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.


Saturday, December 18, 2010

A Genesis Coupe, a Yaris, and a Dacia walk into a bar…


The Baojun 630 is GM’s attempt at a low priced car for the Chinese (around $7000 in fact). The result is a strange “second world everycar” – somehow, just by looking at it, you can tell it’s a cheap car whose build quality is suspect. It’s awkward proportions suggest that it’s an older platform with fancy modern duds that recall several other current cars (not unlike the redressed Fiat platforms used well beyond their best before dates by manufacturers in several Eastern European countries). To be specific, it looks like a Toyota Yaris with the face of a Dacia Sandero grafted on. It even borrows the Hyundai Genesis Coupe's aggresive "Z" body detailing.

Buick Cutrate Cutlass


I had almost forgotten about one of the most forgettable cars of the 90's until I saw one watching TV last night. The 1997-1999 was one of the worst cases of badge engineering from GM in the 90's, with little differentiating it from the Malibu. Making things worse, it was also far worse to look at than the Chevy, with some brutally ugly taillights. It also stuck out like a sore thumb - at this point Olds had adopted sleek Aurora based styling. The Cutlass tried to fit in, but the Malibu wasn't exactly sleek and the car ended up looking more Chevy than Olds.