Most Backward: 1984 Pontiac Fiero!
When trying to drive it in reverse, this baby’s gear would engage suddenly, not at all, or very slooooowly. It would have been faster to drive around the world than to try and back this stinker up.

Worst Acceleration: 1956 Renault Dauphine!
This French classic, which was ironically going to be named the Corvette, took a whopping 32 seconds to reach 60 mph. By the time it
got going, you could run out of gas!

Least Durable: 1975 Trabant!
This East German “peoples’ car” was made of Duraplast, a resin reinforced with cotton fibers. Who ever thought that cotton would make a good material for an automotive chassis? Well, you do what you have to when good old-fashioned steel is too expensive.

Slowest Car: 1958 Zunndapp Janus!
Generally known for their automotive efficiency, the Germans managed to make one of the most sluggish cars ever, with a top speed of 50 mph. That may have been fine in the 1920s, but in the 1950s?

Biggest Flop: 1958 Ford Edsel!
Although this was actually a pretty decent vehicle, it failed because Ford hyped it as a super-powered car of the future, which it wasn’t. Some automotive historians have speculated that it was the ugly-as-sin vertical grill that doomed the car because it turned off consumers. (Photo: Corbis)

Eye Candy Flop: 1981 De Lorean DMC-12!
Despite its sleek, sci-fi appearance (remember Back to the Future?) defined by those gull-wing doors that opened up, this overpriced car’s 2.8-liter Peugeot V6 engine couldn’t handle its own weight, making acceleration to 88 miles per hour virtually impossible. Note in the photo above that John De Lorean is sitting in the car! (Photo: Getty)

Most Explosive: 1971 Ford Pinto!
Hey, it had the crappiest pickup since the Janus, but the Pinto was otherwise an okay car — if you could overlook the fact that it sometimes burst into flames after a rear-end collision. (Photo: Corbis)

Worst Engine: 1949 Crosley Hotshot!
The first postwar American sports car had a .75-liter four-cylinder engine which was not made from iron, but from stamped tin. You can imagine what happened when the welding came apart…which it did. A lot.
(Note on photo above: That’s actually a 1951 Crosley. If you’ve got a photo of a 1949 send it to us at tips@radaronline.com)!

Most Likely to Roll Over: 1983 Ford Bronco II!
Can you say “did anyone check the center of gravity?” It was unwise to drive this SUV up a steep hill. In fact, it wasn’t smart to try turning corners in this baby, either. But hey, the ad above looks good, doesn’t it?!