Now that the Car of the Year season is upon us – a time when automobile journalists choose a "best car" that they will start bitching about as soon as something better comes along – it's refreshing to discover a "50 worst cars" list. Especially when said list goes back to 1900, then selects the winners (er, losers) by 20-year periods. Even more so when composed by Los Angeles Times car critic Dan Neil, the only automobile journalist to have been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his work. Neil, however, has not simply chosen the cars but includes a cryptic description and photo of each. Is this the makings of a book? I certainly hope so, for it is well worth keeping as a reminder of how car companies can produce 4-wheeled garbage, even with the best of intentions. You may not agree with all of Dan Neil's choices and some, frankly, are shocking. BMW? Jaguar? Model T? Nigel Matthews tipped me to this and I highly recommend tip-toeing through it but beware, once begun you're hooked. Oh, and my choice as the worst car? The Triumph Mayflower, and it's not even on the list. Go figure.
To each his own, I guess. This article did help me identify a “car” that is oictured in a recent book about my old home town, Chickasha, Oklahoma. The Briggs & Stratton Flyer driven by a member of the Dews family. My mother worked at his sister’s flower shop many years later.
November 4, 2007 @ 6:40 pm