What's the ugliest car ever made?

[Andrew]

Title. I genuinely think it's a close tie between the Chevy HHR & specifically the convertible variant of the PT Cruiser. I mean, just look at this thing:


I have but one question: why?

 

[inlinesix]

personally i have a few modern cars i despise the look of

1: Tesla Model Y, there is absolutely no design here, it is soulless modern car design, + fat ugly crossover suv bloat, awful looking car

2: MG MG5, all i have to show is how fkn cheap looking the rear window is lmao

3: third place goes to nearly every single crossover i see. they'd all look fine if they stuck to the original Subaru Forester brief of "A Taller Station Wagon" but no one does that anymore, so we just get these awful looking top-heavy blobs driving around everywhere.

 

[brawler]

Title. I genuinely think it's a close tie between the Chevy HHR & specifically the convertible variant of the PT Cruiser. I mean, just look at this thing:
View attachment 827

I have but one question: why?

i have a hard time hating on the retro rehashes of the 2000's solely because every single thing 2017+ is just so boring and same-y. I remember back in the day thinking the same about PT Cruisers and other adjacent cars, but looking back, I can applaud them for trying something unique. Objectively its a bit ugly, but I can always pick it out in a parking lot. The same cannot be said for the modern SUV, which blends into the rest of the parking lot like perfect camouflage.

Here are a few modern picks:

Gone is the subdued grace and luxury of the 90s and 2000s M3s. This feels like faux rich to me. So loud, but so unimpressive.

The crossover-ification knows no limits. The newest WRX just looks so bloated.

I would add cybertruck, but it feels a bit too easy to toss that in.
My final pick:
AMC Gremlin. Horrible car from a horrible time in American automotive history.

 

[Andrew]

This feels like faux rich to me. So loud, but so unimpressive.

This is my problem with pretty much any car packin' a V8 that's rolled off the factory line over the last 5 years. They're from the Andrew Tate school of design.

Heavy, heavy agree on the Gremlin btw. Gnasty lil thing

 

[inlinesix]

Gone is the subdued grace and luxury of the 90s and 2000s M3s. This feels like faux rich to me. So loud, but so unimpressive.

i have to say, Alpina absolutely nailed the new B3's, they look so much nicer to me. i'm a big fan of high performance cars with sleek understated styling, feels so much more mature. (i also love a good green on a car)

 

[brawler]

i have to say, Alpina absolutely nailed the new B3's, they look so much nicer to me. i'm a big fan of high performance cars with sleek understated styling, feels so much more mature. (i also love a good green on a car)

the huge difference in why these rule and why what i posted above does not is simple: small front grills (comparitively). the alpina styling is so classy. the wagon especially. idk why BMW made the grills so absurdly massive on the m3. its obscene lol

modest design will always triumph over the current trend of vents, edges, sharp lines, and grills everywhere. i think especially 10 years on from now, we will find that most of the flagship cars of the current era will have aged poorly.

 

[brawler]

They're from the Andrew Tate school of design

YES. This is such a good way to put it. Hyper Masculine Alpha male focused design language. Just so, so corny.

 

[Andrew]

I think it's really hard to put into words just how much worse American auto has gotten because of how the only people who have money for a brand new car typically fall into a few select camps. There are plenty of sedans still on the road, but fewer and fewer are manufactured every year largely in part b/c the guys with money usually gravitate towards either 7-Kids-Love-2-Roll-Coal or precisely that previously mentioned Hyper Masculine Alpha Male attitude. Wild to me that the only actual car Ford USA manufactures anymore is the Mustang.

 

[Mukky]

I understand the utility but these box cars are just.... ugh.

There's no more better reason than that, to be honest. Y'all have made some great points about other cars, but cars like this? I can't. I just, nah.

(this is legit the highest res photo I could find by quick access)

 

[brawler]

I think it's really hard to put into words just how much worse American auto has gotten because of how the only people who have money for a brand new car typically fall into a few select camps. There are plenty of sedans still on the road, but fewer and fewer are manufactured every year largely in part b/c the guys with money usually gravitate towards either 7-Kids-Love-2-Roll-Coal or precisely that previously mentioned Hyper Masculine Alpha Male attitude. Wild to me that the only actual car Ford USA manufactures anymore is the Mustang.

You are speaking to my soul. Its so tough to be a young person trying to stay motivated for our automotive future. I mean, the cybertruck being allowed on our roads? That thing should not have passed regulations, man. If that can make it through, then the future is looking dire.. I have a feeling things are about to get a whole lot stupider. Also regarding the mustang, the fact that that car as well has an SUV variant is really speaking volumes to the current trends.

Also seeing what the overseas markets have access too makes it all the more painful. I rented a GR Yaris in Japan and it is everything I could have ever dreamed of in a modern car. An actually tiny, two door hatchback with 256 horsepower and AWD, at affordable pricing. All we get in the states is the GR Corolla, starting at 45k, its much bigger, and the dealers are marking them up to 65k-75k. Insane.

Also love the new Renault/Alpine hot hatch that was announced today, and a big fan of the newer Alpine A110s. If those were here, I would be all over it.

And the Chinese EV market is very, very exciting. The US gov. knows that they are leagues ahead of our markets embarrassing attempts at an EV, hence why they won't allow them to be sold here without imposing absurd tariffs on them. So, instead, we must suffer, and let our country continue to exploit our ever dwindling lack of choices.

 

[brawler]

I understand the utility but these box cars are just.... ugh.

There's no more better reason than that, to be honest. Y'all have made some great points about other cars, but cars like this? I can't. I just, nah.

(picture of a car i love and have objectively factually good taste on fr fr(im joking btw))

first mukky L... heart is broken.. idk how i can heal from this

 

[Mukky]

first mukky L... heart is broken.. idk how i can heal from this

I'm not so much of a car-head as y'all, as much as I wanna be, so there's things I am blind to... Love of box cars being one

If only I could afford the life of a car enthusiast haha

 

[brawler]

I'm not so much of a car-head as y'all, as much as I wanna be, so there's things I am blind to... Love of box cars being one

If only I could afford the life of a car enthusiast haha

i like box car bc its like.. how silly.. its just a square..

it does come from a different time though, in regards to utility; barebones, cheap, entry level, pure transport with almost no comforts. back when car makers actually had options for new car buyers. theres a beauty in simplicity to me.

to be fair that Scion XB you posted is definitely mundane asf hahaha. I think the much cuter Nissan Cube deserves the square-car love the most. Or the Honda Element!

 

[Mukky]

i like box car bc its like.. how silly.. its just a square..

it does come from a different time though, in regards to utility; barebones, cheap, entry level, pure transport with almost no comforts. back when car makers actually had options for new car buyers. theres a beauty in simplicity to me.

to be fair that Scion XB you posted is definitely mundane asf hahaha. I think the much cuter Nissan Cube deserves the square-car love the most. Or the Honda Element!

The element is a really nice one for sure

 

[Andrew]

I mean, the cybertruck being allowed on our roads? That thing should not have passed regulations, man. If that can make it through, then the future is looking dire.

The worst thing about Teslas is that modern American society is mostly post-structural controversy. When Ford Pintos started exploding? Serious, major controversy that got people to act quickly. Random Tesla fires twice a week? Nada for years.

I have by and large given up hope for the automotive future here in the USA & accept that when it is no longer viable for me to purchase a car from the late aughts without putting in major repair work, I'll hope I can grab a Toyota Corolla and just roll with it. I've been meaning to write out a thread on the Saturn Aura I've been driving lately & extend the saga from when my Fusion was hit, but the quick 'n dirty of it is that I love interesting cars. The 2022 Toyota Corolla, going by performance alone, is the best car I've ever driven. Objectively. That doesn't mean it isn't boring to me.

For all that can be said about the parts sharing from General Motors, I think that each of their sub-brands has been at their best when they felt like they really needed change. The 1995 Oldsmobile Aurora is a great example of this, with a wild amount of effort put into a last ditch attempt to save a doomed brand. I feel the same about the Aura, which is a hodgepodge of GM bits n pieces that feels like a greatest hits collection with its own joyful batch of oddities. My summarized review (saving the rest for the inevitable thread) is two things: 1) legit the only things I want ever added to this are just options for the higher end model (heated seats + sunroof) & 2) for the rest, I wouldn't have it any other way. It interests me in a way that no recent car will and balances power/style (again with the Alpha Male Design Language) in a way that's focused towards genuine class rather than just showing off. That last part especially is impossible to find on recent cars- the Volvo S60 & S90 are the only ones that seem immune.

P.S. - If I let the liquor talk, I'd go on about how modern vehicle interiors seem to take inspiration from cyberpunk environments in a way that makes them feel like the outfits at the end of Starship Troopers. Very, very oppressive for no good reason.

 

[Andrew]

I understand the utility but these box cars are just.... ugh.

There's no more better reason than that, to be honest. Y'all have made some great points about other cars, but cars like this? I can't. I just, nah.

View attachment 828(this is legit the highest res photo I could find by quick access)

My take on box cars is that much like how Nirvana, Seinfeld & The Office have been hurt in retrospect by their own influence & popularity making their strides feel day-to-day and mundane, stuff like the Nissan Cube & et. al have had their reputation damaged by the popularity of the Kia Soul. I think that these cars can look really great as an extension of a very specific personality driving it. Your average John Q. Public driving a Kia Soul has 0 desire to drive a Kia Soul because it speaks to his soul, which I cannot say for those who specifically seek The Cube. Thus, the image of The Box becomes tainted.

 

[brawler]

The worst thing about Teslas is that modern American society is mostly post-structural controversy. When Ford Pintos started exploding? Serious, major controversy that got people to act quickly. Random Tesla fires twice a week? Nada for years.

I have by and large given up hope for the automotive future here in the USA & accept that when it is no longer viable for me to purchase a car from the late aughts without putting in major repair work, I'll hope I can grab a Toyota Corolla and just roll with it. I've been meaning to write out a thread on the Saturn Aura I've been driving lately & extend the saga from when my Fusion was hit, but the quick 'n dirty of it is that I love interesting cars. The 2022 Toyota Corolla, going by performance alone, is the best car I've ever driven. Objectively. That doesn't mean it isn't boring to me.

For all that can be said about the parts sharing from General Motors, I think that each of their sub-brands has been at their best when they felt like they really needed change. The 1995 Oldsmobile Aurora is a great example of this, with a wild amount of effort put into a last ditch attempt to save a doomed brand. I feel the same about the Aura, which is a hodgepodge of GM bits n pieces that feels like a greatest hits collection with its own joyful batch of oddities. My summarized review (saving the rest for the inevitable thread) is two things: 1) legit the only things I want ever added to this are just options for the higher end model (heated seats + sunroof) & 2) for the rest, I wouldn't have it any other way. It interests me in a way that no recent car will and balances power/style (again with the Alpha Male Design Language) in a way that's focused towards genuine class rather than just showing off. That last part especially is impossible to find on recent cars- the Volvo S60 & S90 are the only ones that seem immune.

P.S. - If I let the liquor talk, I'd go on about how modern vehicle interiors seem to take inspiration from cyberpunk environments in a way that makes them feel like the outfits at the end of Starship Troopers. Very, very oppressive for no good reason.

I feel so validated to know that someone out there feels the exact way I feel about everything hahaha. Even with your ideal additions for your car: OEM+ as a lot of the tuner guys have dubbed it-- seeking out nice factory options. Also hard agree on the Volvos. They still catch my eye with their new wagons; Buick had a nice wagon as well not too long ago, I believe it was sold as an Opel in the EU. Can't imagine that model sticking around much longer over here though!

Would love to see your extended take on modern car interiors one day. I have definitely felt similarly. They have a very.. disney star wars ride thing going on lately. Tablets with laggy OS's, trying to convince you that Yes! You are IN THE FUTURE! We promise! While being incredibly uninspired, covered with gloss piano black plastics, and gamer LED lights.

Excited to see your full Saturn thread btw!

... stuff like the Nissan Cube & et. al have had their reputation damaged by the popularity of the Kia Soul.

The Kia Soul.. I knew I forgot about that one. For good reason. It does not spark any joy unlike the Cube.

 

[Andrew]

They have a very.. disney star wars ride thing going on lately. Tablets with laggy OS's, trying to convince you that Yes! You are IN THE FUTURE! We promise!

It is so hard for me to put an extended dissertation into words until I go for the bottle (somehow it makes me verbose) but this is it boiled down. Modern cars want you to feel like you're a stormtrooper for some bizarre reason and feel as if they are desperately striving to create an oppressive futuristic metropolis that has no connection to true, genuine reality. I would like to drive a car (which for me, in many ways, is my third place) that does not feel out of place with my first place (which was a real space created for real people, meaning that it has warmth and color to it). A car is my home on the road, so following the same design patterns I have in my home I see 0 reason for it to feel hostile as opposed to simultaneously classy & welcoming.

Really I do think that if I wanted to zero-in on something specific, it's that disconnect from the real world. Nothing else looks like these things. Nothing else feels like these things. They exist within an aesthetic & universe of their own, separating them from the spaces I walk in and live in every day. Stands out like a sore thumb.

 

[atradaitoshi]

Not sure about the ugliest but all contemporary design cars are mad ugly and look the same. The cut-off is around 2007. I dream of the day when companies decide to start producing 90s-2000s car designs again.

 

[kevin supermarket]

prefacing with this first: i am not a car person. i know nothing about wheel boxes. i have only ever driven a car one time for practice, and that was six months ago.

that said, i have a rather vivid memory of some time within the last six months where i was walking from my dorm at uni to the food court, and in the parking lot, i saw a mom driving a Ford truck very similar, if not exactly this one. slim orange lights, gray body, and WHY IS IT SO BIIIIIIIIG???

these things agitate me ever since getting more into cars and understanding just how boned america is in terms of them. this isn't a truck anymore so much as it is an ego-powered death machine. say goodbye to safe neighborhood streets, kids, cause the drivers of these things ain't gonna see you chasing after your soccer ball with how annoyingly tall the front end of it is. seeing this truck in that parking lot, as clean and as shiny as it was, felt almost dystopian in comparison to the sedans, SUVs, and Jeeps all around the lot. it's a future whose motto has been "bigger = better" for decades, and they're not stopping. i don't know what about this is practical or necessary, i just know i don't like it.