Top 10 Ugliest Cars: 2019 - The Short List
Cover your eyes, hide your kids, hide your wife! Here’s a rundown of the ugliest cars you can buy today.
From Fiat’s Multipla to the much-ballyhooed Pontiac Aztek, from Edsel to pretty much EVERYTHING built in the 1980s, plenty of homely vehicles have been unleashed on the motoring public. And if you can believe it, automakers are still missing the design mark today, though not nearly as much as they used to.
10. 2019 Chevrolet Camaro SS
Kicking off this bottom-10 list of design disasters is the 2019 Camaro SS. Chevy’s sports coupe/convertible nameplate has always been youthful and energetic. Today’s sixth-generation model is easily the best of the breed, offering BMW-like driving finesse and a broad range of engines, from an efficient turbo-four to a supercharged V8. But designers must have gotten bored for the latest model year because they butchered the front end of SS models. Seriously, what is going on here?! Fortunately, four-cylinder, V6 and ZL1 models look like they should. GM is hastily giving SS variants a more traditional face for 2020. Lesson learned…
9. Honda Civic Type R
Next up, a vehicle choice that’s sure to raise many readers’ dander. It’s true, you’re probably not going to like seeing the Honda Civic Type R included on this list, but too bad!
Yes, this car is STUPID fast, yes, it’s AMAZING to drive, and yes, it’s got one of the SLICKEST SHIFTERS ever installed in a motor vehicle. But it also looks like some teenage boy went apes**t with the J.C. Whitney catalog! That ridiculous honeycomb bumper trim, the absurd rear wing, and that odd-looking hood vent, why must hot-hatch greatness be so weird?!
SEE ALSO: Top 10 Best Convertibles – The Short List
And it’s not just the Type R. Mainline versions of the Civic – sedan, coupe and hatchback models – are all graced with less-than-beautiful designs, a real shame since they’re all such great cars.
8. Toyota C-HR
Another eyeball-accosting automotive offering is the Toyota C-HR. A subcompact crossover, designers didn’t have much real estate to work with, but that DID NOT stop them from slathering on all kinds of “styling.” Front and center is that weird grille-less face and deeply sculpted bumper. In profile, this five-door is way too busy with various swoops and angles vying for your attention. And then there’s the backend, it’s really hard to tell what’s going on here. No, it won’t win any beauty pageants but at least the C-HR is efficient and versatile, oh, and it’s also priced to sell, unlike the next vehicle on this list…
7. Bentley Bentayga
While not entirely heinous, the absurdly expensive Bentley Bentayga has more than its share of design oddities, like those weird rear-fender lines, large front overhang, and unusually tall grille that’s necessary since, you know, this thing rides as high as a truck. Anything starting at 800-and-fifteen-10-hundred-thousand dollars or whatever should look glorious, not like a mishmash of half-baked design ideas.
6. Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
People weren’t happy when Mitsubishi brought the Eclipse back. That’s because they attached this famed nameplate to, sigh, yet another crossover, and one that just looks weird. The Eclipse Cross is a compact utility vehicle and if its front end doesn’t send you running for your life, that Pontiac Aztek-esque backside surely will. But like mama always said, it’s what’s inside that counts, and the Eclipse Cross’ interior is actually pretty decent, so it’s not all bad news. Mitsu’s designers just need to know when to set the pencil down and step away from the sketchpad.
SEE ALSO: 12 Alfa Romeo Facts You Should Know – The Short List
5. Buick Encore
Another subcompact utility we find quite unattractive is the Buick Encore. Narrow and tall with an almost comically short rear end, it looks like, well, a potato. Also, its face is so generic it’d probably be the perfect getaway vehicle. Anyone that witnessed you robbing a Federal Reserve branch would only be able to describe it in the most nonspecific terms, like calling it a “car” with “wheels.” Yeah, Buick’s Encore – and it’s sibling the Chevrolet Trax – not our favorite designs, not at all.
4. Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Like the Bentayga, Rolls-Royce’s mega-dollar Cullinan SUV is an automotive oddity and a first for this world-renowned brand. With its elevated body, unusual proportions and squared-off front end the Cullinan certainly isn’t classically beautiful, even if its interior is absolutely sumptuous. This British automaker is most famous for producing top-tier vehicles like the evocative Dawn convertible and ridiculously luxurious Phantom. It just seems vulgar that such a hallowed brand like Rolls-Royce has lowered itself to building a utility vehicle. How uncouth!
3. Honda Clarity
The Honda Clarity is three cars in one! You can get it as a plug-in hybrid, a pure electric or even with a hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain. But no matter how you take it, this earth-friendly vehicle is one of the stranger-looking cars available today. The Clarity’s back end is just plain weird, kind of like it can’t decide if it wants to be a hatchback or a regular sedan. It also has these odd vestigial skirts over the rear wheels. Now, don’t get me wrong, wheel skirts look KILLER on many classic cars, just not a brand-new 21st century Honda.
2. BMW i3
Is it a spaceship? Could it be a golf cart? NO! It’s the BMW i3, another highly efficient piece of ultra-modern transportation. Benefits aside, this vehicle is wrapped in alien styling that looks like it was borrowed from the inhabitants of the Zeta Reticuli. That drooping beltline, pumpkin-seed profile, pug nose and slightly too-tall stance all make for an incredibly homely combination. I think this Bimmer is just weird for the sake of being weird. There’s no good reason why it looks the way it does, there just can’t be.
SEE ALSO: Why the Four-Cylinder Hybrid is the Jeep Wrangler’s Best Powertrain – The Short List
1. Toyota Prius
Finally, we come to the Toyota Prius, a car people seem to love hating. But, if you want to save money at the gas pump and reduce your carbon footprint while never having to deal with mechanical failures or other problems, this might be the perfect vehicle. Unfortunately, this is a list of unattractive cars not hyper-sensible models, and the latest Prius is most certainly NOT a looker, not by any stretch. Its sort of pinched front end, blocky backside and wonky interior are completely out of step with “normal” car design these days.
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Born and raised in metro Detroit, Craig was steeped in mechanics from childhood. He feels as much at home with a wrench or welding gun in his hand as he does behind the wheel or in front of a camera. Putting his Bachelor's Degree in Journalism to good use, he's always pumping out videos, reviews, and features for AutoGuide.com. When the workday is over, he can be found out driving his fully restored 1936 Ford V8 sedan. Craig has covered the automotive industry full time for more than 10 years and is a member of the Automotive Press Association (APA) and Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA).
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