Posted on 05/07/2014 8:21:10 AM PDT by rktman
It’s always a special treat when a trip to the grocery store or dentist turns into a rare car-spotting experience. A forgotten classic or exotic is seen prowling the streets or, even better, appears in the parking lot next to your car. Cue daydream starring you in that exotic car. Maybe you’re in Monaco, driving into the sunset when…
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Ugly? Maybe, but it seems this author mainly has it out for useful, spacious, utilitarian and space friendly cars.
What about the Camaro? While few people if any would claim it’s ugly, it has serious drawbacks in design and usefulness? To me - that’s ugly in its own way.
Yikes, forgot about the Gremlin.
Had a neighbor who owned one. It was an obnoxious shade of green. And was rusting out all over the place within five years. So he had pop-riveted primered patches interspersed with the green.
I have a scion xBox, 2006. Bought it new. Best car i’ve ever owned, all around. The interior room is ridiculously ample. And I really like its looks.
I call the “smart” car, The Stupid Car. It’s an emergency waiting to happen, besides being so b_tt ugly.
The Aztek. Instantly hated when it first came out.
Who knew that auto makers would make that the gold standard for all new vehicles now on the road?
Since you brought up lights... I have owned several pick up trucks. I don't use the "bright lights" often as I live in the suburbs of a large city. But when I need bright lights, I usually need REALLY bright lights. Single lane country roads with 55 mph speed limits are much safer if I can see better. To your point, I have complained, "dial down the fancy and get back to the functional". I would like three light settings; 1) normal traffic 2) High-beams and 3) Quasar Bright. I want to be able to see the organs of a deer that is contemplating suicide on the side of the road. I want Ray Charles to complain about crossing the street a mile ahead of me on a dark cloudy night in the middle of nowhere. And I don't want to have to configure the lights on the truck between daylight running, fog on, parking lights, brights with fog on or brights with auto fog lamps off, etc.
(silly little rant - sorry)
That is amazing, but I can understand why they are so collectible.
I just searched on Autotrader and the (1) listing I found said, “Here it is. Probably the hardest car to find on autotrader.”
Yeah, they’re all pretty ugly. Although, I don’t like Pontiacs, the Aztek has an almost military look to it that I like. Probably still a crappy vehicle.
As they say in the auto industry, “your mileage may vary”.
:)
Similar experience when it first came out. I like the look in the magazines. But then it was front wheel drive with a week 4-cylinder. Then I had to drive a rental in the mountains. I was in the way. They are surprisingly cramped on the interior too. After driving it, I came to the conclusion that the shape of the car was the only thing the engineers worked on. An acquaintance told me it was a dodge Neon with a different body and a lot more weight. I have no idea if that was true or hyperbole, but it fit the performance.
Indeed Smart Roadster is way different from the rest of Smart family but it is really fun to drive. A motorcycle on four wheels. As for Lada Niva it is a first ever crossover SUV dating back to 1976 and still the same featuring as extras only ABS, newer Russian Federal bumpers, EFI and tail lights for a 2015 model. It also has demultiplicator all-lock transmission, which is only typical for military class all-terrain vehicles.
A friend had one of those. I thought it was silly (I was driving a Chevy dually), but our 5 year old boys thought it was great. I seem to recall some safety issue about the rigid handles projecting from jump seats.
Multi purpose vehicle, after the crash you can be buried in your ‘smart car’ Not much bigger than a coffin. And after the crash probably smaller.
I looked at the guy’s list and strongly disagree with him on almost all of them. I don’t necessarily like some of the cars he lists, but I don’t think they are ugly. The HTT and PT cruiser are actually pretty cars. The aztec is a legend. The concept car it is based on was really, REALLY cool looking. But the changes required to bring it to production transformed it from a beauty to a beast.
What the article does prove is that art is subjective.
Well, exept everybody hates the vagina nosed Edsel.
My folks had a yellow Nash Rambler. My friends used to tease me about having to ride around in a bathtub. It was, indeed, an ugly little car, but not as ugly as the Ford Falcon we bought in the late 50’s, kept for two weeks and then traded in on another Ford.
Used to be a Gremlin on a jeep frame around here. The badge said “Greep”.
Hahaha, Yeah, the Citation was an ugly thing. I’m a Ford man, myself, but the Citation I had, ugly as hell, rusted to the hilt, ran like a charm. Put in the ditch a couple of times, but just kept going. I felt almost bad giving it up for a demolition derby, where it won a couple of runs before she was done.
There was an e-mail going around GM headquarters form management admonishing employees to not make jokes about the Aztek.
The author is correct, the concept was good but he execution was horrible.
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