While it hasn’t exactly been Ugly Car Week here at CC, there has been some lively discussion about odd, ugly or just plain crazy designs, thanks to jpcavanaugh’s ’78 Matador article and Paul’s subsequent AMC Deadly Sin post. That got me thinking, what was the worst redesign of an existing car line?
As you frequent readers know, sometimes the Curbside Commentariat Corps can be as entertaining and informative to read as the posts themselves, so we’d love to hear from you. What redesign makes YOU say, “What were they thinking?”
First, some criteria. It has to be a redesign or a substantial facelift, not an all-new car line. So while some of you may be itching to say AMC Pacer or Pontiac Aztek, they are sadly exempt.
There is no model year limitation, so you may nominate anything from Brass Era cars to current offerings. I’ll go first. And second, too, as there are two vehicles that I’d like to share.
First off, the 2005 Dakota. While not really that bad, this truck was a letdown from the 1997-04 Dakotas, which I really liked. My Mom’s best friend got a brand new ’98 regular cab SLT and my brother got a nearly new ’01 Sport Club Cab; both love their trucks and still own them. This redesign took a sharp truck and made it look like a compact GM pickup with a Dodge grille.
Last but not least, the 2004 Durango. Once again, the previous Durango was one of the nicest looking SUVs on the road, and it was totally ruined with this redesign. Yes, I know it was aping the styling of the Power Wagon show car, but I just don’t think it translated well.
image: dealerrevs.com
My Mom got a brand new 2002 Durango 5.9 R/T in Atlantic Blue Pearl with chrome wheels. It was beautiful, but when it had to be replaced in the summer of 2004 thanks to an accident that totalled it, she most certainly did NOT want a new Durango. She thought they were really ugly, so we located a 9,000 mile Deep Molten Red Pearl 2003 R/T instead.
To be fair, I must admit that I like the current 2011-12 Durango, even though I’m not an SUV guy, but the 2004 – what was the deal with that one?
So, those are my nominations. What are yours?
another nomination: Jaguar E type V12. Not entirely their fault with the rising tide of regulations etc. but they turned the lovely ’61 cat into a toad
Apologies all around, but I think this rather fetching. Alistair, if want, i’ll take it off your hands! 🙂
The 1994 Cadillac Was Kind Of Plain , Fat and just plain “Chevy-like” for my tastes.
They needed an update, But THIS Fat Cow Look?
Make the More $$$ Concours Model Look Premium To The DEvilles
My family had a ’95 Deville. Agree they were a bit fat looking, but I don’t think they were too ugly. Not like the bathtub Caprice. The MCE for the Deville in ’97 that finally got rid of the fender skirts and modernized the front end went a long way to improve the looks.
It came out 3 model years after the bathtub Caprice Right? Well I did not think that look had been well received, so it puzzled me why they went for a similar look, of a lessor model.
Some really good ones have been mentioned, and a few that I COMPLETELY disagree with as well!!
I’m mostly drawing a blank here, and this is hardly the most egregious example – but the one that keeps coming to mind is the 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse…
Not an awful looking car, but after the cutting-edge cool and contemporary 1990’s DSM Eclipses, I thought this was a huge letdown. In general, I think Mitsubishis are bad, flimsy vehicles – but in the 80’s and 90’s, they were at least unique and quirky bad, flimsy vehicles that occasionally offered stellar performance. The ’00 Eclipse was just the Japanese equivalent of a Pontiac Grand Am…
Also, the 2004 Nissan Maxima – the one where the non-sunroof models came with a weird, longitudinal glass cutout in the roof that didn’t open. This was when they moved the Maxima upmarket and had the Altima fill it’s old slot. IMO, Nissan had a string of massive hits with the sedately styled Maxima from ’87-’03, that was really a “4-Door Sports Car” under it’s stealth, midsize sedan skin. While I appreciated the oddness of the ’04 model, it was a total dud stylistically that somehow seems to have worked for Nissan – the Altima does (at least) the volume that the old Maxima did, while the new Maxima still manages to sell respectably enough and at a much higher price.
Actually, come to think of it – this car introduced a lot of styling themes that infiltrated the rest of the Nissan lineup in short order and largely influenced the rest of the industry in the middle of the ’00s. Personally, I think they’re ridiculous looking, but they were a hit with car shoppers. Go figure…
I’m curious how other people feel about this car in retrospect. I vaguely remember the automotive press was not enthralled with it at the time, but looking back – I think this and the Altima were probably a lot more influential than we realize (yet). High beltline, large bumpers, wide “chrome-ish” grille separating trapezoidal hedlamps, sedan body with coupe roofline and strange angles at C-pillar… within a few years, almost every car looked somewhat like this…
That sunroof! I all but forgot about that goofy slit briefly carved through the roofs of those things(seemed brief anyway, I haven’t seen one like that since, well 2004/5)
The styling of the 04 Maxima always looked like a 4 door 350z to me, of which, I think is equally unattractive. I can definitely see some current car influence there. Between it and the 300 it could be considered a 1-2 punch
I always wanted to make a big, silver Mylar coin and glue it to the longitudinal-slot sunroof of a Maxima from that era.
Swear to God, I always thought that strange sunroof made those Maximas look like a large, rolling piggy bank…
Thank you thank you. There is no vehicle design that makes me blow chunks worse than these disgusting Nissan things. In NC, this has to be literally THE most common vehicle on the road today — the “new” Nissan. I can barely turn my head without seeing either a Sentra, Altima, or Maxima.
All these cars look morbidly obese to me. Add insect-like bloblike headlights that flicker/blind the shit out of me at night separated by the grille stripe with that oversized round emblem.
Yet there’s little if any semblance of decklid but wait…these things aren’t even hatchbacks? Of course don’t forget the Altezza style clear taillights with the bubble lenses in them…slowly creeping into the side quarter panels. And wazzap with the fake “dual exhaust” on the 4-cylinder Altimas?
Excepting the poor ‘lil Cube, I find no vehicle anywhere near as visually excremental as the entire newer Nissan lineup, trux included. What disgusts me is that North Carolinians can’t snap these heaps up quickly enough. Buy a Hyundai folks!
Fugly fugly fugly.
1. 1962 Plymouth
2. 1971 Mustang (sorry, but the II is much more liveable for me)
3. 1980 T-Bird/Cougar
4. 1986 Cadillac
5. 1987 Jeep CJ/YJ
6. 1988 Passat
7. 1991 Caprice
8. 1992 Skylark
9. 1993 Camaro
10. 1996 Taurus/Sable
I liked the 93 Camaro. It was hideous when it got that refresh in 98 or 99 though.
I was going to add this but you beat me to it.
In late 1997 I walked into Serra Chevrolet in Birmingham, finally able to afford ordering my first new car a Quasar Blue 6-speed Camaro. I hadn’t even gotten to the showroom when I saw the front end of a new ’98 as it was getting prepped. The sales guy in the parking lot spotted me right away & asked if I needed help. I asked him if all the new Camaros had that front end & he said yep. I was so frustrated because I then knew that I’d never ever own a new car.
I tried for a few years to accept the new face but nope, no aftermarket grille could de-uglify the car. They look even worse now that the cheap plastic headlight assemblies are all yellowed/ruined. I think this redesign helped sell Mustangs.
Put my vote in for the 78 GM mid-size cars, especially the fastback Olds Cutlass and Buick Century.
1963 Buick Special!
Really minor I guess, compared to the above, but the lightbar tail lights they put on the ’81 VW Rabbit just looked terrible to me.
That is a pet peeve of mine, when the cheapen or make a taillight more generic…it looks like crap, sales plunge, yet They Leave IT. Do They not see The Blob of an unattractive cheap taillight that does not work as well to complete the look?
I had a 2010 Crosstour EX-L. Put over 46k miles on it in 24 months. Wife loved it, I loved it, and we fought over the replacement. I paid $10G more to get a 2012 GLK350 with Nav and a few more toys. We have 3 Mercedes and love them, but Honda makes a damn fine car!
Re: Dave M.’s list:
Forgot about the ’92 Skylark. I nearly recoiled physically, the first time I saw one in a mall parking lot.
What a homely green lil’ wart that thing was! *urkk*
Come to think of it, the early to mid 90’s were very not kind to domestic car styling in general.
Oh, I forgot about the Datsun/Nissan Zs? How ’bout a blanket submission for the whole line. Every iteration made you miss the 240Z more. The current one especially.
1998 Altima, was the nice 93-97 porked up, but not roomier. It’s shelf life was cut short by Carlos Ghon, to get the 2002 out quick.
And the Saturn Ion to replace the S series was GM’s worst redesign, ever. It literally killed Saturn division. The ’86 Eldo at least got a stretch and didn’t kill Caddy.
Nice comments from everyone. I like being reminded of some of what I thought were the big styling/face-lift flops of the past.
74 Vega
74 and onward Camaros
One I didn’t see mentioned was the 75 Charger. Boy, talk about knocking the wind out of a teen-aged boy’s dream…I always liked the aggressive take-no-prisoners look of the Charger (even if the 74 was beginning to look a little bloated). One look at the 75 had me thinking “What in the world were they thinking?” Took a fine car and totally emasculated it.
They didn’t emasculate the Charger for 1975; they took a Cordoba clone and slapped a “Charger” name on it “bastardizing” the Charger name. In retrospect, Dodge should’ve called it “SE”. Perhaps in ’75-’77 the Dodge Cordoba clone might’ve sold better as buyers wouldn’t have been confused with what this personal-luxo brougham coupe’s mission really was. . .
When my friend bought his 75 Charger new I could NOT Believe he Chose THAT for a New Car- Not A Firebird, or something cooler… It Looked like a Fury more than a Cordoba IMO.
A lot of the “worst” redesigns listed here, were some of the biggest hits.
The 71-76 GM tanks and 73-77 Colonnades made GM $$ in spades.
Also, the 74-81 Camaros sold so well, the sporty cars were saved from extinction.
A poor redesign is one that flops on the market and hurts the company’s bottom line. ‘Beauty is in eye of beholder, but ugly is to the bone’
I’ll second the 03 J body refresh. The 95’s were great, and the 2000 refresh of the Cavalier made it look a little more modern. My mom has an 03 Sunfire though and it looks very cartoonish. I thought the 09 VIbe was nice though, much more wagon like than the 09 Matrix. That said, what is so bad with rear turn signal indicators being amber? The last car I can think of that had them was the outgoing Altima. I’m tired of bland looking clear and red lenses.
Oh, and I’ll also nominate the 07 Camry. It just looked fat and bloated, and the wheel covers on the popular LE’s were awful.
I nominate the jellybean post ’96 Z cars. As a previous poster mentioned, the 240Z was cool but the bumpers grew, then the Z became the ZX.. but Nissan blew me away with the Z32 in 1990. Holy crap, it looked like a Fiero which was a good thing to me. I even liked the clever GI Joe TV ads…really cool.
And in 1996 they took the car & turned it into a freakin’ jellybean. Much like the Crossfilre, it reminds me of a giant Frog…. the rear end is like a huge pulsating zit or a giant bulging ass…as if I squeezed the car a giant terd would just shoot out of the license plate opening.
And of course we have those goofy spear taillights which almost reached their goal of touching the side door handles. I just can’t picture how someone could look at one of these things & call it beautiful.
Personally it has to be the 2004 “facelift” FIAT did to their Multipla (before and after pic below)
The bottle-nosed 1998 original was controversial, but for me it has integrity and a really appealing originality. Bottling out and slapping a more conventional front end on it just ruins that for me.