In the golden age of car design before the arrival of computers and CAD/CAM designers used no more than a pencil and paper to produce some of the most beautiful cars the world has seen. Admittedly modern cars are miles ahead in quality, reliability, performance, and environmental concerns but with so much technology available do we still get the odd ugly car?
High-performance cars can almost be excused with ever-faster hypercars being produced placing greater demands on stability, cooling, and safety - lesser car markets really have no excuse for ugly cars.
10 Tramontana XTR - Single Seater Thrills - Awesome
Wannabe jet fighter or Indy Car drivers without the license look no further than Tramontana's XTR sports car providing Top Gun thrills while remaining glued to the road.
Carbon fiber and aluminum make up the bulk of the XTR's single-seater chassis, mated to a Mercedes sourced 5.5-liter V12 engine turbocharged to produce 710hp driving the rear wheels through a 6-speed sequential transmission. With so much power and tipping the scales at 2800lbs, the XTR blitzes the 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds and hits a maximum of 202mph.
9 Aston Martin Lagonda - Futuristic And Ugly
One of the worst looking Aston Martin's ever produced, the 1976 Lagonda model the first 4-door sedan produced by the company. Despite having a boxy design the Lagonda survived in production until 1990 with mild styling makeovers though the square appearance remained along with the cabins futuristic electronic displays.
Luckily mechanically the Lagonda remained true to the company's heritage of V8 engines with the 5.3-liter unit producing 280mph propelling the big 4-door sedan to a top speed of 149mph. Ugly and ungainly as it was Aston Martin managed to sell 645 examples with prices today for mid 80s models around $35,000.
8 Alfa Romeo SZ Coupe - Great Engine & Chassis - Ugly
With flagging worldwide sales Alfa Romeo desperately needed a new exciting sports coupe to reverse its fortunes, with the SZ model the result of parent company Fiat's design department. Behind the front grille and lights, both Alfa Romeo the rest of the car feature slab-sided design, and out of proportion looks spoiling what could have been a great car.
As a driver's car, the SZ rewarded with its 3-liter V6 engine delivering 207hp mounted in the Alfa 75 IMSA chassis providing excellent handling thanks in part to specially designed Koni dampers. Weighing 2780lbs gave the SZ performance on par with the equivalent Porsche 944, with a top speed of 152mph.
7 Tesla Cybertruck - Ugly & Awesome
Purely from an engineering perspective, the Cybertruck is a huge success, bringing the benefits of zero-emissions to the small truck market. Even for keen drivers, the Cybertruck can still provide some thrills with 0-62mph taking 5.5 seconds, while top speed is a little on the lowe side at 110mph.
Where things appear to have gone wrong is the styling, or rather the lack of it. Apart from the wheels, every other element of the Cybertruck consists of straight lines
6 Gumpert Apollo Sport - Awesome
Making no excuses for the Apollos heavily track influenced design, Gumpert set out to create the ultimate road-legal racing car with production commencing in 2005. No compromises were made during construction with its tubular space frame chassis clad in composite bodywork resulting in a curb weight of 2600lbs.
Powering the Apollo to its top speed of 225mph and 0-62mph in 3 seconds, a mid-mounted turbocharged 4.2-liter Audi engine churning out 690hp in sports specification. Quirky styling but not ugly, definitely an awesome track car.
5 Mini Coupe - Big Small Car Chopped - Ugly
Reviving the Mini brand in 2001 was a masterstroke, updating the 60s icon while building on the loyal customer base was an instant success even if the new model was no longer a small car. BMW later attempted to re-capture the small car feel with a badly created chopped roof version branded the Coupe. Apart from the reduction in height the remainder of the car is identical to the standard Mini One.
Performance and handling for the mini had never been an issue and the coupe as a fun car to drive isn't bad, it is just plain ugly.
4 Toyota Supra - Questionable Looks But Still Awesome
Supra fans had to wait 21 years since Toyota discontinued the previous model, with the new model causing a few controversies along the way. Widely publicized to be based mechanically on BMW's Z4 coupe borrowing its chassis and running gear isn't necessarily a bad thing. With the turbocharged 3-liter engine kicking out 335 hp, good enough for a top speed of 155mph and 0-62mph ion 4.1 seconds.
Great driver's car, but most negative comments are aimed at the Supras questionable styling with many customers asking why Toyota didn't sub-contract the design.
3 Lexus LM300 - Slow Executive Van - Ugly
Unveiled in 2019 before entering production to order, the LM300h with its starting price of $175,000 competing directly with established luxury brands. Unfortunately, the LM300h resembles a modified minivan and not the usual executive express business clients are accustomed to. Interior design fares better with the expected high-quality fit and finishes along with all the modern office gadgetry.
Never seriously intended to be driven quickly with just one engine option available a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder motor providing a 0-62mph of 10.5 seconds and its maximum 111mph top speed.
2 Lykan Hypersport - Awesome & Ugly
One of the oddest collaborations ever, Lebanese owned, Italian engineered with final assembly taking place in Dubai resulting in the Lykan Hypersport. Rarity assured with 7 examples completed, each costing $3.4 million no doubt in part due to the diamond-encrusted headlights and reputed gold interior stitching.
More famous for the performance figures from its 3.7-liter turbocharged flat-six engine with a claimed 780hp available and a top speed of 245mph. Styling more a case of function over form the Hypersport isn't the best-looking hypercar ever produced.
1 Ford Flex - Boxy Design - Ugly
Admittedly most 7-seater SUVs will be elongated box designs with the design focused on maximum occupant space and comfort, however, Ford's Flex resembles just a plain flat-sided box with no distinguishing features. Dated design issues carry over for the interior with cheap quality low-grade materials throughout the cabin unable to brighten the SUVs image.
Fortunately the top of the range all-wheel-drive model does come with the excellent V6 EcoBoost engine producing 365hp giving the heavy SUV its decent 0-62mph time of 6.2 seconds, although fuel economy does suffer barely reaching 20mpg.