The 50 Worst Cars of All Time

1966 Peel Trident

Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum
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Less a car than a 5th-grade science project on seed germination, the Peel Trident was designed and built on the Isle of Man in the 1960s for reasons as yet undetermined, kind of like Stonehenge. The Trident was the evolution of the P-50, which at 4-ft., 2-in. in length could justify its claim as the world's smallest car, or fastest barstool. The Trident is a good example of why all those futuristic bubbletop cars of GM's Motorama period would never work: The sun would cook you alive under the Plexiglas. We in the car business call the phenomenon "solar gain." You have to love the heroic name: Trident! More like Doofus on the half-shell.

1899-1939

From the Horsey Horseless to the Model T and the Airflow, ten horror stories from the auto industry's earliest days

1940-1959

From the Crosley Hotshot to the Dauphine and the King Midget, ten auto blunders from the '40s and '50s

1960-1974

From the Amphicar to the Pinto and the Gremlin, ten colossal car mistakes from the Vietnam era

1975-1989

From the Trabant to the Lagonda and the De Lorean, the worst cars of the 1980s

1990-Present

From the Prowler to the Explorer and the GM EV1, the worst cars from the past 17 years