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 mistake, the Taurus engine was a 4-cyl! What dog!!
Had a 69 Austin America that would shut down suddenly, once at 65 mph on I-95. It also regularly over heated, sometimes had to run the heater full-blast in July. Was underpowered for an automatic which I guess Austin thought would be a selling point in the States. The comeupons…it had to be towed after another electrical failure. It was stolen off the dealer lot and…yes…the cops were so proud when they recovered it. Even the thieves didn’t want it.
Worst car I ever owned was a 1984 Dodge Aries wagon (K-car). I ordered it special with front bucket seats, 5-speed manual, the “big” 2.6 liter Mitsubishi engine and 14-inch wheels. The LF tire rubbed on the transmission case at full turn, and the transmission popped out of 2nd gear, even with a factory service rep in the car as I demonstrated it. He denied it happened. I wrote a registered letter to Lee Iacocca and it was returned, unopened. Traded it on a Ford van and never bought another Chrysler product.
I bought a used 2002 Honda civic in 2021 as a side car and gas saver on commutes to work. The day I bought it off a guy from Craigslist, i nearly lost control of the car when some idiot swerved into my lane nearly hitting me. About an hour later, I’m at a 4 way stop and as I’m about to take off in my turn, someone runs the sign almost hitting me. Every other day after that I will have rocks randomly come out of nowhere and hit my roof. I can literally and visually see these rocks appear from the sky. A few months later the latch on the hood broke up while I was full speed on the freeway, breaking my windshield and roof in. I got it fixed but about a year later the car was having overheating problems and nobody could find the problem. Eventually I sold it, but just a few days ago it’s come back to haunt me with a letter from a tow company asking me to claim it since I’m still the previous owner. I guess nobody wanted to claim it.