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Well.....we had the prettiest, so now it is time to reverse course and come up with some automotive designs that backfired. You post; we read. Good luck.
The Pontiac Aztec will get a lot of votes, but let's not forget the Nissan Cube and Juke, as well as the Citroen DS.
FWIW, I missed out on the prettiest thread, but I'd like to mention 53-62 Corvettes, Mercedes 300 SL, BMW 507, and the Ferrari GT 250 spyders among the most aesthetically pleasing to my eye. 63-67 Corvettes as well.
Renault Dauphine.....the car was a joke. IIRC it had sleeved cylinders and when I rebuilt a few it was a process of putting new sleeves in the holes - but memory is dim... The manual transmission shifter was like working a paint stick in a box of oatmeal.. And then there was the spare tire storage
Hey, wait a minute now. We had a new 1960 Dauphine as a second car for my mother, and . . . . . oh, never mind. You're right - it was a terrible car. Cantankerous and uncomfortable, it had the dreaded Ferlec automatic clutch which pretty much precluded going up a hill. Mercifully, a 1949 Buick with bad brakes put it out of its misery at a stoplight - and nearly me with it. That little boat anchor of an engine ended up in the back seat with me. Mom got a new Corvair (which she loved). I got a limp which lasted for years.
The Pontiac Aztec will get a lot of votes, but let's not forget the Nissan Cube and Juke, as well as the Citroen DS.
FWIW, I missed out on the prettiest thread, but I'd like to mention 53-62 Corvettes, Mercedes 300 SL, BMW 507, and the Ferrari GT 250 spyders among the most aesthetically pleasing to my eye. 63-67 Corvettes as well.
Hey, wait a minute now. We had a new 1960 Dauphine a s a second car for my mother, and . . . . . oh, never mind. You're right - it was a terrible car. Cantankerous and uncomfortable, it had the dreaded Ferlec automatic clutch which pretty much precluded going up a hill. Mercifully, a 1949 Buick with bad brakes put it out of its misery at a stoplight - and nearly me with it. That little boat anchor of an engine ended up in the back seat with me. Mom got a new Corvair (which she loved). I got a limp which lasted for years.
The Reanults were horrendous - my brother-in-law totaled two of them in minor fender benders...
Almost every modern econobox I see also qualifies...
The wife and I laugh at the new commercials showing one of these designs rolling down a city street and everybody stops what they're doing to stare. Gimme a break!
The worst one is the rodents driving in a Kia Soul with rap music playing. Its main feature seems to be the ability to change the color of its LED lights. Yuck!
Last edited by Frankie the Fink; 10-13-2018 at 10:48 AM.
The Edsel was the biggest marketing failure in American history, up to that time.
But somehow, as far as the ugliest [or least prettiest], Studebaker pops into my mind.
Heck I liked the Studebakers - a rakish, unique design IMO..
The Gremlin. Ugh! I parked my 61 Corvette next to one at a Disney car show (complete with an 8-track tape player).
Guess which car got the most attention ? Everybody remembered a Gremlin in the family somewhere.
Heck I liked the Studebakers - a rakish, unique design IMO..
The Gremlin. Ugh! I parked my 61 Corvette next to one at a Disney car show (complete with an 8-track tape player).
Guess which car got the most attention ? Everybody remembered a Gremlin in the family somewhere.
Is it time to talk about the AMC Pacer ?
Ahead of it's time IMHO. As far as ugliest, any domestic car produced in 1973 and 1974. Those newly mandated 5MPH bumpers absolutely ruined the lines of every car back then. Took the designers a few years to figure out how to integrate the bumpers and still meet the new regulations. And, yes, the Aztek takes the booby prize for the ugliest of all.
One of my sister's had a Pacer. We used to call it a 'Moon car'. At some point (years) ugly becomes 'sought after'. On occasion you might see one of these babies on the road. A rare sighting and attention getter, for sure.
John
Aztek was the first thing that came to my mind. We had a Dauphine, and it was a POS (I heard my first swear word as a small kid from my dad in that car), but the Dauphine was not ugly as sin. I took this thread to apply to ugly, not mechanical. Second place is the 73-74 AMC Matador. The '50-'51 Stude's are killer, IMO, not ugly. Most of the new cars with the hourglass screen grilles are ugly as hell, as well as the 'angry gargoyle' pickup trucks. And that Subaru that has an Edsel grille. What were they THINKING??
The Edsel was the biggest marketing failure in American history, up to that time.
But somehow, as far as the ugliest [or least prettiest], Studebaker pops into my mind.
You would be surprised how much those Studebaker's are worth now with there limited production and sells.
10-13-2018, 10:18 AM
Ugliest Automotive Designs of All Time
Ahead of it's time IMHO. As far as ugliest, any domestic car produced in 1973 and 1974. Those newly mandated 5MPH bumpers absolutely ruined the lines of every car back then. Took the designers a few years to figure out how to integrate the bumpers and still meet the new regulations. And, yes, the Aztek takes the booby prize for the ugliest of all.
