November 6, 2023

While we love cars, that doesn’t change the objective truth that some are simply unattractive, but these particular ones are remarkably bad. Their purpose is only to carry the driver safely and efficiently and apparently not to do so by being remotely pretty. Today you will meet seven of the ugliest cars in history.

1. Sebring-Vanguard Citicar

Here we are at the heart of the ’70s aesthetic: innovation and foresight wrapped in downright horrible visuals. Presented in 1974 by the American company Sebring-Vanguard.

The Citicar was a response to the oil crisis: small, shaped like a disco shoe, and powered by an electric motor. It was an ambitious vehicle, weighed down by both its ugly appearance and its mediocre performance:

A top speed of 50 km/h is not very exciting, even for a car designed for urban life. Production ceased in 1979 and, although interest in electric cars would resurface decades later, the Citicar is today a historical relic.

2. Nissan S-Cargo

Introduced in 1989, the S-Cargo is the first, and perhaps most misguided, attempt to revitalize the “retro” body styles that dominated the last decade of the 20th century.

Inspired by the Citroën 2CV Fourgonnette, the S-Cargo was also intended to be a delivery van and perhaps a personnel carrier. The name is a play on words: S-Cargo/escargot because of its snail-like appearance.

And that aspect was ridiculous, the mediocre features and the price failed to give it a place in the market. One critic referred to it as “the height of postmodernism,” which is either an old-fashioned compliment or a condemnation of weak praise. We leave it to you.

3. Fiat Multipla

It was 1998, the era that gave us Jar-Jar Binks. Unlike the Jar-Jar, the Multipla received mixed reviews. Top Gear magazine named it “ugliest car of the year” in 1998, while praising its flexibility and performance as a family car.

4. Bond Bug

Once once more, the concept is not bad at all: an affordable car for urban and suburban life. A three wheels to save space and weight, An engine designed with economy in mind. Of course, no problems so far.

Then you add a body that looks like a beach buggy and a downright strange swing-door thing, and suddenly we’re in downright ridiculous territory. This looks like something a kid built with leftover parts from a model, not a serious car for life on a serious earth.

5. Lightburn Zeta

Lightburn and Co. was an Australian car manufacturer that achieved very little fame outside its homeland. That may or may not be a shame, but we can’t feel like we’ve missed much with the Zeta.

The design may be influenced by the fact that Lightburn started out as a manufacturer of concrete mixers and washing machines, and both aesthetics are on display in the Zeta.

A doe-eyed saloon with an oddly symmetrical body, weak-looking wheel arches and a windscreen that’s more of an followingthought, it’s not a sports car for cruising the roads of the Sunburned Country.

6. Citroën Ami

The Citroën Ami is a four-door supermini that first appeared in 1961 and reflected the European status quo of the time. Despite these drawbacks, the Ami survived until 1978 and was the best-selling car in France until then.

All of the problems with this come from the rear of the vehicle. The front is fine, but it is as if a station wagon and a sedan had exchanged half of their parts, and the final result does not offer the functionality of either.

7. Matra Rancho

The Matra Rancho is an attempt at an all-terrain vehicle. We say attempt, as this was a barely modified version of an existing truck rather than a full-fledged 4×4 intended to go beyond the point where the asphalt ends.

The engine wasn’t that robust, the front-wheel drive didn’t offer great performance, and that’s before we get to the part where the body design is just wrong.