What’s the Worst Race Car of All Time?

Was the 2014 Caterham F1 car the worst racer ever? Photo: Mark Thompson (Getty Images)

If you’re thinking about the most successful race car of all time, your mind might jump straight to Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F2004, which won him his fifth straight F1 drivers championship. Or, you might think of the Mercedes W11 that helped Lewis Hamilton claim his seventh world title.

But not every race car out there can be as dominant as these two machines. Instead, some are left fighting around the bottom of the pack with no hope of finishing anywhere near the points. So, across whatever form of motorsport you can think of, what do you think is the worst race car of all time?

There are a lot of pretty bad options to choose from. If you’re a rally fan, you might think about that time Daihatsu decided it wanted to let its Cuore city car try its hand at loose-surface racing. Predictably, this 68hp kei car didn’t fare too well when it went off-road.

And what about the time Citroen sent its ID19 racing? That was never destined to end well for the family-sized sedan.

When I think of bad race cars, two always spring to mind pretty quickly. First is the Honda Earth Car that raced in F1 in 2007; it looked cool but it raced bad. And secondly, any conversation about slow F1 racers inevitably comes back to the 2014 Caterham. A car that, for me, is easily the ugliest vehicle to ever enter an F1 race.

Run during the team’s final season in the sport, the CT05 was a pretty bad racer. Over the course of the 2014 season, Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson and Kamui Kobayashi never managed to score a point, with a highest finishing position of 11th.

The two cars also clocked up 12 retirements over 19 races. Not a great look for the team.

But that’s just my pick, what would you go for? Head to the comments section below and let us know your suggestions for the worst race car of all time.