Infamous Rides

No doubt you've heard that Toyota has been in the news for trying to fix a defective gas pedal on some of its cars. But there are other cars that have seen their own share of negative headlines.

To be infamous you have to be connected to something really bad. So MSN Autos has compiled a list of vehicles that could not out-manuver their path to death and destruction. The cars on this list have been part of American car history.

On the list, the 1994 Mercedes Benz S280, made famous for smashing into a pillar in a Paris underpass, and taking the life of Princess Diana. Or the Porsche 550 Spyder that America's rebel James Dean was driving when another car swerved into his lane and hit him head on.

Then there are the cars that captivated a nation. Like the white 1993 Ford Bronco that took the California Highway Patrol on a 35 mph chase with OJ Simpson hiding in the backseat. To see the complete list or add your favorites keep reading. Consumers may think twice about buying their next Toyota, but at least those cars didn't make this ominous black list.

World's Most Infamous Vehicles
By Sam Foley of MSN Autos

1911 Gräf & Stift Double Phaeton
Event: Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
Year: 1914
Believe it or not, the gunshots fired by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip that killed the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, Sophie, were part of the second assassination attempt on the archduke that day. Earlier, one of Princip's fellow plotters hurled a grenade at Ferdinand's car, but it bounced off his drop-top Gräf & Stift and blew up under another car in the motorcade. Only later, after the archduke's driver made a wrong turn on the way to visit those injured in the earlier blast, did Princip stumble across his victims, shooting them both with a Browning pistol and starting a political chain reaction that resulted in World War I.

Bugatti Type 35 or 37
Event: The death of Isadora Duncan
Year: 1927
Considered by many to be the first great lady of modern dance, Isadora Duncan became famous by performing improvisational dance routines in flowing gowns and bare feet, shaking the traditions of classical ballet. It's unclear exactly what vehicle Duncan was in when she died. Bugatti's company history claims it was either a Type 35 or 37, whereas other sources claim it was a vehicle from a now-defunct French manufacturer called Amilcar. Regardless, the great irony of Duncan's end is that it was caused by one of her famous flowing garments. The 50-year-old dancer's scarf became entangled in the rear wheel spokes of the vehicle she was riding in, snapping the dancer's neck and violently yanking her from the car — making her last move the least graceful one of her life.

1961 Lincoln Continental SS-100-X
Event: The assassination of John F. Kennedy
Year: 1963
Somehow, 49 years after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, security services still hadn't absorbed the lesson that parading world leaders around in slow-moving convertibles isn't a good idea. The details of the most famous and most controversial political assassination in history are still argued by conspiracy theorists, yet one thing is beyond dispute: President John F. Kennedy was shot in the head (as well as the shoulder) and died. And whether you believe those shots were fired by Lee Harvey Oswald or the CIA or Cuban nationalists or the Russians, it's fairly certain that Kennedy would have been a far more difficult target if the Lincoln Continental limo he was riding in had been a hardtop.

1993 Ford Bronco
Event: O.J. Simpson car chase
Year: 1994
Whoever thought that a 35 mph car chase could be so compelling? As the prelude to the trial of the century, a squadron of California Highway Patrol cars followed football-star-turned-double-homicide-suspect O.J. Simpson (and his friend Al Cowlings, who was driving) down Interstate 405 at a snail's pace while the world watched on TV. Simpson was supposed to turn himself in to the authorities that morning for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, model/waiter Ronald Goldman. When he didn't show, police went looking for him, and that afternoon, the chase ensued. Not surprisingly, Ford discontinued the 2-door SUV two years later, replacing it with the 4-door Expedition.

Porsche 550 Spyder
Event: James Dean car crash
Year: 1955
James Dean embodied the "live fast, die young" ethos with his brooding characters in films such as "Rebel Without a Cause" and "East of Eden," as well as with his car racing career. The Porsche 550 Spyder in which Dean died was one of only 90 produced, and it was the actor's third race car. (He also owned an MG TD and a Porsche 356.) Dean referred to his 550 as the "Little Bastard," which he was driving (along with his mechanic, Rolf Wütherich) to a race in Salinas, Calif., the day he died. They collided head-on with a 1950 Ford Custom Tudor driven by 23-year-old student Donald Turnupseed, who crossed into Dean's lane while trying to take a fork in the road off Route 466 (now State Route 46).

Rover P6 3500
Event: The death of Princess Grace
Year: 1982
In 1956, actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III of Monaco, officially turning the American beauty into European royalty. She and Rainier had three children and were married for 26 years before her tragic death at age 52. Princess Grace was driving in her Rover P6 with her 17-year-old daughter, Stéphanie, when Grace suffered a stroke and drove the vehicle off one of Monaco's famous serpentine roads and down a mountainside. Grace was pulled from the accident alive, but died the following day. Her daughter was injured but survived. The Rover automotive brand has not been as lucky. After a confusing series of purchases in the 1980s and 2000s involving BMW, Ford and eventually the Indian company Tata, no Rover cars are currently in production, only Land Rover SUVs.

1994 Mercedes-Benz S280
Event: The death of Princess Diana
Year: 1997
In a sense, Princess Diana was literally killed by the public's fascination with her. Throughout her turbulent marriage with and eventual divorce from Britain's Prince Charles, and during her life afterward, the press always followed her every move. The night she died, Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed were rear occupants of a Mercedes S-Class driven by Henri Paul, the head of security at the Ritz hotel owned by the Fayed family, who was trying to evade the paparazzi pursuing the vehicle. The pursuit became a high-speed chase through the streets of Paris, and ended tragically and famously when the Mercedes-Benz hit a support pillar in the Place de l'Alma underpass. None of the four passengers was wearing a seat belt, and only one, Trevor Rees-Jones, a member of the Fayed personal protection team, survived.

1938 Cadillac Model 75
Event: Car accident of Gen. George Patton
Year: 1945
George Patton was one of the most aggressive generals in U.S. history. Yet he died in a relatively mild car accident. On the day of his death, Patton was on a hunting trip with his chief of staff, Hobart "Hap" Gay, and driver, Pfc. Horace Woodring, in a 1938 Cadillac when a GMC truck driven by Technical Sgt. Robert L. Thompson turned in front of the general's car. No one else was injured during the accident, but Patton suffered a blow to the head that sent him to the hospital. Twelve days later, he died of a pulmonary embolism. The freak nature of his death spawned several conspiracy theories, blaming everyone from Eisenhower to the Russians for his death.

1966 Buick Electra 225
Event: Near decapitation of Jayne Mansfield
Year: 1967
Jayne Mansfield's prodigious bosom defined her career as a Hollywood bombshell, but her head was her undoing. After an engagement at a Biloxi, Miss., nightclub, Mansfield, her then-lover Sam Brody, a driver and three of her children set out for New Orleans along U.S. 90. Early in the morning, the Buick they were riding in crashed into the back of a tractor-trailer, which sheared most of the top off the Buick. Mansfield and the other adults riding in the front seat were killed instantly; the children riding in the back survived. After the incident, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started to require an underride guard on the backs of tractor-trailers, which is often referred to as a "Mansfield bar."

1934 Ford Model 730 Deluxe Sedan
Event: Ambush of Bonnie and Clyde
Year: 1934
Bonnie and Clyde lived by the gun and died by the gun — or, more accurately, they died by more than a dozen guns. The pair evaded capture during a two-year crime spree, while boldly courting publicity for their crimes. During the Depression era, they were celebrated as rebel outlaws, and their violent death only heightened the mythology surrounding them. Their end came when a posse of police officers ambushed them on a Louisiana road. When Bonnie and Clyde approached in their stolen Ford V8, the officers opened fire with automatic weapons, shotguns and rifles, and didn't stop until they had let loose 130 rounds on the couple.