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Ugliest Cars of All Time

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  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    I still like the thing - doesn't mean I'd actually WANT one.... Am very curious as to what becomes the next trend. The original Taurus was a trend car. Ford misunderstood what it had created and teh result was the next generation Taurus.

    I'm not expecting the PT Cruiser to be a "trend" car but I still find it interesting. (By the way, the fact that this is being released as a Chrysler rather than a Plymouth despite it's lowball price does not bode well for the continuing existence of the Plymouth name plate.)
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I think the current trend I see in styling is that cars are going "up" (high beltline)...like the VW bug, Audi TT, and, actually the PT, in a much weirder kind of way. But this trend has been going on for a little while, now...that low/flat and low/bulbous look is getting to look too familiar to buyers' eyes, I guess.
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    I have this gnawing fear that somewhere in my lifetime someone's gonna decide we need tail fins again! You know, how much different from current design could you go? Don't tell Chrysler!
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    Now the scary thing here is I can see elements of design here similar to my Sebring convetible.... I mean, the Sebring doesn't have fins, but it's got that long, low look....

    We actually had a 57 Plymouth, but it was a wagon - a Custom Suburban in some awful blue-green color.

    This car is actually better looking than I thought it would be -- despite the classic paint job...

    image
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • carnut4carnut4 Member Posts: 574
    I just had a vision of a new Ford Crown Victoria with the fins and sculptured side trim from a 57 Ford Fairlane 500. Now, with computer enhanced conceptualization and all, maybe someone could come up with a picture of such? Then we could all get big laugh, and head for the toilet... Or, since the new Ford drags up a special old model name it doesn't deserve [I think the new Crown Vics are ugly already} how 'bout the heavy roof chrome that gave the original its name on the roof of the new one, along with the fins? Then we'd have a Crown Viv truly worthy of the name. Heck, that roof chrome would fit right in with the
    the light bars for the cops....
  • pomy11pomy11 Member Posts: 23
    Great pictures guys, I'm getting pretty old, but I do remember those seats in the Ramblers became beds, but hey I had a 1950 Dodge Meadowbrook as my first car, that back seat was so big, it didn't need to fold down, I still beg owners at car events to let me sit in the back, ahhh to be young again..
  • prophet2prophet2 Member Posts: 372
    I wouldn't mind having this Plymouth Fury as a "boulevard cruiser." Those fins have a restrained "upsweep" and I like them a lot better than the "bat-winged" '59 Chevys. I'll even stand those W-I-D-E whitewalls for at least awhile.

    Heck, this would get me into the "free-parking" area at some of the "oldies" rock concerts I've been going to the last couple of years. That's when a lot of '55-57 Chevys are on display, even a few Nomads.
  • wilcoxwilcox Member Posts: 582
    the letters "PT" stand for?
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    Boy, that opens up all sorts of possibilities, but Chrysler says it means "personal transportation."
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Ah, Starbuck's must be doing their marketing, got it!
  • wilcoxwilcox Member Posts: 582
    The 3 wheeled German post WW2 vehicle named the Messerschmidt looked like a frog except it still had a tadpole rear end.
    Could fezo maybe dig up a pix of it?/.. was so ugle that people probably wouldn't waste their film on them.
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    Certainly a waste of film.......
    image
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • bobs5bobs5 Member Posts: 557
    #216
    What is this car?
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    It's a Messerschmidt Tiger.

    I realize now it can't be the requested item because it looks liek it has four whell drive instead of 3, but it's still plenty ugly....

    A three wheel car....can Iget that with 3WD?
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • bubukittybubukitty Member Posts: 96
    #212 (wilcox) asked what PT stood for. Well, here's my thought on it. I think it means
    "Pretty Turdlike". Don't mean to be so vulgar, but the shape of that thing pretty much sums up this name! As Mr S. said, bring it to the pound!
  • wilcoxwilcox Member Posts: 582
    Messerschmidt...The Missing Link. It is very much like what I remember except for the rear wheeles. As you can see, it has a cockpit arrangement. I think a WW2 buff would drool over this. Gotta flip the top up to get in and out. My old buddy sold his to a Shriner...
    Thanks for the picture fezo.

    It's kinda weird, the PT (Phantom Truck)gets all kinds of attention and yet it is a 2001 model that isn't available to the public. Chrysler is getting a lot of mileage out of this imaginary car (just as they did with the Prowler). It looks like it would be fun to test drive though. 5 spd maybe....
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    From the Tokyo Auto Show....
    image
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • carnut4carnut4 Member Posts: 574
    What is this?? My theory holds that new cars are getting uglier by the day. Something from Nissan? No-they couldn't they're already in trouble. Must be Suzuki, Daihatsu, Daewoo, Kia, or Hyundai-or am I way off?
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    No - now to me it looks like the product of a New Beetle mating with a Volvo but is actually (drum roll please) a Toyota! What on earth were they thinking? Maybe they are trying to show sympathy to Nissan. Word is that this is for the home market. I guess I understand less about the Japanese market than I thought...
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    The spellcheck accepts Toyota but tosses out Nissan. Ahead of its time?
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I love the names the Japanese think up for these creations...often the translations are hilarious...this is probably the Apple Pie Joy Car.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    How about the latest from Korea?

    But...just think, can YOU come up with a new name that hasn't already been used and doesn't sound dumb or mean something obscene in another language?

    I know I would be hard pressed!
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    Those'll burn your eyes out! I remember them when they came out. Awful then, too! And to make it worse, this was at the height of mandatory bolt-on emmission controls - we didn't get calalytic converters until '75 - so these things got awful mileage with lousy power. It could only be worse by being a '74 which adds the indignity of not being able to start it until your seat belt was connected. What on earth were they thinking? I notice that last sentence comes up a lot in this topic. Must be like my brother-in-law's Marine tatoo - "well, it seemed like a good idea at the time..."
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Your brother-in-law was no doubt, drunk at the time!

    So what was GM's excuse?
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Probably Design by Committee, the worst fate that can befall a car.
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    My guess is that GM was drunk at the time, too. Maybe this was some 60's LSD flashback or something.
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I think more like arrogant, isolated, and totally profit-driven at the expense of excellence, customer satisfaction and quality. The Japanese cured them of this tendency.
  • pomy11pomy11 Member Posts: 23
    Shifty, went to a car show today in Louisville, Ky, I had written I thought the last Packard, was the ugliest thing I had ever seen, I saw a 57 today, the owner said that 58 was the last year, I laughingly told the old guy he had a very rare Packard Clipper, added on to a Studebaker, and not the ugliest car ever! Everything, interior fabric, trunk, all ugly, then to make things worse, the owner took off the supercharger, and put a two barrel carb on it, wow.
  • pomy11pomy11 Member Posts: 23
    Loved the page on the 73 Pontiacs. Too agree with you about those horrible auto years, I had a '74 Monte Carlo, beautiful car, 350 4V with California emmision system, junk, no power, regular leaded gas, 13 on the highway, lets see, if you get 10-13 mpg and burn "clean" and a dirty got 20-25 what was the whole stinking point? People will never understand those days.
  • prophet2prophet2 Member Posts: 372
    Those were "dark days," a low point in American automotive history. US automakers had no clue and tried to ram their cars down our throats because they were "American" cars.

    In addition to their piece-meal, low-tech approach to the mechanical end of their cars, design and style were out-to-lunch with the general ugliness of that era. No wonder the imports took over.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Actually, 1956 was the last true Packard--the following years were just Studebakers, through and through...my dad commented on this by saying "They couldn't build a Packard, but we help them build some pretty good Studebakers".
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    But here goes - yes folks in 1958 they actually called THIS a Packard. Nice Studebaker. Lousy Packard.
    image
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • wilcoxwilcox Member Posts: 582
    e called it "The Catfish".
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    Hmmmmmmmm..

    So THIS is the basis for the current Sable design...
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Can somebody put a huge tongue in that photo? I'll buy lunch for that!

    Well, behold what an undercapitalization crisis can produce. This is like Ford buying Jaguar and putting the Jaguar name on an Escort. Who did they expect to fool?
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,386
    I knew how to put that tongue in there - lunch with Shifty! You're one of those West Coaster, aren't you? Be a heck of a trip but well worth it I'm sure!

    I can actually remember seeing these Studepackers on the road when they were new! (In 1958 I'd be 7). I also remember when the Packard dealership became a Studebaker dealership (this guy was in great shape). After Studebaker died it became a transmission shop - and still is today. Finally got something right!
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • carnut4carnut4 Member Posts: 574
    When and what was the last real Packard engine? Was it 1956, or did they still use the big Packard V8 in those PackardBakers? Use to know that stuff..
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Yeah, 1956 was the last Packard V-8, a 374 unit I believe...most Packards made after World War II were not terribly attractive, not bad, but rather old-fashioned until 1955, and then kind of desperately over the top.
  • brianr4brianr4 Member Posts: 3
    Sorry if I offend any of you, but the new VDub Beatle is the uglest car I have ever seen. Ugh, it's one ugly car.
  • rea98drea98d Member Posts: 982
    Love that name you guys cam up with. Am I the only one who sees any resemblance to the (much nicer looking) 55-57 Ford Thunderchickens?
    I dunno. I guess its the tail fins and the hood scoop.
  • stumackstumack Member Posts: 3
    While the retro concept was good for the VW Beetle, the PT Cruiser with its 1941 bun wagon styling just don't work! I agree on the 2000 Hyundai Tiburon, vile. The other two new models that will likely succeed in spite of styling are the Ford Focus and Toyota Echo. Whoever thinks that stubby too-tall styling will be received as "cool" by younger people should give their head a shake. With regard to the 1974-78 AMC Matador coupe, I remember reading an article in which Richard Teague was quoted as saying that the only thing wrong with that car is that it didnt say "Oldsmobile Cutlass" on the side...if it did they'd sell a million a year.
  • wilcoxwilcox Member Posts: 582
    ....it's ugliness begins to grow on you, doesn't it?
  • powerisfunpowerisfun Member Posts: 358
    I'm new to the classic cars board, but I just wanted to say how much fun I had reading all the posts and looking at the pictures on this topic. Thanks guys!

    -powerisfun
    P.S.
    Someone said in one of the very early posts to name one AMC car that wasn't ugly. That's a point
    well taken, but I do kind of like the looks of the Javelin (sp?).
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I like the "real" AMX...not bad looking.

    here's photo, with the late great Mark Donahue

    image
  • redrogerredroger Member Posts: 1
    ANY 80's GM car. Period.
  • bubukittybubukitty Member Posts: 96
    Saw a picture in the paper today of the 1999 Trans Am. Forgot how gross looking they have made this car. With the all the fake hood scoops and body clading, the car has become an atrocity. The older Trans Ams with the Screaming Chicken on the hood wasn't to great either but much more palatable. I loved the original Trans Ams from the late 60's and early 70's. Those were pretty nice. Pontiac just seems to get worse and worse. It is like they have run all of their designs (not just the Trans Am) through the cartoonist who did Disney's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". They're straight our of "Toon Town". Yikes!!!! At least the Chevy guys haven't bastardized The Camaro too badly.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Preferably dead, thank you...

    behold the HUMBER SUPER SNIPE

    (not don't get cheated...make SURE it's a SUPER snipe, not just a run of the mill Snipe!

    image
  • pomy11pomy11 Member Posts: 23
    What is a super snipe any way? Besides being ugly? pomy11
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Well, it is what it is...a sedan made in the UK ...an old firm that first built bicycles and probably should have stuck to that...they'd probably still be in business. They became part of the Rootes Motor LTD in the 1930s, so the Humbers were much like Hillmans in some models. Americans bought a few of them in the 1950s and 60s because they had rather nice English interiors despite the objecionable looks. The name disappeared entirely in 1976.

    Britain made some ugly cars in the 50s....here's the Jowett Jupiter "sports car". I think the picture says it all:

    image

    I think a Super Snipe was just an equipment upgrade over a regular Snipe...a 6 cylinder automatic car.
  • bubukittybubukitty Member Posts: 96
    Fezo, can you find and post a picture of a '99 Trans Am? Thanks!
This discussion has been closed.

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