5 of the Most Controversial Cars Ever Made

In this week’s edition, I decided to write about 5 of the most controversial cars to exist, cause why not do some exploring? Not all cars are made with the intention of serving the public, some are made to stir up trouble and since this is not something you read about often enough, I decided to dedicate a whole post to this. 

All cars do start out with not much to their name – mainly whatever reputation the car company itself has follows with the models, but give it a few years, sometimes even months, and oh boy! Unfortunately, some models see their downfall due to rumours, but by the time it is figured out that it was all just a rumour, it’s too late and there’s no going back to save the brand or the model. 

1. DeLorean DMC-12

Let’s start with the ever so iconic DeLorean DMC-12. It was featured in the movie Back to the Future – 1985 edition, but it had already been discontinued by this point. This movie helped to bring back the spark it needed to be seen in the eyes of the public again and secured a place in pop culture for sure. But it’s the story behind the car that really makes the whole history. 

John DeLorean who had worked for GMC previously (where he worked on some of their most legendary cars – Pontiac GTO – in the past), left GM to start his own company in 1975.  There he built what he called the “ethical sports car”. 

It was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and made in a factory north of Ireland (where the British government invested more than 100 million pounds). But only 9000 cars were built. This was due to the car not being particularly fast only sporting a 6 horsepower V130 and it was too expensive. 

One year after the launch of the DMC-12, in 1982, there were more than 7000 unsold cars and the government under Margaret Thatchers ruling demanded a million dollar figure from DeLorean if he wanted to save his company. So DeLorean met with James Hoffman, a convicted drug dealer, who he made a deal with to transport cocaine worth more than $24 million. But Hoffman was now an informant to the FBI – a detail DeLorean didn’t know. 

DeLorean argued his conversation with Hoffman was staged and that he agreed to the deal after his family received threats. The trial was held in 1984 and DeLorean was acquitted for suffering a corner by the American government, but by then the businessman’s reputation was already ruined forever. 

2. Ford Pinto

The automobile market in the United States was changing by the early 70s. This was due to the influx of new European and Japanese compact models whose popularity seemed to only be growing by the years which made it difficult for the American manufacturers who released their own smaller cars. 

One of these was the Ford Pinto, launched in 1971 and small by American standards. Now at the time, safety was not something that had to be factored into a vehicle before it was released to the public, unlike how it is nowadays. With this being said, Ford decided to ensure the car was lightweight and economical and overlooked the safety features. 

Despite this, the car was a huge seller – with over 400,000 units sold – a popularity that increased due to the beginning of the Oil Crisis. However this cars major safety issue was with the placement of the gas tank – located behind the rear axle – which on a slight impact was enough to set the vehicle on fire. Because accidents were bound to happen quicker than one may have realized, protests and accidents started not too long after the vehicles initial release. Now something happened that would probably never happen in today’s society or economy – in response to the publics outbursts, Ford decided to set aside any ethical issues and even determined it would be more profitable to compensate the victims rather than withdrawing from the market as a whole. Crazy right? 

To make matters worse, Ford carried out a study on the value of a human life and it was determined by them that a human life was worth about $200. Chilling I know. 

The sad part of this whole situation was in total there were around 500 people who lost their lives in fires due to rear end collisions – a fault that could have simply been solved by adding rubber insulation around the fuel tank area. 

3. Renault 5 Turbo

Next on the list is the Renault 5 Turbo. Now this brand name is one you’ve been hearing of recently in my latest blog post on the EV car Alpine created. This time though, the news is not so great. To start this section, let’s explore its nickname – The Pest Killer – given to this vehicle because of the controversy related to the turbocharged versions of the popular Renault 5. 

Here’s where it gets a little weird – sifting through fact and fiction to find out what’s real. It is true that this car was involved in a numerous amount of accidents and legend has it that when the driver reached a curve in the road and downshifted, the turbocharger jumped and caused the car to go forward, thus causing the accident. But it turns out that was a myth because as long as the turbo doesn’t accelerate, no power is generated. With that cleared up, we can focus on the next point or argument – the “lag”. It is true that in the first cars with turbo, there was lag at the time that it acted and the increase in power was noticed, but it had nothing to do with the downshifting. 

Despite this, the Renault 5 Turbo was not the car that went down to be known as the “car with one of the highest claims during the 80’s” – surprisingly enough. It should however be remembered that when it came out, the first Turbo Cup in Spain in 1982 was the first nationally produced turbocharged car. 

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During the time when this vehicle was released to the market, there were a couple of factors that were working against the drivers; they were quite inexperienced especially to handle a car of this calibre and there was no point system on the driver’s licence (which many may hate today but clearly it exists for a reason). The drivers were not used to the 112 horsepower engine capabilities the Renault 5 Turbo offered, especially given the fact the vehicle itself weighed less than 900 kg. It demanded a lot of handling and this unfortunately – during this time period – was one thing that led to its downfall in the market. 

4. Chevrolet Corvair

The Chevrolet Corvair was different when compared to any other model from the moment it was launched on the market back in 1960. So in order for the competition to be fair, it was offered as a rear engine and rear wheel drive vehicle that was equipped with an air-cooled inline 6 cylinder engine. 

The introduction of something different to the market was actually what gave this car a bad name believe it or not. The American public wasn’t used to the handling of the new Chevrolet as they had only ever known front engine and rear wheel drive setups. Plus, it didn’t help that many Corvair owners didn’t follow the manufacturers recommended tire pressure guidelines – a very essential part to ensure good handling in a car that was equipped with a swing-axle suspension system, but lacked a stabilizer bar. Not to mention the handling issues only worsened as the car was loaded down with more weight, making the oversteer even easier. 

The front hood of the first units also experienced a serious defect – it had very flimsy hinges that could cause it to fly off while driving, which obviously created very dangerous situations. 

In 1965, when lawyer Ralph Nader published his book titled Unsafe at any Speed, a whole chapter was dedicated to the Chevrolet Corvair, although there were probably more dangerous cars at the time. The whole book focused on denouncing the safety deficit of the cars produced at the time. 

It is worth mentioning only the first Corvair’s were affected by these problems, and there were some parts available on the market that helped to improve their behaviour. However, starting in 1964 all improvements came standard on all new Corvair’s. 

5. Tucker 48 Sedan

This brings us to the 5th and final car on the list, the Tucker 48 Sedan. Preston Tucker, the owner of the company, was no stranger to Nader’s book about the security problems, really since the 1940’s when the businessman launched the futuristic car known as the “Torpedo” (in 1947) that included many mechanical innovations with safety as the first concern. 

Despite Tucker demonstrating the danger of cars produced by the “big three” of Detroit, many have pointed fingers back at him for the failure of this car due to a campaign of sabotage led by these industry giants. It was the press itself that highlighted the problems; the lack of financing of the company or they ended up ridiculing Tucker for employing prewar Cord transmissions. It was also claimed that the car, with such an emphasis on safety, had to be dangerous to drive. 

But remember, there’s always 2 sides to a story and the truth was that Preston’s plans were admittedly too ambitious. He wanted to lease the world’s largest factory for $500 a year from the War Assets Administration, and this deal would only go through if Tucker proved that he had $15 million in capital, for which the businessman issued $20 million worth of shares and raised money through a dealer franchise program.  

The other problem was the car itself. It was not ready during its presentation and after extending the event for more than 2 hours – in order to fix the vehicle – Tucker was forced to go on stage. The price turned out to be more expensive than originally expected, initially going for $1500, but later it was discovered this cost would only cover the engine. 

There were only 51 cars built and Tucker was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for a fraudulent claim that derived from the issuance of the shares worth $20 million, and ultimately he ended up losing the company. 

Interestingly enough, this sounded like an actual story so much so that a movie came out around this in 1988 called “Tucker, the man and his dream.”

Final Thoughts

Which controversy was your favourite? Let us know in the comments!