How about an Ugly car contest?

[MikeeD]

"Nuff said".......

[Railfreak78]

I'd take that Mustang in a heartbeat!!!!

[Joe Handley]

More Sunfires.....

To be honest,I'm kinda digging that Sunfire

[Chuck Most]

I don't see why so many people go out of their way to ugly up an existing car, when you can save quite a bit of time,money, and effort just buying a car that's ugly to begin with!

Examples, you ask? Why, sure...

[Junkman]

One beauty after the other. I thought this is an ugly car contest?

[TurboKitty]

Some more rolling abortions from the Factory:

[Modelmartin]

Oh Boy! I found more!

Franco Sbarro in Switzerland has built a lot of very wild stuff over the years but this one is really, really....interesting. It is called the Sbarro Autobau.

Then I found these air-propelled cars! Too, too ugly and cool!

French.

British.

[Joe Handley]

Some more rolling abortions from the Factory:

Actually, those look alot better now they they got rid of those stupid hood ribs

[The Modeling Hermit]

Truly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I've found that it's best for me to be very careful about expressing my opinions. My taste is very strange, I guess. You see, I find the cars of 1958-61 to be some of the most beautiful ever produced. Those Plymouths that Chuck posted; I love them. I was fascinated by 58 Oldsmobiles ( I owned 2) and Buicks. My father owned a 59 Mercury convertible with every option in the book, and I think some that weren't in the book. WOW what a ride! I loved the fins, and the long sleek flowing lines, especially when fender skirts were added.

Today's cars, and those of the last few years, well they will have their following, but I'll not insult their followers by expressing my views.

[TurboKitty]

Actually, those look alot better now they they got rid of those stupid hood ribs

the Chrysler Sebring, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Jeep Compass, Dodge Caliber, and Dodge Avenger are all bloated and ugly. The Caliber was supposed to be an improved version of the Neon, and it failed miserably. The Avenger is a shrunken, horrid looking Charger imitation, the PT Cruiser is out of date (as is the Chevy HHR) and doesn't really fill any niches anymore. The Sebring looked better in '95-'01 IMHO. The Jeep Compass is the "made for women" version of the Patriot. Almost all of those cars share the same, very poor platform. This is what happens when Chrysler trips over their own feet and designs cars by themselves under pressure, lol. At least now they are starting to produce some handsome models under the supervision of Fiat Group. The 2011 Grand Cherokee is the 1st example. The 2011 Charger is completely redone, but it looks like a widened version of a Mitsubishi Lancer (which, in itself is an attempt at copying the Alfa Romeo 159).

I guess originality is a thing of the past :/ Sorry to ramble on, lol.

[Chuck Most]

The Caliber was supposed to be an improved version of the Neon, and it failed miserably.

That's exactly what screwed it, right there!

As a former Neon owner, I wonder, why try to perfect imperfection?

[SSNJim]

the PT Cruiser is out of date (as is the Chevy HHR) and doesn't really fill any niches anymore.

Not any more....

[sobpinstriping]

i win

i like how it says man of steel but its made out of bondo

[TurboKitty]

Well, since I was there at the time...

The cars mentioned above are actually examples of what happens when a parent company slashes the budget too far. Whatever Sebring/Caliber/Avenger/Patriot/Compass could have been was compromised in the "Daimler era" when cuts to investment in the car throughout their design and manufacture went way overboard. Component designs were mercilessly squeezed to get every penny out. It's that simple...I'm not saying Daimler was evil or anything, but bad decisions to cost-out these vehicles compromised what could have been better cars, and it definitely happened under their watch.

I briefly had a Caliber R/T AWD as a company car when I was with Chrysler, and what was sad was that there was 85% of a very nice car there. What was missing was the refinement and finesse that would have come with more NVH reduction (engineering time and component tweaks) and abysmal interior finishes and design (due to having cost targets that precluded acceptable materials and component design).

Did you know that the Mitsubishi Lancer you mentioned shares that platform too? Most people don't. Go check it out. You know why most people don't know? Mitsubishi spent some money on it to file off the rough edges and the car is much nicer to drive than the early ChryCo versions of the same basic car.

GS Platforms

The Grand Cherokee and future product will undoubtedly improve as the penny-wise and pound-foolish regime responsible for the Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep GS debacles is gone. The newest Ram pickup showed that even before Fiat, those in charge got the message. Hate on Cerberus all you want, but the turn around did start under their watch. The "new" 300 and Chargers are just Shake-n-Bake restyles to refresh the platform, and continue the upgrading of interior parts you'll see over the whole lineup eventually.

I wish Chrysler and everyone there the best, but the products from the late Daimler era cast a long shadow to get out from under, and it's not clear if the Fiats that will eventually replace them are going to be game-changers or not.

I wasn't aware that the Lancer shares the same platform, but it makes sense. Chrysler has used various Mitsubishi derived engines and other parts/platforms for years lol. I wish they had not made those cars at all, instead of rushing them (the current Sebring/Avenger, etc). But I do understand that they need something in the market, but at least make it competitive! GM had something going with the G6 & Saturn Aura, but then did a stupid move by killing Pontiac, just when they were starting to produce some decent cars. The G8 GT and G8 GXP are brilliant. Why? Because they're not American, lol. They're Australian based Holdens. Even the Camaro has the VXR underpinnings, that's what makes it good, but it could be better. But back to Chrysler, the PT Cruiser finally got the axe and it was almost unchanged throughout it's entire production run. It started out good, but after a few years, the flame on that dimly lit candle flickered out. The only one really worth mentioning is the PT Cruiser Turbo. Everything else was just another one of your regular, yearly "Special Edition" packages (Dream Cruiser, for instance). It started the retro trend, and Chevy cashed in on that with the SSR car/pickup. Those sure didn't last long, but they were doomed from the start too for their high price, similar to the most recent Ford Thunderbird. I don't know if I like the restyled Charger or not, but I think once I see one in person, I may tolerate it lol. It's not like they can just make a 2dr retro Charger, that would just interfere with sales of the Challenger.

I do have faith in the Chrysler/Fiat merger, though. I read somewhere that they're bringing an Alfa Romeo here. That is exactly what American cars really need, a good European platform & tuning. We just haven't gotten it right yet, compared to British, German, or Japanese cars. Someday.... lol.

Edited July 29, 2010 by MB_ChargerChick

[henry57]

[henry57]

This was a 57 chevy,

[Modelmartin]

Ok, Mr. Henry Allen. You win! Holy cow! What the hay! That shoebox Ford is ruined and that 57 4 door hardtop, which is a cool car by itself is utterly destroyed. That 57 underwent a ton of work and the craftsmanship doesn't look bad. Too bad it is utterly without any sense of design. It will take me a minute to get my equilibrium back.

[Junkman]

Remember the TDF Pointer?

There is a model kit of it, too.

[Chuck Most]

[CAL]

How about a Reliant Robin

Edited August 1, 2010 by CAL

[Guest Johnny]

How about an ugliest "builder" contest! Although since I got my hair cut short and trimmed my ZZ Top beard I probably wouldn't win now!