I made the slight tactical error of ordering a 1974 Vega new from the factory in the summer of 1973. It was an...interesting...car. Let's see...electrical problems (the seatbelt interlock kept shorting out, requiring you to open the hood and press an override button to start the car); the valve seals lasted about 47 miles, after which it used a quart of oil every, magically, 47 miles; it rusted, especially around the back window (aluminum trim and steel body = nasty electrolysis); the exhaust manifold disintegrated one nice night on the Baltimore beltway, leading to a wild fireworks display as the exhaust system collapsed onto the highway; the trim around the windows, after rusting the body beneath, fell off; the lower right side of the dash fell off on the way home from picking the car up new (yes, a sign...); and it bottomed out on the slightest dip in the road....BUT, it was my first car, had a four-speed manual and disc brakes, and it ran (sort of). At least the air conditioning worked and it usually didn't strand me. So, okay, it may have been the worst American car ever (maybe), but the absolute worst car ever made, ever, EVER, was the 1977 BMW 320i that I bought to replace the Vega. It made the Vega seem like a Lexus. Honestly.
