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4. Cadillac Cimarron
It was a bad idea that got worse. Pressed by CAFE standards and fear of new small cars coming from Mercedes-Benz and BMW, Cadillac needed a fuel-efficient small car to join its line- up. So, GM took a Chevy Cavalier (seriously), doubled its price by adding a bunch of standard features and called it the Cadillac Cimarron.
The first Cadillac to come with a four-cylinder engine in seven decades, the Cimarron lacked sophistication, solid performance or anything else the Crest-and-Wreath brand once stood for. The car came with a four-speed manual transmission option if you can believe adding that much insult to brand injury. It was a re-badged Chevy–a bad Chevy at that–and everyone knew it. Engineers at GM who were ordered to carry out the brief hated working on it. A few, we are told, even took early retirement to get out of it. This piece of automotive flotsam was actually sold for seven long years.
Why it’s so dumb: Seriously? Isn’t it enough that they looked at a Chevy Cavalier and saw a Cadillac hiding in there somewhere.
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