Automotive Atrocities: The Cars We Love to Hate [Hardcover]

Eric Peters (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 2004

The bathtub-like AMC Pacer. The operationally challenged Yugo GV. The supremely unsavory Chrysler TC by Maserati. These wheeled nightmares and many more are gleefully trashed by author Eric Peters. If the eyesores like the decal powered 1978 Ford Mustang II King Cobra don't make you howl, well, consider this the used car buying guide of your dreams. - "Fright Club" Motor Trend, November 2004Automakers have foisted plenty of bad and even laughable cars upon an unsuspecting public over the years. Millions of people have been duped into buying mistakes-on-wheels, while millions more have been subjected to these cars after the new-car smell is gone, revealing only vehicular inadequacy.Automotive Atrocities: The Cars We Love to Hate is a truly distasteful collection of fake muscle cars, clown-car compacts, faux "luxury" cars, sales disasters, and other truly ugly and ill-conceived four-wheeled follies. Written for anyone who either unwisely decided or was forced against their will to drive an automotive atrocity, this book gives the motoring public the last laugh as everyone's least-favorite cars are skewered in book form for the first time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...an entertaining look at vehicles that probably cost some optimistic automotive designer his career...an excellent gift." -- Sports Car, July 2005

About the Author

Eric Peters has been writing about new and vintage cars and trucks—and things automotive in general—since 1993. He is an automotive columnist for America Online, Netscape, and Compuserve. He lives in the Washington, D.C., area.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks; First edition (July 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760317879
• ISBN-13: 978-0760317877
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 9.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #380,433 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bring Back the Bad Old Days, September 24, 2004

By 

Scott D. Hall "Gear Head" (Mesa, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Automotive Atrocities: The Cars We Love to Hate (Hardcover)

Reading this books brought back memories of the sorry excuses for cars that we spent thousands of dollars for in the 1970's-80's.

Some of the Losers from that era that were in the book in my own words:
1980 Thunderbird: Styling done by stacking 3 "Chunky" candy bars together. An insult to the 2-seat T-birds (1955,2002)
1984 Fiero: A good looking, but less practical Chevette
1982:Cadillac Cimmarron: at $12,000 Cavalier. Worst example of badge engineering.
1982-1984 Dodge Rampage: A sad excuse for an El Camino, and even sadder excuse for a pickup.
1974-78: Mustang II; The "Pintang". A heavier and slower Pinto.
They should have put this horse in the glue factory.
1980-90 Cadillacs: Standard of how not to design a car. Much worse performance and reliability than a modern Dodge Neon (which costs half as much or 1/4 as much in 2004 dollars).
1981 K-cars: Johnson&Johnson band-aid cans on wheels.
1971-1977 Chevy Vega: Set the world standard for fastest car to fall apart. Had to buy gas and oil at the same time, like a 2-stroke.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I liked it and I am car illiterate, August 4, 2004

By 

BH - See all my reviews

This review is from: Automotive Atrocities: The Cars We Love to Hate (Hardcover)

This is a very funny book. I know next to nothing about cars, but I found Eric Peter's non-stop verbal jabs at these truly terrible cars an absolute hoot. Even if, like me, paint color is the only option you select when buying a car, you'll like this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun reading, well-illustrated, and clearly opinionated, September 5, 2005

By 

Dale B. Fleishman "giraffebeetle on EBay" (St. Pete Beach, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Automotive Atrocities: The Cars We Love to Hate (Hardcover)

I've been watching the automotive industry for a very long time. I remember all of these vehicles when they were introduced and intended to be serious competitors in the market. You have to wonder what the auto execs and advertising guys were thinking - but it is fun to look back and laugh.
This book focuses on the two decades of the '70s and '80s, although there certainly are vehicles from earlier and later decades that could also qualify as atrocities.
And there are some vehicles included that I personally would not have selected - some that were just bland and boring or that were subsequently discovered to have excessive mechanical problems. Clearly it is mostly about preposterous styling and vehicles that were poorly matched to American automotive needs and desires.
But overall, this is one of the must enjoyable automotive books in my library - light reading and fun!