50 Ugliest Cars of the Past 50 Years

[KCALB SIRAY]

Defined by Businessweek, here is a list of 50 ugliest cars of the past 50 years. If you think they have one wrong, please share your story if you've owned one or would like to add one to the mix.

1) Chevrolet El Camino
Introduced: 1959

The front end of a car and the back end of a pickup—convenient but unsightly. The El Camino went through several redesigns, each worse than the one before. This 1982 model seemed to be wearing dental braces, and the chrome accents over its wheel housing only draw the eye to mystifying hub caps.


2) Citroën Ami
Introduced: 1961
Design: Flaminio Bertoni

This car has fenders that drop below the tire line and a top that extends from the back like a porch roof. Add some oddly shaped windows and dot-sized brake lights for a uniquely strange-looking vehicle.


3) Lightburn Zeta
Introduced: 1963

This Australian car was designed by a maker of cement mixers and washing machines, but that might be obvious. There are two grilles, both in a fence-like pattern, with protruding headlights on either side.


4)Wartburg 353
Introduced: 1965

Can you find one thing you like about this East German car?


5) Volkswagen Thing
Introduced: 1969

This is the design philosophy of the Thing: Take the basics of the Beetle—an engine, powertrain, and seats—and plop them in an unfinished metal box. There's no front grille, the bumper is an afterthought, and nobody bothered to round the fenders.


6) AMC Gremlin
Introduced: 1970
Design: Richard A. Teague

Introduced on April Fool's Day, the Gremlin was ugly, but it's had its fans. Still, that doesn't excuse the abruptly angled back end, saucer hubcaps, and aborted rear windows. It also came in some nasty colors, like the brown-copper concoction seen here.


7) Bond Bug
Introduced: 1970
Design: Ogle Design

No, it has nothing to do with James Bond, and yes, it was legally driven on real roads. The Bug defies car design language with three wheels, a boat-like bottom, and zip windows.


8) Ford Pinto
Introduced: 1970
Design: Robert Eidschun

The Pinto doesn't seem so bad—that is, until you remember how sexy Fords (F) from the 1960s were. The design devolved into hexagonal headlight housings, a grille that's only a few inches tall yet wide enough to become the car's focal point, and a rear end that apparently melted from the roof.


9) Ford Mustang II
Introduced: Late 1973

Somehow, Ford transformed the classic first-generation Mustang into this. Gone are the sleek lines, side intakes, and close-to-the-road profile. Instead, the Mustang II looks like many cars of the '70s: bloated, heavy, bland, and forgettable.


10) Bricklin SV1
Introduced: 1974

This ride has a well-earned reputation for being a complete mechanical clunker—and it looked like one, too. The front end is squared like an awful dress shoe, is wider than the driver's cabin, and rises high before sloping down dramatically, giving it a front-heavy, unstable appearance.


11) Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar
Introduced: 1974
Design: Bob Beaumont

The CitiCar might hold the record for being the most widely produced, street-legal, electric vehicle, but that doesn't make up for its looks. The sloped front end and zip-windows give it the appearance of a rolling tent.



Here is the link to the remainder of the cars. http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09...50_years/1.htm Feel free to add to the list or share your stories of owning one or of a trip you took when you were young and your parents packed up the old (insert car name)

[tomato]

Hahahaha!!

Of course, this list is highly subjective, you know what they say, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder ;)

However, I immediately thought of the Pinto, too. I know it's not that bad looking, but compared to the other cars on the road at the time, you couldn't help but think "who designed THAT?!!! and what where they smoking?"

I remember the AMI, the AMI 6 especially was very popular, but let me tell ya, there was uglier. I learned how to drive on an old beat-up 4L like this one during a vacation trip through Brittany a long time ago. The car was so rusted we were worried we'd fall through the floorboard

[SailDesign]

Originally Posted by tomato

Hahahaha!!

<snip>

I learned how to drive on an old beat-up 4L like this one during a vacation trip through Brittany a long time ago. The car was so rusted we were worried we'd fall through the floorboard

Heh! We had a 4L for years. Great driver, although the shifter was counter-intuitive, and the gearbox was on the FRONT of the engine.,...
Finally died when someone pushed me into the car in front. The Renault's bow just disintegrated in a pile of rust. I think the gearbox saved me - not a mark on the other car.

[tomato]

do you really think #10 is ugly?

[Yar Is Word]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

[Yar Is Word]

1959 Edsel

[tomato]

Originally Posted by Yar Is Word

1959 Edsel

I like that one!

[Snappy]

Beauty is subjective, but REALLY, the El Camino is their ugliest!?

(Google pictures examples.)

[SilverBack]

1987 Zimmer Golden Spirit

[SIPNGAS]

This is a GREAT thread!! Don't be hating the Gremlins/Pacers of the world...there are some around here (former home to AMC) that ROCK, I tell you. ;o)

[TLyttle]

I was just cruising through my copy of "The World's Worst Cars" and Gremlin/Pacer are prominent. So is the Wartburg, the Amphicar, the Trabant, some Citroens, the overblown Triumph Mayflower, on and on.

I still don't know why the Pinto is included; it got a bad rap from a engineering error (!), but my buddy had a Runamuck that ran and ran and ran, we couldn't kill it. I've driven a few examples, and it was a predictable car with few bad habits; it's only fault in my mind was that it was too heavy. Mess with that engine, and it was capable of a LOT of power...

[Bob Dog]

Sorry Lisa, but the Gremlin I had ,which I bought for $250 because it had good tires and ran, was the most awful car I have ever owned without any exceptions. I have driven Ford tractors and one ton trucks that steered easier. I think this article could just as easily be called the 50 boldest automotive designs of the 20th century. These cars were for the most part designs which told the status quo to go screw itself, which may be why a conservative magazine like Business Week hates them so much. I personally think that some of the El Caminos,especially the late 60s models, were the most beautiful trucks ever designed.

[Altitude]

What? No '86 Camaro?

[SilverBack]

You just reminded of the '54-'62 Hudson/Nash Metropolitan


Maybe someone will add that to the gay car thread if it's ever made

Originally Posted by Altitude

What? No '86 Camaro?

Nope never. Love that car too much

[tomato]

OK, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
You tell me.
Sorry about the pix sizes

[tomato]

^ awwww, but that one is cute!! Mine looks like an ancient Honda Fit or something ;)

I'm making fun but I have a *lot* of respect for classic cars, though, especially cars from the 50's and before. I DNK, when I see them on the roads, it just feels real good to see them around

[ZING]

HAHA, the VW Thing is hilarious.

[tk-421]

What? No Pontiac Aztek?


EDIT: I just saw the original list and it is indeed there...