Ugly But Appealing Vehicles

[Beeblebrox237]

That Renault actually looks really good. The Nissans aren't really my cup of tea.

 

[analog]

Ah, the Fuego, where have they all gone? Okay, probably scrapped or rotted away.
There's another interesting Renault coupé before that though, the 17 TS which I always kinda liked.

 

[Cano]

Stutz Blackhawk
Zimmer Quicksilver

YESSSSSSS how could I forget those? The Zimmer is AWESOME.

also, more vans:

EDIT: Also,. there was actually a Fuego Turbo:

The thing was the sporty cousin of the Renault 18, which is also a cool car in my book:

There was also a Turbo 18 that we never got, instead we got teh 2 liter-5 speed car.

 

[-Fred-]

Renault's venture in North America back in the early 80s was quite the failure, which is a shame, really. I wonder how well the Clio, Laguna and Espace would have sold over here in the early 90s.

 

[Cano]

Renault's venture in North America back in the early 80s was quite the failure, which is a shame, really. I wonder how well the Clio, Laguna and Espace would have sold over here in the early 90s.

Hey, not all of North America. In Mexico they were a smashing success and to this day 70s and 80s Renaults (and some 60s too) still prowl our streets regularly, many of them as daily drivers. They have a huge following, everything Renault here is loved. And the brand is doing smashingly well over here with it's new cars, too. Clio Sports are everywhere, and I've seen several Megane Sports spank a GTI or two.

 

[Wiegert]

I've also owned one of these for a very short while some 10+ years ago, the NX2000. It was fairly fun to drive, SR20DE and all, a bit like a B13 Sentra SE-R, but with an ugly egg shaped body instead. Not a looker by any means.

I saw one of those in the same colour yesterday. Thought about mentioning it in here earlier on but I couldn't think of anything appealing about it. Just that it's a bloody ugly thing.

 

[Liquid]

Possible repost but...

Citroen CX

It's... an acquired taste, looks wise. Certainly appealing to those of a certain disposition.

The dash is also a bit Marmite.

 

[-Fred-]

Hey, not all of North America. In Mexico they were a smashing success and to this day 70s and 80s Renaults (and some 60s too) still prowl our streets regularly, many of them as daily drivers. They have a huge following, everything Renault here is loved. And the brand is doing smashingly well over here with it's new cars, too. Clio Sports are everywhere, and I've seen several Megane Sports spank a GTI or two.

I don't talk about Mexico because you guys still have Peugeots and Seats, amongst other things, which makes me very angry, because I'd love to see more European oddballs over here in Canada.

 

[analog]

Renault's venture in North America back in the early 80s was quite the failure, which is a shame, really. I wonder how well the Clio, Laguna and Espace would have sold over here in the early 90s.

I think the Espace would actually have done well and give a lot of US-build MPV's a run for their money, it's perhaps the Range Rover of MPV's.
But the Renault-badge at that time prevented that from happening I guess, maybe if they were able to make AMC a succes again it would've made a tempting package.

Citroen CX

Maybe indeed an acquired taste but far from ugly, love that shape and always have.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

Speaking of oddball French cars..

Matra Murena. Why is it oddball? Well..

 

[Cano]

I'll second you on that, altough coming from the same manufacturer, it should be little suprirse:

Same driving layout

 

[niky]

The funny thing is, the three seat layout was meant to allow a central driving position, like the F1. But while the F1 was fast enough that the limited visibility when pulling out to overtake was not a problem, the same could not be said of the Murena. Hence, they chickened out and put the steering wheel on the left.

Pity.

 

[GranTurismo916]

Matra Murena. Why is it oddball? Well..

👍

 

[analog]

Matra Murena. Why is it oddball? Well..

I'll second you on that, altough coming from the same manufacturer, it should be little suprirse:

Same driving layout

I once rode in a Murena as a passenger and it's quite strange sitting very low and there's still a seat left in the middle, a bit like a cross between a sportscar and a commercial van, it's quite wide though so plenty of room.

Love both the Murena and the Bagheera lookswise (think the Murena is one of a very few eighties designs which aged rather well) and I also love the M530 although its looks are perhaps more challenging.

They also made the Rancho which has the looks of an SUV without the advantages (they really were far ahead of their time )

 

[homeforsummer]

Hey, not all of North America. In Mexico they were a smashing success and to this day 70s and 80s Renaults (and some 60s too) still prowl our streets regularly, many of them as daily drivers. They have a huge following, everything Renault here is loved. And the brand is doing smashingly well over here with it's new cars, too. Clio Sports are everywhere, and I've seen several Megane Sports spank a GTI or two.

There's barely a time over the last decade and a half in which the top Megane wouldn't spank a GTI of the same time. Ever since the MkIII GTI arrived the equivalent Renault has been rated higher in reviews - R19 16V was better, Megane Coupe 16v was better (Clio Williams engine versus tardy 1980s lump)... brief period when the big-arsed Megane came out with the RS version that the MkV GTI was better, but Renault soon fixed that one too...

Incidentally, I reckon the Espace would have done okay in the U.S, provided they sold one which was reliable enough.

As for the Citroen CX a few posts above, I'd not even slightly call it ugly. Just another in a long line of elegant, brilliantly-designed Citroens.

I love the Murena too.

 

[Liquid]

Re: Matra Murena

Gorgeous car. Not at all ugly in my opinion. Plus Inspector Gadget drove one.

 

[Tornado]

I always thought Inspector Gadget had a Bricklin.




And that Rancho looks pretty cool.

 

[niky]

Are we sure he wasn't driving Wheeljack?

Yeah, yeah... he was a Stratos. But given how bad the art was in some episodes...

 

[Liquid]

Inspector Gadget's artwork was pretty lousy and recycled, but I'm certain that the Gadgetmobile is based on a Murena. It's because of the cartoon that I found out about the actual Matra, and it's a beauty.

 

[homeforsummer]

And that Rancho looks pretty cool.

It's one of the coolest uncool / uncoolest cool cars ever.

 

[Liquid]

Is that Rancho an old Disco with a bit of a fever?

 

[Slash]

2001 Pontiac Grand Am

I'm not a fan of 4 door vehicles, however this car appeals to me in the fact that it's very sporty. It's 3.4L and 3.8L V6 had plenty of get-up-and-go to it as well. 185-210 horsepower. I won't lie, for many years as a kid I really liked this car.

 

[playnthru]

Check out the supercharged version 👍. These cars close to stock, have run deep into the 12s in the 1/4 .

 

[Slash]

I believe it, they are remarkably light for it's size. I know LSx swaps are popular with these.

 

[niky]

Inspector Gadget's artwork was pretty lousy and recycled, but I'm certain that the Gadgetmobile is based on a Murena. It's because of the cartoon that I found out about the actual Matra, and it's a beauty.

I was referring to the artwork in Transformers... (expecting flames)

 

[Liquid]

Transformers is not as good as people say.

Especially these new films.

 

[analog]

Is that Rancho an old Disco with a bit of a fever?

It does look a lot like the first Discovery (only it was launched 12 years earlier!) and it's actually based on the Simca 1100 Fourgonnette (albeit the pick up version) which also shows what a bit of added plastic can do.

 

[Slash]

It does look a lot like the first Discovery (only it was launched 12 years earlier!) and it's actually based on the Simca 1100 Fourgonnette (albeit the pick up version) which also shows what a bit of added plastic can do.

I wonder what the rear of that looks like with the cap off it. I kind of like it. The front looks similar to the Ford Maverick with a Ranger rear end.

 

[analog]

I wonder what the rear of that looks like with the cap off it. I kind of like it. The front looks similar to the Ford Maverick with a Ranger rear end.

 

[Encyclopedia]

I have a toy of one of these. One of alltime favorite toy cars, which you can tell by the condition of it.

Very cool car.