The term luxury means a state of great comfort or elegance, especially when involving great expense. But clearly, in the case of these ridiculously ugly but expensive sports cars, the elegance part does not apply. One would wonder why anyone would buy these ugly yet expensive cars.
They are not appealing to the eyes because design is dynamic and subjective, but automotive enthusiasts differ in test to what they choose to spend their money on. Auto companies at times put more resources into the engine and end up with hideous looking cars. Sports cars are normally built for speed, if it's going fast, then maybe we ignore the rest?
9 Lamborghini Veneno Roadster
The Italian Auto manufacturer has only produced nine Lamborghini Veneno Roadster limited edition cars, which sold for $4.5 million each. It has a 6.5-liter V12 engine with 750 horsepower, it accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in just 2.9 seconds.
The Veneno Roadster has large vents to cool the engine and is mostly designed with carbon fiber monocoque which makes it very light at 1,490 kg. However, despite its impressive specs, easy on the eyes it's not!
8 Ferrari Pinifarina Sergio
Making it onto the ugly but expensive list is the Ferrari Pinifarina Sergio, which sold for 3 million dollars back in 2015. It was a limited edition with only 6 cars manufactured to celebrate 60 years of the good working relationship between Ferrari and the Pinifarina design house.
It has a V8 engine and accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in 3seconds. The Ferrari Sergio is a fast car but very unattractive. Maybe having only six in circulation isn't such a bad idea after all?
7 Mercedes-Benz Maybach Exelero
The 8 million dollar Mercedes-Benz Maybach Exelero was specifically created to test the durability of Fulda Tyres.
For such an expensive car, the designers should have put in more effort in its appearance. For such a heavy car, the Maybach is surprisingly very fast which more than makes up for its unappealing exterior.
6 Sbarro Autobau
It's a bit confusing figuring out the front from the back, this Sbarro Autobau is scary and can easily distract other motorists on the road. Powered by a 12-cylinder engine from Ferrari, it packs a whopping 500 horsepower.
The Sbarro Autobau is unique in a strange way, we just cannot help but keep staring at it. Its one of a kind car that was specifically built as a "tribute" to Swiss racing driver Fredy Lienhard. It wouldn't have hurt to pay more attention to its appearance when designing it though!
5 Panoz Abruzzi Spirit
Sometimes there is a very fine line between unique and ugly, as illustrated by the Panoz Abruzzi Spirit. On the plus side, the car is made from Recyclable Energy Absorbing Matrix System. It is shatterproof, recyclable, and lighter than carbon fiber.
It comes with a V8 engine 640 horsepower at 6,500 RPM and puts down 600 pound feet of torque at 3,800 RPM. There's no denying the Panoz is functional, at least that compensates for the major downside of the car; its unattractive looks.
4 GDT Speedster
This one-off sports car was built by a group of automotive professionals as a project. Its engine, transmission, steering, and brakes are from a C5 Chevrolet Corvette. Thanks to its Vette-sourced V8 engine, it's capable of a 170 mph top speed and a 0-60 time in less than 6 seconds.
Over 2000 components were designed and crafted just for the GDT Speedster, it's a unique car and a lot of work went into its creation. A high performance sports car, but more effort should have been put in its appearance, particularly the front.
3 Gumpert Apollo
The name Gumpert doesn't sound like the name of an exotic sports car, and the looks certainly don't improve things. Hailing from Germany, the car is powered by a twin-turbocharged version of Audi's 4.2-liter V-8 engine with 690 horsepower. The Gumpert Apollo is able to reach a top speed of 225 mph and go from 0 to 60 in 3.0 seconds.
The Gumpert Apollo was retailing for $350,000, which certainly wasn't cheap. Like most other supercar manufacturers, Gumpert claims the design of the Apollo is so highly optimized that the car could drive upside-down in a tunnel if driven at sufficiently high speeds. Of course, this has not been tested.
2 Mitsuoka-Orochi
A Japanese sports car, the Mitsuoka Orochi was designed and built by Mitsuoka Motors as a concept car in 2001. This strange looking car got its name Orochi from an eight-headed dragon in Japanese mythology. Now, that's not even the strangest thing about this car. Despite its design, which screams super car, the Mitsuoka is slower and less practical. It only has a 233hp 3.3-liter V6 engine from a Toyota Camry.
It costs about $185,000, and looking at what you get, a hideous and underpowered car, we'd say that's a waste of money. You are better off buying an ordinary Toyota, at least it will look nicer and be more comfortable and practical.
1 Covini CW6
Whatever the designer was thinking when producing a car with 6 wheels we will never know. The Covini C6W is a strange-looking vehicle, and it's the only 6-wheeled street legal supercar on earth.
According to Covini there are advantages to having 4 front wheels in a sports car: you have less risk for front tyre deflating, better braking, and better bump absorption, however, there's probably a reason why it never caught on with other carmakers. They tried selling this not-so-pretty 6-wheeler for $650,000... before options.