Posts from ‘Ugly Cars’
Review Flashback! 2005 Pontiac Aztek
2005 Pontiac Aztek
I’m not quite prepared to suggest that Pontiac’s Aztek crossover would have sold well if it had been launched as a 2018 model, but I am willing to propose that it might have been better received in today’s marketplace than it was when it debuted back in 2001.
2001 Isuzu VehiCROSS
There are vehicles that, for whatever reason, sell poorly when new, but develop a healthy following as used. We number among those rides the Toyota FJ Cruiser, the Pontiac Aztek (thank you, Walter White), and the subject of this post, the Isuzu VehiCROSS.
1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon Brougham
It’s a popularly held position that General Motors doesn’t take enough styling chances—or at least it historically hasn’t. I would argue that there are plenty of Eighties and Nineties examples of rather sterile looking GM vehicles that support this point, but a slate of inoffensive Cieras, Malibus, and Skyhawks hardly tells the whole story. General Motors has, in fact, taken many styling chances over the years–though the results weren’t always positive.
1959 Shamrock
People can be dismissive of market research, but there are plenty of times when a company needs to take the pulse of potential customers, making certain that they have a handle on that group’s wants and needs.
Only on Twitter could the BMW 507 be branded as ugly.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or so we’ve been told. Odds are that a parent or guardian first presented this tired adage to us, likely on the occasion of our honest appraisal of an unwanted Christmas sweater, hand-me-down bike, or nerdy cousin.
5 Ugly Cars We Love
2003 Honda Element
If we learned just one thing from the Grumpy Cat web-meme phenomenon, it’s that beauty is but one of many points of attraction. What was it about Facebook’s favorite feline that motivated half the planet’s population to share and repost its image?
2003 Pontiac Sunfire
It’s said that you can’t make a first impression twice. It’s for that reason that when we meet people we care to impress we take pains to look good. We dress smartly, we’re cautious about what we say and how we say it, we may even worry about our posture.
Ugly on Twitter: The #Uglycar Quiz
Quiz Tweet #1
Presented here are real tweets featuring the hashtag #uglycar as found on Twitter. Your job is simple enough: identify the redacted vehicle being discussed. Scroll down slowly so you don’t accidentally see the answers. Good luck!
Ugly Vehicles, Part 4: 1975-1984
1975 Ford Mustang Ghia
I write a lot about the effects of the great American automotive downsizing that began in the late ’70s. Most of the cars shrunken at the time suffered from looking ill-proportioned or just from having changed too much too suddenly. Sure, this wasn’t always the case. Most folks paying attention at the time found the 1977 redesign of the Chevrolet Impala and Caprice to be an unmitigated success. Still, I would argue that, at best, most of the cars of the period could be described as inoffensive.
Ugly Vehicles, Part 3: 2005-2014
Saturn Vue
You hear often enough that ugly vehicles are the product of “design by committee” thinking. I can’t help but wonder, in the case of the five cars and trucks listed here, why no one on that committee raised his or her hand and noted, “Dude, that thing’s nasty.” But, be it too many or too few decision-makers in the design studio, these are some unpleasant-looking machines.
