Time To Pile On And Give Us Your Top 10 Lamest Luxury Cars EVER!

When picturing a luxury car in your minds eye, what do you see? Is it a mid- to full-size sedan or coupe with handsome, stately styling and a sumptuous, finely crafted interior? That’s the image we envision, but not every automaker has had that same vision over the years.

Some manufacturers have – due to desperation, greed, thinking a little too far out of the box or some cocktail of reasons – released vehicles that, while billed as luxury cars, fail to cut the Grey Poupon. Here are 10 such vehicles that have us scratching our top-hat-capped heads.



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0to60 - 4/27/2011 6:47:06 PM

+3 Boost

I never considered them luxury. Maybe slightly premium. Would put them in a category with the Toyota Avalon and VW CC

B7FAN - 4/28/2011 10:09:04 AM

+3 Boost

@ billfrombuckhead....The toyota Cressida was probably the best out of your group and it wasnt considered a luxury car. the successor to that is the Lexus LS and the rest is history.

Here are my 10
1. Caddilac Cimarron
2. Mitsubishi 300GT ($50,000 car in the early 90's and a P.O.S)
3. Mitsubishi Diamante
4. Mazda 929
5. Mazda Millenia
6. Infiniti Q45 (Since day 1 in 1990 or whatever)
7. Buick Riviera
8. Audi 5000
9. Saab 9000
10. Anything VOLVO

AlleVier - 4/27/2011 12:37:00 PM

+1 Boost

The list in the article is a bit too heavy on badge-engineered cars. The Cygnet doesn't belong as it's not even really being presented or sold as entry-level luxury, rather as a novelty for the wealthy. It misses the pure luxury cars that were just hideously designed and under-performing, like the Aston-Martin Lagonda or the insanely-unreliable-for-something-that-isn't-a-balls-out-exotic Maserati Biturbo.

topneuro - 4/27/2011 12:51:30 PM

+12 Boost

1982 Cadillac Cimarron, everybody favorite emetic.

Baby - 4/28/2011 4:10:29 AM

+1 Boost

LOL
I actually totaled one of these once~

Agent001 - 4/27/2011 1:03:21 PM

+6 Boost

I'm a little insulted seeing the Chrysler Cordoba pictured here. It DID come with FINE CORINTHIAN LEATHER! ;)

001

AlleVier - 4/27/2011 2:35:18 PM

+1 Boost

Not sure that it's the Cordoba. The grille looks Dodge-like, plus the wheels have raised white letters so I think it's one of the lesser offerings like the Charger SE or Monaco.

Zaphod - 4/27/2011 4:03:09 PM

+3 Boost

Thst is actually a 1978 Chrysler 300..a pretty decent car, powered by the same 360 4bbl v8 taht you found in the Dodge Lil' Red Express truck. Car could move when you put the spurs to it, didn't handle bad for a large sedan, either.

AlleVier - 4/27/2011 4:15:58 PM

+1 Boost

Thanks, Zaphod. I had the year figured out, but I couldn't get the model.

85bmw745i - 4/28/2011 1:18:35 AM

+1 Boost

This car looks exactly like a 70's Monte Carlo from the front. the headlights, grill and fender are almost identical. Only the sides give it away.

Agent001 - 4/27/2011 1:03:57 PM

+4 Boost

Lincoln Versailles.

001

94geo - 4/27/2011 1:10:46 PM

+7 Boost

The Audi A4...eer I mean the A8! The Audi A8. It may be a luxury car on the inside, but not the outside...Lame.

Doukas - 4/27/2011 1:50:24 PM

+3 Boost

Mercury Sable, Mercury Mountaineer

0to60 - 4/27/2011 6:48:58 PM

+2 Boost

Luxury?

Willis - 4/27/2011 2:00:46 PM

+3 Boost

Cadillac Cimarron
Lincoln Versailles
1980s Chrysler Imperial (What a POS that was, I owned one!)


That's about it. Of these I'd say the Lincoln Versailles was hands down the "best" car if you discard the fact that it was based on a Ford Granada.

Joe_Limon - 4/27/2011 2:35:47 PM

-1 Boost

I believe smart cars fill in the niche by providing people who lack judgement yet crave acknowledgment. The buyers want to be displayed as informed eco hippies that realize that you don't need much space to get from a to b. Only they don't realize they are paying a premium for an extremely small car that gets worse mileage and performance then cheaper cars that have more space.

Lexus - 4/27/2011 3:45:28 PM

+5 Boost

I agree with everything you said but economy car Honda and Toyota and than you have Hyundai and Kia as premium??

IMAO.........please stop whatever it is you're smoking. I totally agree Toyota currently offering nothing exciting in their line up but their car is still better than the Hyundai and Kia for sure.

AlleVier - 4/27/2011 4:50:10 PM

+1 Boost

Let's play MadLibs, shall we?

I believe __(car model)___ fill in the niche by providing people who lack __(noun)__ yet crave acknowledgment. The buyers want to be displayed as informed __(plural compound noun)__ that believe that you don't need much __(noun)__ to get from a to b. Only they don't realize they are paying a premium for an extremely ___(adjective)___ car that gets worse __(noun)__ and __(noun)__ than cheaper cars that have more __(noun)__.

I'll start:
Corvettes
cucumbers
virile patriots
respect for the law
phallic
venereal disease
disco fever
slowness

tango - 4/27/2011 2:50:06 PM

+4 Boost

I don't think the ES250 belongs in the list. It was a pretty good job back in the day and was a success for Lexus/Toyota. Overall the last 4 examples in the article were just lame...almost as if the writer was clutching at straws. I could add 4 that would be more appropriate:

7. Merkur Scorpio
8. Sterling 825
9. Maybach 57/62
10. Volkswagen Phaeton

LauderdaleDriver - 4/27/2011 4:37:59 PM

+3 Boost

Don't forget the K-Car based Imperial......especially the "stretch limosine version!

Autopinion - 4/27/2011 11:05:05 PM

+1 Boost

1994 Buick Roadmaster. This kind of mistake makes you wonder why Buick survived and Olds and Pontiac did not...

pushrod27 - 4/28/2011 6:29:15 PM

+1 Boost

Are you serious??? The Roadmaster was one of the last great American cars... RWD, LT1 V8, big comfy interior - that car was most appropriately named, the Roadmaster was a great highway/roadtrip vehicle.

The real question is how did Buick survive after they stupidly stopped making the Roadmaster in 1996?