Have you ever stumbled across one of those obscure cars and had no choice but to scratch your head and say “holy cow is that thing ugly?” Well, with the number of different models produced over more than 200 years (if you count the steam-powered car built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769 or the first hydrogen-powered vehicle designed by Francois Isaac de Rivaz back in 1808) there is a wild number of downright ugly cars that don’t belong on this world or any other world, for that matter. And, for what it’s worth, we’re not just talking about weird Russian and Chinese cars either. There are even some pretty ugly Chevy concepts that, not so surprisingly, never made it into production.
These are the cars we’re here to discuss today. We were sitting around the Hotcars round table and started discussing the ugliest cars we had ever seen. Next thing you know, we started searching and scouring the internet. Long story short, we couldn’t help but share all of the craziest that we found with all of you. All in all, we’ve compiled 20 different vehicles onto this list, including a disproportionate bus, a bloated plane, and even a scooter, among others. These aren’t vehicles that you see every day, though, so there’s certainly fresh material for you to see here. It might be best to go grab a fresh beverage before you dive into some of the world’s ugliest cars – you might be here for a while in either shock, amazement, or a little of both.
20 Three Wheels Electric Bills
Tesla might be credited with building the worlds first mass-produced, marketable EV (If you don’t count the GM EV1 or the Ford Electric Ranger, of course) but electric cars have actually been around for quite some time. It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that this baby never went mass-market, just based on its looks alone.
If you look close enough, you’ll see that this thing is a 1978 Electra King.
According to Jalopnik, this model was produced from 1963 – 1980. The exterior is nothing but box while the interior is downright spartan in terms of amenities. Seriously, it’s lucky to have a steering wheel. This ugly little beast ran on a 36-volt motor that was good for 1 horsepower. So, it was essentially an enclosed golf cart. Either way, it’s ugly enough to land the first spot on this list.
19 Modified Hell
This is the only “modified” vehicle on this list, and we didn’t plan to include any such vehicles on this list, but then we came across this one. We’re pretty sure that this thing is based on a C3 Corvette. According to Corvsport.com the C3 was produced from 1968 to 1982, and while it changed a bit over the years, it always had flip up headlights. That’s a testament to just how strange and extensively modified this ugly Corvette really is.
That may not even be the stock front clip, but if it is, someone did some serious fiberglass work to undo the sleek nature of the donor car.
The ridiculously pointed nose and the massive protrusion on the hood make matters even worse. At least someone was smart enough to put true dual exhaust on it, but the sideways and enlarged Pontiac emblem goes to show it wasn’t very thought out to begin with. We don’t know what really happened, but this is one ugly Vette.
18 Safety?
Believe it or not, the vehicle you see here is actually a concept that was designed with the purpose of being the safest car in the world. According to Motor1.com, this fugly car was built by a Catholic priest, and it featured things like side impact bars, a built-in roll cage, and a front end that was filled with foam to help lessen pedestrian impacts. As the story goes, it was driven from Connecticut to New York and, in the process, this disaster of a car broke down 15 times. Apparently, known as the Aurora, it was built on a 1953 Buick frame, had a fiberglass body, a plywood superstructure, and a shatterproof windshield. The priest who built it even went so far as to exclude windshield wipers because it was so aerodynamic that the raindrops would blow away at speed. Apparently, the priest expected it to sell for around $13,000, which would make it one of the most expensive vehicles of the time. But, it never went into production, so it’s now known as one of the ugliest cars of all time. Funny how that works, huh?
17 Misconception
The KTM X-Bow is a pretty cool little sports car that’s more like a go-cart for adults with lots of power than it is a modern day sports car. But, that’s what makes it so cool. A number of companies have tried to compete and have failed, and that’s why you’re looking at this boxy monstrosity here. It almost looks like an Arial Atom got knocked up by a golf cart, honestly, but according to Carscoops, it was actually quite fast.
It was powered by a 2.0-liter, GM, Ecotec that delivered a cool 240 horsepower and weighed just 1,550 pounds.
Because of this, it could run from naught to 60 mph in less than four seconds and topped out at 165 mph. So, while it might be quite ugly, it was quite fast as well. It’s known as the Jetstream SC250 and was originally sold for around £29,495 or about $38,000 at today’s exchange rates.
16 Poor Jeremy
No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you – that really is Jeremy Clarkson riding one of the weirdest little cars ever created by man. According to TopGear Wiki, this thing is known as the P45, and it was actually built by Jeremy Clarkson who was on a mission to build a car that was smaller than the Peel P50. Clarkson even drove the P45 from Top Gear studios to Longer where a stop to the Dragon’s Den resulted in unanimous agreement that the P45 was indeed crap. Well, it wasn’t only crap, it was downright ugly too. Apparently, it offers up a very uncomfortable ride and may cause head injuries because of a lack of proper head restraints. On the plus side, it was classified as a hybrid vehicle, so it had that going for it.
15 The Parasite
We’re not being mean when we call this ugly little plane “the Parasite.” According to Boeing, it’s actually called an XF-85 Goblin and was built as a short-range parasite that would ride inside the belly of bomber planes. Its whole purpose was to launch if the host ship came under fire to defend it.
Records at Boeing claim that it was actually easy to fly and could even recover from spins well, but the redocking procedure proved troublesome and the two prototypes that were made never led to any production models.
While it may be one of the ugliest planes known to man and was only built in two examples, its purpose would have been well served had the docking procedure not been a problem. The whole program was canceled prior to 1950, which doesn’t really matter because new technology emerged that would have rendered the Goblin obsolete anyway.
14 Mysterious Mini Truck
Automakers come up with some of the weirdest designs, don’t they? According to Inside EVs, this is actually an electric vehicle from Citroen that goes by the moniker E-Mehari. It’s a basic little city truck that runs on a 30-kWh battery pack and can go as far as 124 miles on a single charge (which takes 8 hours). It offers just enough storage space to haul a couple of small carry-on bags and maybe one smaller sized check-on bag. The interior is much more subdued than the exterior which, by the way, looks like it’s built completely out of plastic. Regardless of the materials, this weird little truck is about as ugly as can be and we’re not even mad about it.
13 Obscurity At Its Finest
We’ll be the first to admit that the wagon really needs to come back to the U.S. After all, the wagon body style is practically non-existent here aside from a few select models. However, this old wagon is just a little too much, despite the fact that it is actually a Ferrari. That’s right, folks. According to Road & Track, this thing is the only Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Shooting Brake that was ever made.
It was apparently commissioned by the original owner when he decided that he needed something a little more practical than a sports car but didn’t want to give up the actual nature of a sports car.
It does have some pretty cool side windows and it apparently still has a 4.4-liter V-12 with some 352 horsepower under the hood, so it’s at least got some grunt to it. It’s still ugly as sin, though.
12 Is it a Chameleon?
I would like to introduce you to the Messerschmitt KR200. It’s the true definition of a bubble car and rocked out that three-wheel stance like none other. The bubble-shaped roof even lifted upward to one side to facilitate entry and, according to Vintage News, it was known in Germany as the Kabinenroller. That name, ironically (and fittingly, we might add) translates to “scooter with a cabin.” It was offered in a number of different variations, but at the end of the day, most models were the same – they all had a central front seat, enough room in the rear for two mall adults, and a small cargo area. The ugliest ones, which unfortunately aren’t pictured here, were actually convertibles. Can you believe that? After all, just look at those long headlights that stick out from the body like chameleon eyes. Every time I see one, I’m just waiting for the headlights to follow me as I cross its path. Sure, it’s kind of cool since it has some history tied to it, but it’s still downright ugly.
11 Funky Cabrio
So many people have a dream of designing their own car, but not everyone can be like Christian von Koenigsegg. The car you see here, according to Micro Car Museum, is a 1957 Voisin Biscooter. Well, it’s a derivative of the C-31 Biscooter that was produced from 1949 to 1953. It’s said to be a prototype and may be the only one with the unique droptop that’s actually in existence. The body is made out of aluminum and from the looks of it, it has a four-seat layout with seats that are, apparently, maid out of wicker or some other kind of cane-derived woven wood. Apparently, the car weighed some 240 kg (about 530 pounds) and was powered by a 197cc engine that delivered just 9 horsepower through a three-speed manual transmission. As the story goes, the license to the “biscooter” was eventually sold off to another company. Only 16 examples of the original C-31 were ever produced, but the company that bought the design ended up building at least 20,000 examples. That doesn’t really matter, though because this thing is right at home on this list and is one of the ugliest we’ve seen so far.
10 Car of the Year
There’s no denying that Fiat has had some serious problems with building attractive and desirable cars in the past. One of the best examples of this is the Fiat Multipla. Believe it or not, this thing was actually produced from 1998 to 2013 and even received a “Car of the Year” award by none other than Top Gear.
Of course, the same outlet also gave it an award for being the ugliest car too. It was eventually redesigned mid-lifecycle, so it ended up looking a little better before it met its maker, but it was still as ugly as they come.
The worst part is that its looks overshadowed just how utilitarian it really was. The cabin was huge and spacious, and it actually made quite the family car. Most people, however, never got past the weird looks and never found out for themselves. And, that begs the question: Just what was Fiat thinking when it approved this design? There is literally nothing attractive about it on a physical level.
9 Spy Plane
As wild and outlandish as it seems, the plane you see here was actually a spy plane that was built in a collaboration between DARPA, Northrop, and the U.S. Air Force. According to Gizmodo, it went by the name BASX with a code name of Tacit Blue. It was built as a solution to monitor troops and battle positions behind enemy lines stealthy and under the radar. As the story goes, the Tacit Blue was difficult to fly and was one of the most unstable aircraft ever flown by man at the time. That’s not a surprise based on the design, honestly. The plane flew for about three years in prototype form, logging more than 135 flights and 250 hours of flight time. It was eventually put into storage and now sits in a museum.
8 That’s a Mercedes?
That headline is right, folks. If you couldn’t tell by those notoriously recognizable circular lights, this thing is actually a Mercedes. It’s a heavily modified Mercedes, but it is definitely of the German persuasion. According to Motoring Research, this thing is based on a 2002 Mercedes CLK and was actually being sold on eBay less than a year ago for some 5,000 British pounds.
More importantly, however, is the story of how much a car like this actually upsets people.
According to the story ran by the publication, there was actually a crowdfunding campaign initiated to raise money just for the car’s destruction. Apparently, the crowdfunding fell through, and as of the end of Feb 2018, the car still hadn’t been sold – that was the last time the car was listed, anyway. We’re willing to put this on in the top 10 ugliest of all time, but what do you think?
7 The Super Guppy
No, this isn’t some nuclear experiment gone wrong, and there isn’t some massive brain hiding under that big metal head, but we wouldn’t blame you for assuming. This plane is known as the Super Guppy, and it is used to transport huge items for NASA. According to Interesting Engineering, the Super Guppy has quite a history, dating back to the 1960s. It once held the record for the largest payload capacity of any plane in the world. It’s said that NASA would have never been able to send astronauts to the moon by 1969 had the Super Guppy not existed. That’s right, a plane that’s coming up on 60 years old, and was responsible – in part – for the moon landing is still in service and still the ugliest in NASA’s fleet. Wonders never cease, huh?
6 Three-Wheeled Hatch
Believe it or not, this funky little three-wheeled hatch is actually a British icon and, according to Carolenash is a “symbol of British eccentricity. Its history dates back to 1973 and often led to confused drivers who thought they were certified to operate it but actually weren’t due to its weird classification as a three-wheeler.
It goes by the name Reliant Regal, and it was powered by a 750-CC engine.
A few years after it went into production it was updated to an 850-CC engine that could push this weird, ugly little car up to as much as 85 mph. That seems a little stout for a car with just one front wheel, but that world is a crazy place.
5 The Wedge
Look at this weird, wedge-shaped, EV known as the Citicar. It was built by a U.S. company known as Sebring-Vanguard. Since it came to be during the fuel crisis of the 1970s, it was actually a pretty successful model and even had a hand in moving Sebring-Vanguard up to being the No. 6 auto manufacturer in the United States. Over a period of about three years, from 1974 to 1977, some 2,300 examples of this all-electric wedge were produced. That’s a lot of ugliness, folks. According to various reports, the Citicar could travel between 40 and 50 miles per charge and could get up to 25 mph in a mind-numbing 6.2 seconds. Top speed was rated at about 34 mph on models with eight six-volt batteries.
4 Super Metroid
If you ever played Super Metroid back in the day, then the look of this car will really strike you with memories of days past. While it looks like the fictional video game character, it’s actually an urban-mobility concept that was developed by GM and showcased back in 2011.
According to GM Authority, it offered up seating for two, had two small electric motors, and could travel as far as 25 miles on a single charge.
It was envisioned as a car that was capable of level-5 autonomy and was designed to be a car that was connected to infrastructure and could dramatically cut down traffic congestion. Thanks to its small size, it was actually quite light, weight some 1,100 pounds – about a third of the weight of modern vehicles. It’s pretty wild and all, but it’s still pretty ugly too.
3 Ugly Part Deux
Following up on the first ugly Chevy concept, we present to you the EN-V 2.0. It’s simply a larger and slightly uglier version of the 2010 concept that proved GM had no idea what urban mobility of the future would really be like. This model actually featured enough room to seat two people fairly comfortably but had a central-mounted steering wheel that made absolutely no sense. As PC World put it, it looks like what you would get if you “crossed a ladybug with a Transformer robot.” It even had scissor-like doors, and like the previous model, had a top speed of about 25 mph. It was supposed to showcase level-5 autonomy like the model before and even had cameras and a LiDAR system similar to what some of Tesla’s models use today. This funky, ugly looking concept will probably never find its way into production but the future is a big unknown, and eventually, all the fun of driving will be long gone. Maybe, our future will be quite ugly after all.
2 UAZ, is that you?
We’re honestly not sure what this thing is, though we're fairly certain it's a UAZ 3303. If you do a google image search, it comes back as a thumbnail for tons of different videos, but there is absolutely no word as to what it is, where it came from, or why it even exists. It’s obviously some kind of off-road truck of sorts and looks suspiciously similar to some of the weird Russian 4x4 vans out there, so we’re guessing it’s probably Russian.
It clearly has four-wheel drive as proven by the front and rear differentials shown in the picture, and it’s apparently pretty rugged aside from the wooden slats used to enclose the side of the bed.
That full roll cage is pretty hardcore, but it’s also part of what makes this thing so ugly. How does the driver even enter the vehicle? That’s quite a jump just to get into the driver’s seat. If you look at the front end long enough, it almost seems as if it’s frowning at the world. It might be tough and can probably go almost everywhere, but it’s definitely not the best looking vehicle ever made.
1 Weirdness
School buses seem to generally look the same across the whole country – They are big, they are yellow, and they are usually big rectangles that oddly have no seatbelts despite the fact that they haul around kids from day to day. It hasn’t always been this way though, as showcased by this weird, somewhat shorter bus that looks like it was fashioned out of an old modified cargo container. According to Uglyducklings.co.za, this is a 1968 Bedford bus, and it’s one of the strangest (and ugliest) that we’ve ever seen. It almost looks as if it was cobbled together with a bunch of scrap metal panels and trailer park glass. In fact, it looks like two-thirds of it is bloated while the front portion never grew up. The worst part? Some engineer thought it was actually a good-looking vehicle.
Sources: Road & Track, InsideEVs, Boeing, Carscoops