There are some cars that, from the moment they’re unveiled to the world, go down as pieces of art. Think the Jaguar E-Type, the Aston Martin DB9, and the Lamborghini Miura, just to name a few.
Others may take a bit to win us over, like the Ferrari F50 did after a polarising debut, or the original BMW Z4.
However, some cars are doomed from the very moment the designers finish putting pencil to paper. Looks are often subjective, but we’ve picked the 10 ugliest cars we think simply cannot be argued with.
BMW XM 50e
BMW has no doubt been intentionally controversial with some of its recent cars. The bucktoothed grille on the M3 and M4 came as a shock upon its reveal, but time has seemingly made us adjust to it, while the i7 offers a similar bit of controversy up front but has generally been well-judged otherwise.
The XM, though? We’re convinced absolutely nobody on this planet outside of BMW’s design department has looked at it and thought ‘Yeah, that’s a looker’. Seemingly, it was modelled on a pig from Angry Birds, and its attempt to honour the M1 supercar with engraved roundels feels more like an insult to its heritage.
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On a technical level, the AMC Pacer was a bit of a mess. It was far too heavy for a compact car, thanks to a choice of gigantic inline-six engines or even a V8, yet none of those lumps had enough to compensate for that. The result was atrocious fuel economy, too.
None of that was helped by a hideous design, either. Its beady headlights should be endearing, but those are spoiled by the gopping chrome bumper, and the bulbous rear just looks like a complete afterthought. Even a starring appearance in Wayne’s World couldn’t save it.
There’s a very real risk of this kind of listicle just turning into a lump of Chinese EVs, to the point that audacious looks are part of the appeal. That’s almost commendable in some cases, but certainly not the Yangwang U8.
Side on, it looks like someone’s just copied the Land Rover Defender (not that we would ever want to accuse Yangwang of such a thing…) and then gone absolutely mad on the front and rear. We’re not really able to find the words to describe the chaos that is those head- and taillight designs, so we’ll leave the superlatives to your own imagination.
Oh, the Fiat Multipla. It gets a hard time, doesn’t it? As a tool, it’s a remarkable thing and an impressive feat of engineering. Despite having a footprint not all that much bigger than a supermini, it’ll easily seat six – and offer plenty of clever space-saving solutions when there are fewer of you.
However, it was always let down by its looks. It’s just unquestionably an ugly thing, but as time has passed, that has become a reason to love it.
Oh, the Fiat Multipla. It gets a hard time, doesn’t it? As a tool, it’s a remarkable thing and an impressive feat of engineering. Despite having a footprint not all that much bigger than a supermini, it’ll easily seat six – and offer plenty of clever space-saving solutions when there are fewer of you.
However, it was always let down by its looks. It’s just unquestionably an ugly thing, but as time has passed, that has become a reason to love it.
It wouldn’t be an ugliest cars list without a Pontiac Aztek, right? Since day one, the Aztek has been considered a hideous thing that looks like the result of about three designers all meeting in the middle without once speaking with each other.
In its defence, and similarly to the Multipla, it was a very functional thing, but its looks were unforgivable. Breaking Bad couldn’t save its reputation, either.
Retro styling is becoming the chic thing again. The Fiat 500 pulled it off so well, and now more manufacturers are resorting to throwbacks to appeal – take a look at the new Renault 5 and upcoming Twingo, the Alpine A110 and at a stretch the Hyundai Ioniq 5 for examples.
Yet it doesn’t always pay off, as the Chrysler PT Cruiser proved. Designed to be a throwback to the ‘30s, it just looked fat, sad and especially disappointing next to the VW New Beetle. Time hasn’t been much kinder to it either.
Like the Yangwang, the HiPhi Z feels like a car styled purposely to stir up a bit of controversy. In our eyes, though, it just goes too far, looking more like a flaccid Gundam mecha than a car.
There is zero cohesion, and the roof-mounted radar array looks little more than an afterthought. Customisable LED signs on the side will be amusing for all of five minutes, but where do you go with them after drawing rude symbols on them? All told, the HiPhi Z is a calculated mess.
Somehow, the Ssangyong Rodius managed to be both incredibly boring and utterly hideous. The slab-sided MPV is plain from most angles, yet completely ruined by the seeming afterthought of a rear window.
Meanwhile, the front end looks like a very sad mix of early ‘00s Mercedes S-Class and Lancia Ypsilon. Thankfully, the Rodius has fallen into obscurity, and the chances of seeing one on the road today are pretty slim.
Hyundai Coupe
We don’t think the Hyundai Coupe (known as the Tiburon to those of you who communicate exclusively in imperial units) wasn’t exactly a looker from the off, but it fell more into the category of ‘anonymous’ than outright offensive.
Hyundai decided to fix that for its facelift. By fix, we mean utterly massacre it with a horrendous set of arachnid-like headlights. Thankfully, it only lasted two years before being replaced with the second-generation car.
Ryan Hirons
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