Ugliest Cars of All Time

lokki

I have to say... if it isn't the ugliest car ever made, it's right up there in the top 10 at least. The pictures don't do it justice somehow..or should I say do it too much justice. Wheeeeewoooo
hold your nose!

fezo

Yes!

I thought that the pictures were horrible and that there was no way the actual vehicle could be that much of a monster, but Pontiac showed me - it is probably worse in person. One day I'll work my courage up and wander over the dealer and see if it looks as bad on the inside. Given that it's a Pontiac I'm sure it will.

andre1969

What's up with Pontiac these days? It seems like they go out of their way to make their dashboards ugly and mismatched. I don't think I've seen a decent dashboard in a Pontiac since the Parisienne of the 80's, and all that was was a Caprice dasboard with round gauges instead of square ones.

Pontiac tries to make their dashboards "ergonomic", "driver oriented" and all sorts of other marketing bullsh__, but they end up looking like they were designed by several different committees and then grafted together, with all sorts of cheap plastic pieces just waiting to fall off and break. I almost want to go see the Aztek now, drawn to it like a horrible train wreck. I know I should look away, but just have to sneak a peek...

Mr_Shiftright

I saw my first Aztek last week and practically jumped back in horror. It's not pretty, that thing...

chris396

Yep I looked at one while I had my Trans Am in the shop. I was still laughing when I walked back into the showroom. The dealer said, "What do you think of that thing?" and laughed himself. I like the big piece of plastic that runs along the bottom. Very classy. And has anyone seen the Aztek commercial? They barely show it. I think GM realizes they have a mangy dog on their hands.

mjc440

Although in the conformist society that we live in everyone wants to drive cars that are identical like Accords and Camrys, its also nice to see car companies get a little creative with designing cars. However, GM has to do something about that Aztek!

speedshift

Yesterday I went to my local Buick-Pontiac dealer to pick up some brochures (no money for German sport sedans this year) and when the salesman and I walked past two Azteks, I asked him how the response has been. He said, "Once they get past the rear end, they think it's okay." I'm not so sure the response has been even that positive, but I still think that sometimes negative buzz is better than no buzz. "I don't care what the newspapers say about me, as long as they spell my name right". That's A-Z-T-E-K.

vman

Aztek: Yeah, notice how the commercial has the tent attached to it? Like the outdoorsy types won't notice they're driving around in a hideous booger.


Andre: I'm in love with that DeSoto!!!!!! I'm a huge lover of those big old American cars. The decadence alone, reflective of the times, is priceless. I can't help but notice (with a 4 y/o son)that it's still the basis for every cartoon car, too. Cool!

vader4

Gremlin and Pacer.

lokki

is right up there for indifferent ugly
not even the character of the Aztek which is supposed to make you love it despite its ugliness (good luck) just simple downright D- design

marquisbrougha

the good:
1-1961 Continetal
2-1966 AMC Ambassador
3-1976 Cadillac Seville
4-1977 Continental Mark V
5-1979 Riviera

the bad:
1-1985 Chrysler New Yorker (FWD)
2-1957 Hudson Hornet
3-1971 Riviera
4-any pre-85 Suburu
5-1980 Cougar XR-7

the ughly:
1-2000 Toyota Echo
2-2001 Pontiac Aztek (????????????)
3-1998 Dodge Intrepid
4-1965 Rambler Marlin
5-1961 Plymouth Fury

stickguy

Saw a late '70s Seville this weekend (the humpback model). Ugly in its own right, but this one was two-tone baby blue, with a continental kit (on the slanted part of the trunk_, and a fauz Rolls Royce grille surround. Look like a refuge from a superfly movie.

Also saw 2 different Citroens in 2 days (I imagine not many people can say that). ! a 60-something (the classic style), and the other was a late model ('80S? the more angular one). Can't decide if they are good or bad, certainly different. Actually think the early car is much cleaner looking, and certainly unique.

Mr_Shiftright

At least the Citroen, while unattractive to some people, was at least extremely innovative, with aerodynamic styling and active suspension and radical design features. It was easily the most modern production car of 1955 on the road. Even the 80s Citroen SM, while not a particularly good car, was again highly innovative, radical, fast and interesting to look at. You have to give Citroen A for effort, even if the execution wasn't always the best.

speedshift

Back in the '60s I was always extolling the virtues of foreign cars to my father. One day I pointed out a Citroen, and my father said something I've always remembered: "If they're so wonderful, why do they always look so clapped out?".

In the early '80s my boss had a real thing for SMs, and owned a really nice gold one. One day he asked me to drive it from South San Francisco, where it had been serviced, back to Palo Alto. He'd warned me the brakes were touchy but, even so, the first time I used them I just about stood the car on its nose. I also recall the steering being ultra-quick. Not quick off the line, although it made nice noises, but on the freeway I let it out and it was just effortless. What a superb cruiser.

lokki

When I was a kid our neighbor bought a Citroen...for a very good reason. His son had gotten a job selling them (that boy never did amount to anything, but he sure had taste in cars- there was a old Porsche 356 in his dad's garage for a year or so, but that's another story). I don't recall exactly what year, but it was somewhere in the mid 60's.

Anyhow, I had never seen anything so sophisticated in my whole young life. A huge well upholstered flat floored interior and a square steering wheel. Of course that exotic styling, the hydraulic suspension and I also remember that there was something special about the brakes, but I've forgotten what it was. Anyhow, I thought it was God's own car until something broke on it and they finally had to fly a Frenchman in from Atlanta to work on it. Even he couldn't fix it. They finally towed it away and our neighbor replaced it with a Chrysler Imperial..... another ugly but impressive car.

badgerpaul

We had a neighbor who had retired from the Air Force and brought one home from France. I was about 10 years old at the time and thought it was the coolest thing. I remember getting rides to school in it and having to wait while the hydraulic suspension build pressure. Unfortunately Wisconsin winters weren't kind to it. The last I saw of it, it had come unhitched from the tow truck taking it to the junk yard, and was sitting in the median of the highway with one very mad tow truck driver screaming at it.

gkelly3

Thanks for the info on CITROEN-I've always been interested in the make. As I recall, the Citroen's brakes were very good, but the "pedal" was just a rubber bulb on the floor-they were servo-controlled, and would stop you on a dime. however, the unusual pedal really threw a lot of American drivers. I also recall that the hydraulic system was really difficult to fix, once the leaks started. In addition, Citroen never had a fully-automatic tranny. Well, the Frech always were different..

kranjec1

This vehicle already appears in Webster's next to the definition of ugly. It's the auto world's first true "double bagger". Even if it is functional?, could anyone really own this vehicle for more than a day or two? The back end of it looks like the front end of a snowplow. After the first big snow storm of the winter up in Michigan, Pontiac can take em all of the assembly line, lock them in reverse, and donate them to the Detroit Public Works Dept. to clear off the streets.

nrd525

I can't believe I saw TWO of them on the way home from work yesterday morning! Both were green,
and were being driven by 40+ year old women. I just don't get it, why would anyone buy one? I guess it's the same people who buy the little Honda Hybrid thing, I can't remember the name right now. There's one at the Honda place right next to work, and a few blocks away on the way home. I guess some people are REALLY upset about gas prices!

rea98d

I don't really see the point in that car. The base price is over 20,000, and compare that to the price of a Geo Metro (Chevy now), you'd have to keep the car fifty years to save enough on gas to make up for the higher price! (And that's assuming you get the 70mpg. Edmunds little tester rarely ever get that).
IMHO, aside form being ugly, that car is the epitome of everything evil about small cars-very little interior room, so light it gets blown around the highway by everything, anemicly underpowered, offers about the same crash protection as a Dixie cup, and is just plain ugly.
I'd rather take my 20,000 grand and buy a used Town Car.

speedshift

Sounds like none of us are Early Adapters.

nrd525

The horror! The horror!!!

I'm on my way to work tonight, I get on the freeway and ahead of me is a yellow one, with 30 day tag. About a mile further down the road, the yellow one exits,and then on the other side of the overpass, a white one gets on! As I exit, the white one exits behind me. At the light, a red one passes me! Three in 15 minutes! With the two green ones I saw before, the red one leaving the dealer Friday, and the one I saw Thursday night. It is worrying me. Is Toledo an AZTEK town??

Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

fezo

No one should have to see that may Azteks in a lifetime!

Is it me or does that red color really bring out the hideousness of that so-called vehicle more than anything?

rea98d

Not only is the Pontiac Plastek the ugliest car (er..truck..er..mars rover?) they make, the name also describes the entire linuep. Oh, wait. It's the Aztek. Never mind. My mistake.

fezo

Wasn't the Mistake a Mercury? Oh, wait - that was Mystique......

speedshift

I'd really like to know the demographics of the people driving those Azteks in Toledo. I'll admit the Aztek is unconventional, if not irrefutably homely, but I'm not so sure it's a mistake--especially if you have GM's reputation for selling old folk's cars. I see enough Aztek-like taste in clothes among under-25s to think the vehicle has a chance with them. You heard it here first. I'll bet Azteks are selling to mini-SUV intenders, and the RAV4 is no work of art either.

nrd525

Well,lets see, the two green ones were both 40+ yr old women. The red one was a 20? year old girl.The white one was a 50+ yr old woman. The red one that was leaving the dealer was driven by a 30? yr old woman with at least one kid, about 5 or 6. And the other red one was driven by another 30 yr old woman. Do we have a chickmobile in the making??
There was a 25 yr old guy looking at the one in the dealer's showroom. The salesman that sold me my truck said he sold two of them, both to women.He said the dealership has sold about 8 or 9 of the things as of friday morning.
As far as I can see,the only good things on the aztek are inside it. I don't like the vents, and the camo seats are kind of dumb looking, but comfortable. The thick steering wheel is nice though. It seems that just about all Pontiacs have bizzare dash buttons, lighting or vents, so the Aztek fits in the line up pretty well.
There was a Montana sitting right next to an Aztek in the dealers lot. I was trying to blend the two together and make the Aztek look halfways decent. If they had put the Montana's front end on it,it would have helped tremendously. I don't know if anything could help the back end, it's a mess. IF something could be done to the back end, AND the front fixed, it wouldn't be so........painful, in a Pacer sort of way.

speedshift

Thanks for the feedback. I think you're asking for an extensive facelift, if not a complete redesign, which I can understand.

The Aztek is a lot more butch than the current standard bearer in that market, the VW Cabriolet, so maybe that's where that market is headed. Many of the SUVs in this area (SF mid-Peninsula) are driven by 30-45 year old women, so obviously the rugged, aggressive look has some appeal. If the Aztek gets them into something smaller than a Suburban, that's okay with me.

mmcsw

From reading some of the previous posts, I got the mistaken impression that at least one Aztek has been sold. No way anybody would buy one, there must be some mistake.

nrd525

Well, maybe they are just leased? Not that it makes a real difference. Maybe it's the cellphone
"radiation" making them buy one. There has to be some explanation.
I want to talk to someone who bought one,just to see what is wrong with them.

speedshift

and say that many of us would be pleased to own a '57 De Soto (based on the posts in another forum) and that most of the car-buying public would point and laugh if they saw a '57 De Soto. I'm exaggerating, but only a little.

Yes, the Aztek is hideous to a car buff or purist, but it speaks to the few (hopefully) who must have novelty. I'll bet the focus groups loved it, but we weren't in those groups because we aren't the target market. We're the guys who like the new retro T-Bird.

sgaines1

Beats the Portable Toilet Cruiser for ugly. Beats nearly everything I can think of. Reminds me of a wombat with fetal alcohol syndrome. Someone really needs to rein in Pontiac's design team before every car in their lineup becomes to embarrassing to buy.

nrd525

Don't count me as one that likes the TBird. I think they totally blew it. It's just another blah ugly Ford that turns me off, just like pretty much all their cars have for the last thirty years or even longer. I just never "got" Ford at all.
As far as the PT Crusier goes, I really like it's looks, it's just too bad it's a Neon underneath. Some of their engineers pushed for them to use one of the bigger platforms, and they were shot down. It might come back to haunt them, once the fad is over. I'd never buy one, regardless of the platform, but to me, it looks fine. Just not big or fast enough.

andre1969

Actually, when I drive the DeSoto, people ooh and aah over it. But then again, most people don't know what it is, even when they read the nameplate. I think DeSoto has kind of a bad rap, partly because they always made fun of them on tv. I remember everyone used to rag on Richie Cunningham on Happy Days whenever he had to drive his dad's DeSoto. There was a flashback episode of "Too close for Comfort" where Ted Knight says he wants to buy a new car. When asked what kind he replies..."Oh, I don't know...DeSoto...Studebaker...Edsel. Can't go wrong with one of those!" I don't think a nice thing has ever been said about a DeSoto on tv!

Now, as far as cars that I've had that HAVE been laughed at...my '69 Dart GT in college. That car took a verbal beating, mainly because most of my friends didn't want to admit it was a better car than most of what they were driving. This was 1990, remember, so the average 60's car was probably better than the average new car!

My 1969 Bonneville. It was just so damn big. And a nasty shade of greenish-gold. I liked it but my friends refused to ride in it.

Finally, my '67 Newport, but I think that was mainly because the passenger door was stuck and one of my friends climbed out, Dukes of Hazzard style, in front of a bunch of people. Gotta admit, that car wasn't too attractive...looked like the unholy offspring of a generic 60's Mercury with a Barracuda

rea98d

Aztek: The front end remineds me of a Bonneville with the attitude knob turned WAAAYYYY to far up!
The rear end reminds me of a Honda CRV's rear on steroids. I had the unfortunate distinction of seeing two within a couple of blocks (not at a dealership either). The first, a white one, was driven by a thirty-something female, and the second, a black one, was parked, so I don't know who's driving that one. As for the T-Bird, if I had $50,000, I'd be on the phone at midnight on Christmas trying to get one of those first 200 Neiman Marcus cars. I love that car!

sgaines1

It's supposed to be retro. What's the matter, are you not hip and edgy? Me neither. I think it's a ripoff of one of those little Ferraris (Barchettas?) or maybe an early Corvette, but I can't say it looks bad.
Andre-Don't forget the other famous DeSoto, the one in the comic 'Shoe'. Boy they do pick on that marque. I saw a 53? Firelite Sportsman's Club Coupe or somesuch downtown last summer and I was all aslobber over it. I'd hop right in to a De Soto if I could. Now that Plymouth's been canned (Moment of silence please.), there's room to bring back DeSoto. Naaah.

speedshift

I'll take a '57 De Soto any day. I guess my point is that a '57 De Soto and an Aztek each make a dramatic styling statement, and "to each his own". Who knows, with the retro movement maybe we'll see fins return in a few years.

The Aztek looks like it'd bite you if you turned your back, but that's the look some people want. The plain rear end says "Jeep CJ" and, sure enough, today I saw an Aztek parked in front of a CJ and the rears are much the same. Part of the Urban Assault Vehicle look.

I agree that the T-Bird is derivative, but I thought that about the 300M when I saw the first photos and it turned out to be a real head turner, so I'll wait until I see a Bird in person.

speedshift

Two days with no Aztek comments? I knew you guys would start to like it.

rea98d

Actually, we were trying to forget it!

speedshift

Finally saw my first one in motion, bright red. Can't say it looks better on the road, but certainly looks more startling. For some people that's enough.

crosley4

We attended a car show in elpaso texas today. saw a new 4 door gmc sierra, nice truck. my 3 door silverado may need to be replaced ...(-;

Also an Aztek was there, one word: "fugly!"

Never seen an Aztek in person.... yikes!

The new nissan frontier truck is not much better (if any) than the aztek .

the aztek may be one of the next collectable cars in years down the road.....yikes!

bubukitty

Saw one in person for the first time yesterday....was in such shock at its hideousness that I forgot the color! Almost lost my dinner too. It was truly worse than I thought it would be. They try to disguise it in the tv ads. Very quick shots of the front (angled) and the rear seems to always be covered up with a tent or something. Now I know why. I just do not know what the hell the designers were thinking about. The "Spaztek" will go down in history along with the Edsel, Pacer, Gremlin among others.

paulnorton

The Ford Ka(k) has to be the ugliest still in production

rea98d

I haven't heard of a Kak. Where do they sell that?

lokki

Is sold in Europe

Here's a link with a picture of one

http://businessweek.com/1997/22/b352915.htm

and another

http://www.fortunecity.com/silverstone/lancia/58/gallery/ford/ka.htm

carnut4

Jeez!!! Looks like a modern version of the Citroen 2CV. What's going on in the minds of some of these designers???

andre1969

Am I smoking something, or does the front-end of that thing look like a rip-off of the last-generation Buick Riviera? At some point in the 60's, I think some automotive writer coined the term "committee car" where it looks like one committee designed part of the car, and another committee designed another part of the car, each without knowing what the other was doing.

Well, if the Ka isn't the "committee car" poster child, I don't know what is!

lokki

The early Valiants are high up on the list of ugly cars...
Here's a link to a pic of a station wagon.
While pretty hideous in its own right, it lacks the continental kit on the truck of the sedans that made them particularly pretentious and ugly.

Note that I didn't say they were BAD CARS... just ugly. As late as 1990 I knew of one that was in daily use and still looked great - er - looked as good as it ever did new, anyhow.

http://www.stationwagon.com/gallery/1962_Plymouth_Valiant.html

lokki

a sedan with the continental kit, although some how the white paint on this one makes me think more of incontinence for some reason

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/9815/val.html

speedshift

Yeah, maybe you're right--I could do without the two-tone paint accenting the trunklid wheel. But I think top ugly honors among early compacts belongs to the Comet, preferably a beige four-door. The Lark was probably the best looking, and it was the only compact that wasn't a clean-sheet design. On the other hand, I think the Aztek has a big future, so apparently I have no taste.