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Studio 46 - Non-TPiR Discussion => Out In Left Field => Topic started by: jlgarfield on December 03, 2020, 04:02:16 PM

Title: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: jlgarfield on December 03, 2020, 04:02:16 PM
I was going to make this Price is Right-centric, but this could apply to ANY game show that offered cars as a prize.

What do you think are some of the worst car model(s) offered on ANY game show? Me, the Cadillac Cimmaron and Catera; those two were just lousy. The former for it being just a glorified Cavalier, and the latter..... had too many reliability issues.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Ccook on December 03, 2020, 04:21:58 PM
There's a Cullen episode of Price that gave a BMW Isetta as a prize. It was truly a WTF of a BMW. They so had American Motors' Rambler line--our family had one, and the only thing holding it together was the paint.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: bigblue999 on December 03, 2020, 04:24:26 PM
Right here.

Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: jlgarfield on December 03, 2020, 04:34:57 PM
There's a Cullen episode of Price that gave a BMW Isetta as a prize. It was truly a WTF of a BMW. They so had American Motors' Rambler line--our family had one, and the only thing holding it together was the paint.

Reportedly, the Isetta was categorized as a motorcycle.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: pricefan18 on December 03, 2020, 05:21:15 PM
Ford Pinto comes to mind Price wise, as does another I can't recall....I think it was an early 70's car, but can't think of name. As to Non-Price cars.....the Kia's Wheel used to offer in recent years in the main game come to mind pretty quick.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Briguy on December 03, 2020, 05:31:06 PM
I'm surprised no one is thinking of the car that won Motor Trend's Car of the Year honor in 1971 and game shows – from "Hollywood Squares," the 1970s "Name That Tune," "Let's Make a Deal," possibly early "Wheel Of Fortune" (there is a YouTube clip of a 1975 episode of "Jeopardy!" that advertised it as a prize) and, of course, TPiR – gave away by the thousands.

The car had incredible promise in its first year or two but then the reliability issues started coming and they definitely didn't get much better until the mid-1970s. It took replacing the engine itself with a reliable cast-iron four-cylinder engine to make the car at least somewhat reliable, but by then it was too late.

Of course, I'm speaking of the Chevrolet Vega.

Probably second on the list was a car given away not nearly so much except maybe very early in its history, but was also rife with serious engineering and reliability issues: the Chevrolet Citation. (Its General Motor siblings, including the Buick Skylark and Pontiac Phoenix, weren't nearly as hard hit but also didn't exactly escape recalls.)

Some might also categorize the 1976 Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare, which also had serious recall issues early in their lives, to the point where former Chrysler customers were abandoning ship and the company teetered on closure if fixes didn't happen. A couple of 1976 LMaD shows had this car as a prize.

I'd not be surprised if LMaD offered the 1969 Subaru 360 as a prize. Consumer Reports magazine once emblazoned its "Not Acceptable" mark of shame on the car for overall being inadequate (most notably being grossly underpowered and its crashworthiness). CR also gave the dubious distinction to the Suzuki Samuari (in 1988, due to handling issues that made it a serious rollover danger), a car that both "Card Sharks" and "Classic Concentration" offered as prizes.

Those are a few that come to mind.

Brian
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Ccook on December 03, 2020, 05:36:59 PM
How about the Chevettes the syndicated Concentration gave away? Those egg beater engines made it of dubious quality (I owned one--I should know).
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: GameShowFan9001 on December 03, 2020, 06:21:17 PM
Far from the worst car period, but I'd nominate the Mitsubishi Mirage, that penalty box that we're probably all VERY familiar with via Price offering like a million of them, as the worst car offered in the modern era, especially the pre-facelift model (though I imagine the ones we see now are probably slightly better than this one, but not by much, and almost certainly still the worst new car you can get, especially with the improvements other subcompacts have made):
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: pricefan18 on December 03, 2020, 06:24:00 PM
I'm surprised no one is thinking of the car that won Motor Trend's Car of the Year honor in 1971 and game shows – from "Hollywood Squares," the 1970s "Name That Tune," "Let's Make a Deal," possibly early "Wheel Of Fortune" (there is a YouTube clip of a 1975 episode of "Jeopardy!" that advertised it as a prize) and, of course, TPiR – gave away by the thousands.

The car had incredible promise in its first year or two but then the reliability issues started coming and they definitely didn't get much better until the mid-1970s. It took replacing the engine itself with a reliable cast-iron four-cylinder engine to make the car at least somewhat reliable, but by then it was too late.

Of course, I'm speaking of the Chevrolet Vega.

THANK YOU! THAT'S the other car I was trying to think of! I KNEW there was another one!
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Alfonzo on December 03, 2020, 07:22:27 PM
I remember seeing Renault's Le Car being given away on TPiR and, man, those things were horrible! Not only did they have their tacky logo stamped on their doors in large print, but they were junk. My music teacher in grade school had one and at the end of it's life the thing couldn't drive faster than seven miles an hour!
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Roadgeek Adam on December 03, 2020, 07:55:09 PM
Right here.


You laugh. Honestly, a Zoe Zipper wouldn't be the worst thing if it were cleaned up a bit in terms of drag and downforce. It does have its purpose. Look at a SmartCar
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: jlgarfield on December 03, 2020, 08:02:46 PM
Are there any TPiR eps online that had a Catera or Cimmaron offered? I'd love to see those. :D
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: actual_retail_tice on December 04, 2020, 07:09:24 AM
Funny you should ask...an episode with Golden Road played for a Cimarron is circulating on Pluto today! (It was $14,000 then and would probably be in the mid to high $30,000s today; to look at, it really is hard to distinguish from any of the everyday cars they offer on the show.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: JayC on December 04, 2020, 02:16:56 PM
I recall Geo/Chevrolet Metros being offered with some regularity on Price in the 90s and early 2000s. They were just barely over $10,000, very cheap for the time. Wheel of Fortune also offered Kia Rios under or just barely over $10,000 in the early days of the Mystery round.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: pricefan18 on December 04, 2020, 02:23:04 PM
I recall Geo/Chevrolet Metros being offered with some regularity on Price in the 90s and early 2000s. They were just barely over $10,000, very cheap for the time. Wheel of Fortune also offered Kia Rios under or just barely over $10,000 in the early days of the Mystery round.

Weren't Kias offered at least as Showcase prizes too? I remember the Geos and Metros some, also in Showcases.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Briguy on December 04, 2020, 03:05:13 PM
To look at, it (the Cadillac Cimarron) really is hard to distinguish from any of the everyday cars they offer on the show.

Which was a big part of the criticism many had about the Cadillac Cimarron ... it was indistinguishable from its J-car bretheren – the Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac J2000 (later Sunbird), Oldsmobile Omega and Buick Skyhawk, all of which were offered at one time or another on TPiR during the next six years. The Cimarron shared its drivetrain and body shell with its lesser siblings and, except for a luxury interior and a few more luxury options, you could get the same thing in a Cavalier for several thousand dollars less.

A four-cylinder engine and manual transmission even came standard at first on the Cimarron!!!! (First stick-shift Cadillac since the early 1950s, BTW.) A V-6 later came standard and was a little more befitting of the car, but an automatic transmission remained optional its entire life (through 1988), and all its handling options – limited at that – didn't make the car any better than a Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 of the same era.

In and of itself, the Cimarron wasn't a bad car. It's just that, as sold, it didn't really fit as a Cadillac.

Brian
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Teddy on December 04, 2020, 03:27:09 PM
Which was a big part of the criticism many had about the Cadillac Cimarron ... it was indistinguishable from its J-car bretheren – the Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac J2000 (later Sunbird), Oldsmobile Omega and Buick Skyhawk, all of which were offered at one time or another on TPiR during the next six years. The Cimarron shared its drivetrain and body shell with its lesser siblings and, except for a luxury interior and a few more luxury options, you could get the same thing in a Cavalier for several thousand dollars less.
You probably meant to say Firenza; the Omega was the equivalent to a Citation.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: JayC on December 04, 2020, 03:52:40 PM
Weren't Kias offered at least as Showcase prizes too? I remember the Geos and Metros some, also in Showcases.
I don't recall Kias being offered on Price until after Drew started hosting.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: CaseyBuck on December 04, 2020, 07:17:32 PM
Are there any TPiR eps online that had a Catera or Cimmaron offered? I'd love to see those. :D

Wish granted!

(https://i.imgur.com/CVXiSGm.png)

$14,100 for a J car. Ouch!

(from today's batch of Pluto TPiR eps; screenshot courtesy of vhs on the Discord)
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: goldroadfanatic on December 04, 2020, 08:06:49 PM
How about the Yugo? It was won at least twice on Classic Concentration. Here was a car that was sold on its low price ($3,990 when it first came out), but came with a lot of shortcomings in performance, quality, and comfort. For the same money, one could buy a good used car that would be roomier, more reliable, faster, and better built.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: jlgarfield on December 04, 2020, 08:21:02 PM
Wish granted!

(https://i.imgur.com/CVXiSGm.png)

$14,100 for a J car. Ouch!

(from today's batch of Pluto TPiR eps; screenshot courtesy of vhs on the Discord)

:D

Hopefully, the late 1990s eps will be shown down the road, and we can see the Catera. XD (Of course, if any turn up on YouTube from home recordings, that's good, too.)
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Alfonzo on December 05, 2020, 09:33:54 AM
How about the Yugo? It was won at least twice on Classic Concentration. Here was a car that was sold on its low price ($3,990 when it first came out), but came with a lot of shortcomings in performance, quality, and comfort. For the same money, one could buy a good used car that would be roomier, more reliable, faster, and better built.

I thought of it, but I wasn't sure that even a game show would be tacky enough to give away a Yugo. 😃

Of course, we can't forget that some 1950s game shows gave away Edsels!
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: styleguy on December 08, 2020, 09:53:43 AM
Ford Festivas and Aspires.

As far as Renault Alliances and Encores.  Hollywood Squares in the 80s gave away these.

Hyundai Excel and its platform mate the Mitsubishi Precis.  Most common on Classic Concentration.

Sterlings were given away on Sale of the Century.  Honda and Rover's association on a car unfortunately with British electronics.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Chief-O on December 08, 2020, 11:50:26 AM
As far as Renault Alliances and Encores.  Hollywood Squares in the 80s gave away these.

Either or the other also made it onto "Card Sharks" as well.

I can't help but have mild fondness for the Alliance and Encore; they were built "down the road from me" in Kenosha, just before Chrysler took over American Motors.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: LFAT since diapers on January 21, 2021, 03:51:26 PM
Has to be the Dale, TPIR in 1975.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Spmahn on January 23, 2021, 01:04:48 PM
I can’t for the life of me remember what show it was, but I know I remember some 70’s era show giving away a Bricklin as a prize, may have been Let’s Make a Deal
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: name456 on January 23, 2021, 03:41:53 PM
Did any Eastern Europe game shows give away Trabants? That would have to be in the running if they did.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Chief-O on January 23, 2021, 06:55:27 PM
I can’t for the life of me remember what show it was, but I know I remember some 70’s era show giving away a Bricklin as a prize, may have been Let’s Make a Deal

It *was* LMAD:

Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: blozier2006 on January 23, 2021, 09:25:32 PM
Did any shows ever give away the Dodge Omni (or its cousin, the Plymouth Horizon)? My mother owned one of those in the late 90s, and it was a complete POS from the word "go".
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Casey on January 23, 2021, 10:54:53 PM
Did any shows ever give away the Dodge Omni (or its cousin, the Plymouth Horizon)? My mother owned one of those in the late 90s, and it was a complete POS from the word "go".
My first car was a 1989 Plymouth Horizon, that I bought from my mother when I was in college.  Aside from broken air conditioning, that car was fantastic.  I sold it when it had 153,000 miles on it and it was still running fine.  I'd gladly take one :)
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: tpiradam on January 24, 2021, 12:10:58 AM
Did any shows ever give away the Dodge Omni (or its cousin, the Plymouth Horizon)? My mother owned one of those in the late 90s, and it was a complete POS from the word "go".

I don't know of multiple instances but there was a Horizon offered on the S15 premiere of TPIR.

Interesting to see that a lot of responses here are a lot of affordable/inexpensive vehicles. While that does sometimes equate to quality and reliability issues there are the odd ones that did stand the test of time. For instance I still have a 27yr old Cavalier in tip top shape and those cars were marred by quality and reliability concerns. Back on topic in regards to cheap=bad the current Mitsubishi Mirage comes to mind. I've never driven one myself and they kinda look cute but going based on multiple reviews they are pretty terrible cars.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Briguy on January 24, 2021, 09:01:01 AM
Did any shows ever give away the Dodge Omni (or its cousin, the Plymouth Horizon)? My mother owned one of those in the late 90s, and it was a complete POS from the word "go".

IIRC, “The $25,000 Pyramid.” Sometimes in Mystery 7, but also for a time as a 21-21 tiebreaker bonus. One episode had two 21-21 ties ... and the same contestant won two Dodge Omnis.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: PatrickRox80 on January 24, 2021, 10:30:15 AM
Did any shows ever give away the Dodge Omni (or its cousin, the Plymouth Horizon)? My mother owned one of those in the late 90s, and it was a complete POS from the word "go".

I can vouch. My parents used to own an Omni that worked fine for about six months.
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Briguy on January 24, 2021, 12:00:47 PM
I can vouch. My parents used to own an Omni that worked fine for about six months.

I'm guessing the two posters' parents' Dodge Omnis were simply lemons off the line. (I read in one consumer magazine once a letter from an owner who had purchased a car based on good reviews and a good reliability track record, but his car was a piece of junk instead. He took it to a mechanic who vouched for the issues the car was having and offered to fix it but it would void the owner's warranty. Other car owners never had the same problem, so this was an apparent isolated case.)

While Consumer Reports magazine had a negative review of the 1978 model – branding it "Not Acceptable" due to serious defects – the car did improve by the early 1980s, as far as what I've read in consumer satisfaction and reliability reports.

And no, I never owned an Omni/Horizon.

Brian
Title: Re: The Worst Car(s) Ever Offered As Prizes on Game Shows
Post by: Hag on January 24, 2021, 12:24:39 PM
Tic Tac Dough used to give away a pretty cheesy looking Mazda GLC.