The ugliest cars ever produced

Over the decades there have been many iconic car designs. Some vehicles go down in history for their good looks and others get remembered for their ugly aesthetics. In this article, we take a look at vehicles that should have been sent back to the design rooms.

Nissan Cube

As its name suggests, the Nissan Cube is a very boxy car. An over-commitment to the ‘Cube’ name has produced, what many people believe to be, one of the most unattractive vehicles ever created.

However, this didn’t stop the quirky Cube from selling well in Japan before it reached western markets. Its uniquely angular design meant that the Cube was a practical load-carrying alternative to Nissan’s Micra.

Fiat Multipla

Evidently, Fiat decided to ditch style and sophistication in favour of day-to-day practicality when designing the Multipla. Well known for its unusual double headlight and oversized windows, the Multipla is able to seat three people in the front of the car. As a result, its wide stance has proven very useful to many families over the years.

Fortunately, Fiat gave the Multipla a much-needed facelift in the years following its initial release, although the car still stands as one of the most unalluring vehicles to leave Italian production lines.

Chevrolet SSR

Unfortunately for Chevrolet, there wasn't much interest in its short-lived two-seat hardtop convertible pickup truck when it went on sale in the mid-2000s.

The SSR's curved bonnet strangely makes it look like a VW Beetle attached to a pickup truck - a combination that failed to generate much excitement.

Pontiac Aztek

These days the Pontiac Aztek is most famous for appearing in the hit TV show Breaking Bad. Walter White's SUV is ugly for many reasons, namely its strange double bonnet line, unpainted plastics, undersized wheels, freakish headlights, oddly shaped rear windows and cluttered body lines.

The Aztek was designed to be bold and in your face. The useful crossover is often described as a vehicle that was designed to be aggressive for the sake of being aggressive.

Nissan Micra C+C

If you thought the early 2000s Micra looked odd enough, the hard-back C+C model looks even odder. As the Micra entered its third generation, it traded in its old boxier exterior in exchange for a rounder and more timid appearance.

A couple of decades later, Nissan refined its famous supermini into a much meaner and sleeker vehicle.

Chrysler PT Cruiser

Despite its unattractive retro aesthetic, the Chrysler PT Cruiser sold well during the 2000s. Looking to recapture some 1950s nostalgia, the Cruiser’s idiosyncratic styling in more modern markets helped make it an instantly recognisable model.

Ssangyong Rodius

Ssangyong’s 2005 Rodius is another vehicle on this list looking to maximise practicality at the expense of its exterior appearance. Designing an appealing MPV isn’t an easy task, however, the Rodius demonstrated how this shouldn’t be done.

SsangYong’s yacht-like MPV sold poorly in Europe before it was scrapped for the Turismo. Fortunately, the South Korean brand has gone on to create far nicer-looking family cars and SUVs since.

Suzuki X90

What happens when you cross an SUV with a two-seater? The result is the Suzuki X90. It looks a bit like a toy car and features an intriguing T-top roof. The X90 didn't sell particularly well during its short-lived 3-year production run in the mid-90s and it's not hard to see why.

Chrysler Prowler

Similarly to the PT Cruiser, the Prowler is another example of an American brand failing to perfect a retro design. Originally produced by Plymouth before the brand was discontinued in 2001, the Prowler carried on under Chrysler badging into the 2000s.

A pointy front, awkward bumpers and exposed wheels made the Prowler a particularly unappealing prospect.

Nissan S-Cargo

Part of the reason why Nissan’s S-Cargo looked so bad was because the manufacturers started with the name and worked backwards. S-Cargo sounds a lot like the French word ‘escargot’ and so in the late 80s, Nissan began designing a compact van that looked like a snail. Inevitably the final product wasn’t very appealing.

The image above is of an S-Cargo with paintwork by Japanese painter Masuo Ikeda.

Tesla Cybertruck

Ugly or innovative? The Tesla Cybertruck has divided opinion since it was first announced in 2019. It's hard to decide whether Cybertruck's minimalist and sharp exterior makes it look like an unfinished concept or a futuristic sci-fi space rover.

Whichever it is, the Cybertruck looks nothing like anything currently on our roads and could set a new direction for vehicle manufacturing despite its divisive looks.

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