Fifty Ugliest Cars of the Past 50 Years (according to BusinessWeek)

BusinessWeek ^ | Damien Joseph

[DemforBush]

Considering how many new cars are rolled out every year, it's no surprise that a few might be just plain homely. There's a chance that certain styles might become fashionable with a dash of retro hip. (Well, maybe not from the 1970s.) But for the most part, the following 50 cars will never be anything but design duds...

[DemforBush]

Interesting list. Some I agree with (Cadillac Cimmarron = BAD!), some others I think either aren't ugly or were merely products of their time (i.e. they seem dated, but but were reasonably stylish in their day).

[dfwgator]

"You think you hate it now, just wait until you drive it."

[GeronL]

Honda Element, I think it was a Honda. Maybe they accidently sent us some of the Chinese knock-offs. They are ugly.

Is the Yugo on the list??

I kinda liked some of the El Camino’s but definitely not the Ford Ranchero or the GMC Cabillero. (haha.. )

[Army Air Corps]

I agree. Some of these are not actually ugly. Some are indeed hideous while others were considered quite stylish for the time in which they were introduced to the market.

[skeeter]

What about the blue super-sports wagon with the CB radio and the optional rally fun pack?

[Paladin2]

Well, a quick review of the "off the marques":

SSR - looked fine, just way too expensive for me.

El Caminos (Rancheros too) were fine looking , though fairly useless. Australia has all sorts of Sport-Utes. Bad Call.

PT Cruisers are often OK looking. Well done from a conceptual standpoint. I test drove a couple and didn't like them as a driver, but they look OK from the outside.

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

Glad to see the revolting Honda Element and Nissan Cube on the list. However, I was surprised that only one Scion made the cut -- I'm not aware of a single model that looks good.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, but still...

[6ppc]

This comment from the article shows at least part of the author's agenda...

the Escalade is for looking rich while you're burning gasoline.

[Califreak]

Some aren't all that bad.

I want to know why Scion isn't on the list.

That thing is hideous.

[GeronL]

Apparently the Dodge Rampage was also an El Camino type vehicle and an Australian thing called the Holden Ute was too.

[Mr Rogers]

I’ll take the Ferrari, if anyone wants to unload an ugly vehicle. I’ll suffer the humiliation of driving it...

[annieokie]

Looks like Alan Colmes in the middle, must be considering the cash for clunkers program. Must have gotten a promotion.

By the way the top ugliest car ever made "the Edsel"

[Fighting Irish]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

The DeLorean made the list of the top 50 ugly cars? This is perhaps one of the sweetest autos in the last ... well ... 50 years!!!

Shhhheeeeeeeeesh!

[Vendome]

I’m working at the Car Wash....

[Jeff Chandler]

Some of those just had bad finish color combinations.

Those teeny tiny cars are all we will be allowed to drive soon.

[TexasBeth]

LOL, my first car was number 7 on the list. I had a baby poop green Gremlin.

[kidd]

The Thing, the Element and the Gremlin all made the list.

Good.

So did the Nano, but I didn’t see a SmartCar

[Vendome]

Needs a Mr. Fusion and those idiots at Newsweek don’t know beautiful when they see it.

[Made In The USA]

My inner-gearhead thinks this list has a lot of errors. It also has some holier than thou commentary.

Example on the Cadillac Escalade: “One of the most self-indulgent vehicles ever made, the Escalade is for looking rich while you’re burning gasoline.” Uh... it’s a luxury truck. It’s intended to be self indulgent and who cares how much gas it burns. I owned a Cadillac STS recently, was it self indulgent- YES! I wanted one and didn’t care about gas mileage.

[kidd]

I don’t think that’s a DeLorean

[Jeff Chandler]

The DeLorean still looks good today.

[woodbutcher1963]

I think the Ferrari Enzo is beautiful.
I like the Plymouth Prowler too.

[GI Joe Fan]

[Jeff Chandler]

I don’t think that’s a DeLorean

You're right. That's that other stainless-steel, gull wing car- . . . um, I can think of the name right now.

[Revolting cat!]

Designed for the KGB to get the anti-socialist Elements off the streets.

[Vendome]

These guys are idiots. Ferrari anything is gorgeous. The Hummer is still cool.

The “Thing”, I always wanted one.

And lastly those bastard had my first car in this list, The Pinto! Outrageous!!! lol

I demand a recount!!! LOL

[Kickass Conservative]

I had a 69 El Camino. It was a sweet looking ride based on the Chevelle platform.

It had “big fat tires and everything”.

These guys are nuts.

[spetznaz]

I checked the list and found the Pontiac Aztek ...that's all I needed to see. Had the vehicle been missing the list would have been false. However, since the Aztek is there then the list is at least accurate in that respect.

The Aztek is an ugly guilty beast!

[JoeProBono]

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Heh. I had a girlfriend who traded in her Gremlin for an AMC Pacer. I think that qualifies as an exacta.

[Seruzawa]

One could argue that all the latest sedans are as ugly as a week old bar of soap. All would qualify. The Gremlin may have looked weird but at least it was distinctive. Now you can’t tell one white/silver ugly sedan from the next.

On the other hand, while they might not be classified as cars, they are used as such and so the Aztek should have topped the list with the Avalanch and Ridgeline hold close runner-up spots. And the Prius. Don’t forget the Prius.

[norraad]

Yeah, and I bet they never had dirt/grease under their fingernails.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

There are three or four cars in this Pontiac...

[Age of Reason]

Volvo 240’s and 140’s are to me the greatest vehicles of the 60’s and 70’s—and maybe even of the 80’s.

Practical, safe, high quality materials—easy to take apart and repair—even decades after they were made.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

The cube of crap......

[SJSAMPLE]

The El Camino shouldn’t be on that list.
I saw a partially restored SS at the Lowes the other day.
Had a 70 year-old lady behind the wheel, but she knew what she was driving.

[skimbell]

Yeah, I was a little surprised at that too. Turns out the Escalade is on the ugly list too.

Might reflect a bit of the green agenda

"In a Yugo..."

[Dead Corpse]

The Enzo was on that list?

What kind of a Metro-sexual poofter wrote that article anyway?

[astyanax]

Concur.
I’d suffer the “humiliation” of having an Enzo or a Prowler parked in my driveway...

[Revolting cat!]

[Wyatt's Torch]

I'm fine with the list except for this:

[job]

I graduated in 1981. One of my friends family owned this car. They were all about 5’ 5”, 200+ pounds. We called it the Weeble Mobile.

[Le Chien Rouge]

I remember both the Pinto and Chevette being introduced and man were they ugly looking.

[latina4dubya]

what is that? i looks like a tennis shoe from the 90s...

[latina4dubya]

the Pontiac Aztek

yes--the car with the chopped-off ass... i think Rosie O'Donnell owned one...

[SJSAMPLE]

Ferrari made the Enzo look dreadful, and now the new 458 is going to come close.

The 360 and 430 are some of Ferrari’s best work in decades.

[Little Ray]

The writer is full of crap. Most of the cars are, at worst, ordinary. Many are downright cute. One or two are actually beautiful. (The ENZO is an ugly car?)

[Responsibility2nd]

Just about any car from France is ugly.

[kidd]

There’s no time machine. No Mr. Fusion. No flux capacitor.

[bigbob]

What a bunch of BS, some of the coolest cars on the planet here!