I guess I am having trouble changing with the times in some aspects because I think some of these new cars today are UGLY!! Some of these vehicles look to be half suv/ half car like the Aztek. They would have to pay me to drive in that thing. Ugly cars are nothing new though because there have always been some cars that only the crusher could love. Here are a few but feel free to add on to the list.
1957 Ford Edsel Citation Convertible
The legend. This was the car that broke the back of the "Hidden Persuaders" myth in the 1950s--the idea that advertising alone could sell anything to everybody. Despite a massive and well-financed PR juggernaut, the Edsel--with its urinal-shaped grille and bizarrely baroque affectations--barrel-rolled into oblivion faster than any other car before it and established the name itself as a synonym for failure. Only the Aztek comes close as challenger.
1974 Volkswagon Thing
Offered in the United States for just two years--1973 and 1974-- the Thing was based on the World War II-era Kubelwagen used by the Wehrmacht and featured removable doors, fold-down windshield, and soft and hard tops. It had a "hose-out" all-metal interior and was said to be able to float, provided rust had not impaired the seaworthiness of the bodyshell. Though it shared its engine and transaxle with the Beetle and other air-cooled VWs of the era and did not come with four-wheel drive, the Thing was very tenacious off-road and in the snow; it could go almost anywhere. Though considered a classic today, it was a hard sell when new.
1975 Ford Pinto
These cars usually rusted into nothingness before they got rear-ended and exploded due to the dangerously positioned fuel tank that some bright bulb figured would be a great impact absorber. This car is surpassed in overall loathsomeness only by the Chevy Chevette of similar vintage. Wagon models were offered, and the Pinto MPG was sold on the basis of its allegedly frugal fuel-sipping habits. But that was mostly because the car didn't often run.
AMC Gremlin
Another oddball offering from now-defunct American Motors Corp. The Gremlin looked like the back half got caught under some giant's meat cleaver, while the interior suffused its occupants in the warm afterglow of horrid plastic emulsions and the kind of fabric one usually finds only on winos living in UPS shipping crates. There was even a performance version of the Gremlin, but it's too painful to talk about that just now.
Chevy El Camino
The fusion of a passenger car with a pick-up, this early attempt at a dual-purpose vehicle similar in concept to today's Chevy Avalanche was also sold as the GMC Caballero and, when equipped with AstroTurf in the bed, is among the best collegiate party-wagons ever made. It was potentially fast, too, with V-8 power typically standard. Add air shocks, glasspack mufflers, and "Yosemite Sam" decals, and you have the ultimate redneck station wagon.
AMC Pacer
A bathtub-shaped economy car that was offered with genuine Levi jeans seat coverings--complete with brass rivets that left handsome burns on exposed flesh on hot summer days--and a mighty in-line six and three on the three, is instantly recognizable as an icon of the '70s. Underpowered and ugly, it waddled around America's roads for a couple of years before American Motors Corp. itself finally died by the side of the road. Peeling wood paneling and lurid day-glo paint schemes that chipped and flaked almost as soon as you got it home were among this lemon's cosmetic features.
1957 Ford Edsel Citation Convertible
The legend. This was the car that broke the back of the "Hidden Persuaders" myth in the 1950s--the idea that advertising alone could sell anything to everybody. Despite a massive and well-financed PR juggernaut, the Edsel--with its urinal-shaped grille and bizarrely baroque affectations--barrel-rolled into oblivion faster than any other car before it and established the name itself as a synonym for failure. Only the Aztek comes close as challenger.
1974 Volkswagon Thing
Offered in the United States for just two years--1973 and 1974-- the Thing was based on the World War II-era Kubelwagen used by the Wehrmacht and featured removable doors, fold-down windshield, and soft and hard tops. It had a "hose-out" all-metal interior and was said to be able to float, provided rust had not impaired the seaworthiness of the bodyshell. Though it shared its engine and transaxle with the Beetle and other air-cooled VWs of the era and did not come with four-wheel drive, the Thing was very tenacious off-road and in the snow; it could go almost anywhere. Though considered a classic today, it was a hard sell when new.
1975 Ford Pinto
These cars usually rusted into nothingness before they got rear-ended and exploded due to the dangerously positioned fuel tank that some bright bulb figured would be a great impact absorber. This car is surpassed in overall loathsomeness only by the Chevy Chevette of similar vintage. Wagon models were offered, and the Pinto MPG was sold on the basis of its allegedly frugal fuel-sipping habits. But that was mostly because the car didn't often run.
AMC Gremlin
Another oddball offering from now-defunct American Motors Corp. The Gremlin looked like the back half got caught under some giant's meat cleaver, while the interior suffused its occupants in the warm afterglow of horrid plastic emulsions and the kind of fabric one usually finds only on winos living in UPS shipping crates. There was even a performance version of the Gremlin, but it's too painful to talk about that just now.
Chevy El Camino
The fusion of a passenger car with a pick-up, this early attempt at a dual-purpose vehicle similar in concept to today's Chevy Avalanche was also sold as the GMC Caballero and, when equipped with AstroTurf in the bed, is among the best collegiate party-wagons ever made. It was potentially fast, too, with V-8 power typically standard. Add air shocks, glasspack mufflers, and "Yosemite Sam" decals, and you have the ultimate redneck station wagon.
AMC Pacer
A bathtub-shaped economy car that was offered with genuine Levi jeans seat coverings--complete with brass rivets that left handsome burns on exposed flesh on hot summer days--and a mighty in-line six and three on the three, is instantly recognizable as an icon of the '70s. Underpowered and ugly, it waddled around America's roads for a couple of years before American Motors Corp. itself finally died by the side of the road. Peeling wood paneling and lurid day-glo paint schemes that chipped and flaked almost as soon as you got it home were among this lemon's cosmetic features.
