I could not convince you to divert your eyes from the Z8, and 57% voted for it over the Aston. Today I’m going to make it very, very hard for you with very, very bad cars – a Mahindra CJ 340 goes up against a Ferrari.
Don’t worry, I’ll make it make sense.
The 1982 Mahindra CJ 340 vs the 1986 Ferrari Mondial 3.2 Cabriolet
I wanted to have some fun here, and whole perusing Cars & Bids I found a thing that peaked my interest in the Mahindra CJ. It’s a World War 2 Jeep clone, made worse by elongating the snout to accommodate a cheaper Peugeot engine. It was never sold in the US, mostly because it’s terrible. The one I’m showing you is of course imported, and it’s got a host of upgrades that amount to putting lipstick on a pig. But…the CJ 340 was cheap, and cheap is a good thing. This thing is still made today!
A while back, Top Gear released a special called “The Worst Car in the History of the World”, and it featured both that Jeep clone and this Ferrari Mondial. It’s one of my favorite episodes because it focuses on what makes a bad car truly bad. You might never have heard of a Mahindra, but you know Ferrari. You’re expecting amazing.
The Mondial was anything but. It’s ugly, handled like your mother-in-law after a night on the town, and broke down all the time. This blue convertible example should not fool you anymore than a hardtop version would.
Let’s be honest, you don’t want either of these cars. But if you had to choose…
The 1982 Mahindra CJ 340
Listen, as far as Mahindras go, this one is pretty sweet:
- Fully restored, with just 150 miles
- Engine and transmission swapped for Toyota parts (four-cylinder turbo-diesel)
- Power steering and A/C added
- LED headlights and aux lighting
- Pioneer stereo, with Apple CarPlay
- A bunch of military bits added, along with an off-road kit
- Titled in North Carolina, so the import bit is taken care of.
- Bid to $10,200 so far
If I’m going to bring you weird, at least it’s good weird. I can’t imagine spending $10k on this thing, and there’s no way the person selling is expecting to make any money. And though it’s unique, most people will assume it’s just a Jeep. This car is a novelty.
Classic.com has a history of these going around $15k. Remember, this car is supposed to be cheap – its only redeeming virtue. Is the Toyota bits and upgrades enough?
The 1986 Ferrari Mondial 3.2 Cabriolet
The Mondial was actually sold here, but this particular example is from Europe and has been imported.
- 29,700 miles (47,800 km)
- Clean CarFax – how do they know? This car was born on the other side of the ocean 44 years ago.
- Nice Blue Sera over Blue leather
- Aftermarket wheels and stereo
- 3.2-liter V-8 with 266 horsepower, and a five-speed manual
- Chips on the front end, a broken tonneau cover, tires from 2019, interior wear, and a broken fuel gauge are currently issues.
- Currently bid to $25,000 – it’ll be over by the time you read this.
The average price of this car is $49,505. That’s crazy – what the hell is wrong with some enthusiasts? Someone even purchased one for $105k. Is it just the badge? It certainly isn’t the driving experience.
So here are two contenders for worst car in the world. Obviously, you’d have the Ferrari. But would you have it at that price, or maybe just go off-road in a weirdly nice Mahindra?
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