The 10 ugliest cars
By David Derbyshire, | 12/10/2005

In pictures: truly ugly cars @
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On first catching sight of the new Ssangyong
Rodius, a bulbous tank of a people carrier,
one critic is said to have sucked his pen,
scratched his ear and announced that it
resembled John Prescott. On a bad day.

That may have been too harsh even for Mr
Prescott. For yesterday, the seven-seater
behemoth was named the ugliest vehicle on
Britain's roads.

Beating stiff competition from some of the
most carelessly designed motors in the world,
the Korean vehicle, known to its detractors
as the "Odious Rodius", picked up nearly a
third of votes in a poll of 1,500 car
enthusiasts.

The high ranking of the Rodius, which costs
US$33,200, is particularly remarkable given
that the car was only introduced to Britain
this year. In just a few months, its
challenging looks have made a big impression.

It has been described by car reviewers as a
"surprised hippopotamus", "so ugly it could
frighten small children" and so bulky "it
makes Bernard Manning look like a matinee idol".

The author of Auto Express's road test
commented: "Its unconventional rear is said
to resemble the open deck on luxury
powerboats, however if the rest of the boat
looked like the Rodius we'd scuttle it."

Ssangyong refuses to concede that its car is
ugly. The official line is that it "comes
with a strong emotional component that will
make it a focus of attention". It also comes
with a small plastic flower vase for the
dashboard.

In second place, visitors to the
cardata.co.uk website disliked the original
version of the Fiat Multipla, which got 19
per cent of the votes.

In 2000 The Daily Telegraph's columnist
Honest John said: "The Fiat Multipla is the
weirdest looking new car on the road today."
Even its greatest fans admitted that the
Multipla resembled two halves of two
different cars rather carelessly placed on
top of each other.

Third in the list of ugliest cars came the
Mercedes Maybach - a car designed and built
for the super-rich celebrity, aristocrat and
business person. Despite the price tag of
US$433,600, its lines failed to impress one
in 10 voters on the website.

The poll also reveals that the controversial
Chrysler PT Cruiser continues to be a car
that the public either loves or hates. Its
retro-American styling failed to impress
eight per cent of the voters, leaving it in
fourth place.

Other models that offended the eyes of voters
included the Suzuki Liana -the chosen vehicle
for the BBC Top Gear "Star In A Reasonably
Priced Car'" feature, the Ford Scorpio, the
Rover 75, Renault's new Megane, as well as
two models from Kia - the Rio and Sedona.

Andrew Sobell, a spokesman for Cardata, said:
"Naturally, the results are very subjective.

"For example, everyone always notes the
Multipla, but its design quirks continue to
be a major appeal for many observers and
buyers alike. One man's ugliness is another
man's beauty."

One car not to feature in the British top 10
is the Pontiac Aztec, unveiled in America by
General Motors in 2000 and generally regarded
as one of the ugliest in the world.

However, ugliness no longer appears to be a
barrier to success in the car world. Back in
1957, Ford's most ambitious and heavily hyped
new car to date - the Edsel - proved to be a
commercial disaster on launch.

There were many reasons for its unpopularity,
but many Americans were unable to cope with
its groundbreaking, and peculiar, vertical
front grille. Only 110,000 Edsels were ever sold.

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.