1974 Ford Taunus 2000GXL Custom

This formerly gray 1974 Ford Taunus has been...customized...a bit.

Part of the idea of "customizing" a car is to make something unique, that no one else has. And if you do this to a car, you're pretty well assured that no one else is going to make a mockery of a Taunus in the same way.

Sadly, though, the front end does remind me a little of the new Chevrolet Camaro concept. Scary stuff...

GNU FDL photos by Liftarn at Wikimedia Commons

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation license, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation license ".

Chevrolet Cavalier Custom

Based on a quick peek at the car's interior, it seemed to have started life as a late 90's Chevrolet Cavalier. Note that the taillights, though, are not even close to the shape of Cavalier lights, they look to me to be from the newest generation Toyota Celica. And it's got quite a nose job, creating those little triangular taillights without the side markers cutting into the fenders as they do on the stock Cavie. That all looks like custom bodywork, and unless they did it themselves it cost them a pretty penny. What's sad to think is that for all that money, they could have spared themselves the time and trouble of turning a poorly designed Chevrolet into a Toyota Celica clone and gotten themselves an actual Toyota Celica, which is a much better car!

Honda Civics

I saw TWO different truly uglified black Honda Civics on the same day, on the same trip. I took the picture of the first one, happy to have found new blog material. At first, I thought the second car was the same car as the first, because it appears to have the same huge wing, but then I noticed the missing "Eire" sticker and the extra chrome trim and realized that I had spotted two of these abominations in the same trip!

Washboard Wheels?

As seen on Flickr with the caption, "I had to take a picture these things were so ugly. At least if the driver gets stuck he can slice cheese or something." I think the car is an Audi, which is doubly bad because a large part of the appeal of an Audi is the subtle, restrained style of the car. Until chrome washboards are bolted to the thing.

Photo by James (aka "monkeyatlarge" on Flickr.

Photo used under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

Unknown "Art Car"

From an Art Car parade in Houston, Texas.

This is supposed to be art? I do like the color, though, but the rest of it, well, come to think of that color I think it was a waste of good paint on that car.

Photo by falsecognate
Photo License:
This file is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License (cc-by-sa-2.0). In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it under this or a similar cc-by-sa license.

1959 Edsel Villager

What a lot of people don't realize about "The Edsel" was that there were actually more than one model. The classic Edsel, the Gold Standard of Ugly 50's Cars, the Edsel that comes to mind most when the name Edsel is brought up, is usually the Pacer model. But there was also the Ranger, Villager and Corsair. More on those later...

Public domain photos by ChiemseeMan

Isuzu VehiCross

Good lord, that thing's ugly. Like the Aztek, a rugged, capable, useful vehicle. And proof positive that form does not necessarily follow function. You can have plenty of function, and form is nowhere to be found on some vehicles!

Public domain photograph by IFCAR

Toyota Pod

The ugliness doesn't stop with the car's shape: the Pod was supposed to be like driving one of those little keychain pets...depending on how one treated the car, it had exterior lights that would change colors, blue for sad, yellow for happy, red for angry, and the radio antenna could wag like a puppy's tail. It really would have put the "Toy" in "Toyota."

Photo by Mytho88
Photo License:
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

1977-1979 Ford Thunderbird

Specifically, I'm talking about the 1977-1979 "Torino Birds." I don't have a photo of it, but I've even seen them with vinyl trim running along the side of the car. Even among the 70's ridiculousness in automotive styling, this car stands out. And not for a good reason.

Public domain photos by IFCAR, Bull-Doser, and Morven (respectively).

Nissan March Bolero

What. The. F---?!?!

It's a subcompact Nissan March, trying to look like a classic British saloon.

It didn't work.

Photo License:
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

Datsun 200L

First off, I need to say that I think most lowriders are ugly. This one wasn't doing so bad, maybe from the front I wouldn't have thought this car worthy of Fuglymobile status. But the "pimpin'" sticker on the back window? Of an old-ass Datsun with spoke wheels? Just what exactly does he think he's going to pimp from a three-decade old Datsun?

And are the hydraulics in that car worth more than the whole rest of the car?

Photo by MGSpiller

License:
This file is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License (cc-by-sa-2.0). In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it under this or a similar cc-by-sa license.

Original Location

1958 Buick

I'm not quite sure exactly which model this is, but the 1958 Buick supposedly has the distinction of being the car with the most chrome ever on a stock vehicle. It's not just on there, it's in all sorts of different shapes, from the squares on the grille to the targets on the fenders and the trim sweeping down the side of the car to the big chrome side panels.

I really do like the grille, but otherwise there's just waaaaay too much going on with this car. It looks like a little kid's model car where he just glues every chrome piece he can find haphazardly to one car. None of it matches, there's far too much of it, and it makes this vehicle far more ugly than the Edsel Pacer, supposedly the Gold Standard of Ugliness of 1950's cars.

Photo by Lars-Göran Lindgren

License:
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

Original Location

Fugly-Racing

When I came across a website for a racing team called Fugly-Racing, I just had to pass it along.

The car is a 1961 Plymouth Savoy, racing in the Factory Experimental class. Yes, it's a very ugly drag car, but I give credit to owner/driver Damon Kuhn for turning a potential popularity liability into good marketing.

2001 Pontiac Aztek

The 2001 Aztek will go down in history as one of the ugliest vehicles of all time. Which is a shame, because from all accounts it was a tremendously useful vehicle. Pontiac tried to tone down the styling by color-matching the plastic cladding, but it was too late, the reputation had been earned. It carried on through the 2005 model year, but few seemed to notice.

Public domain photo by "Bull-Doser"

Chrysler Le Baron

I really don't know what they were thinking. Or if they even were thinking...wood panels on a convertible like this. That may have been the fashion in the late 1940's, but it doesn't work on cars designed four decades later.


From the Chrysler Le Baron page of The Crittenden Automotive Library.

Chevrolet Lumina APV

The 1990-1993 version of the Chevrolet Lumina APV looks like a DustBuster on wheels. This is the reason the minivan has such a terrible reputation, because of truly substandard design. Did anyone even try to make this van look good?

Of course, they did try...eventually, the wedge front end would be replaced by a frond end that looked more like a vehicle and less like a vacuum cleaner. It didn't really help, though, as the van only lasted until 1996, after which it was replaced by the Venture. I own a Venture, so there will be no making fun of it here.

The Ugliest Cars in Britain

This blog isn't just a photopost, I've also begun searching the internet for what others consider to be ugly cars.

And here's an interesting site: The Ugliest Cars in Britain

It's got a Paper Bag Rating system to show just how ugly the site's owners think a particular vehicle is. It was a Yahoo! UK Top 10 Find of the Year in 2004. It's a real quality site. Their description of the Ssongyang Rodius is a particularly excellent example of the type of car and commentary found on the site.

1970 Chevrolet Corvette Vintage Racing

This is a perfect example of taking a beautiful car and uglifying it right up. A 1970 Corvette convertible, painted red and yellow with black numbers, with a yellow roll cage added for safety. Yes, the cage is necessary, but putting it on a drop top was not. And there's no excuse for the paint scheme.

Photo by Nathan Bittinger

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.

AMC Hornet "AMX" Custom

This car needs almost no explanation. Almost.




Yeah, it's a homemade tri-color AMX. Made from a AMC Hornet. I put it on the Classic Customs page (and more angles of this car can be found there) of The Crittenden Automotive Library because I really didn't think it was still Hornet enough to put it on an AMC Hornet page.

It really is a remarkable piece, and a lot of thought and effort went into it, and when you get up close to it the workmanship is definitely better than would be expected when you first see the car. However, they did take an ugly 70's car and make it even uglier, and that's why it's here.

In case you're curious, this is what a regular 1977 AMC Hornet AMX looks like.

Hyundai Accent Custom

This is the first Fuglymobile subject, and in fact, part of the inspiration for this blog. It's about a 2001ish Hyundai Accent with a hideous customization. It'd be an alright "chick car" job, were it not for the angel wings and little front spoilers that make it look snowmobilish. Left to the pink and white paint job and spoiler deal, it wouldn't have been so bad, so it's a good example of heading off in the right direction and going way, way too far.

Photo license:
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

Anyway, about the inspiration. There was this other blog, AutoFug, another blog of truly ugly cars, and I thought this car really belonged on there. Unfortunately, AutoFug hasn't been updated since April of 2006, so I decided to carry on, creating Fuglymobile to carry on in AutoFug's tradition. So, I created a blog to put this Hyundai online and call it ugly. More to come soon!

See more Hyundai Accent pictures at CarsAndRacingStuff.com.