20+ Unflattering Cars You Wouldn’t Want To Be Seen Behind The Wheel
Most cars are beautiful works of drivable art and are built for us to show them off. Their paint jobs are perfect, their interiors resemble plush, futuristic lounges, and their engines are something out of a mechanic's dream.
But just like anything else, sometimes manufacturers and designers miss the mark. Really miss the mark. Vehicles that could have looked amazing wind up looking downright ugly because of a bad color or body style choice. Instead of people turning their heads and looking at these cars in awe they feel nothing but disgust and pity. Here are some of the ugliest cars ever made.
Chevrolet Chevette
The Chevrolet Chevette was a subcompact car that looked like a deer in headlights. It had the body of a station wagon and was otherwise ugly and unimpressive.
It was sold in the 1970s and 1980s and reached the height of its popularity in 1979 and 1980, when it sold the most models. Holding the title as one of the smallest cars made by Chevrolet, it is also one of the ugliest as well.
Oldsmobile Dynamic 88
There is nothing dynamic about the Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 outside of how big and ugly its boxy shape was. The Dynamic, manufactured by Oldsmobile, was sold for over 50 years with a debut dating all the way back to 1949.
Even with so much time, the Dynamic saw little change over the years and remained mostly stagnant and stale. With a lack of upgrades and an unimpressive car to look at, sales eventually plunged and the Dynamic was discontinued in 1999.
Studebaker Convertible
It can be said that there are some things that should just be left alone and the Studebaker was one of them. The convertible's extra-long fenders make it look like it spaceship of sorts and compared to other 1950s models, it was an eyesore.
The Studebaker Convertible was never mass-produced because its chassis wound up not making for a great convertible. Studebaker would go on to produce other better-looking models until the late 1960s when the company went bankrupt and closed shop.
Trabant
A car most common in East Germany from the 1950s to the 1990s, the Trabant was a peculiar and odd-looking car that marked the collapse of the East German Bloc.
The car was made as cheaply as possible so that it could be mass-produced to accommodate a large percentage of the population. On the inside, it contained no tachometer and had no fuel door meaning that drivers had to pour gas from under the hood of the car.
Pontiac Fiero
The Pontiac Fiero made this list for not only being an unattractive car but for also being unsafe and dangerous to drive as well. Not only did the name "Fiero" mean “fire” and “wild”, but the car itself was also prone to spontaneous combustion.
Initially, when the car was released in 1983 it sold well. It wasn't until consumers saw growing numbers of reports that the cars were catching on fire that sales tanked and the car was discontinued.
Mercury Capri
Just by looking at a photo or seeing one of these drive past you on the street and you can easily see why the Mercury Capri made this list of ugly cars.
The Mercury Capri was marketed as a pony car but looked more like a station wagon. Initially, the car was only sold in Australia and it wasn't until years later that it was shipped overseas and sold in the U.S.
Cadillac Cimarron
Considered a huge rebadging disaster, the Cadillac Cimarron is probably a car that most people don't know about or remember. It was nothing special and had an out-of-date ugly boxy body that made buyers want to stay away.
Prior to being released to the public, representatives from Cadillac confessed that they knew the car would be a commercial failure and borderline embarrassing to the company -- but decided to sell it anyway, oddly.
Pontiac Aztek
Manufactured alongside the Buick Rendezvous, the Pontiac Aztek was a crossover that should have never been. General Motors was pressed to come up with a new vehicle and instead of taking the time to create something truly unique, they decided to make a crossover vehicle instead.
Buyers ended up having to give the Aztek back to General Motors within the first few months after it was released for a massive recall due to a faulty fuel delivery system.
Buick Electra
A full-size vehicle first introduced by Buick in the late 1950s, the Electra looked like more like a metal surfboard with wheels than a respectable car.
It was marketed and sold as a luxury vehicle though outside of its name, it had nothing to offer in the way of luxury or performance. If that wasn't enough, the car was hard to drive and park as it was 18 feet long from head to tail.
Chevrolet El Camino
While the El Camino was an iconic car of the 1980s, if the vehicle was remade in 2020, it would be pretty ugly. The El Camino was a hybrid of sorts and took parts from a truck and parts from a coupe and mashed them up into what should’ve resembled a normal vehicle.
What it ended up doing was leaving a lot of buyers confused as to what it was. That consumer uncertainty paired with the Camino’s boxy front-end and overall boat-like shape is how the car managed to make this list.
Chevrolet Malibu
Named after a beach getaway, the Chevrolet Malibu of the 1990s was anything but a vacation. There wasn’t anything special or fascinating about the ride and it didn’t have any features to set it apart from the competition.
The trunk of the Malibu looked like two hotdogs laying side by side and the front of the car was nearly identical to the Chevrolet Impala. Newer, more refined models of the Chevrolet Malibu have been sold since, but the 1990s models were just plain ugly.
Citroën BX
A car that was designed in the late 1980s, the Citroën BX was an ugly vehicle that was incredibly popular in Europe. The BX model replaced the Citroën GS which was more beloved than the BX.
Designers of the BX got inspiration from other Volvo models and the engine was based on the Peugeot 405. If the looks weren’t bad enough, the car was lightweight and used a hydraulic suspension, making for a bumpy ride.
Chevrolet Impala
In the wild, an impala is like a gazelle and is light and agile and majestic; the complete opposite of the 1990s Chevrolet Impala model.
The ugliest feature of the Impala was its large square trunk which was practically the only thing that the Impala had to separate it from other similar Chevrolet models. Though named after a fast mammal, the Impala itself isn’t that fast at all and had only 180 horsepower.
Ford Flex
Another ugly entry from Ford Motors, the Flex was designed to replace Ford's Freestyle minivan. It was classified as a CUV and had components from both SUVs and minivans which was obvious in its design.
The Flex was long and square in an unattractive way regardless of its designers' innovative aspirations. For now, the Flex is still around with a new model coming out in 2020 though there are plans to discontinue the model after its release.
AMC Gremlin
For a car that looked like a hunched over troll, the AMC Gremlin's name was perfect for it.
Like the water-hating creatures of the same name, drivers of this hunk of junk could also be found angry that they drove a car that looks like a baby carriage. The AMC Gremlin was sold by the American Motor Corporation from 1970-1978 and eventually went fully defunct eight years later in 1988.
Dodge Aspen
Before Dodge became popular for making muscle cars like the Charger and Challenger, Dodge had a history of missteps along the way and the Aspen was one of them.
It was a boat-shaped compact car that was sold alongside the Plymouth Volaré which was its two-door counterpart. Dodge ended up discontinuing the Aspen and the Durango Hybrid in 2008 because of a factory closure so thankfully none of these will be rebuilt anytime soon.
Ford Mustang II
The Ford Mustang has gone through a lot of body styles but the Ford Mustang second generation that ran from 1973 to 1978 was by far one of the ugliest models. Its headlights were too large for the car which made it look like a tin bug on wheels.
Its front fenders were disproportionate to the rest of the car and looked out of place. Ford eventually made the changes it needed to for the Mustang to come together but the Mustang II is a sore reminder of what it used to be.
DeLorean DMC-12
Most famous for its appearance in Back to the Future, the DeLorean is more of a pop culture classic than anything else. When it comes to anything outside of time travel, the DeLorean DMC-12 is a big miss.
The creator wanted to make a car that was different and innovative but those differences are what caused the DeLorean to ultimately fail as a product. It didn't sell well and most likely will never resurface again.
Plymouth Prowler
The Prowler was based on a concept car of the same name from the 1990s, and a concept car is how it should have stayed. Completely unattractive, the car also didn’t perform well and had a tiny trunk that was impractical.
In addition to poor performance, the price of the Prowler was one that never stayed the same as Chrysler yo-yoed the cost every few months without explanation.
Renault Twingo
Introduced in 1992 by the French automaker Renault, the Twingo is a bite-size four-passenger city car. The shape and size of the Twingo make it impractical for larger people or those with a larger family.
In addition to being small and bug-shaped, the Twingo also lacks in performance with a horsepower of only 90 on all of its standard models. The Twingo just got another upgrade with Renault releasing the third generation of the cars in 2019.
Nissan Juke
A newer concept manufactured and sold by Nissan, the Juke is an SUV that resembles a frog. Intended to be fun and fun to drive, the Juke just ended up being something that buyers "juked" away from.
In 2017, Nissan pulled the plug on the Juke in the U.S. and replaced it with the Nissan Kicks. The Juke lasted only seven years in the US and in its last few years, it sold poorly.
Aston Martin Lagonda
Designed to be futuristic and ahead of its time, the Aston Martin Lagonda still hasn't reached a time period where its design is attractive.
The body of the Lagonda overall is flat and wide and from afar, it could appear to look like a stretched Skylark and not the six-figure car that it was. These cars took 2,200 man-hours to build, and from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s, only 25 were sold.
