One terrible example from Edmunds.com in which the author mentioned the 1979-1983 Datsun 280ZX on his list. He said the car was ugly, heavy and slow. I agree that the S130 is not the best looking of the Z family but the turbo version with pretty much the same horse power than the early 80′s Corvette and less weight (and less price) was a great car for the heavily emission controlled era. But the Z31 aka first gen 300ZX on it’s contrary was an absolute flop, now with even more weight, less style and terrible suspension all mated to a very poor and problematic V6 engine that even on it’s turbo version had only 20 ponies more than it’s predecessor it was a recipe for failure and hence the reason we don’t see many of those on the road anymore.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love all Z cars but that’s gotta be the Worse of them, I’ve seen many very nicely tricked out and fast as hell, but remember that we are talking about production vehicles on their stock form.

They also mentioned the Ariel Atom, Dodge Caliber SRT-4 and Ferrari Dino, do you think they are bad enough to be mentioned on the Worst list?? Like they committed some kind of sin and would never would be allowed in car heaven.

So I decided to come up with my own and ULTIMATE list of Worst Cars ever based on FACTS, but I will also redeem some cars from their infamous popularity as bad cars and will prove why they are actually great vehicles, so get ready for a Shake Down!!!!

Toyota had the MK IV Supra, Mitsubishi had the 3000GT VR-4 and Nissan had the 300ZX, and Mazda had it’s sexy looking RX-7, all this came in Twin Turbo, and either RWD or AWD, even Honda had a RWD V6 mid engined NSX, Subaru had it’s weird looking SVX with a unique flat 6 and AWD. Something all those car had in common?? They were all 2 door coupes.

By the end of the 90′s and the beginning of the 2000′s for some reason 2 door sport cars started to become an extinction species within the JDM market. The Supra disappeared, the 300ZX got discontinued and the GT-R barely made it to 2002, the NSX was gone, the 3000GT completely erased, the RX-7 was replaced for a semi 4 door non turbo and not even mention the SVX which most people don’t even know what it is today was also gone.

Even the smallest sports cars suffered from this extinction, The Celica turned into a cool looking but poorly engineered FWD only non turbo coupe, the MR-2 turned into a Porsche wannabe roadster, the Eclipse was also spared from the AWD and turbo options, the Impreza was not offered in two doors anymore.

Not going to deny that there’s a lot of cool cars that came out on the 2000′s, but nobody had the balls to bring one of those 90′s sports cars again, only Nissan stepped up with the 350Z but it never had the same essence of the Twin Turbo 300ZX with its high technology cockpit and all wheel steering. Subaru brought the WRX and STI, which are only highly tuned versions of it’s everyday 4 door Impreza sedan, same with Mitsubishi and their Evo, a souped up version of a 4 door Lancer. Toyota completely erased the word “Sport” from their catalog, Honda at least came up with the very good looking S2000 and it’s high rev 2.0 liter engine which lacked torque and was only available as a convertible, Mazda stayed at least a bit faithful to it’s racing roots, but nowhere close to what the RX-7 was.

It’s like suddenly people didn’t wanted turboed cars and no 2 doors sports cars. And that’s why the 90′s sports cars became so popular once they became more affordable, with the exception of the Supra thanks to F&F fans willing to pay over $50k for one of those, and the NSX which were rare and a pure bred track made car.

It’s 2011 and we are almost going into 2012 and looks like finally manufacturers have felt the pressure from the customers with the bar set high by brands like BMW and their Ms, Mercedes’s AMGs and the american Corvettes and Vipers with +500 HP. Hyundai surprised everybody with the Turbo RWD Genesis Coupe and even Cadillac and Dodge/Chrysler came up with manual transmission RWD high powered coupes and sedans.

Thanks for this Nissan resurrected the GT-R, and refined the very affordable 370Z, and Toyota/Lexus came up with the ultra expensive LFA but what about the other manufacturers?? Are they ever going to step back into the affordable high performance car game??

Apparently Toyota and Subaru finally decided to put an end to this and joined forces to develop their versions of an affordable and competitive 2 door coupe. The Toyota FT-86 and Subaru BRZ, they look amazing and their specs are very promising. Toyota’s version should bring memories of the 80′s Corolla AE86, and Subaru’s version will bring them back into the RWD scene. Can we say Subaru Drifting team???

But what about Mitsubishi??? Their Eclipse turned into a fat slob and their flagship car the Evo X still just a Lancer. Honda’s sportiest 2 seater coupe is a FWD hybrid and the S2000 is gone and there’s not even an upcoming concept suggesting Honda will be back on the real sports car scene. Some rumors fly around Mazda bringing back the RX-7 but there’s nothing clear about it.

Mitsubishi needs another exciting AWD 2 door coupe, a new 3000GT?? A 2 door version of the Lancer?? What about a new Eclipse EVO??
Mazda needs another 2 seater 2 door sports car that is fast as a GT-R.
Honda needs a V6 RWD, a new S2000 maybe?? A high end and high powered NSX??
Nissan needs to bring the 240SX back, a 4 cylinder turbo RWD maybe??

What do you guys think??

COR International was founded by a team of veteran wheel enthusiasts with a commitment to produce the very finest street and competition wheels. We enthusiastically accepted the risk of reaching for unparalleled heights in engineering, and our clients are the winners. Every aspect of our products from conception to design, engineering to manufacturing, finishing to assembly is performed in-house by our seasoned team of wheel experts, boasting over 60 years of combined experience. Members of this elite family have been involved in all aspects of automotive wheels, including the Street aftermarket, OEM, Indy Car Racing, Grand American, and the pinnacle of competitive motor sports, Formula One.

Throughout their careers, they have consistently set the bar higher for the competition by developing new ways to lighten, strengthen,and more accurately fit their applications. This passion has driven COR International to become the leading manufacturer of forged wheels in the USA, manufacturing both private label and COR branded wheels for a variety of clients in multiple continents. The COR line of wheels exploits the very finest materials, culminating in an exquisitely refined product that embodies the team’s lifelong pursuit of excellence.

These wheels will make any car look amazing and there are many different models and sizes available.

COR Forged Wheels, Available at 2F Performance.

Trying to keep this short we have a question. What would you like to see in our Blog?? I was thinking about blogging the process of design and conceptualization of new products as well as a quick coverage of events we attend, from races to car gatherings, weekend drives, road trips, etc.

Please leave your comments below.

Paco.