I went to college from 1986-1990. I knew three people who drove cars in this list: a Chevette, a Corvair, and a Gremlin. And I saw a few Yugos around, too. Even though they shouldn't have lasted long enough to have been driven in the late 1980's, there they were, being driven in Illinois, salt on the roads and all.

My friend Michele who had the Corvair got it painted a beautiful metallic fleck purple. Her dad was an auto columnist for a major metro newspaper, and I think he found this car for her. She loved it.

The Honda Element should be on the list.

"The Yugo was a car that fell apart while you drove."

It's certainly mildly unfortunate when the gear lever falls off. Particularly if you're trying to engine brake, the brakes having faded to the point of offering almost no retardation whatsoever. Luckily, whatever else you say of it, the Fiat 128 chassis did give the Yugo 55 reasonable handling.

The first car I ever drove was a 1971 Pinto Runabout. It really was not a bad car. It was comfortable, reaonably responsive, handled well and I didn't think it was ugly.

It got a bad rap for the minor "bursting into flames" thing. That only affected a couple production years.

/Every Pinto can do 100 MPH. Once.

This list is crap, where is the Aztek?

Nevermind, there it is #8.

/still should have placed higher

/not impressed

AMC took a beating there. I have to agree with them though. But that Chevy Vega is cool lookin'.

I gotta say, that Pacer almost looks cool.

So does the Edsel, Matador, and Corvair.

Guess that's why "retro" is (was?) in.

I think they confused "ugly" with "steaming piles of crap".

Earguy: The Honda Element should be on the list.

every time I see one of those, I think "At least it's not a Scion"

Ugh, agreed on all counts that the Aztec is fugly.

However, can we put the Honda Element LunchBox up there with it?


I love old Vega's.

Looks like there is no love for hatchbacks. But with the exception of the Yugo that list is pretty US-centric. What about the Fiat Multipla? It looks like someone left a stick of butter out in the sun.

Earguy: The Honda Element should be on the list.

this. every time I see one of those I want to run it off the road and beat the hell out of the driver for having purchased that abomination.

Earguy: The Honda Element should be on the list.

I need to learn to read comments before posting.

I tell you I think that Aztek is the winner (loser?) hands down. I'd rather drive any one of the other cars to pick up a hot date than be caught running for milk in that POS. It's so ugly it makes me feel sad about the state of the American automotive industry.

Outshined: AMC took a beating there. I have to agree with them though. But that Chevy Vega is cool lookin'.

Yep, I knew I forgot one - that Vega didn't look half bad. I knew a guy who had shoehorned a V8 from a corvette into one. Pretty much a sleeper.

I used to work with a guy (at an auto parts store, so I'm getting a kick out of these replies) who had a Matador with a V6 and dual side hood scoops (factory original). Piece of shiat, but still pretty cool for a high school driving around car. Of course, he was working at the store so that he could get a discount on all of the repair parts he needed, but at least he had a good attitude.

/Otto? Otto Parts?

How did the AMC eagle not make the list.

God, that car was hideous.

Earguy

Say what you want about the Element, but I *loved* it (I had the same model in that photo, too).

Deceptively small (I never had trouble fitting into a parking space), but roomy enough that my 6'+ friends could sit in the front seat and have plenty of headroom and leg room. With the back seats latched to the side I could fit my entire dorm room in the back. Great stereo system. And, despite the laws of wind resistance, that baby flew on the highway.

Sadly the lease ran out so when I go back to the US I have to use my dad's car (I think he drives a Cherokee these days?). I miss my Element =(

nekom
every time I see one of those I want to run it off the road and beat the hell out of the driver for having purchased that abomination.

Overreact much? There are much worse things to beat people up over.

Mr_Ectomy:

Earguy: The Honda Element should be on the list.

every time I see one of those, I think "At least it's not a Scion"

I'm sure I'm not the first to think of it, but I think that Scion's xB model stands for xitBox (the front x is pronounced "sh").

At least the tC model looks a bit like something I'd want to drive... jury's out on how it handles, though.

I had an AMC Matador - sedan, though, not a coupe. I was quite pleased with it. Built like a tank, handled like a minivan, and powered with a small beauty of an 8-cylinder.

And, yeah, the ass of it looked nothing like the rear of that Matador Coupe they show.

I remember the old SNL skit, it was supposed to be a Japanese knockoff of the McLaughlin Group (sp?). They were going over the ugliest American cars.

"1967 Chrysrer Imperiar, from behind, look like fat American woman in stretch pants"

The Vega looks pretty cool actually.

My cousin had a Matador but it must have been a newer model than the one used in the article. His had more "roundness" to it, plus it was orange.

thisispete: Looks like there is no love for hatchbacks. But with the exception of the Yugo that list is pretty US-centric. What about the Fiat Multipla? It looks like someone left a stick of butter out in the sun.

Thak you for pointing out that Fiat. I saw those steaming piles all over Toulouse. I never liked the Scion or Element until I lived in France, and learned the reason for all that high boxiness.

Still love my Chevette... wish I still had it. Always wanted a Corvair. Most of these choices in TFA went with safe cliches and groupthink.

Haha, Outshined, the GTO does look like crap.

Who cares if they're ugly? As long as you press the accelerator and it goes, it's a good car.

Remember the AMC AMX? There's a guy who owns a tire shop near my house, and he collects them. And odd car to collect, but they're are pretty good old muscle cars.

For a change, I like that list. Usually, lists posted here blow. That one is fairly solid. There's a few cars that I would've liked to see included, but for ugly-ass cars sold in America, it works.

Had one in baby blue. Without the spoiler and effects. And starter. And 2nd and 4th gear.

The Ford Pinto, if anything, is good for 4 Cylinder stock car racing. They look rather snazzy on a short track.

That is all.

parkerlewis: The Vega looks pretty cool actually.

My cousin had a Matador but it must have been a newer model than the one used in the article. His had more "roundness" to it, plus it was orange.

Matadors went through a somewhat drastic revamp halfway through their production lives. (1975, IIRC)

That list was very weak.
I'm sure we can fix that.
Here, I'll start:



They actually took the better looking versions in that article.
I mean, the gremlin actually looked better than I remember.

My dad had a white Pontiac Aztek. We called it the alien space pod.
But it was comfy, quiet, and fun to drive.

Mr_Ectomy: every time I see one of those, I think "At least it's not a Scion"

Even my kids call those shoeboxes with wheels

Yeah, the AMC AMX sure had a pair - friend in high school had one. The a/c had a setting for "desert only" - was that a mod or did they really come that way?

the gremlin looks like an older sibling to my '07 Honda Fit. I gots me an orange one!

eltejon: I never liked the Scion or Element until I lived in France, and learned the reason for all that high boxiness.

And that reason is...?

/thinks the Scion & Elepha...I mean Element are the OOgliest cars EVAR

Say what you will about it, but the Corvair was fantastic for winter driving. Put chains on the rear wheels and you could practically do ice climbing with the thing.

Don't forget this explosion...

My ex-fiance's mom owned a Pacer when they were growing up. Powder blue, he said. With smiley-face hubcaps. He said he would duck down under the dashboard in mortification everytime they were at a stoplight hoping no one he knew would ever see him in that car.

I'm glad to see others mentioned the Fiat Multipla before I got in here. If that isn't the ugliest car you've ever seen, then you must not have seen it. It can be the only explanation.

Honourable mention to the Chrysler PT Cruiser too. What a sack of crap.

Corvair???
A 1965-1969 Corvair is a work of beauty.

The Suzuki X-90. Looks like something from the Mr Men books. As if that wasn't bad enough, most of the ones I've seen in real life have been a fetching shade of purple.

1982 Cadillac Seville.

The GM products that year looked like they got stepped on from behind.

That was the first time i've ever seen a AMC Gremlin, let's hope it's also the last time.

The Chevrolet Vega was kind of cute though.

A lot of the cars on this list weren't really ugly, they were crappy. The Vegas and Pintos were average styling for cheap cars at the time, but their quality was lacking.

If you are going for styling, (or lack of it) Volkswagen Thing, Toyota FJ40 style Landcruiser, and yes, the Honda Element and Toyota Scion belong on the 'ugly' list. Could probably throw a lot of 1960-70's 4x4 trucks/SUV's into an ugly category. That doesn't make them poorly built pieces of junk, the way that the Vegas, Pintos, Yugos and some of the AMC cars were. If you're going to have a category- in this case ugly, define it and then stick with the definition.

/Hey, sometimes ugly is cool.

Yeah, all of these suck, but they missed the Le Car (new window).


For people who weren't cool enough to have a Yugo. In high school, I had a Pinto, one of my friends had a Yugo, and another had a Le Car. Needless to say, whenever we had dates, we had to borrow our parent's cars.

My first car was a gray V8 Gremlin with the Levi Strauss interior package. I beat that car to death, about the only problem was it kept breaking the motor mounts and then would crack the exhaust near the manifold if more than one mount broke.

Such an uninspired list. They didn't do much resarch. No Porsche 914, no Element, no Aztec, just more anti American-car blather.
It simply doesn't get much uglier than the 914, the Cadillac Cimeron of Porsche.