Its funny, for all the malaise era crap my dad drove over the years, I'd say the worst car he ever bought was a used '96 Camry wagon. He bought it back in '03 I believe, a Florida car, 80k on the clock, driven by retirees. Sounds like a sensible choice, right? That piece of shit leaked oil from every place that had…

It wasn't so much what he drove when I was a kid, as what he drove before I was born that inspired me. There were the tales of an unlicensed immigrant driving around Detroit in a rusty '68 Mustang. And the Galaxy 500 that followed. And the '74 Grand Marquis that died a spectacular death after a blowout on the…

@arozzi: I did. That will teach me to go clicking on innocuous links. Or not. But Jesus, I already knew who Skaycog was, why did I click the button? WHY?

@IN THE FACE!: FUCK. Thanks, I haven't been forced to see that in years, most of the scarring had healed.

@dmoon: Wow, I had always wondered where that abomination came from, and had to look it up to make sure you were serious. From the Michigan website:

@Allwheeldriveturbosportwagon: As crappy as the Catera was, at least it wasn't based on THAT Omega!

@PlayerX: Actually, it was the Opel Omega.

@Novaload: Mine had the same, a '74 in powder blue. He was fortunate enough to total it before having to trade it in, blew a tire on the freeway.

@Bizzarodave: Forgettable until the movie "Pineapple Express."

@Meat Robot, commenting apprentice: Forgettable in styling and soul, yes, but their production numbers and reliability have resulted in plenty of examples to ignore on the road. My sister has one that I've maintained for her since '99, and it refuses to die.

@gman1023: Well the VWs and Cherokees were (are) joint ventures between VW/AMC/Chrysler and Chinese automakers, so all the tooling came from them. For the sidecar, the Germans sold the plans to the Russians during the war, and the Russians sold them to the Chinese later. The castings were pretty crude, but it…

@gman1023: The Cherokee was pretty much the same as you would have gotten here in the mid-eighties, carbureted 2.5L 4cyl, 4 or 5 speed manual. Same with the Santana, it was essentially a Quantum with no power steering. The Beijing Jeep 2020 was something else entirely though. A copy of a Russian jeep that was based…

@gman1023: Yeah, it was quite the adventure. Speeding in the dustbuster was fun, but the real experience at the time was getting to drive all the "Chinese" cars. Learned to drive stick on a VW Santana, and used to "borrow" Chinese made Cherokees from friends' parents to go joyriding in as well. I also met a guy…

I can't remember which was the first, but it was definitely one of these three:

My parents had a green '95 Transport in China back in the mid-nineties. At the time, it was one of three Transports in all of Beijing. One green, one black, one red. My dad had a driver, but would drive himself about half the time.

@FairmontGT: Very true. Just rebuilt my Autolite 2100 over the winter and it was a great one to learn on. Popped it back on the truck and it runs like a dream.

@jcd302: Seconded.

@Elhigh: I know, I hate that thing. It always pops up when I search ebay for fox-body Mustangs.

Is it just me, or does this guy's story remind you of the "Job" character from Arrested Development?

@gman1023: Right, EDT, I keep forgetting what time of year it is...