Ray: Time for more of your nominations for "Worst Cars of the Millennium." Boy, we really struck a nerve with this contest. We've been inundated with mail.
Tom: Remember, soon we'll be asking you to vote on THE single worst car of the previous millennium, so be thinking about it! Here are how some of your fellow readers are voting:Dear Tom and Ray -- I'm a former college professor turned attorney. I used to teach, among other things, business ethics. The Pinto was a reliable case study, discussion-starter and general bad example of moral reasoning. And as an attorney, I know that the Pinto made both product liability and criminal law history. (Ford got a "not-guilty" verdict when they were prosecuted in a small town in Indiana. Big surprise: They spent a ton of money on their defense -- probably more than the county's entire yearly budget!) The Pinto is the only car I know that lends itself so well to infamy in both my careers. A car that kills, maims and scars for want of a known, dirt-cheap fix has got to be the worst. It is a car that will live in infamy. -- Bob
Dear Tom and Ray -- The Chevy Vega has my vote as the worst car of the last 1,000 years. My 1975 Vega actually broke in half going over railroad tracks in North Little Rock, Ark. I knew something was wrong from the cracking-splitting sound, and even more so when I tried to shift down for a stop light -- the whole rear end of the car came around, slightly, to the front. Sort of like a dog wagging its tail. This action was even worse when I applied the brakes. I drove the car -- very slowly and carefully -- to the Chevy dealer there, and they put it up on the rack. There, I discovered, to my horror and that of the repairman, that the entire frame on both sides had cracked from the wheel wells up. -- Loren
Dear Tom and Ray -- My nominee for Worst Car of the Millennium is the 1970 (or was it '71?) Plymouth Cricket. This minicompact was manufactured in Japan by a company that carefully refrained from identifying itself. The car was the first fully biodegradable vehicle. It began to recycle itself as soon as the purchase agreement was signed. Most major moving parts were replaced in the first year, and the car literally spent more time in the dealer's garage than in mine during its first year. There was no second year of production. -- Jack
Dear Tom and Ray -- Actually, any Fiat would probably rank high (low?) in any "Worst Cars" list. But the 850 Spider was especially bad because it was actually a really nice-looking car and was something of a babe magnet, so hopeful idiots like me kept pouring money into them in a futile attempt to keep them operational for more than a few days at a time. They not only looked like toy cars, they were designed and built as though they were toys. -- Ken
Dear Tom and Ray -- The 1972 Ford Galaxie was the only car I know of that would let you watch the road slip by through the gap between the front and rear doors. Rear-seat passengers would freeze from the wind that blew in on winter days and roast on summer days. Interestingly enough, Dick Butkus would have needed a 15-yard charge to get the doors to slam shut. Add to that nonexistent handling, feeble brakes, rotten sheet metal and 10 miles to the gallon (highway). The Renault Dauphine should not be considered since it was not a real car, but rather the French government's covert attempt to reduce traffic in Paris. They figured only one in 10 would be running at any one time. -- Andy
Tom: If you want to send us a nomination or second a nomination, just jot down the name of the car and the reason you think it deserves the award.
Ray: You can mail it to us at the address below or e-mail it to us at our Web site -- the Car Talk section of www.cars.com -- where you can also read other people's nominations. Stay tuned for more "Worst Cars" letters in the coming weeks.
The Magliozzi brothers' radio show, "Car Talk," can be heard Saturdays at 10 a.m. and Sundays at noon on KUER FM 90.1, and on KCPW 88.3/105.1 FM Saturdays at 9 a.m. and Sundays at 10 a.m. If you have a question about cars, write to Click and Clack Talk Cars c/o King Features Syndicate, 235 E. 45th St., New York, NY 10017. You can e-mail them by visiting their Web site at http://cartalk.com.