Everyone in the world would love to possess a sports car and that makes a lot of sense when seeing just how fun they are to ride. When it comes to these vehicles, everyone knows that they are primarily known for their speed and awesome designs. The automotive world has been given some truly spectacular models over the years, so it is clear that we definitely have been quite lucky in the process. However, even though there has been a lot of success in the automotive world, it is essential to note that there have been some awful sports cars as well. These vehicles either had issues with being too slow or simply were built too poorly to ever be effective at the end of the day.
Updated May 2022: Years take a toll on everything and everyone, but these cars have been detrimental from the day they left the factory. Here are some of the least sporty “sports” cars the world has ever seen, and we’d love to erase them from history.
With all that has been stated thus far, we will be officially ranking the 20 worst sports cars of all time in this article. It is important to note that these vehicles will be coming from any decade and will be both international and domestic cars as well. What is truly fascinating about this list is that there are many cars from fantastic series that simply ended up being extremely awful. At the end of the day, there is no question that buying a sports car is definitely worth it for buyers if it is actually a solid model. However, it is essential to avoid the ones on this list no matter what because it is absolutely apparent that they are complete lemons at the end of the day. Nonetheless, let’s look at the official ranks of the 20 worst sports cars of all time!
17 1999 Plymouth Prowler
The Plymouth Prowler is one of the sports cars hardcore muscle car enthusiasts love to hate, and here’s why: Foremost, its looks. The Prowler tried to adopt a certain retro-inspired exterior that resembled a hot rod, but alas, Plymouth made it look like a depressed and deformed baby bat. Secondly, which is arguably even more important, is that the Prowler wasn’t available with a V8 engine, nor a manual transmission. That’s right, an American sports car that aimed to please gearheads longing for nostalgia was forced to drive the Prowler with a 3.5-liter V6 that was mated to a 4-speed slushbox.
16 1996 Hyundai Tiburon
Let’s address the elephant in the room straight away, Hyundai isn’t making cars anywhere near as horrid as the Tiburon was, just take a look at some of their new hot hatches for a point of reference. But back in the day when Hyundai wasn’t synonymous with fun, their first attempt at creating a sports car was in 1996, and it looked disgusting. It was called the Tiburon; its 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine put out a measly 120 hp, and all of it was sent to the front wheels. There was just nothing sporty about this sports car.
15 1974 Ford Mustang II
Calling a Mustang one of the worst sports cars ever is quite a bold statement, and unfortunately, this won’t be the last Mustang on our list either. Well, according to us the Mustang II isn’t quite worthy of the Horse logo on its front grille because it couldn’t be classified as a muscle car. When the Mustang II was first launched in 1974, it came with an inline-four strapped under its hood – and no fancy turbo- or superchargers bumped up its power figures either, so you’d be stuck with around 88 hp. Eventually, a King Cobra Mustang would emerge out of the dust in 1978 and at least it came with a V8. Oh, and did we mention that the Mustang II was inspired by the infamous Ford Pinto?
14 1969 Porsche 914
The 1969 Porsche 914 definitely had the potential to be a very solid sports car. But at the end of the day, it simply was far too underpowered to ever achieve this status.
In fact, many people in the automotive world consider it to be one of the worst sports cars of all time. There is no question that this will forever be a blemish on the car manufacturer’s history and with that, they definitely wish that they could take it back. However, this vehicle was simply too slow with its 80 hp four-cylinder Volkswagen engine, and now it is viewed as one of the worst ever because of it.
13 1994 Ford Mustang
There is absolutely no question that the Ford Mustang series is easily one of the most popular sports cars to have ever entered the automobile world, but they definitely have made some big mistakes as well. One example of this is the horrid 1994 Ford Mustang. This Mustang was just far too slow for its own good and this made it a complete flop when it came to its overall sales. When seeing how it possessed one of the worst engines in the history of the brand, the 145 hp OHC 3.8-liter V6, it makes a ton of sense that it was easily one of the worst sports cars of all time.
12 1976 Porsche 924
The 1976 Porsche 924 came into the automobile world with a plethora of expectations, and it was viewed as a potential top-notch vehicle.
Porsche obviously had a lot of success at the time as a car manufacturer, so there was no reason to believe that this car would end up being a lemon. However, this would quickly become a reality when people began to realize how weak this vehicle was. It was prone to break down on numerous occasions and as a result of this, it had a very short life cycle if it was continuously used. At the end of the day, it definitely is one of the worsts ever since it was basically an over-engineered Volkswagen in Porsche clothing.
11 1982 Ferrari Mondial
The 1982 Ferrari Mondial ended up being a complete flop during its time on the primary market because it quickly was prone to having a large variety of issues. With this being the case, the car manufacturer ended up being negatively impacted by this immensely. At the end of the day, there is no excuse for the many glaring shortcomings of this model, and it can forever be deemed as the all-time worst Ferrari ever made. To go along with a relatively low build quality by Ferrari standards, it also was far too slow to ever be a fun one to drive.
10 2009 Saturn Sky
The 2009 Saturn Sky was a model that the car manufacturer hoped would save them, but at the end of the day, it was simply too awful of a model to do so. In fact, this model was so bad that many people believe that it played a major part in the discontinuation of Saturn.
The 2009 Saturn Sky is a striking sports car but also just underwhelming in every other way. It was much slower than it looked, well unless you had the Redline trim level, and it wasn’t the most bulletproof of vehicles either.
9 1974 Jaguar E-Type
There is no question that Jaguar has an amazing history when it comes to sports cars, but that doesn’t mean the brand didn’t produce a lemon or two over the years. The first- as well as the second-generation E-Type, were astonishing cars, but once the third generation rolled around they failed miserably. At the end of the day, the car manufacturer simply made this model too slow and due to this, its 5.3-liter V12 was prone to encountering problems, not to mention its 2+2 version looked even more horrendous. It truly was just a complete excuse of an E-Type.
8 1992 Chevy Camaro
The Chevy Camaro is another iconic sports car series that has left a significant impact on the automobile world. However, that does not mean that all of their vehicles have been great. In fact, the 1992 Chevy Camaro can easily be classified as one of the worst ones ever. The main problem with this vehicle is that it was simply far too slow for it to be considered a true sports car, and it was in need of constant repairs. With that being stated, do not waste your time adding this to your collection.
7 1981 Delorean DMC-12
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Although the DeLorean is a very popular car in pop culture, the 1981 DMC-12 is easily one of the worst sports cars in the history of the automotive world. A massive reason behind this clear fact is that it simply is way slower than many regular cars from both the past and present, despite its space-age design.
This vehicle could have been something special if it wasn’t overly ambitious out of the gate. However, sadly the car manufacturer cannot change the past, and it is now a vehicle that will forever be associated as one of the worst sports cars to have ever been released.
6 1968 Ferrari Dino 206
The 1968 Ferrari Dino 206 may look like a very cool sports car, but at the end of the day, it simply did not perform like one. A huge reason behind this absolutely apparent fact is that it simply possessed far too weak of an engine and that made it go very slow compared to others. Had this vehicle actually been properly built and possessed an appropriate V8 Ferrari engine, it probably could have actually been a solid model. The 1960s were easily the best times when it came to sports cars, but this vehicle is one that all collectors should avoid because it truly is not worth it.
5 2006 Chevy Cobalt SS
The 2006 Chevy Cobalt SS is one of the most intriguing sports cars because it is one that really should have been something truly special. However, when seeing how awful it turned out, many individuals in the automobile world question how the car manufacturer messed it up so badly.
The biggest issue that came with this vehicle was that it clearly was rushed into production and not thoroughly inspected before it was released. This can largely be due to the intense competition between car manufacturers, but it truly made this car one of the worsts ever.
4 1953 Chevy Corvette
The first-generation Chevy Corvette is actually a cool sports car for the most part, but some, especially those built in the year 1953 go down as being some of the worst sports cars to have ever been released. It definitely may seem to be confusing to many people, but the data does not lie sadly. These vehicles were prone to having an immense amount of issues when it came to their engine and transmission, they are extraordinarily expensive, and they too had teensy 150-hp engines propelling them.
3 2002 Ford Thunderbird
The 2002 Ford Thunderbird was a complete and utter disaster, and it is absolutely apparent that this car manufacturer wishes that they could take it back. It essentially ended the good name of the Thunderbird series at the time, but thankfully people are still interested in their older models.
This vehicle was not built like the past ones and as a result of this, they were seen as bland and targeted at the elderly. At the end of the day, this is the model that all collectors should avoid at all costs because they were awfully built and utterly soulless.
2 1984 Pontiac Fiero
The 1984 Pontiac Fiero is one of the most disappointing cars of all time because it truly was supposed to develop into something special. However, due to the fact that it was simply far too poorly built, it just simply could not become as great as it truly could have been. To make matters worse for this sports car, it is absolutely apparent that it simply possessed far too weak of an engine. This can be displayed by the fact that it not only would need a magnitude of repairs to it, but it resulted in being one of the slowest sports cars to ever be released and hurt the Pontiac brand with a 0-60 time of around 12 seconds.
1 1980 Chevy California Corvette
The 1980 Chevy California Corvette is the worst sports car to have ever been released and there is no denying that. First and foremost, due to the laws in California, this vehicle was given a far weaker engine there and as a result of this, it simply would end up going far too slow. At the end of the day, these vehicles also were prone to having an abundance of issues that would end up making their life cycle far weaker than most cars on the primary market. Although the Corvette series is one of the best ones in the history of the automobile world, there is no denying that the 1980 California was just absolutely abysmal.
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