The '90s were a strange time. With pop culture-shifting and the internet rising to prominence, new and unhinged trends emerged left and right, some of which have aged well, while others are remembered as hilariously bad. For cars as well, the '90s were also a time of change and strangeness, breaking from the boxy '80s style with smooth curves that led to some rather interesting designs, some of which have aged horribly and some that still hold up as great, modern-looking vehicles to this day.
When it came to automotive performance as well, the '90s were similarly a time of change. With power levels on the rise from the bleak depths of the '80s, performance cars rose to new heights, with many legends coming to life that are downright unforgettable.
With performance cars though, a design often needs to stand out and reflect the potency that lays in wake under the hood, and much like every other '90s trend, some that may have seemed good at the time are simply awful to look at today. Here are the worst-looking ‘90s performance cars ranked in descending order.
10 Ferrari 512M
A contender for the king of '80s supercars, the Ferrari Testarossa represented the peak of angular wedge-shaped exotics alongside its rival, the Lamborghini Countach. Evolving through the '90s, the final form it took happened to be its ugliest.
Sold until 1996, the 512M kept most of the Testarossa's awesome body lines and radical side strakes, but the front end became a far cry from the aggressive angular design that defined it previously. Instead, the grille became a dopey-looking smile, and the headlights complemented it with similarly dull looks. Like the Ferrari F50, the rear angles of the 512M do look good, but it's hard to appreciate them when the front looks this ugly.
9 Ferrari F50
The often ignored follow-up to the absolutely legendary F40, the F50 receives far less love for a few reasons, one of which is the strange and rather ugly front-end.
Built to celebrate Ferrari's 50th anniversary in 1995, the F50 was a wicked Formula 1- derived supercar that was among the fastest road-going monsters of the '90s. Aerodynamically optimized, lightweight, and powered by a Formula 1-developed V12, the F50 was just as incredible as the F40 performance-wise, but typically plays second fiddle to it for a couple of reasons. The first was due to it not being created under Enzo Ferrari's supervision like the F40 was, and the second, more obvious one is that the F50 has some decidedly horrible looks up front.
8 BMW Z3 Coupe
Nicknamed the "clown shoe," the Z3 Coupe was about as weird a production car as BMW produced in modern times but made up for the weirdness with fun sports car handling.
Introduced in 1996 as a follow-up to the even weirder but low-production Z1s from the late '80s, the Z3 was based on the E36 3 Series and used the E30's rear suspension. Initially rather underpowered, but coming into its own as the years passed and power increased, the Z3 came in both roadster and coupe formd. While the roadster isn't that bad, the coupe is hilariously ugly in its proportions and it's not hard to see why it's called the clown shoe.
7 Oldsmobile Achieva SCX
While some cars look ugly because they took risks and did something interesting, the Achieva SCX on the other hand—while a serious performance leap for the platform—mixed dreary plastic GM boredom all around with an ugly front end that did it no favors.
A cookie-cutter commuter from Oldsmobile's downfall, the Achieva was a thoroughly average N-body car, a platform shared with other mediocre machines like the Pontiac Grand Am. Although the Achieve SCX had a peppy 190-hp Quad-4 motor and much sportier suspension, being front-wheel drive, plastic-filled, and mostly spiritless didn’t help it. At the end of the day, the Achieva SCX wasn't the ugliest car out there, but with a terrible-looking front end that just looks sad, the yawn-inducing body design offers no redemption.
6 Dodge Neon ACR (1st Generation)
A well-kept performance secret, the first-gen Dodge Neon ACR took the little economy car to new levels, becoming a proper race car for the road as a sales tactic, while looking nearly identical to the standard commuter form.
Introduced in 1994, the Neon was a big step forward for Chrysler, offering a truly economical, and properly competitive compact. Devised to increase sales, the ACR was made as a genuine SCCA racer. A nimble, lightweight machine, the Neon ACR used the stock engine but was a true track weapon thanks to properly advanced suspension, a performance transmission, better brakes, and lighter weight than the standard Neon. Similar to the Achieva SCX, the first generation Neon ACR isn't exactly hideous but has many ugly elements and nothing good-looking to make up for it.
5 Ford Taurus SHO (3rd Generation)
A boxy beast of a sleeper in its first and second generations, the Taurus SHO was never exactly a beautiful car. Yet the Taurus hit an all-time low in design for the third generation by adopting the notoriously ugly "jelly bean" design.
Created as a project to boost sales, the first-gen Taurus SHO used a seriously innovative, high-revving V6 made by Yamaha, and produced 220 hp—respectable power for a sports car released in 1989. Naturally, it carried over that power into the second gen. The sins of the third generation are threefold, as it dropped that incredible engine in favor of a weaker V8, didn't come with a manual transmission, and used the obnoxiously smooth, bug-eyed "jelly bean" design.
4 Plymouth Prowler
A legendary oddity and one of Plymouth's last dying breaths, the Prowler was an awesome idea for a hot-rod revival that was sadly brought down by some unfortunate execution.
Hitting showrooms in 1997, the Prowler's body is a rather cool attempt at making a modern (for the '90s) hot rod. Unfortunately, flaws like a cheap Chrysler parts-bin interior and lack of V8 made it decidedly unlike a hot rod. Even worse though, those sharp angles up front just wouldn't fly with safety regulations, and the Prowler was bestowed with a frankly hideous plastic "mustache" bumper that completely ruined the front end looks. Adding further insult to injury, the strange curves everywhere else do little to make up for it.
3 Callaway C8 SuperNatural Camaro
Legendary for their wildly monstrous tuned Corvettes, Callaway gave the '90s 4th gen Camaro their performance treatment but with a twist, resulting in this strange rocket: the SuperNatural Camaro.
Building their tuned legends with a focus on turbocharging, the SuperNatural Camaro came about in 1994 and was a departure for Callaway, instead of just focusing on building the best naturally-aspirated V8 they could (hence the SuperNatural name).
Giving the LT1 V8 a bigger displacement of 6.3 liters, with other go-fast bits bringing it to 404 hp—a wicked power level for the mid-'90s—the SuperNatural Camaro also received a new aerodynamic body. Unfortunately, while the back half of that body looks decent, the front just doesn't, taking the catfish looks of the 4th-gen Camaro to their ugly extreme.
2 Alfa Romeo SZ
Alfa Romeo as a brand is known for doing things their own way. While this attitude has produced some beloved results, sometimes it creates some incredibly strange machines. However, no Alfa is as weird-looking as this brick on wheels—the Sport Zagato (SZ).
First shown as a concept at the 1989 Geneva Auto Show that wasn't all that different from the later production version, the SZ was quickly dubbed "Il Monstro" ("The Monster") thanks to its looks. A limited production sports car designed in-house with Zagato handling the car’s assembly, the SZ was a proper performer with its awesome-sounding Alfa V6 with its strong, nimble chassis, and lightweight body. But when it comes to its legacy, the main thing the SZ is remembered for are those undeniably odd and rather ugly looks from front to back, being a boxy alien-looking wedge on wheels.
1 Marcos Mantara LM500
An obscure low-volume British brand that no longer is in business, Marcos has built some of Britain's strangest sports cars that also happen to be properly fast. However, among their '90s designs is the Mantara LM500, a Le Mans-bred beast that is as ugly as it is fast.
Awkwardly proportioned, and strangely curvy, the Mantara on its own was a strange but cool sports car, re-introducing the Marcos brand in 1993 after a decades-long hiatus from the automotive scene. Turned into a proper racecar and driven at Le Mans, the Mantara reached its peak of both strange looks and performance on the track, with gigantic curved fenders and wild vents all around. Selling these race-bred versions of the Mantara as limited production road cars, the LM500 was among the fastest of them, weighing less than 2,500 lbs, and getting its power from a Rover V8 laying down 320 hp. And yet, the Mantara's looks are something only a mother could love.