Today’s QOTD idea came about back in the latter half of May, when Matthew Guy pondered the exact opposite of this question. He is very old, and so in his malaise birth year of 1980 Guy pegged BMW’s 6 Series as the best looking car available.
This week, we move things to a more negative light. What was the worst looking car from the year you were born?
Oh, no it’s not that Accord Coupe, which is lovely. Most of you regulars know roughly how old I am, but for the record my birth year is 1986. After the malaise, before the Dream of the Nineties, and right in the midst of mass-market aero (here’s to you, Sable), I’ll be picking from a largely downsized and more-than-ever front-drive selection of vehicles. But which is the worst looking? Which deserves the ugly digital ink?
Ah, here we are. In its last year of production, it’s Chrysler’s Executive limousine. On sale between 1983 and 1986, Chrysler produced 1,493 of the K-car limousines. Styled like the E-Class and New Yorker, the Executive turned up the volume for its elite business customers.
Said customers may have included owners of successful video rental stores, or perhaps outlets selling scratch and dent appliances. The whole idea was sort of off-base and easily forgotten shortly afterward, which is probably for the best.
What are your picks for the worst looking vehicles from the year of your birth?
[Images: YouTube, Chrysler, Honda]
I was born in ’78 – that’s like asking what’s the worst way to die. There are so many excellent examples.
I’m a few years older, but yeah. being born in the meat of the Malaise era sucks. I don’t think anything from that year was particularly *ugly*, rather things were blanderizing and badge engineering was taking over (esp. at GM.)
stacked rectangular headlamps hadn’t become a trend yet, so there’s that. but if I had to pick one, it’d be a tie between the ’74-’76 Thunderbird for its absolutely enormous rear bumper, or the ’74-’78 Maverick/Comet for bumpers you could use as a park bench.
I was born during the Malaise era too. Asking which car was ugly is like throwing darts at a wall.
Speaking of Darts, that would be my pick for worst looking.
I am 75′, and when I saw the QOTD I had the exact thought. How does one pick the ugliest most hideous in a sea of tragedy?
I think the safe bet for the mid 70’s is like college party theory, go ugly early to get the best of the uglies.
If forced to choose, I probably wouldn’t have to stray too far from the ’78 Datsun lineup.
But that doesn’t even account for the mountain of awful that was being sold in Europe at the time.
1958.
Buick Riveria. Paint it brown and you have a chrome-sheathed road turd worthy of Paula Dean.
Even other candidates such as a Messerschmidt or a Crosley are at least interesting to look at.
You’re kidding, those were the height of 50s excess with 16 lbs of chrome and 20′ of length how could you go wrong? https://www.pinterest.com/pin/534239574533847281/?autologin=true
Well, there’s excess, and then there’s wretched excess. And then there’s the ’58 Buick.
IMO, the Oldsmobile that year was uglier, and I loved my ’62 Starfire.
Sixteen pounds sounds like at least an order of magnitude underestimated. Just one of those giant side pieces screwed to the rear quarters must have weighed 20 pounds by itself.
Chrome is actually just a plating so there’s just a thin coat on top of steel, but there sure is a lot of plating on that Buick
Flame suit on, but cars of the late 1950s are over-rated parade floats.
True, but can you imagine being able to go into a car dealer and come out with a parade float?
Look at it this way; back then, the make and model of a car was readily identifiable. Come to today and it’s near impossible to identify different models within one brand and almost as hard to identify different brands with most models.
Very true. I used to be able to tell what was heading towards me at night due to the shape and position of the headlights and markers.
My office window faces the parking lot of another business. There has been a black crossover of what I think is Asian origin without its grill facing me for a few days. The lack of a grill and its black color removes any real distinctive character to it. I cannot identify what it is…it bugs me. Mitsubishi, Toyota, Nissan, Saturn, Chevy, or Kia? It looks very much like a first-gen Nissan Murano, but I simply cannot tell.
Compare the front end styling of the current Subie Legacy and the current Ford Escape. Damn near carbon copies.
“Come to today and it’s near impossible to identify different models within one brand and almost as hard to identify different brands with most models.”
Here we go again. What a bunch of crap. Only true if you’re not paying attention or don’t know/care about cars in general.
@JTaurus: More than one has said it. The only side from which identification can be positively made is from the front; and even then, the models look so much alike that you can’t tell one from another in the same brand.
Yep, I confuse the Sonic and Impala all the time, and the Focus and Taurus? WHICH IS WHICH?!?!
Much better back in the early 60s, when each car from one individual make was SO distinctive. You know, like how the Galaxy, Fairlane, Thunderbird and Falcon didn’t all have big round “afterburner” tail lights? Or how not all Buicks had ventiports? Yep, no similar styling back then. That’s a new thing.
Sure, you can do it today – go buy an Escalade.
The Escalade is today’s answer to the ’59 Cadillac
I’m with ajla…with a few exceptions (’57 Chevy, original T-Bird, various Corvettes), I’m just not fond of the styling in this era.
I’m the opposite. Nearly every American vehicle from the mid 1950’s to mid 1960’s I find attractive. Plus Jags and Astons from the same era.
But then I also like early to mid 1970’s Lincolns, Chryslers and domestic PLC’s.
My 1958 pick is pretty much anything Oldsmobile. The Buick was hideous, but, for me, Olds was worse.
Agreed. The ’58 Olds looked like Buck Rogers colliding with a Greek temple.
1958.
Buick Riviera. Paint it brown and you have a chrome-sheathed road turd worthy of Paula Dean. I think they used a silver one as Elvis’ casket.
Even other candidates such as a Messerschmidt or a Crosley are at least interesting to look at.
Rambler, or anything from the Nash family. They were some geeky looking cars
“The world’s most beautiful car” was sold five years after I was born.
… And it’s a car I have wanted ever since I first saw one. My grandfather drove one as a company fleet vehicle for two years.
Are you going to tell us what it is?
Google, “World’s most beautiful car,” and tell me what you get.
Ok, never mind. There was one car built back in 1959 that earned that title at the time. Or at least, the designer made that claim. It was the Chevrolet Impala and it made that claim with gorgeously-curved wings instead of fins on the tail and lovely teardrop taillights instead of the little pinpoint ‘bullet’ lamps on the ’58 and ’60 versions. Look at the coupe, the hardtop coupe, even the El Camino and wagon all had those gorgeous lines. And yes, now 60 years later, I still want one.
Revealed: the world’s most beautiful cars
1962 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato (UP 1) …
1962 AC Cobra 289 (NO CHANGE) …
1935 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 (NO CHANGE) …
1963 Porsche 911 (NO CHANGE) …
1984 Ferrari 288 GTO (NO CHANGE) …
1959 Ferrari 250 GTO SWB (NO CHANGE) …
1970 Lamborghini Miura (NO CHANGE) …
1961 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupé (NO CHANGE)
So, which one is it?
Well, you made me go search advert slogans. If it was a ’56 Lincoln, that’s quite a fleet car. In any case, do tell more please; must be a good story or two in there.
Thanks, Vulpine; you and I were born into an era of mostly unmistakable cars. When my grandfather retired, he bought his only new car, a two-tone ’56 Chrysler Windsor.
AMC Matador, though just about any other mid 70s car is extremely ugly, for example the Cordoba.
I have always liked the original looks of the Cordoba. So much that I had one of the very first sold in Canada.
The rectangular headlights in the ‘refresh’ in my opinion wrecked its looks.
Still a long hood and a short boot/trunkline still make an attractive car.
I was just talking Cordoba yesterday – I like the refresh version and it’s more clean, blocky styling.
Along with its Japanese cousin the Challenger, it was the last pillarless coupe wearing an American badge.
A pillarless coupe is a hardtop.
Hardtops have no B pillar.
1963 Rambler American. Go ahead people born in other years, try to top the ‘63 American for sheer hideousness. What a total pos. I might doctor my birth certificate just to get rid of the stigma.
I see your Rambler and raise you one Studebaker Lark.
https://www.grautogallery.com/vehicles/1792/1963-Studebaker-Lark
The Stude is next-level, eye-searingly, made-in-the-USSR-looking awful.
And I have a worse one still.
At least the ‘63 Lark was proportionally sound, the ‘63 American had a higher belt line than a 2018 Camaro, it looked like a pork pie hat with wheels. The Lark is, however, the only car I’ve ever seen with running boards under the headlights, lol.
Ever seen a ’63 Imperial? You know, the one with, of all things, free standing headlights (shared with the ’62)? The rolling abomination that is the ’63 Imperial makes a ’63 American look like a beauty queen in comparison.
Most of the 1957 fullsize Fords are pretty ungainly, particularly the lower trim lines. I will give Ford a pass on this since the 1957 Thunderbird mostly makes up for the sedans.
I don’t recall seeing any “ugly” ’57s. That’s when they started to actually look good.
Ford outsold Chevy in ’57, but you wouldn’t know it nowadays. You see many more ’57 Chevys today than ’57 Fords.
I love ’57 Fords, but they were known for somewhat shoddy build quality, tho not nearly as much as the craptastic but gorgeous ’57 Mopars.
Gotta go with the 1966 Marlin…was apparently a Rambler in ’65, AMC for ’66 and ’67 if you believe wikipedia, but ugly and awkward either way.
It switched platforms for ’67, from the mid-size Classic, to the full-size Ambassador. As a six-year-old going with his dad to pick up our new ’66 American 440, I thought it looked pretty cool. The roofline looked better on the Ambassador.
As a kid my dad took me to the Chicago Auto Show where I first saw a Marlin, I thought it to be just about the coolest car I ever saw, as an adult I have no idea why I thought that
Talbot Tagora
Chevrolet Citation X-11
all EEK cars
choose a toaster…
Born in 1970…going back and forth between the Gremlin and the Pinto…
The Gremlin was so ugly it was cute… but also a surprisingly practical car. The Pinto was…. boring. So boring, in fact, that a local Ford dealer ran an Easter special with pastel-painted Pintos as Easter-egg colored.
I put Gremlin in without reading these! 1970.
’63 Saab 96.
https://assets.hemmings.com/story_image/397971-870-0.jpg?rev=2
Yikes!
I have to admit it’s hard to pick a car from my birth year 1961 as they were all really great to beautiful cars. but here it goes…………..1961 Rambler American. it’s great as a simple car but proportions are so way off on the 2 door sedan………yeah it’s ugly.
Corey, the 1986 Honda Accord sold in North America (3rd generation) had pop up headlights.
By definition pop up or hideaway headlights make a car cooler.
Just a good headline picture to get all the clicks, nothing more. ;)
Yous guys love a nice old Honda pic.
Coree is trolling
1984 Citroen CX. One of the most awkward looking cars I’ve ever laid eyes on.
1957. I’d have to go with the Packard-Baker. Or the Continental.
Do you mean the Continental Mark II? It’s ugly?
1970 AMC Gremlin
http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/2955/81/32385040001_original.jpg
1961 Exner hangover Plymouth or Dodge.
Initially, I wasn’t going to post because then everyone would know how old of an old fart I am…but what-the-hey…
Having done a quick search on Google Images. I was going vote on the 1960 Valiant. But then I caught a glimpse of the 1960 Buicks. Man, the front end of the Le Sabre/Invicta/Electra all had a face that only a mother could love.
And I consider myself a Buick fan.
I’m the same year, I think the Buick is fine. Up front a little strange but the side character line going o the rear and the flat rear all work in a strange way. While the 60 Cadillac is easily yhr best looking the worst is a little harder to define. The Valiant (with that toilet bowl truck) is one possibility. I think I’d go with the 1960 Dodge Dart (though the 1960 Dodge Matador is close). Ugly front (though Lexus is using a variant)and ugly back. See
http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=160&v=ZWPI1mCWdww
No American cars were produced during the year of my birth as WW 2 was winding down in 1943. But I saw many ugly car over the years, but the most ugly in my opinion was the AMC Pacer…butt freaking ugly…
For me it would be the 1960 full-size Plymouth, or full-size Dodge. Both are ugly. And Plymouth didn’t call their fins fins – they were stabilizers, and Plymouth claimed they improved stability in crosswinds by 20 percent.
My dad had a ’59 Chevy Impala with the bird wing tailfins and he swore on windy days @ hwy speeds he could feel lift in the back end because of the design
It wasn’t the back end that was lifting, though; it was the front end because of the shape of the bumper pushing air down under the car. Yes, they needed air dams even then, but they didn’t know it.
1964. I guess I’m lucky, because the worst I could come up with is the Dodge 880 (among the domestic fleet, that is…)
https://assets.hemmings.com/story_image/207741-1000-0@2x.jpg?rev=2
1974 Buick Electra.
Don’t get me wrong,I generally like Electras. The front end on the ’74 is just shocking, though.
In defense of the Executive Limousine: Like GMs shortened FWD H, B & C- bodies that would debut later in the decade, the Executive Limousine was designed for a gasoline shortage that never materialized. We were told in the late 70’s that gasoline would be $4/gallon ($12 in today’s money) by 1985. The domestics took this news pretty seriously. Had this shortage come to pass, the domestic car makers would have looked like geniuses…
The car itself is ungainly, due to the stretch that all of this type of limousine have. The basic car itself is up to each person’s interpretation, but in terms of the eighties idiom of styling, it’s pretty average.
I wouldn’t call it ugly, just ungainly.
Ah ha but those GM shortened bodies all appeared in 1985. None of them were as bad as this.
Corey: Two things: Chrysler had a big head start with the Executive, as the New Yorker it was based on was nominally their “big car”. If the $4/gallon gasoline had actually happened, the M-bodies would have been sh!t-canned.
Secondly, imagine a stretch limousine based on the 1985 LeSabre or whichever you prefer. It would still look awkward, but the basic car would be fairly normal looking.
Ha, Taurus also appeared in 1985 and it was futuristic an absolutely beautiful. Just shows how far behind GM, Chrysler and Japanese were (Germans came up with similar Audi 100). BTW Ford designed it bigger than originally planned (think Ford Tempo size) because by early 80s it was clear that there will be no shortage of gas.
Born in 1960- The Virgil Exner designed Plymouth Valiant with the toilet seat trunk lid is quite hideous. It’s cousin the Dodge Lancer was cleaner looking.
I just realized I was posting with kids.
1954- check out the Hudson/Nash lineup, take your pick. No brainer.
@ernest….Yup.. the 54 Hudson was some ugly. For me, born 53 I would pick the 53 Buick .
Also, 1953. An embarrassment of…um….riches for ugliest car. Just throw a dart. It was much easier to pick out the one or two good looking ones.
You are not alone – I am also from 1954 and agree that Nash is #1 esp Metropolitan. I like Hudson though. Buick is #2 – such sad face, such a sad place. Kaiser Darrin looks weird but cannot say it is ugly, maybe almost ugly. I did not see cars from 1954 in person except of Kaizers in Oakland Muzeum (Kaiser was a local legend) and classic Cadillacs.
From my early childhood I can only remember this one:
https://www.dorotheum.com/en/auctions/current-auctions/kataloge/list-lots-detail/auktion/12763-classic-cars/lotID/417/lot/2287199-1954-gaz-12-zim.html
My dad used to have one with the folding seats (which I liked).
A toss-up between Frazer and the Henry J. The Frazer’s just didn’t look to be a coherent design. The Henry J had a bunch of 40’s/50’s styling cues tacked onto a strangely proportioned vehicle.
1982…no question, the Ferrari 308 GTSi. IMHO, it’s in the running for best looking car ever.
Other acceptable answers would be the Porsche 930 and the R107 Mercedes SL.
Gah. Read this as best looking. I are dumb. I will go with “everything but the three I listed.”
You and I are the babies of TTAC.
The Chevy Cavalier was introduced in 1982. It has to be one of the worst looking cars of that year.
I am also an ’82 model. Tough choice between the K cars, the J cars, and the Thunderbird. 1983 couldn’t come soon enough for the T-Bird.
1950? Bullet-nosed Studebaker. And I still like them. Runner-ups would be the Kaiser or either size of the Lincoln. And I like them, too.
Ummmmm 1977 so the AMC Matador Wagon with protruding nose get’s my vote.
https://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/1977-amc-matador-wagon.jpg
That’s just an “off the top of my head” choice.
1974 Gremlin
https://barnfinds.com/copper-clapper-caper-1974-amc-gremlin/
I won’t say specific year, but early 80’s Saab 900 4 door hatch. Thought those were ugly as sin.
Had to research this one, given my limited cognitive abilities at the age of zero. But I found a winner in the 1967 Renault Dauphine.
1954 – Panhard Dyna. French “style” at its strangest. The poor thing looks like it’s trying to swallow a flying saucer. https://i1.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/panhard_dynaZ1954.jpg?resize=600%2C450
It looks like a catfish
If not the ugliest, at least one of the strangest.
I should have kept reading more comments. The ’48 Panhard in another post is even stranger.
Not being intimately familiar with the cars on offer in 1976, I did a google image search for new car ads 1976. Not a lot that is really and truly horrible considering the era. A few standouts
76 AMC Pacer Wagon. The Fiat Multipla of its time?
76 Olds Monza with Landau roof. Who would buy that turd?
76 Dodge Aspen again landau roof. Most uninspiring design, not necessarily ugly, but designed by the manically depressed?
1971 Ford Pinto.
Hmmm… what was really bad in 1969? Man I’m going to have to really think on that one? 69 and 70 produced some really good looking cars and trucks. Probably some GT40 inspired Beetle based kit car if I had to guess.
Agreed, I’m 1968 and it’s hard to find one. Definitely not the new ‘Vette, or the Camaro, or the Mustang. Hell, even the big sedans were cool with Coke bottle/Fuselage styling.
I’ll bet whatever the ugliest car in 1968 was, it had an AMC badge. The 4-door Ambassador maybe.
1969 Toronado. The grille/front bumper of that car looks like a chrome plated catfish mouth.
I’m going to go with the Gremlin, because the Pinto hadn’t quite been introduced yet. Though I know people who had and liked both.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panhard_Dynavia for 1948 yes I am 70
took a bit of searching as my favorite period would be pre WW2 with only a few cars from the 50s and 60s making my top ten list…
1948 was when the first fully redesigned post war autos were coming on to the market and the period does not resonate with my memory as by the time i became car aware and Was noticing them an building plastic models of them… considering the cars of the late 40s and which of them were the worst was not a focus of study.
so today I looked magazines that featured cars of that year and the Panhard above was by far the one that had been hit the hardest with the ugly stick My grandfather Had a 1948 series 60 something huge Cadillac that was kept for 13 years and I have nothing but fond memories of it as a passenger in my youth.
I’m also ’86 Corey, but I have to disagree with the choice. The Chrysler Executive Limo might have been a crap box, but styling was par the course. If you want really ugly,look at the ’86 Grand Prix 2+2.
https://goo.gl/images/FNtYfd
With the tacked on nose, that’s really ugly. It looks like someone made it out of cardboard and attached it to front of a Grand Prix. The fastback style (which I usually prefer) also doesn’t work on this car. Too many people confuse terrible cars with ugly. Searching for ugly cars from the 80s, I found many bad cars that weren’t necessarily out of place styling wise.
I will agree that the Aero Prix is very ungainly! It didn’t cross my mind.
1970. AMC Gremlin.
Should have put “the unfortunate inspiration for the looks of just about every CUV on the market!” Kia Soul, FoMoCo Escape/Kuga, lookin’ at you!
1952 Nash Ambassador
http://momentcar.com/nash/1952/nash-ambassador/
Also 1986 here, but my vote would probably have to go to the Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2. Has an out-of-place aerodynamic rear windshield and a pitiful looking front-end with an oddly Dodge-esque grill.
I’m a late-’68 model. Therefore, the worst looking car from ’68 was likely an AMC product or something French.
I think the ugliest car in 1992 was the Buick Skylark. I might be missing a few others.
By and large, 1992 was a much better time in automotive design than it is today. The vast majority of 2018 cars are just outright atrocious.
1967 Pontiac Catalina. Over-wraught. I hate the stacked headlights, the split grill, the drooping tailights.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/1967_Pontiac_Catalina_two-door_sedan.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/1967_Pontiac_Catalina_two-door.jpg
The Chevy Impala version of this GM product is SO much more appealing!
I actually liked the Catalina; that stacked pair of lights made it certainly unique and therefore interesting, not ugly. The Impala, however, just didn’t look right.
That body style of Pontiac launched it to the top of the sales charts in Canada.
Particularly in a special to Pontiac light maroon colour.
The grill you dislike became a Pontiac trademark, it was supposed to replicate a hawk’s beak (see the Firebird).
I’m 1968 and I can’t find anything truly ugly either. That Poncho ain’t bad.
VW Beetle?
I was born in 76…so pretty much anything that wasnt a Lincoln Mark V…take your pick.
1952 Allstate (or Henry J) Google it.
Except it made a pretty cool gasser so I’ll give it a pass, that, and the fact Kaiser was ahead of his time thinking of a small car. I’m sticking with my choice the Nash Ambasador.
It was sold by Sears
1995 Lumina. I was born in 94 but the 95 Lumina was on sale before I was born in September so it counts.
I was born in ’74 so there were PLENTY of bloated and grotesque gingerbread laden crapmobiles to be the whipping boy. Pretty much ANY large sedan with useless garbage barfed onto it fits the bill, and that’s just too easy.
How about the worst looking version of a car I actually DO like: The Dodge A-bodies. A and B body Plymouths actually weathered the 5mph bumpers better than most, but the Dart and Demon got that wonky ‘boat prow’ treatment that just doesn’t sit right with me. So that’s my pick.
1961, so I’d have to say the 61 Chrysler-Dodge-DeSoto-Plymouth were mostly the worst looking US market cars. Especially the DeSoto with it’s weird nose job. Not that I’d kick any of them out of my garage today – a Hyperpack Lancer/Valiant would be awesome!
’69 here, so lots of choices for ugly. I don’t think I could single any one car out as the worst though.
Oh man, 1976. Easier to ask whether there was any car that wasn’t ugly.
I think the answer may have to be the full-size GM coupes, though. The greenhouse, especially the rear quarter window, is so ill-proportioned. Honorable mention to the rear quarters of the four-door full-size Fords.
1962 – anything made by the companies of Chrysler.
one ugly car that I never even knew existed in 1949 – a Gregory front drive coupe, built in Kansas City, Mo. the guy had been building cars since 1918, this example of a modern post war auto must of been his compact model! UGLY!!!
’89… I guess I’m smitten with nostalgia so I honestly can’t think of something I find truly repulsive. Nothing worse than a lot of what’s on sale right now anyways. I guess the Yugo is kind of dopey in the front? Speaking of repulsive, just returned a new GMC Acadia rental, a 2.5L NA hotrod. Perfectly mediocre crossover utterly let down by the feckless motor. Even tepid acceleration requires it to spin to 3k. The exact opposite from my recent very impressive Pacifica rental.
Has it been five years since we last did this? 10? At least TTAC is more fun than Survey Monkey for building the market research file.
The Curved Dash was the pinnacle from my birth year; however, I am pretty sure the G70 is going to be the worst.
I resist the 1961 Studebaker Lark since I came home from the maternity ward in one (well, I think it was a ’59, but close enough). The Mopars got a lot of votes and I cast mine for the 1961 Fury. Looks like a Japanese monster-movie star. Second prize for the 1961 Hillman Minx, and honorable mention for the 1961 Wartburg.
1951 Hudsons. Very interesting looking cars, but the grille that year just kills it for me.
https://www.google.com.mx/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbestcarmag.com%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F1951-hudson-hornet-1315048-5078537.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbestcarmag.com%2Fmakes%2FHudson%2FHornet%2F1951-Hudson-Hornet&docid=I3h1aNXKepP4SM&tbnid=2g3_ccnNB6jqGM%3A&vet=12ahUKEwiMn5u3opjcAhURPK0KHT34A6k4ZBAzKAcwB3oECAEQCA..i&w=1024&h=600&bih=673&biw=1366&q=1951%20hudson%20commodore&ved=2ahUKEwiMn5u3opjcAhURPK0KHT34A6k4ZBAzKAcwB3oECAEQCA&iact=mrc&uact=8
Not going to be specific, but the one car I most strongly *wouldn’t* consider ugly that was in production then was a later iteration of the C3 Corvette, still hanging onto its late-’60’s curvaceousness in an automotive world that had mostly gone rectilinear.
1951… Guess I’d have to go with one of the Nash models. Although, looking at Google, Citroen made some ugly stuff.
Used to think the Studebaker was ugly, but it’s kind of grown on me I guess.
In 1967, there were so many classics at once (it was the year GM peaked IMO) and the aesthetics ranged from truly beautiful to merely good looking.
There was really 1 and only 1 truly ugly car made that year that I can think of, and that would be the Subaru 360.
For 1995, gotta go with the Infiniti J30. Little did we know that pooping-dog styling would return with a vengeance 20-ish years later (looking at you, Mercedes).
I already nominated 1954 Nash and Buicks as the winners. Just want to add that being born in 1954 I like late 50s and early 60s cars the most because I was a kid and was impressed with those cars. Have nothing against 70s – they looked like luxury at the time, huge cars imitating classic cars or RR. But by the end of 70s it starts spiraling down – Dodges and Plymouth start looking like identical cars, Fords are boring and GMs ill proportioned. Interestingly enough I never drove or was driven in any of these cars. In 80s Ford rules with its new aero design. From 80s my favorite is Audi 80 – impractical but beautiful car, still looks very modern and has a beautiful interior and premium feel. Japanese cars of 80 were junk.
1991 – the Chrysler Imperial. Where do we even begin? The fact that they were STILL trying to make the K-Car into a luxury car a decade after its introduction? The fact that they were still trying to push vinyl roofs and wire-wheel hubcaps (under which you find the same steel wheels as a Dodge Shadow) long past their sell-by date…I mean, I enjoy a good brougham as much as anyone else, but nobody is fooled by sticking them on the body shell of a cheap rental car (just like the “Executive”, an ugly hack-job of a stretch). A luxury car in 1991 was an LS400, 300E, or even Town Car…not this JC Whitney special. And ugly is more than skin deep, as these had the Ultradrive.
Honestly, I would take the 1981 Imperial, crappy fuel injection and all, over this monstrosity.
1956: AMC Hudson Hornet.
I love em, but to be honest, that ‘V-Line Styling’ didn’t work well on the Nash Ambassador body.
I was born in 88, as such most of the vehicles I have ready recollection of were boring boxes.
One that turns my stomach though would be the Escort liftback. I had a 93 Escort sedan with similar design cues, which had been revised and cleaned up, that I thought was decent looking.
There are probably uglier things out there, but I am not as aware of them.
I was born in 1984 and going to say Ford Fairmont 2 door, but that was only made until 1983 and then replaced by maybe an even uglier car, the Tempo.
I’d say its a 3 way tie between the coupe versions of the 1984 Tempo, 1984 Dodge Aries and 1984 Plymouth Reliant. I can’t think of any more boring and quite frankly ugly design applied to a 2 door car. Coupes are supposed to be sporty, stylish, fun, these look like something your 4 year old drew up in daycare and called it a car. You know a rectangle on wheels.
At least if you went to Honda, the 2 door Accord was a pretty swoopy looking hatch. Same thing if you went to GM and bought a shit sandwich 2 door Citation, Firenza, etc, it was at least a pretty cool looking 3 door hatch that somebody actually put some effort in to style.
1976. There are SO. MANY. CHOICES.
Honorable mentions:
AMC Pacer (makes the Gremlin look decent)
Ford Mustang II (yuck)
Chrysler Newport (can you see anything with those C pillars?)
But the winner is…
Buick Riviera (seriously, the trunk treatment is hideous, and presages the Seville bustleback)
1963 Imperial, the last (thank goodness) of an awful breed. Thank goodness for the Exner restyled ’64s!
I’m a ’79, how can you pick just one turd from a barrel that is already full of them?
I’d have to go with the Gremlin and/or Pacer from AMC. Pretty sure they were still puking them out this late in the game. The “upside down whistle.”
If not, The Olds Cutlass and Buick Century HUGE hatchbacks/humpbacks that were made for a very short time. Even as a little kid, I thought they looked like turtles with wheels going down the road. I think Olds even had the nerve to slap a “442” badge on this monstrosity. They were highly unpopular, and didn’t last long. I haven’t seen one in on the road in well over a decade.
I think the woefully underpowered Subaru 360 is the hands-down winner for my vintage…
late 70s, pretty much every single car is ugly. What’s up with that vinyl roof? That’s just stupid.
1980 – Aston Martin Lagonda
In 1959 my parents had me and a new Catalina. Pontiac had some of the best looking cars that year. For ugly, there are a few candidates, though fewer than the year before:
The entire Lincoln line. It predicted the band Iron Maiden.
Oldsmobile: a guppy on steroids.
Chevrolet (but not the Corvette): someone’s swamp nightmare.
Buick: the angry insect look, but not as perfected as the ’57-’59 Dodge or the ’61 Plymouth.
On the other hand, I rather liked the Cadillac with its skyscraper-challenging tail fins, and the Ramblers were less outre than usual. Ford and Mercury toned it down, and it worked. As for the Edsel, it’s hard to argue with an accidental classic.
AMC Pacer and VW Thing
https://www.carmrades-blog.com/all-articles/2017/11/2/literally-whitegoods-on-wheels-1963-65-lightburn-zeta
I have to ask if the £44 was even worth it to buy this over the Fiat. Visually, it could be worse, but those specs are hilarious.
It gives me new respect for the 1938 Ford V8 with “65 effortless horsepower.”
https://youtu.be/3RB3z1er9Sw