8 Cars That Were Worse Than Their Predecessors

Hindsight is 20/20. If you don’t know what that particular cliché means, just ask the team that thought the Pontiac Aztek was a good idea. Or the guys who thought the AU-series Ford Falcons were a design hit. Or the brilliant minds at Mitsubishi who believed a front-wheel drive V6 Eclipse would be a smashing success. Car Throttle actually has the inside scoop on that whole mess. I’ll explain in a bit.

Manufacturers would love to draw a consistent line of auto evolution from worst to first, but we all know that doesn’t happen. Sometimes the new models are just bad, like pretty much everything in the 1970s. And sometimes they fall victim to misguided associations, like the outstanding Holden Monaro that got drop-kicked out of America because it was re-branded as a Pontiac GTO without any styling cues to the original Goat muscle car, infuriating purists who were stuck in a retro state of mind.

Whatever the reasons, sometimes newer models just don’t have the right stuff compared to their predecessors. Here are a few examples that fall into the “what were they thinking?” category.

1974 Ford Mustang II

We have to start this list with the biggest facepalm in the history of the automobile. In Ford’s defence, they were hoping to be proactive on what was perceived to be the end of big horsepower. That’s why the Mustang was turned into a compact and billed as a high-quality, fun-to-drive economy car. Though initially a sales success, it soon became the laughing stock of a once-great iconic American muscle car nameplate.

2002 Ford Thunderbird

Let’s keep the Ford bashing going with the rebooted 2002 Thunderbird. For decades, T-bird enthusiasts howled at Ford for turning the original 1955-1957 two-seat Thunderbird sports cars into larger four-seat family cars. The 2002 reboot was supposed to return the Thunderbird to that genre, but instead of creating a Corvette competitor (which the original Thunderbird was in 1955) we got an ugly retro design with flaccid handling and mediocre acceleration that wasn’t even on par with the 47-year old original.

1989 Ferrari 348

It’s not as if the 348 was a bad Ferrari, but it was related to the Mondial and that’s never a good idea. It also wore those gaudy side strakes as per the Testarossa, which looked okay on that car but made the smaller 348 look like a wannabeTestarossa kit car. Meanwhile the 328 with its curved haunches still looks sexy today, and it was a virtual match to the 348 in performance while also being one of the most reliable Ferraris of all time. Instead of building a smaller Testarossa clone, Ferrari should’ve given the 328 a bit more time in the sun before moving on to the superior 355.

1995 Volkswagen Golf GTI VR6

As so often happens with age, the svelte GTI that coined the term hot hatchback because of its ability to dance and entertain, got fat. And bloated. And lazy. And not too keen on taking care of itself. To be fair, VeeDubs were never really high-quality, but they could generally be relied upon to get the job done. Not only did quality drop with the MK III GTI, engineers removed the one thing GTI enthusiasts loved and replaced it with something they didn’t really need - a snorting V6 that delivered reasonable straight-line thrust but absolutely destroyed the GTI’s balance and handling.

2002 Subaru WRX

Lucky for Subaru the bug-eyed WRX was a stout performer, otherwise it may have died before designers had a chance to frantically develop a face lift for 2004. Still, the second-generation WRX was bigger, heavier, not as sharp in the handling department, and the two-door version everyone loved from the first-generation disappeared. And as far as the styling is concerned, even if you like the 2002 design, I question the visual acuity of anyone who says it looks better than a 22B.

2004 Mazda RX-8

I love the RX-7, and I think tending to the rotary’s special needs in a boosted format is absolutely justifiable and well-suited to the enthusiasts who love them. But then Mazda released the RX-8 upon the world, hoping to create a naturally-aspirated rotary sports car with the turbo’s punch that would appeal to a wider audience.

Aside from the styling (which I don’t like but that’s certainly subjective), Mazda created an engine with a beautiful sound, a gloriously smooth power band, the fuel economy of a 1960s dump truck, and the longevity of a teenager’s attention span. A twin-turbo RX-7 would be worth the extra effort required to properly maintain a rotary. The RX-8 just isn’t.

2002 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII

The Evo VI is a very hard act to follow, so I need to defend the VII by saying it isn’t bad, just not as good. The Evo VII suffered some of the same issues as the second-generation WRX in that it got a little bigger and a little heavier, and as a result the proportions of the car weren’t as well adjusted as they could’ve been.

And for the first time the Evo was offered with a freaking automatic gearbox, which makes as much sense as using a mesh parachute to save weight. I understand Mitsubishi trying to broaden the Evo’s appeal, but I have to think that was a decision made by bean counters who have no concept of passion or performance.

2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse

We’ll close out with another Mitsubishi faux pas, and as promised, we have the inside story on the 2000 Eclipse disaster. We’ve carefully recreated a conversation that reportedly took place in 1997 between a high-ranking Mitsubishi engineer, a manager, and a janitor named “Tom.”

Engineer: The Eclipse GSX is a big hit; people really love the turbocharged four-cylinder and all-wheel drive!

Manager: They sure do! They also like how small and nimble it is. So for the new model in 2000, I’m thinking we should make it bigger, ditch the all-wheel drive and drop the turbo. And you know those ribbed plastic side door things that Pontiac sticks on the Grand Am? We should add those too.

Engineer: I like how you think, but since we’re making it bigger, we should give it a bigger V6 engine.

Manager: Absolutely, but let’s make sure it has less horsepower. The kids these days, they don’t care about actual performance. We’ll sell way more cars if they can just do e-brake burnouts. The young people love e-brake burnouts.

Tom: Do you two even realise how monumentally stupid you are right now?

Manager / Engineer: Shut up Tom.