Top 20 Ugliest Cars of All Time
These cars are difficult to look at. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most hideous automobiles in the history of the industry.
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00:00 It's just such a sad car.
00:02 Look at that.
00:03 It's just so sad.
00:05 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most hideous automobiles in the history of the industry.
00:11 Seeing as most Cube owners will spend their time sitting in it rather than looking at it, we'll ease ourselves in gently.
00:17 Number 20. BMW Isetta
00:21 Step inside. Let us tell you the tale of one of the strangest little cars ever made, and perhaps one of the scariest we've driven.
00:29 On one hand, we totally get it. The idea of microcars is cute, right?
00:33 The BMW Isetta was initially born from the Italian Iso Spa firm, which specialized in refrigerators, scooters, and tiny trucks.
00:41 This sort of tracks, as the Isetta is also, shall we say, compact.
00:45 But the bumper car design of the Isetta feels like an eyesore, and is unsafe to boot.
00:49 I keep instinctively reaching for a seatbelt that isn't there.
00:52 No, there's no safety at all.
00:54 You know what?
00:55 I'll be honest, James, I'm pretty concerned right now.
00:57 When the BMW took over, it didn't get any prettier.
01:00 Yet, these single-cylinder, single-door vehicles were actually popular in their day, primarily due to their fuel economy.
01:06 Still, this doesn't change much about their squished appearance, making the side benefit one that arrives armed with a side order of ugly.
01:13 Number 19. The 1976 Rolls-Royce Camargue
01:17 Automobile journalists have historically held mixed opinions when it came to the Camargue line from Rolls-Royce.
01:22 It was also at number 38 in my friend Richard Porter's book, "Crap Cars," in 2005.
01:30 Now, however, though, I think it's perhaps coming back.
01:33 Some see the car as one of the worst to ever come off the assembly line,
01:36 while the Camargue's appearance has been both defended and rejected over the years.
01:40 For the most part, however, the Camargue has been lambasted for its ugly front and back ends.
01:45 The 1976 model in particular looks like a Frankenstein's monster of small compact in the back,
01:50 and perceived luxury in the front.
01:52 The headlights and grille make this Camargue a bad dream best left forgotten.
01:56 What I would describe as a Marmite car. You either like it or you don't like it at all.
02:02 A lot of people fall into the latter category.
02:04 Number 18. 1970 Marcos Mantis
02:07 The Marcos Engineering Company from Britain no longer exists, and it's easy to see why, with car brands like the Marcos Mantis.
02:14 I've driven one of your cars, and it was the most blinding afternoon it really was. I'm surprised I managed to get in one piece.
02:20 Production of the Mantis began in the late 60s, and it would take some serious rebranding in the 90s in order to bring the model back to life.
02:27 That's because the 1970 iteration was somewhat infamous for its hideous appearance and lack of popularity.
02:32 In fact, Marcos was actually offering the Mantis in component form in early 1971,
02:37 effectively putting the kibosh on this experiment and heading back to the drawing board.
02:41 So we're featuring today a 1971 Marcos.
02:45 To my eye, this is one of the prettiest, the most unusual sports cars of all time.
02:50 Number 17. 1976 Aston Martin Lagonda
02:54 1976 it arrived, and it's then, weirdly, it's series two.
02:59 It's a pretty telling fact that the esteemed Aston Martin Corporation only produced 645 of the Lagonda between 1974 and 1990.
03:07 Aston Martin is largely associated with cutting-edge James Bond cars, not junky, ugly mistakes.
03:13 In the Lagonda's defense, the interior does its best to impress with a space-age design that's very indicative of the era.
03:19 However, the lines of this thing are all wrong, the hood and headlights disconcerningly narrow,
03:24 and the vibe as a whole just unworthy of the name Aston Martin.
03:27 We wouldn't even wish this car on a Bond villain.
03:29 I've heard enough. Let him finish.
03:31 If you have no objection, I'll take my money now.
03:35 What's the matter, Solo? Too big for you to handle?
03:38 Number 16. Sin Model S1
03:41 You'd be forgiven for not being aware of the Sin Cars company from Bulgaria.
03:44 The car is not made by an established brand or developed by one of the traditional car-making countries.
03:50 Instead, the car has its roots in Bulgaria.
03:54 The private company was founded by Razin Deskolov in 2012,
03:58 and initially built their brand around ultra-fast supercars, such as the Model S1.
04:02 On the one hand, we totally understand the "Build for Speed" concept around its light design,
04:06 as well as the options for customizable components.
04:09 That said, the Sin Model S1 looks like the result of a "Create a Car" video game mod got horribly wrong.
04:15 Like, let your little brother or sister play with the controls level wrong.
04:18 Sin Cars may be fast, but they're certainly not easy on the eyes.
04:22 Niko, who's in my spot?
04:23 Ugly little car.
04:24 Crap, crap, crap. What do we do?
04:26 Number 15. Plymouth Prowler
04:28 The car we're featuring today, 1999 Plymouth Prowler.
04:32 I'm smiling because this is a car I think could have been great.
04:36 Don't get us wrong. We totally appreciate retro,
04:39 as well as the sentiment of Daimler Chrysler to turn back the clock with the design of their Plymouth Prowler.
04:44 Yet the end results just don't justify even the best of intentions,
04:47 since the Plymouth Prowler doesn't really do justice to the old-school hot rods it's attempting to mimic.
04:52 The bumpers appear misplaced,
04:54 and the wheel design makes the Plymouth Prowler feel more like a Hot Wheels experiment come to life
04:58 than a proper sort of retro revival.
05:00 This one was a nice try, but no dice.
05:02 Almost every magazine review you read just beat it up for not being faster than a Mustang or Corvette or something.
05:12 Number 14. Nissan S-Cargo
05:14 There is, well, a lot going on with the design of the Nissan S-Cargo.
05:19 Getting the obvious out of the way, yes,
05:21 the name is absolutely meant to sound like the food, "S-Cargo."
05:24 It looks like a snail, and the French word for snail is "S-Cargo."
05:29 I'm serious.
05:30 Beyond this, however, the S-Cargo looks more like something that would be hanging in a museum than running on the road.
05:35 The boxy design is tall and unwieldy, with weird windows,
05:39 including ones that look like a ship's porthole, and a disastrous back end.
05:42 Let's face it, nothing short of a miracle would allow anybody to look cool in a Nissan S-Cargo.
05:47 I'm 6'3", this is a ruler, I'm going to put it upright on my head, and it still doesn't touch the roof!
05:55 Number 13. Volkswagen Type 181
05:58 This is a 1974 Volkswagen thing.
06:01 It's slow, it's funny-looking, it has no amenities, and it has absolutely no safety equipment of any kind.
06:09 A Volkswagen Type 181 was known by a number of names over the years,
06:13 following its initial production of the West German Army.
06:16 Call it a courier wagon, a trekker, a safari, or perhaps, tellingly, the Thing,
06:21 a Type 181 by any other name would still be ugly.
06:24 This piece-metal vehicle could literally be taken apart,
06:27 featuring removable doors and roof and a windshield that could be folded flat,
06:31 like some sort of Looney Tunes cartoon.
06:33 That said, the Type 181 branded cars are reliable and possess good fuel economy,
06:38 but struggle to escape their image of being the sort of thing you'd see scooting around in an old war movie.
06:42 It looks like the kind of military vehicle you'd get if you gave a child a pencil and a piece of paper in 20 minutes.
06:48 Number 12. The 1957 Aurora
06:50 The conception and production of the 1957 Aurora feels like one of those stories that defy description.
06:56 The car was only produced for a year, and was the brainchild of a Catholic priest named Father Alfred A. Juliano.
07:02 The history behind the Aurora was that it was built over a period of time by a priest in Hartford, Connecticut.
07:09 The Aurora was developed by Juliano, who possessed knowledge of both art and auto manufacturing, with safety on his mind.
07:15 The car succeeded in this aim as well, existing as a well-made car with the long haul in mind
07:20 when it came to a safe and reliable driving experience.
07:23 It achieved this, however, at the expense of style,
07:25 with the Aurora becoming a bulbous and bloated example of space-age design gone horribly wrong.
07:30 It's 7'6" wide and 20' long, and yet he was trying to make the safest car in the world.
07:37 And it's just bizarre, it's almost a contradiction.
07:40 Number 11. City Car
07:42 You want a car that uses as little gas as possible, or ideally, no gas at all.
07:47 What's the solution? This? Oh, come on, no one's that desperate.
07:51 Hey, think that electric vehicles are just a modern-day invention? Think again.
07:55 Because the Spring Vanguard Company actually tried taking this route way back in 1974.
08:00 The City Car enjoyed production for about three years, and served as an inspiration for EVs of the future,
08:05 including the Buddy Cars over in Norway.
08:07 Don't think for a second that this goodwill makes the City Car, or the Buddy if we're being honest,
08:12 look stylish or cool, however, because this thing looks more like a doorstop.
08:16 The sliding windows are weird, the slanting lines unattractive,
08:19 and the headlights look small, cold, and dead.
08:22 We understand there was a fuel shortage back in the '70s, but come on!
08:26 So that's the City Car, a hilarious little electric cheese wedge from the '70s.
08:30 Number 10. AMC Gremlin
08:32 We're not quite sure who thought it was a good idea to name this car a Gremlin, but you know what?
08:37 It's pretty damn accurate. The two-door subcompact is about as beautiful as its namesake.
08:41 In production from 1970 to 1978, the Gremlin featured a similar body to the AMC Hornet,
08:47 but it was shortened, and it boasted, if you can call it that, a nearly vertical hatchback tail.
08:52 The Gremlin was designed to compete with fuel-efficient European and Japanese offerings,
08:56 but it failed to live up to those global standards.
08:58 With cars like the Gremlin, it's no surprise AMC couldn't hang in with the big auto manufacturers.
09:03 It's a good quality American-made car for the period. It's just not the sexiest thing ever.
09:08 Number 9. Tata Magic Iris
09:11 If only they'd spent as much time on the design as they did on the name.
09:15 While the car manufacturer based out of India didn't exactly strike gold with the Tata Nano,
09:19 its real creme de la ca is the Magic Iris.
09:22 Entering production in 2010 and still in production as of 2024,
09:25 this three-door, four-to-five-seater microvan looks like a toy kindergartners would run around playing with,
09:31 not a car you'd actually drive. But it does have an interesting purpose.
09:34 Within the cramped streets of Indian cities, the tiny Magic Iris is designed to compete with auto rickshaws.
09:39 It's... a niche market.
09:41 The new Magic Iris from Tata Motors. The international ride for the new India.
09:48 Number 8. Chrysler PT Cruiser
09:52 It's hard to define exactly what kind of car the PT Cruiser really is.
09:56 In some ways, it resembles your standard four-door car, while in other ways, it looks like an SUV.
10:01 If you look at it just right, you may also think it looks like the Monopoly car,
10:05 or at least a malformed one. A "muh-blah-bly" car, if you will.
10:09 "You, me, Dwight, are going to jump in my PT Cruiser. We are going to crush this sale!"
10:14 It was in a category all its own, but fortunately, it was one that didn't stick around.
10:18 The four-door hatchback was produced for 10 years, halting in 2010,
10:22 and actually had surprisingly decent sales throughout its run.
10:25 But of course, the benefit to driving a PT Cruiser is it's one less PT Cruiser you have to look at on the road.
10:30 "But he is allowed to festoon the parking space outside his house with a hideous Chrysler PT Cruiser."
10:37 Number 7. Suzuki X90
10:40 So many of the cars on this list just don't make any sense,
10:43 and we're likely the products of designers trying to create the next big thing.
10:46 The Suzuki X90 has to be an example of that, because there's no other explanation for its existence.
10:51 Between 1995 and 1997, Suzuki produced this fusion of a car, truck, and despair.
10:58 With a truck-like nose, the profile of a Fisher-Price pedal car, and the abbreviated rear end of an SUV,
11:04 the X90 failed to carve out a desirable identity.
11:07 We would give them credit for trying, but it's not clear that they actually were.
11:10 Number 6. Pontiac Transport
11:13 The Pontiac Transport has the best nickname on this list by far, the Dustbuster.
11:17 The similarities go deeper than just a nickname though, because like a Dustbuster, this confused attempt at a minivan sucks.
11:24 When the Transport was introduced as a concept back in 1986, it received rave reviews for its futuristic look and features.
11:31 It had the dream car appearance and feel so many consumers desired, so the Transport was given approval for production.
11:37 Fast forward to 1989, when the 1990 model was officially released, and the Transport had lost all the features consumers craved,
11:44 instead boasting nothing new but an ugly design.
11:46 ♫ We build excitement transport ♫
11:49 Number 5. Nissan Juke
11:51 Nissan has a lot of attractive, eye-pleasing cars. The Juke is not one of them.
11:55 Before we get into the model, let's just stick on that name.
11:58 When you hear the word "Juke", you think football, you think shifting and bypassing a defender, you think agility.
12:04 Now, let's look at the car. It's big, bulky, and has wide, protruding wheel arches.
12:08 It also claims a high waistline, leaving its side windows small and narrow.
12:13 Meanwhile, the front end has a bunch of what can only be called "random, obtrusive lights".
12:18 Bottom line, there's nothing agile or sleek about the Juke.
12:21 Number 4. Reliant Robin MK1
12:24 The Robin famously has three, rather than four wheels.
12:27 Beyond this, there is little in the way of visual excitement to behold here.
12:31 Even as far back as the 1970s, when the MK1 was first produced, the automotive world was seeing regular gains in steering technology.
12:38 So we're not quite sure why three wheels seemed like an attractive investment, but Reliant went for it.
12:43 Perhaps more surprisingly, the public went for it.
12:45 The Robin sold well, though that was likely the result of its fuel efficiency and an odd reduced tax and licensing loophole,
12:51 which are all appealing features in a fuel-short, cash-strapped UK.
12:54 Number 3. Pontiac Aztek
12:57 Maybe you don't got... er, Pontiac.
12:59 From 2001 to 2005, Pontiac sold this absolute hunk of an implosion of a mid-sized crossover,
13:05 billing it as a utility vehicle for the modern family.
13:07 When your vehicle's big features are a removable cooler, grocery compartments, a tent, and cup holders,
13:13 you know you've gone wrong. And those were on the interior.
13:16 The real problems were on the exterior, where the car was too bulky, had strange plastic cladding,
13:21 narrow windows, and a crazy front end.
13:23 Still, it did eventually earn a welcome place in pop culture,
13:26 but only thanks to meth chef Walter White, and only after the Aztek left the market.
13:30 "It's just so sad."
13:32 "It's a sign that your life has gone terribly, terribly wrong."
13:35 "Yeah. Aww."
13:37 Number 2. Fiat Multipla
13:40 Everyone's bound to make a mistake every once in a while,
13:42 and you could make a fairly strong argument that Italian car manufacturer Fiat
13:46 is among the best when it comes to producing sleek, stylish cars.
13:49 Still, they couldn't escape botching at least one model, the Multipla.
13:52 Where to even begin? The Multipla is a clunky, misshapen mess.
13:57 Its front end looks like the bill of a duck, and the car boasts way too many lights to make sense.
14:01 The design is bulky in every area, except in the back, where there's very little trunk room.
14:06 We could use more words to describe the Multipla,
14:08 but this is definitely one of those "a picture says a thousand words" scenarios.
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14:27 Number 1. Nissan Cube
14:30 Nissan strikes out again!
14:32 Almost universally considered the worst car of all time,
14:35 the Cube appears exactly as its name suggests.
14:38 Sold from 2009 to 2014 in the world at large,
14:41 the Cube we've come to know and, well, know,
14:44 was actually their third attempt, with the first two being sold in Japan only.
14:48 Oddly, however, while the Cube is, as the name implies, boxy,
14:52 its designers did attempt to inject some style.
14:54 Notably, it claims an asymmetric wrap-around rear window.
14:57 While that does break up the design a bit,
14:59 it doesn't do much to overcome the whole "it's a box" vibe
15:02 and really only amplifies the "ugh" factor.
15:05 If you like defending any of these cars, ever owned one?
15:07 Do you currently own one?
15:09 Let us know in the comments.
15:10 "It was on the road for a year, went to all the autoramas and motoramas.
15:14 Um, it never took an order, and the company went bankrupt,
15:17 and, um, the FBI were supposedly called in on a case of fraud."
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