Lies, Damned Lies and Anything Ralph Nader Ever Wrote
This whole list is pretty laughable...
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An article that quotes Consumer Reports as to whether cars are unsafe, which is ludicrous, since CU has consistently made completely wrong-headed judgements of cars, and has (as shall be seen) been caught faking results to make cars look bad.
The Omnirozon
Consumer's Union is notorious for protecting its "good name" - it has sued companies that quoted its
good reviews, in order to prevent any possible claims that its ratings were tailored in the manufacturer's favour. It is also notorious for suing those who defame its good name.
So, when CU rated the Omni/Horizon twins "Not Acceptable", on the basis of a test that they asserted was a standard test at the various automakers. (The automakers, BTW, said "What? We never even
heard of that 'test'!" The "test" in question consisted of flooring the accelerator, twisting the wheel ninety degrees and releasing it. The Omnirizon spun, straight down the middle of the road. This made it "Not Acceptable". One van {i forget which} did not spin - it continued in a straight line. Straight off the road. That van was rated "Acceptable".), Pat Bedard, then Tech Editor for
Car & Driver, later Editor, and a former Chrysler engineer quoted an engineer acquaintance form his Chrysler days, then working at CU.
His buddy told Bedard that the manufacturers weren't afraid enough of CU, so CU decided to find a pretext to "get" one of them with a "Not Acceptable" rating, so they could see how much CU's wrath could cost them in sales, and that the Omnirizon was the easiest target. (Not an exact quote, but one could prolly find the exact wording with about fifteen minutes' research as an reasonable-sized library.)
C&D printed this as part of Bedard's regular column. It had to have passed CBS' lawyers.
Remember Consumer's Union, the organisation so anxious to sue to prevent the smallest smirch on their escutcheon?
Never said "Boo", so far as i ever heard.
The Suzuki Samurai
A 1988 Consumer Reports test deemed it dangerously unsafe for American roads. The report was unusual in its strong language, and publicly called for Suzuki to recall all 150,000 Samurais and immediately replace them with a safer model. A damning investigation later found that the magazine altered their tests to increase the possibility of a rollover, and in 1996, Suzuki sued Consumer Reports for the damage the report did to the brands sales and reputation. The lawsuit dragged on for years before it was settled out of court in 2004.
CU released video of their test at the time of their report, showing the test. They had a Samurai fitted with outriggers to prevent an actual rollover, and their test driver was demonstrating how likely it was to roll over in relatively low-speed J-turns. It would try to roll, the outrigger would bounce it back upright, and then he's do it the other way, and it would try to roll again.
I immediately spotted that the driver was cutting the wheel sharply left, then, before the car actually began to turn, slamming it the other way to make the J-turn. Basic rule: If you get the suspension headed one way and then suddenly try to turn ninety degrees the other, Bad Things Will Happen. Movie stunt drivers have been exploiting this since movie stunt drivers existed.
Isuzu Trooper
Like the Suzuki incident, Consumer Reports was taken to court over their questionable rollover testing of the Isuzu Trooper (and the identical Acura SLX). After receiving Not Acceptable ratings in the magazines rollover tests, Puerto Ricos Isuzu distributor sued the magazine alleging a sharp decline in sales after the trucks were deemed unsafe. When the case went to trial in 2000, a jury found that the magazines staff had made several false statements in an article and at a news conference in which it branded the Isuzu Trooper sport utility vehicle unsafe. The lawsuit was a major embarrassment for the magazine.
The above quotes, BTW, are directly from the slideshow touting CU's ratings of cars as accurate indicators of how dangerous the cars were.
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From a list of "seriously underrated cars"
1980-1988 AMC Eagle
American Motors was the last surviving independent automaker in the U.S. until it was absorbed by Chrysler in 1988. Although it was plagued by constant money woes, AMC managed to eke out a number of unique and iconic products in its final decades like the AMX, Gremlin, and Pacer. Taking an advanced selectable four-wheel drive system from Jeep (which they owned), and putting it into their mild-mannered Concord...
Sounds lovely. However, a quick trip to
Wikipedia confirmed what i thought i recalled:
In February 1977, AMC contracted FF Developments to build a prototype vehicle based on a production V8 powered AMC Hornet with drive torque split 33% front and 66% rear. Testing and further development proved the feasibility of a vehicle with greater ground clearance, larger 15-inch wheels, as well as a torque split closer to 50% - 50%, with Lunn recommending using the AMC straight-6 engine coupled to an automatic transmission.
Thus, the AMC Eagle came about when Jeep's chief engineer joined a Concord body with a four-wheel-drive system.
{Also note that the slideshow says the 4WD was selectable, whereas it actually was full-time - unlike the Jensen Interceptor with FF 4WD)
That straight-6, BTW, was available in sizes up to 258 CID, and the 232-cube version in my folks' '67 Rambler Rebel wagon - NOT a small car - easily pushed it to 100+ on the Interstate one night in 1970...
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Different on-line article/slideshow.
Volkswagen Transporter Van
These vans have a look all their own. Used in famous cartoons and part of iconic history, they didn't provide a good ride or a good look. The rear engine van was an epic failure, but they have definitely gained a cult following.
Volkswagen Beetle
Every kid in America has played slug bug. When these rear engine cars came out in the 70s, they were the go to toy. But their poor handling in snow and rain and strange appearance made them less than desirable.
I cannot begin to list all the false statements in those two short paragraphs.
Well, no, i can.
All of them.
Even the one about slug bug/punch buggy.
Honda Civic CRX
This chopped off version of the Civic was nothing but small. It lacked the back seat and the lack of trunk space was a huge turn off. It may have looked sporty, but it lacked the charm of the original Civic.
Do these characters even live in the same Universe as i do?
It's a dark day indeed when one learns that an organization allegedly with a mandate to protect consumers can be just as petty & small-minded as the companies that prey on consumers.