Have You Ever Heard of a Ford Pinto?

The Ford Pinto is world famous for being the worst car ever made in history. What made this car so bad that it is internationally known as a death trap.Its real claim to vehicular infamy is a design error - a fuel filler neck that snapped off in rear-end collisions, turning the Pinto into a flaming deathtrap. The problem defined the Pinto, which became the butt of countless jokes. In a routine about his ghetto childhood, comedian Eddie Murphy told audiences that his family used to rear-end Pintos instead of buying fireworks.

The Pinto turned into a public relations disaster for Ford when it was learned that the company had discovered the fuel tank problem during pre-production testing, but decided that a proposed fix (about $50 per car) was too expensive. Although the gas tank problem was rectified in later models, the car's reputation gradually strangled its sales and killed its resale value.

In honor of this disaster of a car, I present to you the three worst cars ever made. I’ll be honest, I’ve already given away number one.

Although the top spot has already been claimed by the Pinto, the Reliant Robin is a close second. This three-wheeled car first appeared in the 1970s and could be driven on a motorbike license – which meant they could be taxed cheaply too. But one of the problems was that they had to weigh under a certain limit so had to adopt a no-frills approach. Comfort and performance, therefore, were not top of the list of priorities. It was often dubbed the "Plastic Pig" because of its shape and fiberglass body shell. Del Boy Trotter famously drove a three-wheeler in hit TV series Only Fools and Horses, although his was actually a Reliant Regal Supervan III rather than a Robin.

Finally rounding out third place is the amazing AMC Gremlin. American Motors designer Richard Teague — remember that name — was responsible for some of the coolest cars of the era. The Gremlin wasn't one of them. AMC was profoundly in the weeds at the time, and the Gremlin was the company's attempt to beat Ford and GM to the subcompact punch. To save time and money, Teague's design team basically whacked off the rear of the AMC Hornet with a cleaver. The result was one of the most curiously proportioned cars ever, with a long low snout, long front overhang and a truncated tail, like the tail snapped off a salamander. Cheap and incredibly deprived — with vacuum-operated windshield wipers, no less — the Gremlin was also awful to drive, with a heavy six-cylinder motor and choppy, unhappy handling due to the loss of suspension travel in the back. The Gremlin was quicker than other subcompacts but, alas, that only meant you heard the jeers and laughter that much sooner.

Although the Gremlin and the Robin are two pretty horrid vehicles, the fame that came along with the awful Pinto is sure to keep it as the number one worst car ever made.

Sam Resbreng loved repairing old junk cars since he was a child. At age nineteen he went to work at the local auto recycling yard and since then has seen more Rebuilt Engines And Transmissions that most people twice his age.