[sygazelle]

The recent RR concept car got me thinking. How do ugly car designs get approved for production?

I know there are cars on the road I love, some I hate, and a bunch in the middle I don't care one way or the other about. I'm sure everybody has their own list. The question is, are there cars out there that most people find ugly? The Pontiac Aztec got a lot of attention for being ugly. The E60 5er was certainly polarizing but it sold well. What is the decision making process within a car company that lets these designs make it to the road? Does one person in these global car companies have so much influence that their colleagues just say "looks great, let's go with that?"

I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But are there cars that are just plain ugly by most people's standards and how do these eyesores make it to the road given the design reviews and approval processes they must go through?

Please share your vote for ugly car. My pick is the Mercedes CLA.

[badassfajita]

To put the Aztek and the E60 in the same discussion is a bit crazy IMO. The CLA too? Nah.

The Buick Riviera from a decade ago is #1 on my list followed closely by the Aztek.

[RoundelM3]

Here's my "what the hell were they thinking?" list (not in any particular order):

1. AMC Pacer
2. AMC Gremlin
3. Pontiac Aztek
4. Previous generation Chevy Impala
5. Nissan Juke
6. Nissan Cube
7. Buick Encore
8. Toyota Echo
9. Current Toyota Corolla (gaping black-hole grille model)
10. Chrysler Pacifica
11. Chevrolet Aveo
12. Mazda 2
13. Honda CR-Z
14. Lincoln MKT
15. Chevrolet Spark
16. Chevrolet Volt (previous gen)
17. Toyota Prius C
18. BMW X2/X4/X6 (can't even stand to look at one)
19. Subaru Tribeca (with the urinal-shaped grille)
20. Porsche Panamera
21. Ford Edsel
22. Pontiac Trans Sport
23. AMC Marlin
24. Plymouth Valiant (early 1960s)
25. Jeep Compass

OK, I'm tired of typing, but the list goes on. Google "ugliest cars" and try to control your stomach.

[RedKloud]

IDK why E60 gets all this hate. It was a decent car. Certainly doesn't belong in the ugliest list.

[IllLojik]

Originally Posted by RedKloud

IDK why E60 gets all this hate. It was a decent car. Certainly doesn't belong in the ugliest list.

Truth. I don't get the hate either.

[insanecoder]

Maybe by BMW standard its wasnt so good but yea I dont think E60 should be in the ugliest list.. there are lots more to choose from for that

[cptcrunch]

Sometimes its Union based. As in, the Union is going to get paid to make something or not make something per their Union contract. So a car manufacturer is going to spend the labor, might as well make something that will sell and make money even if its awful.

That and in the case of the aztec, Engineering did their build and sent it to Exterior Design to "wrap this up." When collaboration is lacking between engineering teams, you can have design proportions that dont work but are engineered a certain way and can't be changed.

[qwe010203]

Awesome!

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by roundel335

Here's my "what the hell were they thinking?" list (not in any particular order):

1. AMC Pacer
2. AMC Gremlin
3. Pontiac Aztek
4. Previous generation Chevy Impala
5. Nissan Juke
6. Nissan Cube
7. Buick Encore
8. Toyota Echo
9. Current Toyota Corolla (gaping black-hole grille model)
10. Chrysler Pacifica
11. Chevrolet Aveo
12. Mazda 2
13. Honda CR-Z
14. Lincoln MKT
15. Chevrolet Spark
16. Chevrolet Volt (previous gen)
17. Toyota Prius C
18. BMW X2/X4/X6 (can't even stand to look at one)
19. Subaru Tribeca (with the urinal-shaped grille)
20. Porsche Panamera
21. Ford Edsel
22. Pontiac Trans Sport
23. AMC Marlin
24. Plymouth Valiant (early 1960s)
25. Jeep Compass

OK, I'm tired of typing, but the list goes on. Google "ugliest cars" and try to control your stomach.

This is a darn ugly list. That's my question: How do these cars get approved for production? What committee looks at these cars and says, "That looks good, let's build it? I just don't get it.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by RedKloud

IDK why E60 gets all this hate. It was a decent car. Certainly doesn't belong in the ugliest list.

The Chris Bangle designed E60 was both loved and hated out of the gate. The traditionalists (like me) didn't like the fact that it was a revolutionary design rather than evolutionary. As an E39 owner and a E28 owner before that, I didn't like the e60 because Bangle scrapped almost all the design cues from previous gen 5ers. He wanted to get away from the "sausages of different lengths" approach to the different model designs and at the same time make a name for himself. He achieved both.

I personally don't like the looks of the E60 because I don't like the front, back or sides and they don't seem (to me) to go together. Its as if these parts were designed by different groups that never talked to one another. The Dame Edna inspired headlights are horrible in my view. Over the years the E60 became less ugly to me, especially in black. But mostly my hate for the E60 look comes from Bangles approach of screwing with BMW tradition to make his mark on the car industry; the Bangle butt 7er and the E60 being two stunning examples.

If you look at old posts from the 2004 time frame you will see just how polarizing the E60 was. Those that loved it couldn't understand all the hate.

In my case, I voted with my pocketbook and bought a lightly used 2003 540 with M-tech option as my second E39 to I could skip the E60.

Look, the E60 sold well and a lot of people liked the styling. I just never understood why BMW would produce such a polarizing design. Its a risk they just didn't have to take. Anyway, Bangles gone now and I think the car world is better off for it.

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

This is a darn ugly list. That's my question: How do these cars get approved for production? What committee looks at these cars and says, "That looks good, let's build it? I just don't get it.

It all comes down to bottom line, as most of these cars are produced by companies beholden to their stockholders. That said, you actually have to wonder what goes on at the Board meetings. I recall that when the Aztek came out, I was working for a GM-owned company, and it was well-known that many upper-level managers and executives were given Azteks and told to drive them everywhere so that people would think they were "popular". I recall also when Ross Perot was first shown the then-new Saturn after his company had been bought by GM, he remarked that they should have named it the "Smitty" (for Roger Smith, then-chairman of GM). Asked why by a media reporter, he said "because of that high-pitched whine coming from under the hood!".

Having worked in several publicly-held corporations, I can also attest to the presence of office politics and the fact that these organizations are more like dictatorships than democracies, and I'm pretty sure that's what caused many of these designs to go into production.

I did leave one or two out, though - remember the Renault LeCar? Yes, nobody wants to remember that one, or some of the 1960s Citroen DS models. Not only ugly, but odd as well.

[SleevedCoyote]

I dont get the hate for the E60 either, but the E90 on the other hand... Looks like shit

[Fast400]

Nobody mentioned the Lexus 'monster' grill series

[WHL102]

F34

[Daftasabrush]

Ssangyong Rodius

I mean, really, what the actual fuck were they thinking when they designed it!?

[goj]

Originally Posted by roundel335

Here's my "what the hell were they thinking?" list (not in any particular order):

1. AMC Pacer
2. AMC Gremlin
3. Pontiac Aztek
4. Previous generation Chevy Impala
5. Nissan Juke
6. Nissan Cube
7. Buick Encore
8. Toyota Echo
9. Current Toyota Corolla (gaping black-hole grille model)
10. Chrysler Pacifica
11. Chevrolet Aveo
12. Mazda 2
13. Honda CR-Z
14. Lincoln MKT
15. Chevrolet Spark
16. Chevrolet Volt (previous gen)
17. Toyota Prius C
18. BMW X2/X4/X6 (can't even stand to look at one)
19. Subaru Tribeca (with the urinal-shaped grille)
20. Porsche Panamera
21. Ford Edsel
22. Pontiac Trans Sport
23. AMC Marlin
24. Plymouth Valiant (early 1960s)
25. Jeep Compass

OK, I'm tired of typing, but the list goes on. Google "ugliest cars" and try to control your stomach.

Jeep renegade is far worse than the compass
And what about the MB R Class

[Livetodrive]

Why are you trashing my '66 Valiant? Ok, it's been awhile since I had it. It was way ahead of its time - it had auto left-turn, just let go of the steering wheel!

[DerekS]

Originally Posted by Fast400

Nobody mentioned the Lexus 'monster' grill series

Yes, current Lexus SUVs should be @ the head of that listing of ugliest cars !!! The Lexus RX 350/450 deserves 1st Prize for Ugliest Vehicle on the Planet !!!

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Livetodrive

Why are you trashing my '66 Valiant? Ok, it's been awhile since I had it. It was way ahead of its time - it had auto left-turn, just let go of the steering wheel!

It wasn't pretty but it was a hell of a car with that indestructible slant six in it. Good for you for admitting you owned one.

That auto left feature would be good for NASCAR.

[440xiGCMsport]

All the bangle butt cars are ugly. The 6, 5 and the 7 series from him are downright ugly. Why do you think BMW didn't put that design on the 3 series? BMW can't mess with the 3 series design because it makes up half or almost half of sales and hence was spared of the bangle butt. If it was a good looking design BMW would have put it on the 3er.

[RM7]

Originally Posted by RedKloud

IDK why E60 gets all this hate. It was a decent car. Certainly doesn't belong in the ugliest list.

Yeah, not nearly the abomination that a 3-series GT is or an X1.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by 440xiGCMsport

All the bangle butt cars are ugly. The 6, 5 and the 7 series from him are downright ugly. Why do you think BMW didn't put that design on the 3 series? BMW can't mess with the 3 series design because it makes up half or almost half of sales and hence was spared of the bangle butt. If it was a good looking design BMW would have put it on the 3er.

^This

If Bangle were the design god some folks make him out to be, why oh why did he not leverage his time at BMW and become a world class car designer somewhere else? That didn't happen.