GM Diesel V8
Oldsmobile was at the forefront of this new trend with the introduction of the diesel engine in passenger cars. In those days, American buyers were largely unaware that you could use diesel fuel for your vehicle. European customers already had a couple of diesel cars on the market, but in the US this was new. Oldsmobile introduced the 4.3-liter V8 diesel engine as an option for the Cutlass line. And very soon, this model was subject to an enormous amount of recalls and engine swaps. Simply, the 4.3-liter tended to explode and shatter during everyday driving. It had only about 85 HP (via Diesel World Mag).
Passengers didn’t get hurt, but the car was unusable and suitable only for scrap. Oldsmobile later introduced a bigger 5.7-liter diesel. Which was somewhat better but the 4.3-liter is considered the worst diesel engine in history. The 5.7-liter was also very underpowered with only 122 HP on tap.