A blog devoted to RANTS ON AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN, car reviews, and - above all - fugly autos. whether looking for vehicular plagiarism or rides of extreme tastelessness, you've come to the right place.


Sunday, February 28, 2010

Toyota Turd-cel



You know how is some hardcore race cars based off stock models, they sometimes remove a headlight and replace it with a hole for pushing air more directly into the intake? I think that's the look this guy is trying to achieve. Also - I'm quite sure that his fancy warped chin spoiler is actually that plastic edging you can buy for gardens. I got quite familiar with the stuff last spring doing yard work...

Also present are a hick-Cosworth dual spoiler out back, and the obligatory stickers outlining what is (and most likely isn't) under the hood.

SLKill it with fire




Basically a first-gen SLK with CLK (or SL?) headlights and the ugliest grillework this side of this car and an Audi. Even ignoring the mug, the colour combo of orange and blue would still keep it safely fugtastic. Especially when you get inside, and the blue leather takes on a disgusting Barney-hide hue.

Although I do kinda like the taillights, in an 80's Benz kinda way.

Bōsōzoku

So I've stumbled across Bōsōzoku - a Japanese subculture of fugly weirdness who cars I featured previously on my site. I had an inkling they belong to a specific Japanese "style" as they all kinda matched in their own weird and fugly ways, and because of this I had a "Japan" subcategory already made for them. Now that I know what this is called, I've renamed it.

Click here for the new Bōsōzoku subcategory. Note that the label for this style is still "Japan", because I'm too lazy to go back through all the posts and change them.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Severe Identity Crisis


Besides the fact that this poor late model 3-Series has more chrome stuck to it than that Nissan, and more fake scoops than that Amati, perhaps the most alarming thing about the car is Corvette logos behind the rear wheels. This is like an upscale version of those people that stick screaming chickens on their Cavaliers.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Go Fug Yourself



Just taking a moment for a little self promotion... Posting my zazzle site which features a few of my vector pieces (as well as some photography), featuring some fugtastic cars like the Pinto and Pacer.

Hoping to get some time to flesh out the zazzle site soon.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

DC Designs Rolls-Royce Coupe





I’m not sure exactly what this car is, exactly. The proportions – and overall look – scream that this is Nissan 370Z based. But I can’t be certain that it’s one way or the other. What I am certain of is that those two shapes to not combine in an attractive way. Definitely not “cexi”, as it’s license plate tries to say. It’s also slightly reminiscent of the Mayback Exelero, which is also not a car that’s exceptionally gifted in the looks department. The second most shocking thing about this car is it’s price tag, set at $1.2 million. Although I suppose one can expect no less from the company who modified the cheapest car in the world – the Tato Nano – and upped it’s price a hundred fold to $220,000.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Lamborghini Coatl




The Lamborghini Coatl is the product of Automóviles Lamborghini Latinoamérica S.A., which was given the right to build and distribute modified and rebodied Lamborghinis as the real thing in South America in the 90's. The particular Diablo based car was given a new look and some modified internals to achieve a top speed close to 240mph, and a 0-60 time of around 3.5 seconds. However, that wasn't fast enough to outrun ugly. It was the Mitsuoka Orochi of it's time.

El Crown Victoria



The Ford Explorer Sport Trac's distant relative.

Ain't Beehaving




Posting this mainly for it's bizarre bee / fairy theme. Nothing says macho like bumble bees and naked fairies.

Automotive Hoarding?


This is proof that the Kia Amanti can in fact get uglier. Given the multiple identical fake scoops (maybe they were going for a Buick look) and the mess on the dashboard, this may be an auto customization example of hoarding.

Ford Crown Victoria Wagon


Got a hankerin' for a Crown Vic wagon? Just weld on the back of a Taurus. All things considered, I supposed they did do a pretty good job...

Toyota T100 Prius


Who needs a Prius when you can make your own out of an old T100...

It all makes sense...

I found where ASMA gets their inspiration from.

1958 Plymouth Tornado


No - this isn't something someone made in their barn, although it looks it. Apparently this is an official Plymouth made concept from 1958. Thankfully, this is one Chrysler concept that didn't go into production.

Maybe Ford was onto something...

It seems lately that Ford's Edsel is really making an impression in automotive design. Yeah - everyone is trying to make throwbacks to their heritage. But to me they all look like the Edsel.

Attack of the Clones: UnImpreza

When the new for 2008 Impreza debuted, it got a lot of flack for being ugly. And although it's grown on me a bit, I still find it less than attractive. And less unique (or attractive) than it's predecessor. And it's a bit of a conglomerate of numerous other make's models, making it a bit of a slightly homely "everycar".

The 5-door hatch is seemingly the most popular model, and the most drastically changed. While the previous Impreza carried over a lot of (unique) styling features from the previous (and first) generation, the 2008 broke the mold. Apparently when they broke the mold, the stole the one Mazda used for the Mazda 3. The DLO is strikingly similar as is the rear spoiler. The front end of the Impreza also looks remarkably like the 3, with similar looking headlights and similarly placed openings and fog lights. The grille setup is different, but it's finicky treatment is one of the front end's worst features.


The DLO and rear end treatment of the 4 door sedan though is remarkably Korean - not something most car-makers would aspire to. The DLO itself is very Daewoo Lacetti / Suzuki Verona / Chevrolet Optra, with it's tails also having a similar look (yet a bit too vertically oriented). When I first saw the tails, the Kia Rio instantly came to mind. Those tails also feature another fugly trait that seems to be increasingly common - strange cutlines. Why are they curved along the bottom? It doesn't follow any of the body lines... It just ends up looking like a manufacturer error, or that the car's been in an accident.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Nomad makes me mad





A couple area of note are the squashed '57 grille below the license plate up front that gives the front end a kind of double-car appearance, and the painted on wing detail (which looks a bit warped and dented in order to morph into the '57 tail detailing.

Pimp my Woody






The first Buick full-size SUV? Needs more TV.

Maxima Fugly


This car is frightening and all over the place... I think he may have added some thing for the sole reason that they were chromed.

Starting off with the front end, numerous skulls and/or skull and crossbones visible. "HIS PAIN YOUR GAIN" is written on the windsheild, and bedazzled Playboy bunnies adorn unpainted hood scoops (which are also bedazzled). "HIS PAIN YOUR GAIN" is the first noticable religious reference, but I suppose "BIG DADDY" could be referencing his own pimping skills. "BIG DADDY" appears to be the owner, as this is written on the rear view mirrors in chrome. What appear to be 12 shark fin antennae sprout from the front end. For better reception with God? Or the other ships in his pirate fleet? Or his hoes? And of course there's various pieces of chrome ribbing, and a hawk and some kind of hood ornament thrown in for good measure.


The side profile gives you a better view of BIG DADDY, but also downplays the religious aspect with yet more skulls (which on closer inspection are actually license plates stuck to the side of the car), as well as the text "YOU NEVER MET A MOTHER F----- QUITE LIKE ME". Ain't that the truth. At least he was tasteful enough to censor himself. But what kind of religious man goes around spouting the F-bomb (although I suppose it was censored)?


Out back the chrome ribbing is back in full force, especially in the bumper. As are the skull license plates. Also reinforcing the religious slant are two Jesus fish and the text "ONLY GOD KNOW WHY" (again, ain't that the truth), as well as the text "PRAY". At the very top of the rear window below 3 skulls pointing skyward is some more text, which appears to say "JESUS PAID IT ALL". "BIG DADDY" and the Playboy bunny also make another appearance. The text I thought was possibly written in tongues, but appears to be "FOUREZ" written repeatedly. Making their first appearance are two "special edition" badges, two "V6" badges and two Superman logos.

So I've basically come to the conclusion that this car is driven by a pirate preacher pimp with superhero aspirations. Maybe he steals your hoes and prays for your salvation.


*UPDATE*:
Found an interior pic, below. Some of the stuff is hard to make out through the window (do I see skunk pelts?), but I especially like all the little skulls stuck to the steering wheel, which will undoubtedly turn into flying skulls of death should the airbag ever go off.

Look closely...


Look closely here and you might see a Bentley Continental. It's kinda hard to tell because of the camo.

Mercury Studefugger





Another bodykit for an unlikely Ford product, not unlike this Thunderbird. I'm sure no one can tell the difference between this and an actual '50 Stud.