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Should you have some certainties when driving a luxury car? That might make some sense, but it didn’t stop some of the most highly-respected luxury brands from making some of the worst-made luxury cars of all time. These cars could have easily brought some brand names down a few notches.

The 1955 BMW Isetta is easily one of the worst-made luxury cars in history

1955 BMW Isetta
1955 BMW Isetta | Wiki Commons

Just looking at this strange and ugly nightmare of a car, you wonder why BMW ever put their badge on this thing. The Isetta appears to be a bubble on wheels and offers nothing that makes you want to drive it. Even though the Isetta wore the BMW badge, it was designed as an Italian microcar that got 78 mpg thanks to the one-cylinder engine. Unfortunately, that fuel savings came with a car that only offered 12 horsepower and took 30 seconds to reach 31 mph.

Was the 1974 Jaguar XK-E V12 Series III really that bad?

1974 Jaguar XK-E V12 Series III
1974 Jaguar XK-E V12 Series III | Wiki Commons

The overall styling of this Jaguar sports car was pretty nice, save for the rubber bumpers, which seemed out of place. The biggest problem with the 1974 Jaguar XK-E V12 Series III wasn’t the style as much as the engine. The massive 5.3-liter V12 engine was too heavy and made this car hard to maintain, tune, and drive. This was a far cry from the E-Type of the 1960s. That car was as smooth as butter and quick as a bullet.

The 1981 Cadillac V8 6-4 was a hideous creation meant for the garbage can

1981 Cadillac V8 6-4
1981 Cadillac V8 6-4 | Wiki Commons

General Motors was well known for some of the land yachts we saw on the road, but this one was pretty awful. The V8 engine used in the 1981 V8 6-4 was one of the most useful engines with a deactivation cycle that made this engine one of the most advanced at the time. Unfortunately, the deactivation system wasn’t very good, and it worked slowly, which caused poor vehicle performance. This engine might have been ahead of its time, but this Cadillac was one of the worst-made luxury cars of the time.

Was the 1984 Maserati Biturbo really one of the worst-made luxury cars?

1984 Maserati Biturbo
1984 Maserati Biturbo | Wiki Commons

The 1980s weren’t kind to the automotive world, and the Maserati Biturbo, while not attractive, didn’t seem out of place. It could have been an acceptable car, but it wasn’t designed well by any standard. This dog of a car took drivers back to the 1960s when many sports cars would leave drivers stranded. This vs. That reports that parts would break and burn, making this a difficult car to live with. There was no sense of reliability in the 1984 Maserati Biturbo.

How bad was the Ferrari Mondial 8?

Ferrari Mondial 8
Ferrari Mondial 8 | Wiki Commons

Even though the current reputation of Ferrari is nearly impeccable, this brand did give us the Mondial 8, which is easily one of the worst-made luxury cars of all time. The style was incredible, but all of the good stuff ended there. The engine was pretty terrible, and the electronics were insanely awful. If you wanted a car with tons of torched parts, the Ferrari Mondial 8 was the performance car you wanted to drive.

Can you imagine how much some owners paid for these worst-made luxury cars? The thought of how bad these cars were is simply baffling.

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