There are plenty of objective ways of calling a car ugly, while the vast majority of people either think it’s beautiful or have no feelings about it at all.
Even, or better yet, especially in the automotive industry, there is such a thing as a design manual, or a hierarchy of beauty, if you like. Unfortunately for some designers, not everyone has similar tastes and it’s practically impossible to pen a car whose looks will be universally loved. In fact, it’s probably equally hard to design something that is universally hated.
Most of the time, albeit not always, the look of a car can make it or break it regarding sales, which is probably why nowadays we are simply drenched in utterly forgettable crossover blobs that look like they all belong to a single carmaker thanks to their severe lack of a personality.
In theory, the safest way to design a car that will probably sell well in the beginning and then be almost immediately forgotten after it goes out of production is to make it neither beautiful, nor ugly. That is how most modern mainstream cars are designed, although you could say that it’s always been like this.
On the other side of the fence there are the cars that broke every rule in the design manual. Whether by doing that they became beautiful or ugly is besides the point, and it’s probably more important to discuss what happened long after. By exiting the realm of conformity and homogeneous design, they became head-turning oddities and some of them even became cult classics.
Cars that went against the design currents or trends are not only a massive sales gamble, but they are usually spread into two categories. They are either ugly or beautiful, as the massive gap between those two types of classifications is represented by all the others. With that in mind, I decided to focus on the underdogs, as I like to call them. They are otherwise known as the cars that made the majority of people look at them in disgust when they were originally revealed in public, yet managed to either be successful or become cult classics after they went out of production.
Alfa Romeo SZ/Il Mostro: The Beauty that Emerged From the Beast
By far one of the most brutalist-looking cars of the early 1990s, the Alfa Romeo SZ was nicknamed “Il Mostro” by its very own makers on account of its design. Despite wearing Zagato’s signature, known for some of the most elegant Italian sports cars, the model abandoned that traditional elegance for a, let’s say” avant-garde styling. Its appearance at the 1989 Geneva Motor Show left everyone speechless, albeit not in the good way.
Despite the SZ in its name being short for “Sprint Zagato,” the Alfa Romeo SZ was not originally styled by the Italian coachbuilder. While Zagato did have a major input, it was initially penned by Robert Opron of Alfa Romeo’s Centro Stile, part of a team headed by none other than Walter de Silva at the time. The lack of Zagato’s trademark “double-bubble” roof is further proof of that.
As it happens, the use of early CAD/CAM computer design at a time when a NASA supercomputer probably had less computing power than a modern Apple Watch is usually given as the main reason behind the SZ’s unusual looks. From certain angles, Il Mostro pretty much looks like it was designed by an algorithm instead of a real human, and its proportions look more mathematical than organic.
With that in mind, its monstrous exterior hid a rather impressive piece of performance engineering. The chassis and powertrain were borrowed from the most powerful version of the Alfa Romeo 75 at the time. The “Busso” 3.0-liter V6 delivered 210 PS (207 HP) thanks to modified intake and exhaust manifolds and a Bosch Motronic fuel injection. Fitted longitudinally, it sent the power to the rear wheels through a transaxle 5-speed.
The chassis was developed with the help of factory test driver Giorgio Pianta, who had spent his early years preparing Lanci rally cars for Walter Rohrl and Henri Toivonen. The 75’s front torsion bars were thus replaced with coil springs and wishbones, while the dampers were switched to adjustable Koni hydraulic ones that allegedly made the SZ achieve up to 1.4G in corners.
Only a little over 1,000 units were manufactured between 1989 and 1991, almost all of them being red with a tan interior. Apparently Andrea Zagao had a bespoke black one made for himself, only adding to the SZ’s eccentricity. Despite not being a runaway success because of its weird design, Il Mostro has since developed a cult following, with the few examples remaining being priced at Ferrari money.
Toyota Supra Mk IV: The Dead Fish Look That Left Sports Car Lovers Undeterred
Before most Supra lovers take out their pitchforks, I have to say that, personally, I never considered the Mk IV Supra to be ugly. That said, I’d never call it a beautiful piece of design either. When it was unveiled in 1993, the fourth generation of the now legendary Japanese sports car represented a radical design departure from the angular aggression of the Mk III it replaced.
The softer and somewhat more feminine exterior look didn’t do much wonders regarding sales, especially in the U.S., where Toyota decided to no longer offer it after the 1998 model year. The optional whale tail spoiler was arguably the Mk IV Supra’s most recognizable design motif, and it didn’t manage to acquire a lot of fans either.
Based on a shortened version of the Lexus SC platform, the model featured the traditional front-engine, RWD sports car layout of its predecessors and came in either coupe or a “targa-top” configuration. The platform used a lot of aluminum parts for weight savings, including the hood, the roof, suspension components and even the engine and transmission. Speaking of powertrains, the most well-known was obviously the twin-turbocharged 2JZ-GTE inline-six, which delivered up to 324 PS (320 HP) in its North American specification.
Photo: Toyota
Because Toyota had over-engineered the engine with forged internals, with the right tuning a stock 2JZ could handle over 600 horsepower, with some highly modified examples going well over 1000 horsepower. Even so, the Supra Mk IV’s looks were more important for the general public.
It wasn’t until 2001, when the movie “The Fast and the Furious” came along, that everyone pretty much became obsessed with the car. The orange Supra driven by Paul Walker’s character Brian O’Conner became one of the most culturally significant performance car cameos in cinema history. This is how your average Joe found out what 2JZ and Supra enthusiasts already knew, that the car was truly special.
Following the movie, the “dead fish” look of its front end was no longer controversial, and neither was the whale tail spoiler at the rear. Suddenly, everybody wanted a Supra, so used car value climbed, available examples in the U.S. disappeared, and pristine examples command six-figure prices nowadays.
BMW Z3 Coupe: The Clown Shoe That Became a Forgotten Crown Jewel
There is an ongoing myth saying that when the first prototype of the Z3 Coupe was presented to a BMW executive he remained lost for words for a few minutes. Usually, that is a negative sign in the context of product development, especially since we’re talking about a rogue project. As it happens, the model got the green light for production and was immediately christened the “Clown Show” by the automotive press.
Originally, the model had begun development as a passion project of BMW engineers, who assembled somewhat of a skunkworks team to work on the car after hours. The main idea behind it was to simply increase the stiffness of the Z3’s chassis to better prepare it for track days or at least hard cornering. In short, those engineers simply replaced the soft top with a fixed-roof design that extended all the way over the rear haunches to create a short shooting-brake profile.
Photo: BMW AG
In the end, compared to the roadster version, the model was 2.7 times stiffer, completely transforming the car’s handling at the limit. That said, for most people the result looked like the Z3 Coupe’s front end was designed by someone, and the rear by someone else, who was also on non-speaking terms with the other.
Not even BMW enthusiasts enjoyed it that much, calling it either the “clown shoe” or the “breadvan,” which is why it was sold in much lower numbers compared to the roadster it was based on. The Z3 Coupe simply could not be categorized and it had no direct rival, making its odd design defy normality even more.
By far the version that generated the most extreme reactions was the top-of-the-range M Coupe version, which initially arrived in the States sporting the S52 inline-six from the E36 M3 in detuned form but then switched to the S54 from the E46 M3 with no less than 320 PS (315 HP). The combination between a short wheelbase, plenty of inline-six oomph and minimal driver aids demanded even more commitment from its potential customers, making it one of the rarest BMW M models ever. Oddly enough, despite not working then, examples with low mileage are now commanding serious money, and it has started to wear the “clown shoe” nickname with pride instead of shame.
Subaru Impreza WRX “Bugeye:” The Face Only a Tuner Could Love
Tired to be known for making bland-looking cars, Subaru’s designers were given the go-ahead to bring the Impreza into the 21st century with one of the boldest redesigns at the time. The 2001 Impreza got an overall somewhat softer look, but most of all an entirely new face, which has since become referred to as the “bugeye.” Most fans of the rally-bred WRX model were not exactly pleased with the result at the time, with just about everyone comparing that front end with the odd child between an old Porsche 911 and a slightly angry Ford Scorpio.
The public rejection was so massive that Subaru acted on it almost immediately. Because of its unfavorable reception, the Bugeye Impreza only lasted for two years, being quickly replaced with what has now become known as the “Blobeye” a little over a year later. Even Prodrive, which was building the rally versions of the same car for the World Rally Championship (WRC), removed the oval headlight covers from the racing model and replaced them with more conventional-looking ones.
Photo: Subaru
You can imagine the shame Subaru’s designers must have felt when even the carmaker’s own rally team decided against embracing those headlights. With that in mind, what was under the controversial skin was pure Subaru. A turbocharged flat-four, symmetrical all-wheel-drive, and a manual gearbox was pretty much what everyone wanted in a rally-bred sports car. In WRX specification, the 2.0-liter EJ20 flat-four delivered 227 HP and 294 Nm (217 lb-ft) of torque, but in the various STI versions it developed considerably more, making it compete with sports cars that cost two or three times more.
Time, but especially the tuner community, were much kinder to the Bugeye and in ways that Subaru’s own design team had never anticipated. Despite the controversial launch and almost immediate retreat, the model is now also part of the cult-classic club. Its headlights, the very features that generated the most criticism, are now seen as charming and characterful, especially since they are put on a car with those performance credentials.
Chevrolet SSR: The Pickup Truck That Was Both a Truck and a Roadster
Born smack down in the middle of the retro-design trend that swept the early 2000s with cars like the Plymouth Prowler, Ford Thunderbird, Chrysler PT Cruiser, and later the Chevrolet HHR, the Chevy SSR was anything but normal. Nevermind its vintage truck design, but this was a convertible pickup with a body-on-frame construction and downright sporty credentials.
It was too impractical for the sports car aficionados who might have appreciated its retractable roof or its V8 power, too expensive for old-school truck fans, and too strange-looking for pretty much everyone else. Because of that, the SSR was a slow seller and only lasted four years on the market.
Photo: GM
Like very few other cars, the Chevrolet SSR in production form was pretty much identical to the concept car that had previewed it at the 2000 Detroit Auto Show. A version was even used as the Pace Car at the 2003 Indianapolis 500, yet none of these details translated into enough sales. Its high price alienated the traditional truck buying demographic from the beginning, while the early 5.3-liter V8 lacked the performance of a true sports car. To give you an idea, the first SSR could accelerate from 0 to 100 kph (62 mph) in almost 8 seconds, which made it faster than most pickup trucks but pretty underwhelming for a V8 sports car.
Chevrolet finally caved it and fitted it with the 6.0-liter LS2 V8 from the C6 Corvette in 2005, pairing it with a Tremec T-56 manual transmission, yet it was too little and too late for the general public. Total production across all four model years was about 24,000 units, which made it a commercial disappointment but also guaranteed future scarcity. Nowadays, the odd-looking Chevrolet SSR has an almost fanatical following, with the later LS2 versions commanding more money at auctions than when they were new.
Source: www.autoevolution.com
