The 1978 Subaru BRAT was basically a fake pickup truck. Famous for building fast, efficient, and reliable vehicles, Subaru is an incredible option when you consider their low prices. Unfortunately, however, they didn’t have the same success with their BRAT model. The car was proof enough for the company of why it should stick to regular cars and stay as far away from trucks as possible.
And truly, Subaru just added a flatbed to the back of their popular Sedan in order to turn this BRAT model into a truck. Even though the car became famous because Ronald Reagan drove one for twenty years, and this made sales go way up, the BRAT eventually tanked.
2007 BMW X6
When BMW first launched the X6, it was marketed as a way for wealthy off-road enthusiasts to drive in luxury and style, while also being able to travel off-road. Unfortunately for them, the first generation of this car didn’t do a great job with either one of those things.
The SAV (“sports activity vehicle”) opened to moderate sales and wasn’t received too well nor too poorly. Over the subsequent years, BMW has smoothed out the wrinkles and managed to upgrade the car into something an off-road enthusiast would actually enjoy driving. While today’s options for a great BMW to drive in the dirt are much larger and better working, the original X6 was not something anyone would be too proud of.
2006 Dodge Dakota
Dodge had the not-so-great idea of taking its famous Ram Dakota and completely redesigning it in 2006. The trims looked more sporty and the engine had been upgraded to a 4.7-liter V8 engine with 302 horsepower. The new 2006 Dodge Dakota sounded promising, and it managed to garner quite a bit of fame among drivers. But the dream was short-lived.
The Dakota trucks broke down a lot, often in mid-driving, making them into a financial nightmare, since many of the vehicles had to be recalled or refunded. The company had only sold 12,000 Dakotas by 2011 and decided to discontinue the Dakota model entirely just after five years of it being on the market.
GMC Canyon
The GMC Canyon looked like a powerhouse, and customers had high hopes. However, this all came crumbling down when they realized it had a fuel leak problem. On the outside, the GMC Canyon looked fierce, but on the inside, it had transmission malfunctions, fuel system and cabin electronics issues.
The car was even recalled a few times for having a very serious issue - a leaky fuel system that could potentially make the car go up in flames. It doesn’t live up to the standards of its competitors, which made it a bad offer when compared to other pickup trucks with a similar price tag.
Chevy SSR
Considered by many to be one of the quirkiest, ugliest pickup trucks to ever be made, the Chevy SSR looked like a prop car. The SSR stood for 'SuperSport Roadster', but in reality, it was more like a vehicle that could be best described as a 'retractable hardtop convertible pickup truck'.
The SSR had a lot of cheap plastic in its interior and fell short when it came to performance. Also, it's quite an uncomfortable car, and definitely doesn't live up to its price of over $40,000. Despite its average acceleration time of 7.7 seconds from zero to sixty and 400 horsepower, this is probably one of the most controversial vehicles ever made.