electrical gremlins like the horn blowing when starting the damn thing . I bought it used (64K miles) for a commuter to keep miles off my truck and dumped it within 6 months .
My sister bought an Eagle Premier at an auction and it nicked and dimed her to death. I took the car on and did all the repair work to get it sea worthy. Drove it to work and totalled it on the way home.
My 1993 Trans Am. 4 Opti-Sparks distributors in 3 years thanks to GM putting it under the water pump. Requisite water pumps. A fuel pump. Never had both window regulators work at the same time for more than 3 months. In the winter. So I had the T-tops off once in 4 years. The rear seat decided to unfold itself and chomped on my friend as he was getting in the backseat. It didn’t like my one ex-girlfriend at all. But then again, neither did I after less than a month. She had a R-titled Audi TT that leaked spare change.
I had typed out a rather lengthy story about a ’55 Chevy I once had, (and since I type with one finger, that was quite the investment). Just as I clicked “post comment”, the Internet went down and all my work was lost. I decided that cursed car was still working against me, even after 55 years! I’m now scared to try and retell the details, so you’ll just have to imagine how bad it was…
More than the inconvenience, I’d be more scared about how it knew where you were after 55 years…just saying….
😁
I “adopted” a 1973 TR6 about 4 years ago and it’s been the child I never had. 1st week the fuel pump literally blew apart all over the road 2 blocks from my house on the way to work. Then found out fuel line was plugged at the same time. The next year 2nd gear synchro failed and I decided to upgrade to 5 speed. While replacing tranny refurbished starter and leaking rear diff. Last year, hit a pothole breaking passenger control arm off the frame. Replaced entire front end. Truth be told I knew it was all original (50 years) so doing it was good and with the new trans the car is tight and better than new! Expensive sure but when you drive it money doesn’t matter!!
My first, and only, new car was a1988 Monte Carlo SS. The check engine light came on when I drove it home from the dealer. I couldn’t run the A/C on the highway on a warm day, without overheating. The A/C had to be recharged every year. The Metric 200 transmission was replaced 4 times under warranty. The damn things would blow out seals, and fluid would gush out onto the exhaust, and leave an oily cloud of smoke behind me. It left me walking 3 times while it was under warranty.I sold it, and bought a ’94 Thunderbird Super Coupe. I still have it.
1996 chevy Blazer. Transfer case 3 times, transmission at 6000 miles, alternator/wiring burn, steering constantly having to adjust to stay straight. I could go on and on. All was covered under warranty but riding around in a loaner Geo on a ongoing basis was not what I had hoped for when I signed the lease on that thing. Drove off the lot brand new but luckily it was a lease. The lease company begged me to purchase it at the end of the contact. After 6 or 7 offers each lower than the last, I told them not to call me unless they were making plans to pick it up. The seats were really comfortable though.
The little one or the big one? I have a full-size 94 that has 215K and has been pretty much bulletproof. It’s on it’s third rear, but there is some abuse in the mix there
Both “cursed” with odd problems – in one case, before, during, and after ownership – and blessed, where they were easier than normal to live with, and/or could make it safely home if a problem occurred.
Two.
#1 – 1969 Lotus Elan S3. Bought with zero miles on it from the lawyer for the importer. Said importer went to Europe for a vacation and decided not to come back, liquidated everything. I paid about half the sticker price for the car and didn’t get my money’s worth. Everything you can imagine and many things you can’t imagine went wrong with that car and it was brand new. Lotus delivered the car in a car-shaped container with all the bits (or most of them), it was up to the buyer to assemble the car and hope for the best. Great fun when it ran, which was about once a payment. It isn’t a car, it is a career.
#2, 1972(?) 914 Porsche(s), took two, made one (mostly). The steering was fabulous, razor sharp, the rest of the car was an unmitigated disaster. Seven different locks (front hood, ignition, both doors, glove box, engine lid, rear trunk), every one was different. I learned how to re-key wafer locks on that one. Rear calipers frozen (rust), rubber bands connecting shift lever to transmission, zero access to the engine, rubber weather stripping left black marks on my clothes if I even got too close, I didn’t have to brush up against them, ECU went on vacation at random, coast to a stop wait 20 minutes and it would run again (for a while), and you could WATCH it rust. Sold it, the guy wanted to pay me in weed, nope, the color’s right but it has to be money.
I bought a 68 Cadillac Convertible two years ago. Nice car but I never can quite relax when driving it. Every part needs to replaced twice. Every job results in another. On a road trip from FL to NC I got the first flat tire of my life. The car also boiled over without explanation on the way into Charleston. Had not been even warm before or since and the radiator is alway full.
One thing about those cars is they require super due to 10:1 compression ratio. Most modern owners don’t realize that. Also sounds like you might have a bad thermostat.
Fell for a 1973 Lotus Europa JP Special #92 of 100. Beautiful gloss black with gold pin stripes and only 32,000 miles on it. It was 1976 and I had a pocket full of cash from being in school for 6 months. Bought it from the head of the school upon graduation. I was driving from Governors Island, NY to my new duty station in Washington, DC. Noticed it was using oil then first 3rd gear went. Then 4th gear went. I pulled into a service station and asked if the mechanic could help. I lifted the hood and the mechanic leaned in and put his hand on the small, fiberglass, storage bin cracking/crushing it. He apologized and admitted he couldn’t help. Found a dealership who assured me that they had the knowledge and skill to rebuild it. They rebuilt the motor and transmission. It took them 3 months and cost almost as much as I’d paid for the car. Drove it home. I’d gone less than 30 miles when the engine just stopped. The left cam had broken because the cam tensioner had been screwed all the way down (e.g. over tightened). Found a English mechanic who had experience with twin cam motors to rebuild it again. Five months later it was ready. Drove it to Savannah, GA to ship it to my next duty station in Hawaii. It arrived months later in Oahu. Someone had left the windows down and the interior was ruined. Mold everywhere, the wood dash cracked, the carpets rotted. the panels warped. They refused to do anything about it. Took months to repair and replace. Beautiful, exotic, limited production seductress had enchanted and left me destitute. A life’s lesson that I’ve yet to learn.
My 69 Charger SE that I bought around 1979. I loved that car and it left me stranded more times in the in the six months I owned it than the following 44 years. You name it and I had a problem with it. Only 80 some thousand miles as I recall but what a mechanical nightmare. I sold it to a friend of mine who was fully aware of the problems I had with it. Three days later, it spontaneously combusted at a shopping mall and burned to the ground.
I bought a 1976 Chrysler Cordoba brand new from the factory. Within 13 or 14 months the car’s hood became dull and I wondered what it was. A rep from Chrysler told ne that the car had fallen off the moving truck when it was being deliverd and neede hood work and a new paint spray which was now dulling. I asked him if the company would pay to have the hood repolished and he said no! Within a short time afer that the car refused to start and had to be towed to the dealer 11 times before the dealer would do anything about it. I was tearing my hair out by that time. Needless to say, I never purchased another Chrysler vehicle.