Survey: Most Under rated Cars of all time

Pre '57 Dodges & Plymouths, all the way back to pre WWII.

Good driving cars. Had the "SLA" suspension geometry long before Chevy "introduced" it on their 4th gen F body.


-bill

 

1950 Crossley Hot shot. It had 4 wheel disc brakes. small car pop off the windshield, headlights, and spare tire, top speed was 85mhp.

 

Bmw

 

I have always thought the Studebaker Lark was under rated along with the Gremlin. Even tho they were both ugly in the day they came with enough to get them up to old freeway speeds.

 

Carroll Shelby publicly said that the follow-on model, the GLH-S, stood for "Goes Like Hell, Somemore."

 

probably the best styled car of the 70's, the 71-2(screw 73 and the 5 mph bumpers) boattail buick rivieras. prices have started to climb, but still very affordable.

 

Amen to that ive owned two a 71 and a 72 and im allwayd scanning ebay for a good deal to pop up on another one but they are getting up there. i think its one of the most beautifull cars ever made. and would have been far more popular if the designers had there way and got it to a A body platform

 

people will piss and moan all day long about how expensive this hobby has gotten because of barrett-jackson, ebay etc. but shit, these cars can be bought any day of the week in excellent condition for under ten grand. 4-8 is common, and i still see lots of them under 2 grand. i had to try real hard to not buy one that sat a few blocks down from my house, $1200 on the window.

damn, now i'm itchin for one in a bad way again! i already have a 63 that doesn't get driven much, but i'd like to do a boattail daily driver. find a nice amateur resto or well preserved stocker with presentable paint, bag it, put it on 15" supremes or maybe tru-spokes, done! it would probably be the most stock car i would ever own.

 

the nice clean 72 i drove for all most 3 years was 1200. then the 71 i got just for the interior but still drove it thru one winter was 1500. that was 6 years ago now but they can still be had for that price range around here. i want my 72 back so bad so any one in muncie indiana know where it is let me know

 

dodge bros. sedans and fargo trucks. International Harvetser products

 

I came out of Raley's Market some months ago to find this Kaiser Traveler parked next to my truck. It's not restored or pampered, just a well-maintained old pup that is a daily driver.

 

YUGO-MIKE

 

I like em' too! "Rambler" has a pristine one in his garage, WITH Twin H power twin carb engine and a trick cylinder head. Saw this one in Winter Park Florda a few weeks ago.
JT

 

http://www3.sympatico.ca/big-d/V10.htm
This is the most underated.of all time. Still own it and enjoy driving it as much as the first day i got it. Fast (15.87 1/4 mile) Good on fuel on the highway (20.5 mpg at highway speeds(Imperial or Canadian gal) In the photo that is a 454 SS Chevy going down in defeat (in photo) and he had a chip and headers . I beat him by 1.7 seconds despite my heavy wheel spin. Dont get mad, he challenged me, I wasnt looking for trouble. His name for those in the Ottawa area is Arnie Malcolm , owner of Luskville dragstrip)He remembers .

 

'55-'56 Fords

I'm a 'Chevy' sort of guy, but the '55/56 Fords were good looking cars, especially the 2-door hardtops, but you hardly ever see them hot-rodded

Also '56 Plymouths, never saw many 'back in the old days' and you don't see them now; and I think they had some engine options that would leave the better known Chevy's in the dust

 

Late Model Corvairs too.



I would say it is the most under rated because it's sappose to be the most dangerous car ever built and is accually really safe. People just couldn't imbrace new things. Also WE KNOW NADAR WAS FULL OF SHIT. and it will out corner any car of the sixties.

 

63-68 International Harvester pickup... I think they were designed by Raymond Loewy.

 

I agree with the Corvair, pre '56 Mopars, and some of the other ones mentioned.

I think the 308 Hudson six is the most underrated hot rod engine, no one seems to use them. But the cars themselves are pretty popular with restorers and customizers, when you consider how few of them are around. It's not like you can buy a cheap runner '50 Hudson like you can a '50 Dodge or something like that.

I think the '52-'54 Fords are underrated. They're the "lost years" that can still be found for reasonable cash, where as 1951 back to the model T seems to be the holy grail of hot rodders and customizers.

The most underrated old cars in history are any four door sedans. A two door hardtop fifty-whatever Genericar would bring $20K when the identical same car in a four door sedan would be lucky to get $5K. Sure, the two door hardtops are often a prettier design, but it's amazing that everything else could be the same and still the car only brings a quarter of the price. I have some of each.

 

Hudsons, 41 -48 Chevy , 55-57 Pontiac ,41-48 Pontiac,50-52 Plym,50-52 Dodge

 

That's why I gots me a 258 waiting for its rebuild for a future project. Ah, someday....

 

I agree!!!! Especially the 1949-1954 Chryslers and DeSotos are hardly ever seen. Guys do the Olds's and Buicksof this vintage but I think the Mopars are much better constructed and with some imagination and work make neat old rods and customs (in fact I think they're lighter and smaller for better performance with a newer OHV engine). Great front suspension and leaf rears, no torque tube stuff to modify. Let's see more old Mopar's.!!

 

1963 Studebaker Avanti.....

And DeSotos

 

anything that said "W-30" on the side of it. monsters, all of 'em.

 

Or "Stage I"

 

Rambler Metropolitans
Also when you think about it MODEL T'S were underrated too! Hell they were used like trucks an tractors and wer driven in mud where roads were later built after the T made the tracks......Basic as hell-sold for 495 dollars new- and lots of em are still in running driving shape ....after 75 years or more!!
Did you ever think what the odds of a metal car of any vintage surviving were? Most sat outside in the elements the whole life of 50 75 years and were only painted with Alkallyd enamel and some even with a brush and still we find em as something to gladly take on as a restoration today!!

 

41-48 chevys dont get much attention but they are really good looking cars

48-50 dodge trucks....

 

Rivs...

Now that you've brought it up... My favorite Riv's are the 66 & 67's. Richard Langworth wrote "Designwise it was as perfect as a car could be, the single best Detroit design in the sixties." Beside he and I, it seems no one else has noticed.

 

'57 Plymouth and '57-'59 Fords. That's coming from a '57 Chevy owner.

 

yes, IH..you couldnt blow up a 345 with a rpg!!!!and 70 amx!!!cause i have one!
lots of amc's were underrated...

 

In the USA - Citroën. Mostly misunderstood, Citroën (before the '74 Peugeot takeover) was a leader in technology and THE avant-garde automaker. The first company to go completely front wheel drive, in 1934, with a car that was so far ahead of it's time that some of the features are current today: FWD, rack and pinion (1936-on), and monocoque (or unit-body) construction.
The 1955 DS-19 was touted at the time as being 20 years ahead of it's time, and some of the features of that car are being re-discovered even today (hi-pressure hydraulics, steering headlights, adaptive suspension). Add to that that when it was replaced by the CX, the DS STILL looked ahead of the times (1975).
The SM proved that FWD and hi-performance were not exclusive (though reliability of Italian engines was... ).
Rolls and Mercedes licenced the hydraulic suspension from Cit because nothing they did could equal it for ride comfort.
On the low end of the scale, the 2CV did and does things that the VW could only dream about. For a cheap car, built to a price and a specification, it practically shone with innovation. FWD, fully independent suspension without suspect swingaxles (1948, mind); an extremely lightweight structure, yet very strong; load-carrying capacity (bulkiness more than weight) that VW couldn't come near; and comfort that even luxury cars of the day could not equal. True, it is probably the ugliest car ever made, but it posseses a certain something that has propelled it to #1 Cult Car status as recently voted by some German magazine (imagine: Germans voting FOR something French; not just taking over the country...). And, yes, I drove one to work today. Did I mention that the heater (same principles as VW) actually WORKS!?!?
Oh, and Citroëns used to share a little something with Studebaker - the ability to rust to pieces in mere months.
Cosmo