What’s the Worst First Car?
Photo: Stellantis
There are a lot of factors that make a perfect first car. The ideal choice would be something inexpensive, reliable, powerful enough not to be a nuisance on on-ramps but not so powerful that it becomes a danger. Maybe, if you’re really feeling fancy, you could get something that’s a bit interesting too.
But today, we’re not here to talk about the best first cars. We want to talk about the worst — the cars no teen should ever get their hands on, let alone drive every day. What’s the worst first car you can imagine?
Photo: Stellantis
For a modern entry, I’ll put forth the Dodge Swinger twins. You could make the case for either body style to be worse than the other — a coupe is inherently less practical for a teen, but the four-door means it’s more likely that more people are hurt when it inevitably spins into a tree — so both get the mention here.
The Swingers are based on the Scat Pack formula, meaning these two rear-driven machines have far too much power to just hand over to a sixteen-year-old. Plus, can you imagine the high school lunch table jokes? That kid would be sick of hearing about key parties by the end of their first week with the car. Do kids know what key parties are?
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The Swinger twins would be terrible first cars, and my pick for the worst of the modern era. Look older, though, and you can find even worse examples. Do not, under any circumstances, buy your kid a Citroen DS for their high school commute.
Those are my picks for the worst first car, but what’s yours? They can be from any era, and be the worst for any reason, but you’ll have to back up your answer with some solid reasoning. Leave your best answers in the comments, and we’ll collect our favorites tomorrow afternoon.
