Throughout the decades GM has provided the nation with some awesome cars. The iconic Corvette is one, an American sports car that has stood the test of time since it was first produced for the public in 1953. After that came the 1970 Chevelle SS with the big block 454 and the 2020 Camaro SS, which is close to the end of the line for internal combustion engine muscle cars. Of course, there are many great cars, trucks, and SUVs that can be included in that list of great cars, but like every car maker on the planet, GM has had a number of massive flops that the company had wished were never produced.

Before getting into the actual list of 10, it is important to understand that even though these cars are considered some of the worst cars GM ever made, it is by no means an all-inclusive compilation because what some people like, others hate. There is a fine line for some between what is satisfactory and what is not. With that in mind, let's travel back through the ages and take a quick look at some of the GM cars dubbed as some of the most massive flops since cars were first produced.

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10 Chevrolet SSR Was Overpriced And Overhyped

Chevrolet-SSR-2003
Chevrolet
Side 3/4 view of blue Chevrolet SSR parked. 

The Chevrolet SSR had a crazy and unique style that was supposed to combine a truck's abilities with a sports car's performance but failed at both. By the time the final designs were authorized and produced, the vehicle looked more like an SUV crossed with a minivan and chopped off to look like a performance vehicle.

The best the SSR could do in accelerating from 0 to 60 mph was almost eight seconds, even with one of the bigger V-8s under the hood. The car was so heavy that it had no real acceleration, and since the suspension was tuned like a truck, it was not the best-handling car. To top it off, the experts at GM decided to put a sticker price starting at $42,000, compared to the Chevy Blazer, which was only $22,000.

9 The Cadillac XLR/XLR V Was A Luxury Sports Car That Never Caught On

A parked 2009 Cadillac XLR-V Convertible
Mecum
Front and side view of a 2009 Cadillac XLR-V Convertible

The Cadillac XLR was the first model the company produced within the sports car segment of the car industry. It was created by using the Chevy Corvette platform, along with the rear-mounted transaxle that helped with weight distribution, and a V8 to propel the car down the road and through the winding curves of the street.

The upgraded version of the XLR was the Cadillac XLR V, which offered almost 450 horsepower. The problem was that the Cadillac was heavier with a less powerful engine than the Corvette, and it was in the same price range as the imports such as Mercedes-Benz, so sales dropped off to the point that the dealers could not sell what they had on the lot.

RELATED: Born From Motorsport: Celebrating 20 Years Of Cadillac V

8 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid Was Simply Too Late

A parked Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid
Chevrolet Pressroom
Front and side view of a Chevy Tahoe Hybrid

The hybrid revolution arguably started with the Prius. Everybody that wanted to make a difference ran out and bought one simply because it was a guaranteed way to decrease the amount of carbon waste that they personally put into the atmosphere. When the demand was at its highest, Chevy looked at some of their large models that liked to guzzle gas, such as the Chevrolet Tahoe.

Overall, the Tahoe Hybrid was an excellent vehicle for its size, but buyers were looking at the 21 miles per gallon the Hybrid Tahoe could get compared to the 50 miles or so of the competing compact cars. However, the main reason that the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid failed was timing. By the time the Tahoe Hybrid was offered on the market, the hybrid craze had shifted to fully electric cars and trucks.

7 GM EV1 Was Just Too Much Too Soon

GM Impact Concept Car at a car show.
GM
The GM Impact concept car that would eventually become the EV1.

It has been said that GM wanted the electric vehicle to fail because it would take away from the profits it received by selling engine parts. It has also been said that GM did not want to make waves with the oil companies because they had so much power over the economy. The truth is that the GM EV1 was simply ahead of its time. People wanted a new way to travel the world that did not put off so many harmful emissions, but they did not want to have to stop every 50 to 100 miles to charge the battery.

Since the car was only available for lease, not for sale, GM never got to see good sales numbers. Today, the EV revolution is in full swing, and since the technology has caught up with the design, the EV1 may have had a chance to be something great if it had just been added to the lineup of cars that all the consumers could buy.

RELATED: Here's What Really Happened To The GM EV1 Electric Car

6 GMC Envoy XUV Was Not As Great As The Design Was

A parked GMC Envoy XUV
IFCAR via Wikimedia Commons
Front and side view of a GMX Envoy XUV

The GMC Envoy XUV may have been a great deal to start with, offering consumers a cross between a car and a truck, but it did not sell nearly as many units as expected. Eye appeal alone was not what customers had been expecting. Those who purchased an Envoy XUV were sadly disappointed because the design was good, but the assembly was not.

The retractable roof did allow drivers to carry larger objects than an SUV of any other brand, but the windows and seals leaked so badly that the problems outweighed the benefits. At least the visibility was good, and a person did not have to duck to get into the raised seats that were comfortable enough to go on long road trips.

5 Pontiac GTO Was An Old-School Muscle Car That Grew Out Of Style

Yellow 2004 Pontiac GTO
Pontiac
A front 3/4 shot of a yellow Pontiac GTO

In the era of the muscle car, the 1960s, everyone knew what the Pontiac GTO was. The GTO had the reputation of taking on some of the biggest and most powerful classic cars of the time. It had a 350 to 375 horsepower 400 V-8 that could put up 0 to 60 mph times in under five seconds.

The GTO was retired in 1974 because of the oil embargo, the rising cost of insurance, and the ever-increasing cost of fuel, but only for a short time. The Pontiac GTO was revived in 2004, but the public opinion of it was not good. Since the design had taken so long to get through the steps, it was outdated and boring by the time it was produced and sold to the public.

RELATED: Sorry, But We Can't Hate This Pontiac Aztek Trans Am

4 Pontiac Aztek Was A Flop From The Start

A parked 2001 Pontiac Aztek
IFCAR via Wikimedia Commons
Side view of a 2001 Pontiac Aztek

The Pontiac Aztek is one of those designs that most people hated, including those at GM who had been asked to check it out. The executives, however, ignored all the feedback because they thought the design was innovative and would sell like hotcakes. It turns out that the management team should have listened because sales were not even close to where they wanted them.

The main reason for the low response was not just its looks, though. The Aztek was marketed as a competent SUV but was not much more than a minivan because the AWD system was tuned for basic street driving, not for offroad use. The consensus by buying customers was that they would be better off buying a minivan because at least it had room to haul things.

3 Saab 9-4X Was Lost In The Shuffle Of Ownership

A parked 2011 Saab 9-4X
IFCAR via Wikimedia Commons
Front and side view of a 2011 Saab 9-4X

Saab was a simple, small carmaker that worked with GM to produce the Saab 9-4x and deliver it to the car lots in the US. The major problem for the owners of Saab was that it simply could not compete with the big car manufacturers from around the world, so they were looking to merge, or sell, to ensure their survival.

GM refused to work with Saab until the final business deals were worked out, so the Saab 9-4x ended production through GM because, at the time, GM was one of the biggest carmakers in China. They did not want to help the competitors within the country gain a foothold over them, so GM moved on to other projects and deals.

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2 Chevrolet Aveo Was A Small Car That Never Took Off

A parked 2012 Chevrolet Aveo
Vauxford via Wikimedia Commons
Side and partial front view of a 2012 Chevrolet Aveo

The Chevy Aveo was a small, subcompact car initially designed and produced in South Korea by Daewoo Motors. The second generation of the vehicle was more commonly known as the Chevy Sonic in the North American markets, being offered with numerous small engines to maximize the car's fuel economy.

The Sonic was discontinued in 2020 for several reasons, perhaps the most important being the low sales numbers. For the people looking ahead into the future, this was a beneficial move because the plant where the car used to be built has been turned into one of the main assembly lines to produce the Chevrolet EV lineups.

1 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Lost Its Muscle And Appeal

White 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Mecum Auctions
A front 3/4 shot of a 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo

In 1969 the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS was introduced to the public for the first time, being scheduled for production the following year. The SS package included sports suspension and a 454 big block designed for stock car racing. The SS Monte was the go-to car for stock car racing on all kinds of tracks, including the ones that were sanctioned races.

The vehicle went through some changes as the public demand shifted to more fuel-efficient cars, and by 2006 when the car was offered with a V-8 once again, the appeal of the large engine muscle cars had fallen off because people were finding that smaller engines could have just as good track times, without having to own a gas station to pay for the fuel needed.