Some Automotive Fun...

Brett Davidson said:
My eyes!

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/opinion/30-most-tasteless-cars-ever-built
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I didn't see the Pontiac Aztec on that list. It was one of the worst looking cars ever! They couldn't give the things away.

3pAQP86w-O8kjo_RB2P-(edit).jpg
 
T. A. Gardner said:
I didn't see the Pontiac Aztec on that list. It was one of the worst looking cars ever! They couldn't give the things away.
Click to expand...
I think they were working from 'money can't buy taste' as a principle and focusing on expensive cars. On the other hand, maybe they did see a picture of an Aztek and had hysterical amnesia.
 
Then there's the Fiat Mulitpla. With this one, I think Fiat looked at the Aztek and said, "That isn't nearly ugly enough we can do better!"

Fiat-Multipla.webp


And who can forget--and you probably want to--the Nissan Juke. "Let's make a butt ugly sports car that looks like a SUV! People will buy that...!"

2014_Nissan_Juke_Test_Drive_Review_summaryImage.jpeg
 

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T. A. Gardner said:
Then there's the Fiat Mulitpla. With this one, I think Fiat looked at the Aztek and said, "That isn't nearly ugly enough we can do better!"

Fiat-Multipla.webp


And who can forget--and you probably want to--the Nissan Juke. "Let's make a butt ugly sports car that looks like a SUV! People will buy that...!"

2014_Nissan_Juke_Test_Drive_Review_summaryImage.jpeg
Click to expand...
The Fiat had clever packaging and people carriers by definition are always ugly. The Multipla had an astounding long production run and pretty much lived to see the rise of crossovers and decline of its own segment.

In North America, the awkward Nissan Juke was actually a performance bargain in the cheapest $20k manual transmission model. And oddly enough, they loved the diesel engine model in Italy. The real problem is that compact crossover drivers in North America really don’t care about performance. Toyota once produced an astoundingly quick V6 RAV-4…which died due to complete consumer disinterest. Much like the surprisingly quick and keenly priced Dodge Hornet which was a rebadged Alfa Romeo Tonale… and completely sales proof. Few would argue that the Hornet/Tonale were in any way unattractive.
 
T. A. Gardner said:
I didn't see the Pontiac Aztec on that list. It was one of the worst looking cars ever! They couldn't give the things away.

3pAQP86w-O8kjo_RB2P-(edit).jpg
Click to expand...
This is what happens when the design brief is to build a crossover from a minivan with minimal hardpoint changes. The related Buick Rendevous was somewhat more successful and had similar proportions. The heavy body cladding was GM policy in the early 2000s and probably a good decade out of date at the time. The Chevrolet Avalanche’s body cladding was similarly criticized and subsequently toned down.

Oddly enough, the idea of a lifted minivan based crossover circled back to the last lifted generation of GM minivans, the Chevrolet Uplander. I’m not sure about the stability of raised suspension minivans but the extremely low ground clearance of a current Toyota Sienna makes it utterly impractical for people who tow or go through snow. However, the Toyota Sienna has become the defacto NYC taxi cab, which goes to show that minivans have become as dated in concept and undesirable to consumers as the old Crown Victoria.
 
Following the sales disappointments of the Eletre and Enema, I mean Emeya, Lotus is planning to restore its brand as a sports car manufacturer, or at least have a supercar as a halo model. They've announced that they will have a V8 hybrid 'new Esprit' launched in 2028 (in time for the next Bond movie perhaps). The car began as 'Type 135' and was to be a pure-electric sports car and has now evolved into a more substantial hybrid. Hybrid versions of the Eletre and Emeya are also in the pipeline.

They're released a teaser shot of the arse and the exhaust pipes are very visible, just to make it clear that it's not a pure EV.

Interestingly, from this angle it's almost identical to the Theory 1 concept car (an EV) from a couple of years ago, strongly suggesting that it will look similar overall (though there are a number of features on the concept car that are very unlikely to see production - the weird doors, for example).

CAR magazine article on the new car and its place in Lotus' new strategy:

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/industry-news/lotus/focus-2030/

One of Lotus' publicity clips on the Theory 1 from 2024:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgOMdR_9ecY&t=38s

Lotus' own page on the Theory 1

https://www.lotuscars.com/en-US/lotus-story/theory-1

Comparison of the rear views of the Theory 1 and Type 135 official teaser:

vision gallery 5.jpg
lotus-teaser-web.jpg
 
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Brett Davidson said:
My eyes!

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/opinion/30-most-tasteless-cars-ever-built
Click to expand...

I don't understand how the Mitsuoka Le Seyde made the list. The only real aesthetic flaw is that the passenger compartment should have been less boxy and more streamlined. If someone made an EV today that looked like this, it would sell like hotcakes.

s-sf7GUOQnR93.MxHN9gmpS.jpg



Fun fact: In 1997 Toyota also came out with a modern retro car to celebrate their 60th anniversary.

https://silodrome.com/1997-toyota-classic/
 
Drink and drive and you're a <beep>ing idiot!

Wild photos of the carnage left behind after an allegedly drunk driver crashed at a South Australian beach have been revealed.


A 32-year-old woman managed to walk away without injury after she allegedly crashed her Mazda Sedan into a timber guard rail at Aldinga Beach about 45km south of Adelaide.

Her car rolled down an embankment and onto the beach following the collision.

Wild photos released by South Australia Police reveal one of the timber guardrails rammed through the car’s windscreen, the glass completely shattered.
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Wild photos reveal alleged drunken car crash
 
Drink and drive and you're a <beep>ing idiot!

A young woman told police she had 'drank one twisted tea' after colliding with an Uber and killing a couple, court papers said.

Annabell Correa, 22, is awaiting trial over the deaths of Desiree and Max Mooney, both 30, after the fatal crash in Bakersfield, California.

'I drank one twisted tea, bro,' Correa told investigators, according to court files obtained by Bakersfield Now.

The papers also said that she blurted out: 'I'm never seeing my kid huh, just because I drove and drank one, two drinks.'

At the time of the fatal collision in March last year, Correa, who was 21, failed to stop for a red light before hitting the vehicle carrying the high school sweethearts, it is alleged.
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Woman gives astonishing defense after being arrested for allegedly killing couple in car crash
 
Drink and drive and you're a <beep>ing idiot!

A vicar who caused carnage in his bishop's car while three times over the drink-drive limit has been let off by a clergy disciplinary panel.

The Daily Mail revealed in November that Father Sion Hughes Carew, 40, had spent an evening drinking with the Bishop of Lincoln Stephen Conway at his palace before driving off barefoot.

But just half a mile from Lincoln Cathedral, at about 11pm, he crashed into a parked Skoda Octavia owned by the partner of an Archers actress, before pulling off and hitting it for a second time.

Fr Carew then drove the one-year-old £48,000 Kia Sportage up a steep hill and, after appearing to stall, rolled backwards into a garden wall and railings, in a chaotic episode that has earned him the nickname the Vicar of Tiddly.

Carpenter Brian Meagher, 78, whose car was written off by Fr Carew's accident, is the partner of actress Heather Bell, who has played Clarrie Grundy on the Radio 4 soap opera since 1979.
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All is forgiven: Church lets off 'Vicar of Tiddly' who damaged his bishop's car while drunk
 
alberchico said:
I don't understand how the Mitsuoka Le Seyde made the list. The only real aesthetic flaw is that the passenger compartment should have been less boxy and more streamlined. If someone made an EV today that looked like this, it would sell like hotcakes.
s-sf7GUOQnR93.MxHN9gmpS.jpg

Fun fact: In 1997 Toyota also came out with a modern retro car to celebrate their 60th anniversary.
https://silodrome.com/1997-toyota-classic/
Click to expand...
My god,its like a 1990s Stutz Blackhawk,all its missing are the side pipeso_O
 
A one-off 4 door 1967 Porsche 911 by Troutman & Barnes
The rear doors look to be reversed front doors.
It doesnt look too bad.
1967-Porsche-911-S-Four-Door-11.jpg
1967-Porsche-911-S-Four-Door-14.jpg
1967-Porsche-911-S-Four-Door-9.jpg
 
I am sorry, I honestly thought I was visiting an aerospace systems/technology website, but somehow I landed on an ugly car competition dump?
 

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