Great Car, Bad Engine: 7 Cars That Were Almost Legendary
Some cars get the styling right, nail the chassis tuning, and deliver all the personality in the world, yet end up remembered for the one thing that missed the mark: the lackluster lump under the hood. It’s a special kind of heartbreak when a model has the ingredients to be genuinely great, but is held back by anemic output, questionable engineering, or drivetrains that simply didn’t match the promise of the rest of the package. From iconic ’80s wedges to misunderstood mid-engine experiments and even a few beloved European nameplates, these seven cars prove that sometimes the difference between legendary and lackluster comes down to what’s delivered between the fenders.
The Starion and Conquest
This is a hill we’re willing to die on: the boxy bombasticness that was the Mitsubishi Starion (and US-market Conquest) is the best looking of the 1980s angular sports cars. In factory wide body form, these little rear-wheel-drive coupes have timeless retro styling, even though these budget entry-level Japanese cars had some sub-par build quality issues, like most other ‘80s cars, when it comes to the interior and exterior trim.
In Japan, buyers could purchase a Starion with the turbo 2.0-liter 4G63B that made 197 horsepower and is famously tunable (ever heard of the Lancer EVO?). But here in the US, the Starions and Conquests came with the 2.6-liter turbo 4G54B four-cylinder engine. You may think that the extra 0.6 liters of displacement would make it more powerful, but in reality, it was only a little torqueier and made 52 fewer horsepower. Also, the performance aftermarket wasn’t nearly as friendly to the 2.6-liter, and many of these feel victim to the local scrap yard after endless engine problems.
The Mazda RX8
We are not rotary haters here at Car Junkie Mag, but we also can’t deny their well-earned reputation. When the Mazda RX8 came out for the 2003 model year, it carried over the same reputation as its FD RX7 big brother for crisp handling and light weight. The RX8’s styling will never top the legendary FD, and enthusiasts have a love-hate relationship with the looks, but even we can admit that the unique design has grown on us just a little over the years.
But while the FD RX7 had the twin-turbo 1.3-liter rotary that made 252 horsepower in the states, the RX8 debuted with a non-turbo Renesis rotary engine. We got the high-RPM screams, but only 191 horsepower. The 6-port Renesis received a much-needed bump to 232 horsepower, but still no turbo. The drop in power, the slight bump in curb weight compared to the previous RX generation, and the infamous rotary reliability issues, it should be no surprise that you see these for sale on marketplace from time to time for dirt cheap, but never in good running condition.
The DMC DeLorean
Ok, calling the DMC DeLorean DMC-12 a “great” car may be a bit of a stretch with its heavy stainless steel body and quintessentially low-rent ‘80s interior, but don’t you dare call these uncool. Even before the Back To The Future movies, these American mid-engine sports cars from Pontiac’s own bad boy, John DeLorean, was undeniably a head turner.
But John Deloran’s mid-engine dream had a major shortcoming due to a lack of funds (and other controversial issues *sniff, sniff*), which was the engine. You would think the father of the muscle car would’ve installed an American V8 behind the driver, but that was not the case. The DMC DeLorean is lazily pushed down the road by a 2.85-liter OHC PRV V6 rated at 130 horsepower. These mid-engine sports cars struggled to break 100 miles per hour. PRV stands for Peugeot-Renault-Volvo, and while these engines aren’t the worst production engine ever made, the lack of power and reliability issues plagued the short-lived DeLorean.
The Pontiac Fiero – Iron Duke
The Pontiac Fiero gets a lot of hate these days, and we aren’t really sure why. A budget mid-engine competitor to the Toyota MR2 from America’s rebellious brand Pontiac? What’s not to love? Well, early problems with quality, handling, and even fires really damaged the Fiero’s reputation. And while it eventually received a 140-horsepower 2.8-liter V6, it debuted with the 92-horsepower 2.5-liter four-banger known as the Iron Duke and used that old dinosaur as the base engine until production ended.
Does the name Iron Duke ring a bell? It should; it’s the same engine that was used in USPS mail vans starting almost four decades ago. That lethargic peak power came in below 5,000rpm and struggled to get the little Pontiac to 60 in less than 12 seconds. The Iron Duke was pulling double duty delivering the mail and crippling depression daily. We know the Fiero was first and foremost an economy car, but an all-iron sub-100-horsepower mid-engine four-cylinder is what started the Fiero’s reputation as a dud.
The 3rd-Gen Toyota MR2
Speaking of mid-engine, two-seat, entry-level economy cars, the Toyota MR2 has, and always will be, a legend in this category. Exciting handling, crisp styling, and rev-happy, reliable Toyota 4-cyl engines power these cars. The first gen received an optional supercharged 1.6-liter, the second gen could be had with the legendary 3S-GTE turbo 2.0-liter, but the 3rd generation only came with the naturally aspirated 1ZZ 138-horsepower 1.8-liter.
It’s not that Toyota didn’t have better options to offer. Other cars like the Celica GTS, Matrix XRS, and even the Pontiac Vibe GT received the 8,200rpm, 180-horsepower 2ZZ four-cylinder engine, so why not the MR2? While this generation was still a lightweight at roughly 2,200 pounds and offered a manual transmission, the decision to only offer the lower-horsepower pedestrian four-cylinder engine seems like a real bonehead move.
The Plymouth Prowler
Take it from this elder-millennial, when Plymouth debuted the Prowler concept in the ‘90s, everyone and their grandma lost their collective minds. Peak popularity for open-wheeled 1930s roadsters was hot in the ‘90s, and for an American manufacturer, especially a brand that had become as boring as Plymouth, to come out with this Chip Foose-designed concept, and eventually put it into production, was truly mind-blowing, and the magazines could not shut up about it.
But, unlike old school ‘30s hot rods, the Plymouth Prowler wasn’t blessed with a pushrod American V8. It instead received an anemic V6 underneath its thin hood. This iron block OHC 3.5-liter V6 was the same one that could be found in the brand’s full-size FWD cars and minivans, like the Dodge Intrepid and Caravan. The first two model years made just 214 horsepower, and while the 99-02 model years received a redesigned all-aluminum version that made 253 horses, the radical looks on the outside wrote a check that a V6 exhaust note couldn’t cash.
The V6 made more power than the 245-horsepower 5.9-liter Magnum V8 from the trucks, and was certainly lighter, but the V8 made a lot more torque and naturally made a sound out of the tailpipe that better matched the retro looks. If you wanted performance from any of the Mopar brands, you naturally went for the V10 Dodge Viper, but the Prowler was all about style and standing out, not performance. The Prowler only came with an automatic, so if it was only meant to be a super-cool cruiser, why not give it the character that only eight cylinders can bring?
The Porsche 911 and Boxster – M96 and M97 Engines
Porsche 911 fans are a very particular group of enthusiasts. So when the 996 generation was introduced in the late ‘90s with the first-ever water-cooled 911 engine, many of them refused to consider it a “real 911”, and many still do. But the 996 generation proved to be a very refined 911, and, other than the fried egg headlight design, it was a sharp-looking sports car for the time.
Since this was the first water-cooled 911, many were hesitant about its longevity and reliability. But time proved that German engineering prevailed, and the M96 (and early M97) flat-six engines were (almost) flawless. The M96/M97’s Achilles heel was the intermediate shaft bearing (commonly called the IMS bearing). The ball bearings on this shaft were prone to premature wear and needed to be replaced to keep the engine from enduring a catastrophic failure.
Most new engine designs have to go through some teething issues, but replacing this bearing is a massive job that is super expensive, and only the aftermarket offers solutions with an improved design. What was otherwise a great evolution for the 911 was tarnished by a poor IMS bearing design.
Honorable Mention: All Malaise Era Cars.
The term “Malaise era” refers to a period in the U.S. automotive industry from the mid-’70s through the early ‘80s. Malaise is characterized by poor products and industry unease. An underperforming economy and the 1973 oil crisis shifted focus from asphalt-destroying muscle cars to fuel-efficient compact daily drivers on a low, low household income.
The cars and trucks from this era have become famous for low-quality manufacturing and some of the lowest-horsepower V8s ever to be sold to the American public, be it a truck, a luxury car, or a performance car. Like the Pinto-based Mustang II that had the range-topping “Cobra II” model with a miserable 140-horsepower 302 cubic-inch V8. America’s pony car could barely trot.
GM didn’t bail on the C3 Corvette or 2nd-Gen F-body generations during these uneasy times, but they were certainly just as neutered. The 350 cubic-inch small block in the 1975 Corvette that could barely muster 155 horsepower, and the 6.6-liter Trans Am for 1978 barely made 200 horsepower, even though Smokey And The Bandit made it seem like double that number.
You would think that with such dismal power figures, these V8s could at least produce some livable fuel efficiency on cheap, low-octane gas, but that wasn’t the case either. Talk about a sad lose-lose situation for Americans that lasted a decade.
Close To Greatness, But Atleast Memorable
At the end of the day, each of these cars proves that a flawed powerplant can hold a great platform back, but it can’t erase what made them compelling in the first place. Whether it was bold styling, forward-thinking engineering, or a driving experience that deserved better, these machines remain memorable precisely because they almost hit greatness. And in the world of enthusiasts, “almost” is often the spark that keeps the legend alive.
