The ugliest car ever? You decide!

[Volksy]

well not strictly production cars but there's that Swiss tuner who's name escapes me at the moment who produces some really hideous creations

do you mean sbarro?

 

 

 

 

funilly enough sbarro made a longer multipla, not a faster one...

 

[Milford Cubicle]

If they made a faster Multipla, I'd have one - I love the repellent look. But not sure if I could face 3 up in the front (oo-er) ..

Are they basically a Bravo/a/Marea underneath? 5-cylinder transplant

[ayd]

well not strictly production cars but there's that Swiss tuner who's name escapes me at the moment who produces some really hideous creations

do you mean sbarro?

 

 

 

 

funilly enough sbarro made a longer multipla, not a faster one...

 

 

google saved me - RINSPEED!!!!

 

prime example -

 

 

 

www.rinspeed.com

[Volksy]

ah yeh, that company was on top gear too..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=groxcGK0RlMfugly..

[Guest]

Ugliest for me - Toyota Yaris Verso (pic to follow if I can find one )

Known in Japan as a Toyota Fun Cargo, here it is in super basic commercial mode:

 

Quite like them to be honest. We need more car-based van type things.

[pompei]

I think as far as gloopy shaped slab sided ill-proportioned wheelchair-carriers go, it takes some beating It's a good job we don't all have the same taste etc

 

Paradoxically, I lurve this creation - forget its name, but I think it's based on the Yaris platform?

 

[Ratdat]

I don't think that Fun Cargo is particularly ugly, just a bit dull and appliance like, especially in white. Really not feeling those massive headlights like a lot of moderns have though.

[vicsmith]

That basic and quite acceptable looking Yaris Verso makes me wonder if part of the problem (along with all the restrictions designers are facing and the mental illness they all share which makes them think the headlights are structural and as such have to meet up with the A-post) is that no matter what the car, the external trim is the same , everything has to have metallic paint, colour coded bumpers and 17 inch alloys, its as though the car has to be decked out like an `80s supercar no matter what it is, its all very tedious and it just doesnt suit some styles of car, 4x4s, MPVs, city cars and all these crossover types that are there for practicality`s sake should be more basic and look like they are there to do a job, if cars like the Nissan Note came in white with black bumpers, AM radio, 4 speed box, grey grille surround, black cloth upholstery, 155 tyres with small early K11 Micra style hubcaps and blanking plates everywhere as standard, with a hefty price increase for any customers wanting to add things like a radio cassette or sunroof, I would warm to them a lot more.

[Guest]

Yeah, I too can't understand why something like a Corsa should have alloy wheels (with no doubt expensive to replace tyres).On this subject, what happened to door rubbing strips? Loads of new cars just do without them. Bet they'll look rough in no time at all as people smash their doors into the side of the shiny metal!

[mk2_craig]

Doesn't really matter, as per the discussion on the Death Row thread most brand new cars will be dead inside 12 years with some built-in planned obsolescence Factories might as well do away with the expense of rustproofing so we can watch FWD V6 auto J-tin corrode to bits before the slushmatic has a chance to expire. Would be like the 70s all over again! except for the FWD bit

 

I must admit I preferred the trim level differentiation in the 1980s, just look at the Metro range for example, your base model City was cheap and by god did it look it. The Vanden Plas was dressed up something special with two-tone paint/leather etc and the MG models although laughable now really looked the part (red seatbelts, bodykit shizznazz, big TURBO lettering and so on). Much harder to tell the posh versions of a modern small hatch apart from the povo jobs.

[Volksy]

brand new cars will be dead inside 12 years with some built-in planned obsolescence Factories might as well do away with the expense of rustproofing so we can watch FWD V6 auto J-tin corrode to bits before the slushmatic has a chance to expire.

Don't JDM imports come with this anyway?As I heard that the average life of a car in Japan is about 3 years??

[Spottedlaurel]

I like it when I sometimes (but not very often) see a Mk4 Astra hatch or estate with steel wheels and no wheel covers, just a little plastic trim in the centre of the wheel.Funny how having open wheels has gone in and out of fashion over the years.Other than satisfying designers’ urges, what good are the big wheels that everything seems to wear nowadays? Were 13’s or 14’s that awful? I can see there’s a performance benefit up to a point, allowing bigger brakes and stiffer sidewalls due to lower profile tyres, but what they now fit? Stepdad recently had to splash out on a new alloy for his Mondeo after it got bent in a pothole, wouldn’t have happened if he’d got ‘proper’ tyres with nice chunky sidewalls.

[pogweasel]

I like it when I sometimes (but not very often) see a Mk4 Astra hatch or estate with steel wheels and no wheel covers, just a little plastic trim in the centre of the wheel.Funny how having open wheels has gone in and out of fashion over the years.Other than satisfying designers’ urges, what good are the big wheels that everything seems to wear nowadays? Were 13’s or 14’s that awful? I can see there’s a performance benefit up to a point, allowing bigger brakes and stiffer sidewalls due to lower profile tyres, but what they now fit? Stepdad recently had to splash out on a new alloy for his Mondeo after it got bent in a pothole, wouldn’t have happened if he’d got ‘proper’ tyres with nice chunky sidewalls.

I have those stud-cover things on my van (though tempted to fling them in a hedge tbh, promptly followed by the rest of the vile machine), they also appear on ultra-pov Corsas from the early '00's such as Mrs PW used to own before foisting it upon her mother. As for the 19in alloys & lo-pros on EVERYTHING, it is a very bizarre and unfathomable trend, yes lets make the cars ride horribly and tramline wherever possible. Yuck. I mean they are only going to get mega-mullered on kerbs anyway so what is the point. When 'Er Indoors had a nice-spec Mk3 Astra the alloys were knackered within weeks. Even she concedes that some 14in steels with nice trimZ is a much more sensible option for family fare.

[r.welfare]

The Japanese MOT equivalent (Shaken) is geared in such a way that it becomes prohibitively expensive to pass after the car is >6 years old. They can even fail you on the floormats, apparently.Bring back 80-series rubber! It don't 'arf help the ride quality, and who cares if you can't drift through a set of S-Bendzzz at 90+ without low-profiles. Even tiny tots have crazy rubber these days, a Citroen C2 has 55-profile 15" wheels FFS. I've got big, squashy (comparatively) 65-profile stuff on my fleet. Cheap to replace too, none of this assymmetric tread crap. Just give me some Enduro Runway Road Champs please, 4 for £5 you say? Sold.

[pogweasel]

Ah, now tyres is a different matter. It's amazing that you can buy 17 & 18 in (and above) tyres now for £25 a corner. They used to be obscene. That said I really wouldn't fancy my chances on Woostunna 195/40R17's at all. If there's one area I hate scrimping on it's tyres, cheap and nasty no ta. Always pop for the top spec jobbies where possible, though due to our "connection" (trade price, free fitting) it's a little easier on the wallet

[pompei]

When I bought my CRX it had wide 15" rims which looked nice but it handled like a jack in the box. I got a set of standard narrow 14s and the difference was overwhelming. God knows what the 17" boys do when they get to a corner, or hit a grain of sand on the tarmac

[pompei]

Going back to that trainer design comment ....

 

[r.welfare]

Ah, now tyres is a different matter. It's amazing that you can buy 17 & 18 in (and above) tyres now for £25 a corner. They used to be obscene. That said I really wouldn't fancy my chances on Woostunna 195/40R17's at all. If there's one area I hate scrimping on it's tyres, cheap and nasty no ta. Always pop for the top spec jobbies where possible, though due to our "connection" (trade price, free fitting) it's a little easier on the wallet

Meh...although I am with you in that Mrs W would never get Rogistan Remoulds on her car, and when my mixture of Road Champs and Wingros (I didn't fit them!) wear out on my 405 saloon I will go for the cheapest decent brand (usually BF Goodrich at my local tyre depot), I must have covered many thousands of miles on budget tyres with nary a hitch. All in smaller, higher-profile sizes though which may be the point you are making here - I wouldn't have Road Champs if I owned an Elise!While I grant you the wear properties and wet-weather performance aren't up there with the big names, they are usually produced by subsidiaries of the big boys (e.g. Barum is a Continental brand name), and have to comply with the relevant EC standards. Plus I tend not to barrel through the switchbacks at 120 (mainly 'cos the 405 don't go that fast) and try and keep a decent distance between the car in front on the M-way. Tits in Audi A4 2.0 TDIs always seem to jump into this space without signalling, however.17s and 18s coming down in price is, I would think, simply a factor of supply-and-demand, given how much prosaic stuff (Audis, BMs, even VWs) come with these sizes of wheels as either factory fit or popular upgrade. I bet that £25 a corner is for a budget brand though! Anyway, if we want to talk tyre expense, TRX covers for my old 528i were £170 a corner (Michelin) in 2002, and the cheaper alternative (Avons) not much less. I took less advantage of it's oversteering nature after learning that :wink:Back on topic - the ugliest car on the road has to be the Perodua Kenari (the Daihatsu Move-shaped one with the twin round lights and offset front number plate), surely?

[M'coli]

I had a rude awakening on this 14 or so years ago.Metros on 12" wheels handle completely differently on 135r12s to 155/70r12s. My first Metro was a 1.3 with the 155s but bought a 1.0 in 1992 with 135s on. Being skint for most of the first year it ran on 135s, but once I got a job, 155/70's went on.Night and Day difference, back to being really chuckable.The next year I had to buy a new 155 after a pothole situation on the front and the cheapest (including the excellent Colways) was a Far East brand - hey presto, 155/70n handling one way, 135 the other!!! where's the :shiteing your kegs at 60 smiley?:

[Karmann Ghiaman]

Almost every Italian car, ship, aircraft, building and bottle-opener proves an exquisite work of art. This seems to be one of the exceptions that proves the rule:

 

 

 

 

 

And they chose the right colour for it too.

[pompei]

There is something so stupendously horrible about those Multiplas that they become desirable - though I wouldn't have one of the blanded up facelift models.

[Mr Lobster]

When they first came out I thought Multiplas were spectacularly horrible, now I would actually quite like one. Only the early one though, the facelift was just disgusting and will forever stay that way!

[gtd2000]

I think as far as gloopy shaped slab sided ill-proportioned wheelchair-carriers go, it takes some beating It's a good job we don't all have the same taste etc

 

Paradoxically, I lurve this creation - forget its name, but I think it's based on the Yaris platform?

 

It's a Toyota Bb or Scion xB in the USA - I think they are great little cars - the earlier white pic with the moon discs earlier in this thread doesn't do it justice. Some folks refer to them as "toasters" in the US.

 

I'd have one any day - the replacment model has none of its charm

[gtd2000]

Ugliest car ever in my eyes....

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Aztek

[mk2_craig]

I like it when I sometimes (but not very often) see a Mk4 Astra hatch or estate with steel wheels and no wheel covers, just a little plastic trim in the centre of the wheel.

Saw a police-spec Astra on an 04 plate with the rims you describe. On that basis the 51-reg example trashed in Hot Fuzz was less than convincing with its Halfords hubcaps (it'll be on IMCDB but work's net filter has knocked any illustratory pic on the head)

[Milford Cubicle]

I saw a Rover Streetwise with a similar steel wheel/hubcap combo as those boggo Mk 4 Astras, I thought they all came with alloys. It looked rather good!

[MrRegieRitmo]

I like it when I sometimes (but not very often) see a Mk4 Astra hatch or estate with steel wheels and no wheel covers, just a little plastic trim in the centre of the wheel.

Saw a police-spec Astra on an 04 plate with the rims you describe. On that basis the 51-reg example trashed in Hot Fuzz was less than convincing with its Halfords hubcaps (it'll be on IMCDB but work's net filter has knocked any illustratory pic on the head)