Not every car ends up a legend for the right reasons. Some promised performance but delivered problems. Others were victims of oddball styling, half-baked engineering, or ideas that just didn’t stick. Whether they were overhyped or just flat-out flawed, these rides earned reputations that have stuck with them like a bad exhaust note. Let’s take a look at 10 cars that, for better or worse, are remembered more for their missteps than their mileage.

Weber Faster One 

The Weber Faster One had one goal—outrun everything. And with 900+ horsepower and a claimed top speed north of 260 mph, it should’ve turned heads. Problem is, it did—but mostly for its awkward, overdesigned looks.

Sure, it had a lightweight 2,755-pound frame and perfect 50:50 weight distribution, but none of that mattered when most people couldn’t get past the styling. Fast, yes. Desirable? Not so much.

Covini C6W

The Covini C6W had six wheels. That’s not a typo. This oddball Italian sports car packed a 4.2-liter Audi V8 with 434 horsepower, but the six-wheel setup raised more eyebrows than it turned.

The idea was to boost grip and braking, but most buyers just saw an expensive car with a bizarre gimmick. At over $400,000, it never really had a chance—and honestly, it looked more like a sci-fi experiment than a sports car.

Pontiac Fiero

The Fiero looked like a solid idea: a small, affordable, sporty coupe that doubled as a commuter. But the execution? Not great. The early ones were slow, and worse yet, they had a nasty habit of catching fire—thanks to defective connecting rods in the engine.

By 1987, the 1984 model year alone had racked up a rate of 20 fires a month. That kind of reputation sticks, and it overshadowed any good the Fiero had going for it.

Citroen C3 Pluriel

The Citroën C3 Pluriel tried to be five cars in one—a convertible, a hatchback, a roadster, even a pickup. The problem was, it didn’t do any of them well. The roof system was overly complicated, and once you removed the rails, you had nowhere to store them.

So if you got caught in a sudden rainstorm, tough luck. You were getting soaked. Clever on paper, frustrating in practice.

Mitsuoka Orochi

If there were an award for the strangest-looking sports car ever made, the Mitsuoka Orochi would be a strong contender. Billed as Japan’s answer to Ferrari, it instead looked like something from a low-budget superhero movie.

The 3.3-liter Lexus V6 only made 231 horsepower, and despite its exotic price tag, it was painfully slow. Even worse—it took seven seconds to hit 60 mph. For $125,000, that’s just embarrassing.

Mitsuoka Le-Seyde

Another misfire from Mitsuoka was the Le-Seyde. It made headlines after appearing on The Grand Tour, but not for good reasons. Based on the Nissan Silvia S13, it had all the performance of an economy coupe but tried to dress up like a 1920s gangster car.

The result? Confusing styling, underwhelming power, and no real purpose. Mitsuoka only made 500 of them—thankfully.

DeLorean DMC-12 

The DeLorean DMC-12 is iconic, no doubt. But let’s be honest—it wasn’t a great car. Its brushed stainless steel body and gullwing doors looked cool, but the 2.85-liter V6 only pushed out 130 horsepower. Not exactly thrilling performance.

It was heavy, slow, and clunky to drive. The scandal surrounding John DeLorean didn’t help either. Still, Back to the Future gave it a second life—even if it didn’t deserve one.

Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible

The PT Cruiser wasn’t winning many fans to begin with, but then Chrysler went ahead and lopped off the roof. The convertible version somehow managed to make an already awkward car worse.

Structural rigidity took a hit, so Chrysler added a weird roll hoop between the seats that just made entry and exit a hassle. Add in the sluggish engine and clumsy handling, and it’s no wonder this one flopped hard.

SsangYong Rodius

The SsangYong Rodius was a swing and a miss. Trying to update their lineup, SsangYong came up with this massive MPV with weird proportions, odd styling, and zero road presence.

It wasn’t just ugly—it was boring. A 2.7-liter Mercedes diesel tried to keep things moving, but with a curb weight over 5,100 pounds, it was fighting a losing battle. This one became a punchline in no time.

Rover CityRover

Rover thought they had a winner with the CityRover—until people actually drove it. Based on the Tata Indica, it was slow, cheap-feeling, and handled like a shopping cart. The price tag only made things worse.

Top Gear wasn’t even allowed to officially test one, so James May had to sneak into a dealership to review it undercover. His verdict? “The worst car I’ve ever driven.” That about sums it up.

*This article was developed with AI-powered tools and has been car-fully, I mean carefully, reviewed by our editors.