As a brand, Ford
is associated with quality American automobiles capable of getting the job done. Even as far back as the 1950s, Ford has produced cars that have fascinated car owners either with their utility or style. So, it may be surprising to some to discover that five different Ford models have ended up on Time's
list of the worst cars of all time. So, let's look at these vehicles and why they didn't quite live up to the Ford name. The Ford Model T laid the groundwork
The Model T, built in 1908, was the result of businessman Henry Ford's effort to change this status quo by mass-producing a quality car that everyone could afford.
However, despite the significant contributions the Model T made toward the automotive industry, cementing its place in history, some issues made the car less reliable than many of its European counterparts of the time. For example, the fuel delivery system in the car was powered by gravity, which meant that if someone drove up a steep hill, the car's engine would run out of gas. The solution was to drive up the hill backward, which presented its own list of safety issues.
Did the Ford Edsel fall victim to poor design, public opinion, and the economy?
By the 1950s, Henry Ford II, the grandson of the famous industrialist who revolutionized the assembly line, decided that the company needed something new and bold. So, he turned to some of the brightest minds in America and tasked them with providing Ford with a car that would blow the world away. What they came up with was the Edsel.
However, the Ford Edsel was more expensive than many of its contemporaries. Not only did it come with a higher price tag, but it was a gas guzzler. People also found the grille inappropriate-looking, saying it resembled a woman’s nether region. As a result, when an economic recession hit, Ford had no choice but to end the model in 1959, just over a year after the car debuted.
The Ford Pinto will forever live in infamy
The Ford Pinto was a car that sparked controversies, lawsuits, recalls, and reforms spoken of in business ethics circles.
The famous design element fiasco of the Pinto was that its fuel tank was located between the rear bumper and the solid live rear axle, which was in fact standard for compact cars at the time.
As a result, the Ford Pinto had a fault where low-speed rear-end collisions caused the fuel tank to erupt into flames. Spurred by a number of complaints of the injuries and deaths caused by the Pinto's fuel tank erupting—despite some being exaggerations—the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched a formal investigation in 1974 that found that the fuel system was defective.
After people brought 117 lawsuits against Ford, the Pinto was discontinued in 1980.
The 1995 Ford Explorer ushered in a new age of SUV...for better or worse
Ford debuted the Explorer SUV in 1991, and the vehicle proved so popular that they released the second generation of Explorer in 1995. The 1995 model was larger in many respects than its predecessor.
Many cite the early Ford Explorers as starting the SUV craze that swept the nation from the mid-‘90s to the early 2000s, culminating in the genuinely gargantuan Hummer. While the 1995 Explorer wasn't necessarily a bad car—if you ignore the enhanced rollover risk that Ford spent most of the early ‘90s combating—the vehicles it inspired would go on to leave a not-so-great mark on history.
MORE: Poor Reviews Haven't Hurt Sales of the 2021 Ford Explorer
The 2000 Ford Excursion picked up where the Explorer left off
If the Ford Explorer was proof that larger vehicles were preferred by the general public, the 2000 Excursion was proof that too much of a good thing can be bad. One of the largest and heaviest SUVs ever produced, the 2000 Excursion was over six feet tall, almost 19 feet long, and weighed 8,600 lbs. Unfortunately, while it was intended for general labor and trailblazing, its 10,000-lb. towing capacity saw more shopping mall parking lots than fields and mountains.
Finding adequate parking for the 2000 Excursion was a nightmare for anyone without a huge garage. And with an average fuel economy of 12.52 miles per gallon, you could expect to spend almost as much time fueling it as you did driving it.
Even if your car is on the list, you still need affordable insurance
Though some of Ford's vehicles have failed to live up to expectations, whether through poor design or public opinion, even these cars and SUVs need to be insured on the road. And if you need quality insurance at a reasonable price, you should download the Jerry
app. We compare quotes from top insurance companies to get you the best possible rate for your budget. 
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