Lemon harvest - or the Monday cars
09/17/2014
The discussion about "Monday cars" used to be a frequent topic at the regulars' table, but also in conversations among car journalists, because there were indeed cars that were delivered to customers in modest quality time and again. ADAC Motorwelt then began to award the "Silver Lemon" at some point.
The award was based on the experiences of Motorwelt readers who were able to report particularly bad problem cars. In 1974/1975, some car buyers were hit particularly hard, as examples showed:
- the spare wheel of a Scirocco had the wrong tire mounted on it
- the windshield wipers on another Scirocco could not be turned off
- in a third Scirocco, the automatic seat belt reel was not fastened
- in a VW Beetle the fuel gauge didn't work because there was no cable on it
- in a Beetle convertible, the blinker switched on the brake light; when braking, the blinker went out, but the parking light came on instead
- a Golf driver couldn't get the doors open - the wrong locks were installed
- a Sunbeam was delivered with wasps built into the headlights
- in an Opel Kadett, remnants of fabric from the roof covering lay behind the door panels and prevented water from draining away
- the steering wheel of an Austin Mini was blocked
- two days after purchase, a Ford Escort lost three bolts from a wheel
- because the brakes on a BMW always pulled askew, the entire brake system was gradually replaced, some parts even several times
As you can see, vehicles from various manufacturers were affected and not just cars from countries that you might have suspected straight away.
The list also only contains examples, as defects in paintwork, instruments and other technology were common and affected almost all manufacturers.
However, the Matra-Simca Bagheera drivers were hit particularly hard in the 1974/1975 period. The plastic sports car built by Axel Bier in 1974 had so many defects that he finally took the car out of service (picture above) to await legal action against the manufacturer/distributor. The car was so leaky that it was soaking up water, there were a few things wrong with the chassis, the engine was leaking oil, the steering was blocked, the drive shaft was coming loose, and so on. The fact that the operating instructions were also missing was a minor detail. And Bier's Bagheera was not an isolated case; one buyer even received two new three-seaters as a result of an accident, both of which had the same annoying faults. This is how the Matra Bagheera received the "silver lemon" in 1975.
But, as ADAC Motorwelt added in issue 6/1975 , it could also have been Volkswagen that received the dreaded trophy, as there were 95 cars from Wolfsburg among the 240 contenders, including 11 Beetles, 20 Passats, 25 Golfs and 39 Sciroccos. "All of them had been registered in the summer of 1974. The same issues kept cropping up here: Water in the interior, oil loss, gearbox replaced, clutch replaced, gearshift defective, carburetor not working properly, throttle cable torn, speedometer cable broken, instruments defective, suspension struts rattling (Passat), exhaust broken off (Scirocco)," wrote Motorwelt at the time.
The Volkswagen weaknesses are hardly remembered today, but many car enthusiasts still remember that the Matra-Simca Bagheera was awarded the silver lemon back then.
