Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and eyes change; tastes change. As a small child, I’d happily hoover an entire tray of raw oysters while going out of my way to avoid eating a raw tomato. Now I enjoy both. Also as a young person, I extremely disliked the early ’90s fourth-gen Chevrolet Caprice.
My whole family had this anti-Caprice bias. I used to call it the roachmobile because, to my pre-pubescent eyes at least, the pinched grille and narrow headlights, coupled with the rear fender skirts made it look like the giant insects that would occasionally sneak into our apartment. My disdain was strong.
Now I can’t get enough of them. Whether the car is in basic police-spec or luxurious faux-wood-paneled Buick Roadmaster Estate, I appreciate the design as a crisper aerodynamic alternative to Ford’s extremely ovalur language at the time.
Obviously, the best of these B-Body cars is the mid-’90s Chevy Impala SS. The hot rod aluminum five-spokes, body-color trim pieces, and deleted fender skirts make for one mean car. It didn’t hurt that the car was basically a hopped-up version of the 9C1 police car, complete with a Corvette-derived LT1 V8 good for about 260 horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque.
I’ve gone from hating it to not-so-secretly desiring one.
[Ed Note: For me it’s the Audi A2 and the BMW i3;
I used to find them stubby and hideous. Now I love them both. -DT].
What about you? What car did you not initially love that now you’re completely taken with?
I’m sure I’m missing a couple, but the only one that comes to mind for me is the Ferrari Testarossa. I always thought it was very color dependent to even look OK, but after a few decades, I’ve come to appreciate it a lot more than when it was in production. There are more designs I’ve come to like less over the years than more.
Another good two questions might be: What car did you think looked ugly in photos, but seeing in person completely changed your mind? And the reverse of that question.
The NA Miata. I loved the car itself but thought the front end was kinda weak. After 33 years of ownership, it is growing on me.
For me it’s EF/EL Falcons. Growing up in the 90s our family weren’t Ford fans at all, having had a few lemons in the form of an F250 and a NAII-era Fairlane.
Mum went to am E34 525i (5 speed!) and then some Subaru Outbacks after the Fords which none had any dramas whatsoever compared to that damn Fairlane.
I thought at the time that they were nowhere as nice looking as the VR/VS Commodore and my opinion on Falcons was soured by our experiences.
After meeting Gordo (who did most of the wiring on Project Cactus) and his enthusiasm for his EL XR8 Falcon, my opinion has changed on these models and I think in many ways they are better put together than the Commodores of the era.
I never thought much of EF/EL Falcons either, and would probably have preferred a VR/VS Commodore if I was buying a new car back then. But somehow I think the Falcon styling has aged better, and a Commodore of that era now looks’ older’ than the equivalent Falcon to me.
And I never liked the later Commodores – they started looking very ‘bloated’ with the VT and later models, but the Falcons looked ‘streamlined’ by comparison. That’s probably why I ended up with a BA Fairlane Ghia as a daily driver (I did almost buy a Supercharged V6 Statesman instead, solely because I have owned cars/bikes with all sorts of engines but never one with a supercharger).
I agree, VT/VX always seemed like boats both to look at and drive.
VY/VZ looks much sharper if you can avoid noticing the carried-over turret which doesn’t mesh well with the sharp lines, not that the V6 models handle much better in my experience
90s and 2000s Park Avenues and LeSabres. They looked like grandparent cars when they came out. (my grandparents had one) They still do but he looks of them have really grown on me. Plus they are just good cars.
The last car my dad bought was a 2000 Park Avenue. He died in 2011…my sister still daily’s it.
I came across a good deal on a 2000 LaSabre in really good shape and the autopian discord talked me into it. I’ve been daily driving it since I got tags for it. The plan was always to flip it but its such a good vehicle I am not in a hurry though I’ve been keeping an eye out for a Park Ave Ultra.
The Studebaker Champ.
Studebaker Champ – Wikipedia
A body-on-frame pick-up truck with the body of a car. (and an optional mismatched Dodge box.)
Too bad they didn’t modify a Lark wagon into their own Suburban with optional 4wd.
The first gen Audi TT for me. Little me hated that car back when it was new, I hated how round it was and thought it was one of the ugliest cars you could get at the time. I didn’t grow up in a particularly well-off area so I hardly ever saw them around at the time and by the time I moved to a nicer area, we were well into the second gen TT lifecycle which I did really like.
Then sometime a year or two ago I saw a completely stock early first gen TT at a cars and coffee and I loved it. It’s such a clean design that really still looks good today. I guess elementary school me just wasn’t old enough to understand
1971 Buick Riviera…at the time it was laughingly gauche to me, a symbol of what was wrong with American cars.
What I wouldn’t do for one of these beauties these days!
“Obviously, the best of these B-Body cars is the mid-’90s
Chevy Impala SSBuick Roadmaster wagon with a built LT1.”Although the Impala SS is pretty fine itself I had to correct your blatant error.
As a teenager I really didn’t like the Mercury Marauder, panther body vehicles were cop/old people cars. I could not imagine anyone coveting a more fun version of what I thought to be the least cool looking car on the market.
As I an adult, I truly appreciate it for what it is.
Came across a Crown Vic in the wild last week, and was quite taken with how relatively low and open (visibility wise) it is compared with everything today, not to mention its basic, non-complicated sheet metal.
Panthers were amazing. I wish they’d bring them back.
2nd generation Prius. At the time everybody, including me, was hating them for being ugly hippie mobiles.
Now it looks like a clean, functional design putting function and aerodynamics before angry eyes styling.
After two W203 Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedans I was initially very hesitant about the W204 when it came out in 2007. That huge, sweptback grille! That big gap between the hood and the fenders! Those Audi A4 taillights! Well, I have my second W204 sedan since 2012 and no plans to replace it.
It has taken me years and years and years, but I no longer hate the looks of the Porsche 914…
Tesla Model Y
I used to it looked really ugly when it first came out but now after owning one since 2022 I find the design to be very elegant and very “function over form.” I do think the rear 3/4 view is the best angle.
I like how the model 3 looks, and the model y is the vertically stretched and much less good looking adaptation of the same design.
Crossover bad
Unlike many of the people here, I don’t have an automatic disdain of crossovers. I think crossovers are fine because the form factor works well.
What form factor? The hatchback form factor that already works well on hatchbacks, but with a lower load floor?
BMW i3
I thought they looked so bad when new, like a weird pug/pig hybrid.
Now, looking at them, they aren’t so bad.
Yes they are. They’re really bad.
As a kid, I was too much of a philistine to appreciate the Triumph TR7 for the slab of wedgy goodness that it truly is. I started to come around on them sometime in my early 20’s. These days, masochistic me occasionally peruses them online.
I came around on – and eventually bought – a 1976 Toyota Celica.
It wasn’t so much that I thought it was ugly, but when I was younger, that generation Celica used to trigger me in the worst way because Toyota didn’t bother to hide ripping off the Mustang’s design. (And some Camaro notes on that nose/the notchback version). Young me thought it was a slap in the face that somehow Toyota was able to make that car and not get sued into oblivion, and I felt like I could take every Toyota design stretching to the late 90’s and trace it’s roots to another car they ripped off.
So what happened? I grew to appreciate the Celica for what it was – a car that was technologically way ahead of its time, with old-school architecture, old school looks, and economy. I had a ’76 GT Liftback for a few years and it was a blast. It was fun, it looked cool, and this thing was not challenging a Mustang. It was just being itself.
I know this was a discussion point even back then, but I still do not see what year of mustang that rip off part seems to be. if anything I owuld say the Celica GT looked more like a pinto with its rounded front end, but neither have quad head lights, and the fast back slats might sort of harken to late 70’s Moustang, but not really.
The Honda Fit. I’m a fan of hatchbacks but thought that thing was an insult to the body style, and they should all be sent to the crusher. Well recently my daughter bought one and now that I’ve had some time to look it over, I’m a convert.
And the prodigal son was welcomed with open arms. I love my Fit!
The Chevy Corsica.
When they were ubiquitous I thought they looked dated and ugly but one parks near my apartment now and I find myself thinking it’s nicely proportioned, has a light and airy greenhouse, and has crisp and appealing detailing.
I owned one, a Z52 in electric blue metallic on fatter, lower-profile rubber and factory alloy wheels. It was a pretty little car. I actually preferred the Corsica’s lines slightly over the Beretta coupes. The lowered window line on the Beretta sort of aped contemporary Hondas, but didn’t pull it off so well. The Corsica was very eye-pleasingly clean without being too slick or jellybean-ish.
For the same styling on a larger GM car, look no further than the contemporary Cadillac Seville. It’s shape and lines are a slightly massaged, scaled-up Corsica.
Peak late 80s/early 90s GM put out a number of very tastefully-styled cars.
For me it’s the Ram faux-big-rig styling. I hated it when it first came out and thought the whole thing was extremely trying too hard. Now that every truck is extremely trying too hard the Rams look positively low-key. It probably didn’t hurt that I bought one either, for reasons unrelated to the styling.
Isuzu Vehicross. I was pretty much on the fence on those when new, Fang front end, seemingly little access to the back seat and storage and the Isuzu drivetrain was not all that seriously offroad in my thoughts. but I have seen a few hold outs and they look good stock now, and even better with a lift and some tires. Honestly they need to bring it back to the US along with the Jimny from Suzuki. I hated those little fake jeeps (Samurai’s) when new, but saw the new version at Sema a few years back and I think they are pretty decent street legal Side by side alternatives.
*flame suit on* I used to think most 80’s sports cars were hideous. The F40, Delorean, MK2 Supra, E30 M3, etc. all ugly to my smooth teenage brain.
15 years later, I’ve done a complete 180 and actually think it’s some of the best design.
I’ve really warmed up to ALL THE OVALS Ford over the years. Especially the Contour, which I genuinely hated when I was younger.
But not the 3rd gen Taurus, right? TOO MANY OVALS!
The Taurus is still a bit goofy to my eyes, but I am a fan of the wagon.
The wagon version did kinda mitigate the questionableness of it some.
I can think of a lot more cars that I thought were cool in their times that I now see as dreadful contrivances.
That said:
Third Gen Toyota Celica/Supra – All angles and origami, inside and out – but now the styling seems so interesting and relatively restrained.
And the Seventh Gen Celica – The interior design has not held up at all, but the exterior – which seemed hopelessly future-weird and insect-like – has held up quite well. You could introduce that car today and it would seem fresh and modern.
I admit the only looks I ever gave to the Aztek is when Heisenberg’s in it.
It really ain’t bad compared to the beige boxes on wheels we have today.
The new Tundra. Once some bigger wheels and tires are added, the design somehow becomes less showy.
Also, the second gen Fusion.
I still am not a fan of the huge by large grill of the new tundra. I would want to make a body color band across the middle like it looked they considered at one time.
I agree about the new Tundra, and I purposely bought a previous gen body because of the looks and engine choices (or lack thereof) of the new one, but it does look pretty good once the lift and knobbies are added.