I remember when I borrowed my dad's 4 banger Ford Ranger and ended up driving over one of it's pistons on the way to town. I SWEAR I wasn't rodding it!
Holy Chmoly that thing was a dawg! I think it was an '84? Dad bought it hoping for good gas mileage and it probably averaged 14 with 17 down the highway. It took a good quarter mile to get up to 55. He bought it new and babied his vehicles. I never told my dad it was a p.o.s. (especially after I blew the motor and didn't want to sound like I was making excuses) but if all those early 4 cylinder Rangers ran like that I'd be surprised if the owners ever bought another.