I don’t think the Element is ugly exactly, but I can’t look at one without seeing a Gendarme’s cap. The Scion is like that as well, but Honda was there first, so they get the honor of the comparison.
As far as a common car I wouldn’t be caught in (not counting the monster-sized SUVs) is the PT Cruiser. The design just seems so affected to me.
Yes. It was created specifically to capture (or attempt to capture) the youth market.
FWIW, the Scion tC is not bad looking.
If you guys hate the PT Cruiser, wait’ll you see the GM PT clone. Pug-Fugly and about five years late to the party.
That’s the point. They aren’t supposed to be SUVs, they’re supposed to be cars (albeit with lots of interior room).
The Scion xB is just a typical Japanese utility vehicle, sort of a sub-minivan. It’s intended for urban owners and designed to maximize interior room while minimizing exterior size. Almost every Japanese car maker has a model (or several) like this for the Japanese market:
Honda Mobilio Spike
Honda That’s
Nissan Cube
Daihatsu Move
Suzuki Wagon-R
Mitsubishi ek
Well, you get the idea.
You have 30 minutes to move your cube.
i think these all qualify as “vehicles a Borg Drone would feel comfortable in”
how long before they cut right to the chase and do away with the hood entirely, and finlally have an actual box on wheels?
You mean like the old Volkswagen bus?
Actually, I don’t think a hoodless box would be street legal in the US now. It’d never pass the crash test.
The Scion xB’s I’ve seen may have been lowered, but I would swear that you couldn’t roll a softball underneath one. I would be concerned about bottoming out (or at least scraping the bumpers when going over speed bumps).
I have to concur with the statements about the Scion xB, the Honda Element, and the PT Cruiser (Hey, look, I have a fake hotrod looking thing! Like everyone else has!). And while not ugly all 'round, I nominate the Porsche Boxster exhausts (first column, second row). It looks beautiful til one passes you on the 405, and you get to see it’s lovely butthole of an exhaust pipe.
:smack: Its! Its its its! And I previewed, too!
The manufacturers have found that if you don’t have an impeccable service record going for you like Honda or Toyota, you can inspire buyers by making something that’s an attention-getter. There’s going to be a big enough segment of the population that likes your weird style to probably make it worth it.
Then someone makes the Aztec and has to insist that its executives start driving them just so some will be seen on the road.
Oh man. That car is so ugly it almost makes a full circle and becomes cool because it’s so ugly.
Almost.
So far, I announce you winner in picking the ugly car of the thread.
But,. the thread is still young.
This thread would be a lot better if people did more than agree on the already obvious usual suspects. I nominate the Hyundai Santa Fe. I honestly think it’s a more hideous design than the old Pontiac Aztek which has been the butt of many a styling joke for quite some time. In the Aztek’s defense, at least it’s got some level of definition and form to its considerably disproportionate shape. For that matter, the other regulars that are apparently on everyone’s lists (Scion, PT Cruiser, Honda Element, Chevy HHR/SSR, etc.) all at least have some sense of style and cohesive design ethic. In the Scion’s defense, it was almost deliberately brought here to the states to appeal to a niche youth market which goes for the kind of thing that’s popular in foreign markets. I won’t argue that some of those aren’t still poor designs, but the Hyundai Santa Fe still comes in at first place on my list from a design standpoint. Its horrid front end, hood, badly formed, assymetrical fender shapes, and warped side panels on the doors make it look like it’s been crashed into on every side, and a mish-mash of extemporaneous tack-on exterior doodads and bizarre exterior contours that don’t resolve themselves in any way whatsoever don’t help the design much either. It’s a big, misshapen, lumpy nightmare and it all adds up to my number one favorite car to gag at. And that old Tiburon that looked like a rolling jelly-bean complete with big scoops and wavy swoops? Ugh …
In Hyndai’s defense, however, they’ve been doing much better lately at straightening out the lines and proportions on their newer models, so I’ll give them credit where it’s due. The new Tucson model is a good step in the right direction, and I think the next Santa Fe will be a much less gag-inducing monstrosity than it is now. 
I’ll be honest and say that I rather like the Scion xB. It’s so ugly that it’s cute. And it reminds me of Herman Munster’s shoes, so I call them the Herman-Munstermobiles.
And I hate that Santa Fe! I call it The Puffalump. Remember those stuffed animals that had parachute-like material? Like here? That damn Santa Fe reminds me of one. It’s all soft and squishy looking with no edges whatsoever. It looks like someone took a Puffalump and squeeeeeezed it so all the sides are bulging out. Blech!
My husband also thinks the Santa Fe is ugly. Which is weird because he thinks the Tiburon’s not bad looking for a Hyundai. I think the Santa Fe looks just like a Tib on steroids.
Oh, I hate them both.
Definitely the ugliest car ever made.
Those huge windows make the Multipla look like a cartoon car.
If I saw that thing on the road, I’d expect to see Mickey Mouse driving it.
