Top 10 Ugliest Cars From the 90s

The introduction of the first mass-produced electric car by a brand like GM was historic. However, the fact that it marked a major milestone doesn’t make it look any nicer! With no front grille, partially hidden back tires, and a slanted rear-end, the body of this car was one that few found appealing. Depending on the angle, the entire chassis could look like one giant shrink-wrapped mess. We get that they were going for a “car of the future” approach, but why not just make an electric “car of right now”? We can thank Elon Musk for making electric cars far cooler than this thing.

Just looking at this monstrosity hurts your eyes. Take a 1970s Volkswagen minibus, and slice it horizontally in half from back to front. Then do the same thing to a subcompact car like a Chevy Sprint. Take the top half of the Sprint, and the bottom half of the mini-bus, and weld them together. Voila! You have the biggest “what were the thinking” moment in the history of cars. Throw in some creepy headlights and you also have the ugliest mutation between a car and a bug ever conceived.

“Where you go, we go” … or at least that’s what owners of this former Yugoslavian made car had hoped. Businessman Malcolm Bricklin helped bring the unflattering Yugo to North America. Although it initially did well due to the cheap cost of the car, it wasn’t long before sales tapered off. It was ridiculously slow, failed horribly in crash tests, and looked awful. For all intents and purposes, this was a box on wheels and nothing more. It became the butt of countless jokes and has found itself on various lists of “terrible” cars. Sorry Yugo, you are not going to go anywhere, anymore.

There have been plenty of beautiful editions of the Chevrolet Monte Carlo over the years. Known for its style, this personal luxury coupe took a serious hit during the 1990s. In 1995, Chevrolet split their Lumina brand into two lines. The two door version of this car became the new Monte Carlo. The problem was that there was nothing stylish, or outstanding about the Lumina. Sure, it was a perfectly fine car, and had sold quite well for Chevrolet, but it certainly was not Monte Carlo material. Buyers had come to expect a great new luxury car, and ended up with something far more vanilla.

This oval shaped car was Ford “aspiring” to be a more innovative company. See what we did there? Yeah, it’s a bad joke—much like this vehicle was. Produced for only three years, it was meant to replace the box-like frame of the Festiva. Shaving off every corner of the car gave it a weird egg looking shape with no right angles anywhere. It had an uncanny resemblance to the spaceship from “Mork & Mindy” that was also shaped like an egg with a door on one side. It’s hard to have faith in a car that looks like it might crack open at any moment.

Sometimes even the luxury brands can make cringeworthy mistakes when it comes to their automobiles. Such was the case with the sixth generation version of the Buick Skylark. Although the car had seen some beautiful editions in previous years, the last generation took a stranger approach to the visual style. The “wedge” shape came as a surprise, as did the very obvious pointed grille. It claimed to lower the coefficient drag but instead gave the car what looked like a fat lip. In fact, the front looks like a face that’s sad to be on the road at all. Buick pulled the plug on this line in 1998.

In the late 20th century, there were a handful of cars that seemed to be everywhere. Chrysler had its “K-car” and Chevrolet had the Cavalier. The third generation of this vehicle line was created in 1995. Much like its competitor’s product, the Cavalier sold very well, but was cheaply made and had very little to offer in the overall “look” of the car. It essentially looks like one giant bubble with a front end design that looks like a sarcastic smile. An updated version of this classic is surprisingly still sold in China and Mexico.

This little guy was a prominent car found over in England. What distinguishes this from every other one on this list is that it’s the only one that has just three wheels. Often the butt of many British jokes, the car was notorious for rolling over when taking sharp turns or being driven aggressively. Despite various changes over the years, the car still looks more like something out of a bad movie than anything most people would drive. It has a lasting legacy among car fans for all the wrong reasons.

Pitched as a way to [00:12 “...make the 90s a lot more fun”], Suzuki’s choice for a 4x4 vehicle yielded far more embarrassment than fun. In what appears to be an attempt to compete with the Jeep, we got a two seater car that looks like a typical sedan except that the back half has been flattened like a pancake. Top Gear Magazine rated it as one of the worst cars of the last 20 years. Despite its reputation, the car did become the base model for the infamous Red Bull cars which feature a giant can on the back. That was apparently the only redeemable quality of this long forgotten off-roader.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Hyundai Accent
As Cheaply Made as It Looks

Ford Taurus
A Car Made to Look Like a Series of Bubbles

Chrysler Imperial
A Bad Attempt to Rip Off the Cadillac

Saturn SW1
Just Add a Wagon Backend to the Sedan to Make an Ugly Vehicle

It’s common to see a car on the road with mismatched colors on the side paneling or the doors. But after taking one look at this hideous looking vehicle, you’ll wonder exactly what Volkswagen was thinking when it came out. The mixture of red, yellow, blue and green make the exterior of the car look like it was thrown together using mismatched LEGO bricks. It’s made even worse when you spot the steering wheel and see the same bad mixture of color. The car itself might be just fine, but the horrible color scheme makes it the best choice for our number one.