So that’s what they do to the cars with bad commercials…

Be honest with us: would this commercial for a 1987 Sterling have convinced you to buy one?

Yeah, it didn’t quite get us there, either. Maybe it was all the talk about investment banking. It might have been his conversation about mining companies. Either way, this car commercial failed to let us know anything of relevance about the advertised car; they pretty much wasted the entire 30-second commercial talking about the value of gold.

Other Failed Cars

Although that commercial didn’t convince anyone to buy a new Sterling in 1987 (or in any of the following years: the company folded in 1991), many people make new car purchases every year. Similarly, these cars might have been great, but also saw a fate similar to that of Sterling:

1. The DeLorean. Started and failed within two years, this car company produced less than 9,000 cars during its existence. Even with its popularity from the movie Back to the Future, there has only been talk of producing a small number of vehicles under this name.
2. The Ford Edsel. Also known as “the Titanic of cars”, this car only sold 64,000 models despite the hype. The grill of the car was also compared to “an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon.” That’s a pretty sour review.
3. The most recent Ford Thunderbird. Looking to capitalize on nostalgia, Ford revamped the traditional design with a modern flair. Unfortunately, sales were so dismal that the updated classic car only lasted three years.
4. The Mazda RX-7. Despite winning nearly every accolade possible, the design only lasted 5 years. High insurance rates coupled with a harsh ride traditional to sports cars made this model a failure in the United States.

What made these cars flop when others didn’t? There have been many less attractive, less practical cars that have done perfectly well on the market. For some reason, these cars didn’t make the cut. Share your thoughts on our Facebook and Twitter pages!