When it comes to classic cars, they can be all over the spectrum when it comes to reliability. For every tough-as-nails Volkswagen Beetle or BMW 3-Series (E30 Generation, of course), you have a handful of beautiful lemons waiting in the wings to test your patience and commitment to making sure that these older generations of cars are preserved for years to come. Below are a few of our favorite unreliable classic cars. Though we can’t recommend their reliability, we can’t fault them on their looks or style.
1977 Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Any car that is good enough for James Bond has to be not only great looking, but fast and sporty to boot. With its quasi-Mustang good looks, the Vantage is gorgeous, and at the time of its creation it was dubbed “Britain’s First Supercar” for its blisteringly fast 170 mph speeds. No matter how great that 1977 V8 Vantage looks on the road it may be difficult to keep it moving there. British cars are notorious for being unreliable even today, and the 70’s were rightfully notorious for British car unreliability (thanks British Leyland).
Lancia Scorpion
Though sold under the Montecarlo name in Europe, the Lancia Scorpion was renamed for the American market and only sold for two years. Its striking modern good looks hid multiple issues, including an underpowered engine, a rust prone body and some classic unreliable Italian engineering.
Ferrari F355
If you were a kid who was into cars in the 90’s, the Ferrari 355 was almost certainly the car poster that you had on your bedroom wall. The car is beautiful, sleek and gorgeous with distinctive aerodynamic venting in the doors and delightful pop up headlights. The problem is with its unreliability. In addition to massive repair costs for common maintenance such as replacing the headers and failing valve guides, there was a recall put out for the car a full 10 years after the car finished production due to poorly placed engine lines that—if not repaired properly—can cause fires.
Porsche 996
Not only was the Porsche 996 the first water cooled Porsche, but it was the first to be truly mass produced, a decision that left many Porsche fans surprised and confused. With all of this against it, it is surprising to see what a stunning creature this car is. With characteristic Porsche good looks, it seems hard to believe that that any car enthusiasts have anything bad to say about the car. Until you learn about that pesky intermediate shaft bearing. Failure of this shaft will lead to very expensive engine failure, and an 8% failure rate is alarmingly high.
Though We Hate To Love…
When it comes to cars, however, we can’t always control what we love. Though we may know that our dream classic or vintage car may not be the most reliable, we still may want it anyway. If you are one of the lucky people who has a gorgeous foreign car that may perhaps have a spotty track record on reliability, our certified mechanics are the best option to make sure that your troublesome dream car lives a full and healthy life. Whether you want to prevent the worst or fix what has already happened, our car repair technicians will be happy to make sure your classic car is running for years to come.
