Automotive Atrocities: Cars You Love to Hate (Hardcover)

by Eric Peters (Author) "By the time you see an ugly car, it's already too late..." (more)
Key Phrases: hood scoop, economy car, model year, United States, National Automotive History Collection, General Motors (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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

Product Description

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.

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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 9.3 x 0.7 inches Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #639,627 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
By the time you see an ugly car, it's already too late. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
hood scoop, economy car, model year

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, National Automotive History Collection, General Motors, Malcolm Bricklin, American Motors Corp, Chrysler Corp, Dodge Neon, Iron Duke, Ram Air, Road Runner, Consumer Reports

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 3 books:

• Land Rover (Edicion Literaria) (Portuguese Edition) by Suso De Toro on page 109
• The International Jew (IV Vol. Set) by Henry Ford Sr. on page 95
• Land Rover by Suso de Toro on page 109

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Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Standard Catalog of Chrysler, 1914-2000 by James T. Lenzke

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• vinyl landau roof
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75 Years of Chevrolet by George H. Dammann

Discusses:

• hatchback sedan
• gauge package
• full carpeting

Mustang 40 Years

Discusses:

• hood scoop
• model year
• Ram Air

Standard Catalog of Chrysler, 1914-2000 by James T. Lenzke Discusses: vinyl landau roof hatchback sedan Chrysler Corp 75 Years of Chevrolet by George H. Dammann Discusses: hatchback sedan gauge package full carpeting Mustang 40 Years Discusses: hood scoop model year Ram Air Loading...

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	52% buy the item featured on this page: Automotive Atrocities: Cars You Love to Hate 3.8 out of 5 stars (12) $17.12
	18% buy Crap Cars 3.6 out of 5 stars (29) $11.21
	15% buy Lemon!: Sixty Heroic Automotive Failures 4.7 out of 5 stars (3) $11.65
	10% buy Weird Cars: A Century of the World's Strangest Cars 4.5 out of 5 stars (2) $18.96

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews 5 star:  (6) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:  (2) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 3.8 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 16 of 16 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)    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. 9 of 9 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 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. 7 of 7 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)    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!		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 2.0 out of 5 stars entertaining, but poorly researched Honestly, I enjoyed the book and it was fun, but it not very comprehensive in its research and in many areas, irritating, having owned at least 5 of the cars featured in this... Read more Published 7 months ago by John Barrett Grant 4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious! As someone completely ignorant of more than the general make & function of cars, I enjoyed this book much more than expected. Read more Published 15 months ago by Audley 1.0 out of 5 stars Atrocious Reading This book is divided up into three sections: "Fake Muscle Cars," "Egregious Economy," and "Loathsome Luxury. Read more Published 18 months ago by Brad Dietz 5.0 out of 5 stars The book dishonoring the bombs of the seventies and eighties I got this book for the pure joy of entertainment, and really this book is a must for any car nut. The really interesting thing is i owned three of the Automotive Atrocites... Read more Published on August 10, 2006 by Eric Larsen 5.0 out of 5 stars Automotive Atrocities! I really enjoyed this book. Automotive Atrocities is a must have for any car guy or girl. This book has great information and taught me some facts I did not know. Read more Published on March 24, 2006 by Thomas B. Baggett 3.0 out of 5 stars Lousy Layout Overall, the book was interesting in spite of the heavy-handed attempts at humor. Peters shows some knowledge of the cars but obviously lacks first-hand experience of them. Read more Published on January 18, 2006 by David J. Lee-Pethel 2.0 out of 5 stars Another book on the "bad" old days Seemed like an interesting and fun read. However, this book very quickly became another unoriginal attempt at preaching the "badness" of '70-`80's cars (except with a little more... Read more Published on January 4, 2005 by BK 4.0 out of 5 stars This book was too much fun! Most automotive books I review are serious...mainly they're historical or technical. What we all need, sometimes, is humor and that's where <u>Automotive Atrocities</u>: The... Read more Published on December 6, 2004 by Hib Halverson 5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious!! Great design and extremely humorous text. This book is a lot of fun--you will enjoy it! Published on July 9, 2004 Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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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 9.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #639,627 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 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)

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.

9 of 9 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 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.

7 of 7 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)

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!