In the wonderful world of cars, there are a lot of brands that evolved to become better with age; a fine wine if you ask me. At the same time, there are a lot of brands that started off as complete ugly ducklings and turned into beautiful swans.
Granted when a start up company is cast into the mainstream market, qualities like elegant design aren’t as much of a priority as reliability and general function.
These cars were so ugly, they went on numerous lists from automotive authorities to bloggers like yours truly. So today, I’m going to discuss seven cars that started off as ugly crap-boxes and finally progressed to beauty…or atleast better than their beginnings.
Hyundai- The Entire Line
I think Hyundai, up until 2007, the entire Hyundai line looked like pure, uncut trash. I don’t know if it was just because the designers for the Korean brand didn’t care or if there was a whole grand scheme behind it. Nowadays, everything from the Elantra to the Santa Fe, even the G90 by Genesis, have gotten slapped with the beauty stick.
Pontiac Aztek- Everybody’s Punching Bag
Ok, ok, we all know that the Aztek is the most picked on vehicle in the existence of man. Close runner-ups include Yugo, Lada and the Chevy SSR among others. From a design standpoint, the Aztek has always been the pinnacle for awkwardness and ugly. Of course, as I, myself, have picked on the Aztek multiple times but as time has progressed, the Aztek still is butt ugly. However, it has a legendary status of being ugly, making it look better…if that made sense.
Land Rover Range Rover- Time Makes Things Better
Back in the day, Range Rovers were meant to be purely rugged, no frills British machines. They weren’t no here near as visually stunning as they have gotten over the years. The latest models still retain the Land Rover off-road prowess with more curvaceous looks. It’s nice to know, I can get off of the beaten path and still look good driving down Rodeo drive.
Chevrolet Camaro- Huh???
Don’t kill me. I’m specifically refering to the 4th gen “catfish” design. While this generation was still was beastly, it was just terribly designed. While the Mustang still retained the muscle car look, the Camaro didn’t. Fast forward thru the 8 year hiatus and the 5th and especially the 6th gen models look tons better. As a matter of fact, they have also starred in film.
Porsche Panamera- Kinda…
So the Panamera was not the sexiest out of the Porsche lineup. It was ridiculed by many reviewers for being a hunchback and Meek Mill refered to the Panamera as a “turtle back.” However, the latest generation has became slightly prettier. To me, the Panamera looks exactly the same except for in the rear end. The rear end has smoothed out a bit, making it less hunchback-ed, and more like a proper sedan-coupe combination.
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