For automobile designers, a car’s visual appeal is about aesthetics and consumer perception. A well-designed vehicle looks good and has a higher chance of appealing to consumers, potentially increasing its marketability.
However, the pursuit of visual appeal has its pitfalls. Designers, in their quest for uniqueness, sometimes miss the mark. The result? Cars that are either endearingly quirky or, in some cases, regrettably unattractive.
This list contains some of the ugliest cars in the world, and we don’t think there will be many arguments about it. Some will be obvious choices, but others might surprise you.
Pontiac Aztek
A list of ugly vehicles would always have the Pontiac Aztek make an appearance. Pontiac themselves said that the Aztek had “Xtreme” futuristic styling, yet for the paying public, it was too extreme as the styling quickly became controversial.
The eyes and nostrils at the front of the Aztek led to some calling it a “scary” looking SUV. It made several publications’ “ugliest cars ever” lists, including U.K. newspaper The Daily Telegraph and Pulitzer Prize-winning automotive journalist Dan Neil. Pontiac produced the Aztek for just five years from 2000-2005, with sales dropping to just 5,020 in its final year in production.
Pre-Facelieft Fiat Multipla
The unusual Fiat Multipla also guaranteed a place on this list. The Fiat minivan concept is a very good one. The Multipla is shorter and wider than many of its rivals and shorter than the Bravo it’s based on. Yet it has two rows of three seats, with plenty of room for the driver, passengers, and luggage in the trunk.
Despite its practicality, the styling of the first versions of the Multipla was very polarizing. It was “completely bonkers,” as Jeremy Clarkson called it in the series finale of Clarkson’s Car Years, so Fiat gave it a facelift in 2004 to make it look more conventional. Yet despite the fact it was ugly as sin, the Fiat Multipla was one of the best and most practical family cars ever made.
BMW iX
On paper, the BMW iX has a lot going for it. Inside, it is full of clever technology with all the modern magic you would expect. A large touchscreen, dashboard, and Apple and Android connectivity also provide you with some of the best comfort levels of any SUV on the market, electric or otherwise.
But there is no escaping the fact that the BMW iX is a terrible-looking car. Despite being electric, it is hideous, with an awful fake grille at the front. It is massive and broad and across the side. While smooth, it is dull, and BMW has done nothing to make it stand out. It looks like a giant brick on wheels. It is also heavy, has no front storage, and has a starting MSRP of $87,100.
Fiat 500X
Fiat relaunched the 500 in 2007, recreating the iconic city car of the 1950s, but as they did with the original, Fiat wanted to create multiple versions. Unfortunately, unlike the original, the Italian manufacturer might have had a few too many the night before when it came up with the designs.
A case in point is the Fiat 500X. It has Vaugley 500-like proportions, but it’s an awkward-looking SUV with typical Fiat reliability and quality control problems. Sales have also dropped significantly over the years, from a peak of 104,931 in Europe in 2016 to just 31,519 in 2023. It’s also not very practical, as other mid-size SUVs offer more space inside than the 500X.
BMW XM
It isn’t surprising to see more than one BMW on this list; worst of all, this is a fully-fledged BMW M car—the first one since the BMW M1 of 1978. Yet the M name usually means sportiness and performance, not large, lumbering SUVs, but that is precisely what the X.M. is, even if it has a twin-turbocharged V8 as one of its engine options.
BMW has also developed a special-edition “Label Red” trim that produces 738 hp, but the fact that the X.M. is hideous is no escaping. It is significant and bloated, has a horrible grille, and has awful bumps and grooves across the bodywork. It is a sign of how far BMW has fallen over recent years.
Mitsuoka Orochi
Japanese company Mitsuoka isn’t well known for producing good-looking cars, and the Orochi is no exception. Mitsuoka claimed it is actually based on the platform of the Honda NSX, yet that is where the similarities with the supercar end.
Obviously, it isn’t as good-looking as the NSX. But it is also much slower. Marketed as a supercar, the Orochi only has a 3.3-liter Toyota 3MZ-FE V6 under the hood, producing just 213 hp. These are not stats that you would typically associate with a supercar. But even if there was 1,000 hp in the Orochi, there is no escaping the fact it is a horrible-looking car.
Mitsuoka Le-Seyde
One of Mitsuoka’s other creations, the Le-Seyde, was back in the spotlight after Jeremy Clarkson drove it in The Grand Tour special Eurocrash. Yet underneath that 1920s-style exterior is a Nissan Silvia S13, the Le-Seyde even utilizing the same inline-four 1.8-liter engine of the Silvia S13, producing 131 hp and 117 lb-ft of torque.
Mitsuoka allegedly tried to make the Le-Seyde look like a Mercedes SSK, yet it looks nothing like the classic Mercedes. It also has unusual features, such as the front horns and fake wheel covers on the side. Mitsuoka would make more versions of the Le-Seyde, including the Dore, a convertible version based on the 1979-1993 Ford Mustang Fox-Body.
Chevrolet SSR
Another car to feature in the Eurocrash special is the Chevrolet SSR. In the mid-2000s, Chevrolet decided it was about time the world had a convertible pickup truck with a hefty V8 engine under the hood. Thus, the unusual retro-looking SSR was born.
Yet despite the initial promise, the SSR wasn’t the success Chevrolet had hoped for. Initially, the SSR had a 300 hp 5.3-liter Vortec V8; in 2005, it added the 6.0-liter 390 hp LS2 V8. However, both engines were badly underpowered for a heavy pickup, with a curb weight of 4,759 lbs. Plus, the folding roof used the pickup bed as storage when it wasn’t up, and it had just two seats, removing a lot of the practicality of a pickup truck.
Ford Mustang II
The Ford Mustang II has always suffered from a poor reputation. This was mainly because it was a poor-performing derivative of the lethal Pinto and only had inline-six power available when launched in 1974.
Yet many muscle car enthusiasts also thought the Mustang II deviated too far from muscle car styling. Ford replaced the striking design of the first-generation Mustang with a more conventional, boxier design that many say symbolized the Malaise era of the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. Contemporary reviews of the Mustang II were favorable, but in the modern day, perceptions have changed, and the Mustang II is now viewed much more negatively.
Chrysler PT Cruiser
The Chrysler PT Cruiser was ugly when it first launched and is still ugly in 2024. Despite that, initial reviews praised the P.T. Cruiser, and it even became Motor Trend’s Car of the Year at one point.
However, Chrysler planned to attract a younger audience with the P.T. Cruiser, which didn’t happen. The move to replicate 1930s aesthetics didn’t pay off, with clunky body lines and a blobby front fascia, and then the convertible P.T. Cruiser took things to a new level. Summing it up is a clip on YouTube from BBC Top Gear showing the P.T. Cruiser Cabriolet. Richard Hammond then asks the audience the, “How much don’t you want that car?” which receives the expected laughter. That is the P.T. Cruiser summed up in a nutshell.
Ssangyong Rodius
There is every chance that the first-generation Ssangyong Rodius is an uglier car than the Fiat Multipla. While the Multipla is odd-looking, it makes up for it in practicality. The Rodius doesn’t, and it follows a trend of questionably styled products from Ssangyong.
That lack of practicality makes the Rodius even uglier than the Fiat. It is a mess of lines, with a front grille that looks like a Lancia knock-off, and the rear is flat, large, and with a strange sloping C-pillar. Designer Ken Greenley allegedly took inspiration from luxury yachts when designing the Rodius. We can’t help but wonder how horrible to look at those yachts were.
Subaru Tribeca
Subaru rarely produces an ugly car, but the Tribeca sadly blemishes its record. Subaru attempted to reference the aviation history of brand owners Fuji Heavy Industries with the unusual three-part grille design. Yet, while it worked on some cars, including the ‘Hawkeye’ Subaru Impreza, it was a total mess on the Tribeca.
Blobby, gopping, bloated, all of these words aptly describe the styling of the Tribeca. Thankfully, Subaru saw the errors of their ways, so in 2007, they updated the Tribeca to make it look more conventional. That took away some of its unique features and arguably made the Tribeca too dull to look at.
Dodge Nitro
The Dodge Nitro is close relative to the Jeep Liberty, and under the hood, it has a massive 3.7-liter V6 engine, which produces just 203 hp. If that needed to be better, then you only have to look at the Nitro to see why it wasn’t the success Dodge had hoped for.
The Nitro was full of chrome trim and had a very slab-like appearance, while the wheel arches were also comically flared. Dodge doesn’t often get its designs wrong, but Nitro was a big mistake. When Dodge exported it to the U.K. to boost sales, it had the opposite effect. It didn’t help that the interior was cheap and tacky and that the Nitro was a poorly made-SUV.