Ten Cars That Caused a Public Controversy

Sometimes a car is on everyone's mind. . . though not for the right reasons. These cars, for one reason or another, were at the center of a public controversy and many are still remembered in infamy.

The Chevrolet Corvair changed the automotive industry in a huge way, though probably not in the way GM hoped. It was the center of Ralph Nader's book Unsafe At Any Speed, which sharply criticized the Corvair's use of swing-axle rear suspension and resulting tendency for oversteer. In reality, the Corvair wasn't any worse than other cars with swing-axle rear suspension, but the book forced GM to modify the car significantly and lead the government to play a more active role in car safety.

Sure, the Carrera GT was built in the 21st century, but it's a supercar in the old school sense. Sadly, when actor Paul Walker and friend Roger Rodas were killed in one, many believed that Porsche was acting irresponsibly in selling such a knife-edge car to the public. We here at Road & Track disagree.

Today, we barely raise an eye at 200-mph family sedans like the Cadillac CTS-V and Dodge Charger Hellcat, but in early-1990s England, there was serious debate over this, the Lotus Carlton. Lotus took an ordinary Vauxhall Carlton sedan, and cranked everything to 11, resulting in a 180-mph sleeper. It was the perfect car for criminals, and it inspired a heated public debate over if it was too quick for a family sedan. Seriously.

There were no lack of gas-guzzling SUVs available in the mid-2000s, but none symbolized America's pre-recession excess quite like the Hummer H2. It's a car so loaded with symbolism, it was bound to eventually become the target of ire, which it did when fuel prices shot through the roof and the economy went down the drain.

Some cars deserve the negative attention they receive; others are unfortunate victims of a made-up problem. The Audi 5000 was the latter, as it was the center of a controversy over "unintended acceleration." Of course, this "unintended acceleration" was actually just driver error legitimized by a largely erroneous 60 Minutes reportreport, but it still caused huge damage for Audi. It wasn't until the late-1990s that the brand made a comeback.

Speaking of unintended acceleration, Toyota was a victim of largely the same troubles as Audi, once again, through no fault of its own. Driver error and improperly sized floor mats lead to cases of "unintended acceleration" in many cars (like the Lexus ES350) above, but it was still damaging for Toyota. The Company had to pay out over $1 billion for pretty much nothing.

Many cars have issues related to GM's badly engineered ignition switch, though the Cobalt has managed to become the poster child. In the Cobalt, a heavy keyring or a sudden jolt could cause the ignition to switch from "run" to "off," which disables the power brakes, power steering, and airbags. Worse still, GM knew about this defect and tried to cover it up.

Thanks to a poorly located gas tank, the Ford Pinto had a tendency to catch fire when in a rear-end collision. A bombshell report by Mother Jones accused Ford of valuing its own bottom line more than human lives, and the fallout was tremendous. The Pinto probably wasn't that much worse than cars it competed with, but it still became infamous.

Volkswagen's TDI scandal is unlike anything we've seen before. Other automakers have acted with negligence and paid the cost, but VW decided to blatantly cheat on emissions tests. VW's $14.7 billion settlement with the U.S. government is probably only the start of its troubles.

Now here's a controversy that's been blown way out of proportion: Australian safety advocates argue that the Ford Focus RS's Drift Mode should be banned because it encourages bad behavior. The local media is having a field day with this, and well, it's all a little ridiculous.