10 right-hand drive disasters

Imported cars, compromised in conversion

Since long before Brexit, British motorists have been dealing with a barrage of imperfections and inconveniences in imported cars.

Despite the fact that some 34% of the world drives on the left – including Japan, the UK and much of the Commonwealth – many of the biggest manufacturers seem to have great trouble converting their cars from left- to right-hand drive.

From tailgate-release switches mounted on the passenger side of an Alfasud hatchback to windscreen wipers sweeping the wrong way on a '70s BMW 5 series, right-hand drive machines can be fraught with trade-offs.

From the surreal to the ridiculous, these are 10 of the worst right-hand drive cars.

1. AMC Pacer (1975-80)

Launched in early ’75 as America’s first wide small car, the Pacer was AMC’s bold attempt to take on the growing band of economy imports and domestic compact rivals.

Powered by a thirsty 4.2-litre V8 shoehorned in at the eleventh hour in place of the rotary engine it was designed to use, the ‘small’ Pacer was particularly ill-suited to the UK, being wider than a Bentley Corniche, longer than a Triumph Dolomite, and costing more than a Jaguar XJ6.

AMC Pacer (1975-80) (cont.)

AMC’s importer converted the Pacer to right-hand drive, leaving the bulk of the steering gear on the left side of the car and running a chain drive behind the dash from the steering wheel to the top of the steering column, with a dire impact on the already lifeless steering.

The Pacer’s party piece was its unique passenger door: 4in longer than the driver’s to ease entry. For the UK the AMC retained its unequal doors, with the longer one on the driver’s side, leaving passengers to use the smaller door and making alighting a real challenge – particularly in tight British spaces.

2. Volkswagen Golf GTI MkI (1976-83)

Although Autobianchi and Simca can rightly claim to have pioneered the hot hatch, VW perfected the breed when it revealed its Golf GTI at the 1975 Frankfurt IAA.

Brits had to wait until 1977 before they could get their hands on one, and then only to special order with left-hand drive and an eye-watering price tag. Despite its favourable UK reception, no factory-built RHD models were offered until ’79.

Volkswagen Golf GTI MkI (1976-83) (cont.)

To add insult to injury, when the hot Golf finally arrived, right-hookers had been converted with a tortuous linkage between the brake pedal and servo, depriving the driver of the confidence and feel that LHD GTI motorists enjoyed with their direct connection.

This situation was compounded with time as linkages and bushes loosened and perished, making hard braking a nerve-racking affair in the RHD import.

3. Citroën GSA (1979-86)

Nine years after its launch, Citroën’s revolutionary mid-sized GS finally gained the hatch that it had always needed as it morphed into the GSA.

It also benefited from a heavily revamped dashboard, including the clever ‘satellite pods’ first seen on the Visa a year earlier; or at least this was the case for LHD markets.

Citroën GSA (1979-86) (cont.)

For the UK, however, when the GSA was introduced in late ’79, the dash from the outgoing GS was retained, with British buyers having to wait a couple of years until the new ‘hi-tech’ instrumentation became available.

By that time, loyal GS fans had got used to ‘normal’ gauges in RHD markets, because the magnified rotating-drum speedometer found in left-hooker GSs since 1970 (and later CXs) never appeared in RHD form.

4. Bugatti EB110 (1991-95)

What does the early-’90s EB110 have in common with the BMW Z1, Ferrari 288GTO, Ford GT and Chevrolet Corvette?

All have been sold officially in the UK in left-hand drive setup only, with the more recent Bugatti Veyron 16.4 and Chiron continuing this ‘tradition’ for specialist, luxury, high-performance and niche vehicles being imported with the steering wheel on the ‘wrong’ side.

Bugatti EB110 (1991-95)

At best, it’s a quirk of design purity. At worst, it’s a total inconvenience at pay booths and drive-throughs.

Why is the EB110 the one that makes this list? It was the first Bugatti with left-hand drive steering, starting the frustrating trend. 

All previous models – from the 1910 Type 13 to the T101 of ’51 – were RHD, largely due to the firm’s motorsport origins (most circuits run clockwise, thus favouring a right-hand driver).

5. Mini Clubman II (2007–13)

When BMW revived the Clubman name in 2007 for the lengthened version of the new Mini, the model featured a single backwards-opening rear passenger door – marketed as the ‘Clubdoor’ – on the right-hand side of the body.

In left-hand drive countries, this meant passengers could clamber out on to pavements without any hassle. For right-hand drive countries (which included the car’s home market), the bi-parting door didn’t change sides.

Mini Clubman II (2007–13) (cont.)

This meant back-seat passengers had to climb out of the car directly into traffic. Worse, still, the steering wheel prevented the driver’s seat from folding far enough forward, providing an extra obstacle for people trying to extricate themselves from the back.

It wasn’t the first time BMW had fitted a door forcing British occupants to alight into the traffic flow, either: the front door of early UK-market LHD Isettas opened the wrong way. Thankfully, the Clubman has since adopted a more conventional five-door format.

6. Alfa Romeo Montreal (1970–77)

When a new overseas model made its debut, it used to be common practice to import the first batches into the UK with left-hand steering to meet initial British demand and get the cars visible out on the roads.

Such was the case with the earliest examples of the VW Golf GTI, Audi Quattro, Peugeot 304, Smart Roadster and Alfa Montreal. Unlike those other cars, though, would-be British Montreal buyers had to wait a frustratingly long time for their RHD versions.

Alfa Romeo Montreal (1970–77) (cont.)

It was some three years before the Italian marque began to build and import its range-topping V8 coupé with steering on the right-hand side.

What’s more, when imports were officially announced for the UK in late 1971, the LHD-only Montreal was priced at an ambitious £5077 – more than a Jaguar E-type V12 or a Porsche 911. That figure quickly rose to £5549 just a few months later, then climbed to a peak of £6999 by the time the right-hand-drive models eventually arrived in late ’74.

7. NSU Ro80 (1967-77)

A while after stealing the show at the 1967 Frankfurt IAA, the advanced Wankel-engined Ro80 found its way to the UK, with the first imports being sold at a high price in LHD form only.

By the time that RHD build got under way, the Ro80 was already gaining a reputation for lunching its rotary engine. So the last thing this daring, ultra-modern saloon needed to turn potential executive buyers away was a quartet of ugly, ill-conceived round lamps, replacing the harmoniously aerodynamic units found in LHD markets.

NSU Ro80 (1967-77) (cont.)

Only the USA shared the UK’s gawky quad set-up, due to local lighting regs.

By ’71, UK Ro80s had received the correct, stylish headlights designed for it, by which time the NSU’s thirst and engine reliability problems had damaged its British market potential beyond redemption.

8. Audi 80 B3 (1986-81)

Given the phenomenal success of Audi in the UK today, it is difficult to recall a time when the Ingolstadt make was comfortably outsold here by Lancia, Saab and Volvo.

Although it got off to a slow start when British imports were reinstated in ’66, by the time of the aerodynamic 80 B3’s launch 20 years later, Audi had grown into a serious player in the UK’s premium car sector.

All the more surprising, then, that British buyers of the third-generation 80 (plus its more expensive 90 saloon and Coupé B3 siblings) were short-changed with a centre console biased for LHD markets.

Audi 80 B3 (1986-81) (cont.)

The air vents, heater controls, audio system and sundry switches canted away from the RHD driver’s reach.

This pfennig-pinching annoyance was exacerbated when Audi’s engineers went to the considerable expensive of adapting its flawed procon-ten supplementary safety set-up for RHD use, rather than fit airbags like its more far-sighted competitors.

The system was quickly dropped in favour of airbags after real-world accidents revealed that it could dislodge the driver’s shoulders from their sockets.

9. Lancia Fulvia Coupe Series 2 (1971-76)

Largely unknown at its UK launch in 1965, by the late ’60s we had fallen for the charms of the Fulvia Coupé.

The nimble Italian briefly became a star of the small screen in The Avengers, as well as regularly topping rally results, with Lancia taking the International Championship for Manufacturers in 1972.

Lancia Fulvia Coupe Series 2 (1971-76) (cont.)

By ’71, though, the facelifted Series 2 model was inflicted with ugly raised outer headlights just for the UK, to meet updated British regs on minimum lamp height, thus spoiling the Fulvia’s pert frontal appearance.

10. Lotus Europa (1966-’75)

It’s not just foreign imports that can deprive hungry British new car buyers of the very latest models and technology soon after launch. Often, UK-built machinery can be delayed in entering its home market, too.

In the ‘Export or Die’ era immediately post-WW2, most British motorists couldn't buy the new export-only cars being built in Longbridge, Cowley, Coventry and elsewhere while this financially destitute island nation courted much-needed foreign currency for the struggling economy.

Lotus Europa (1966-’75) (cont.)

Among the cars that suffered in this way were the Standard Vanguard, which took an age to become available on British shores, while models such as the Austin-built Nash Metropolitan were built specifically for export

Colin Chapman’s first mid-engined Lotus road car, the Europa, was another such model to be delayed in this way. The Europa – the name was deliberate – was sold in Europe (France first, in February 1967) long before UK deliveries began (in 1969).