I haven’t seen the South African Marauder SUV yet, but it sounds like it’s a regular tank on wheels. I guess something we have over on this side of the pond that’s of similar size is a customized Ford Excursion body mounted on a medium-duty F-650 truck platform, duallies and all; I’ve seen pics of these crazy customizations, owned by people with plenty of dough in their accounts; having one of those would cost at least as much as a new double-sleeper, long-nose Peterbilt semi-tractor.
As for the Nissan Juke, the picture provided by bscar looks identical (same color too) to the one that one of my neighbors has. I think it kinda looks like a somewhat oversize bumper car; all that’s missing is the long vertical pole attached to the back end, with a flexible metal strip attached to the top for making contact with an overhead wire grid.
And, the AMC Pacer, the inverted fish bowl, was hideous. I also think the Toyota Prius and the Smart-for-Two are ugly and lacking in style; wouldn’t be caught dead in either one. :-))
I like cars that are different, but have a functional design. I think that the Scion Xd, the Nissan Cube, and the Honda Pilot have a good design for the function of carrying bulky objects with a smaller sized vehicle. From the time I first saw them when I was in elementary school, I liked the Nash AirFlyte. I later learned that it had less wind resistance to any U.S. car produced at the time. Many peoploe referred to the styling of these cars as the “inverted bathtub” look. Yet this design really had a purpose. I owned an AMC Pacer. The car was a very functional hatchback with excellent vision for the driver. With its right hand door longer than the left, it made for easier entry to the back seat.
I think that some of the truly ugly cars were produced in 1959. The G.M. cars, as I stated in an earlier post, had uncomfortable seating. The 4 door hardtop models had rear windows that looked like the observation car on a passenger train. The 1959 Chrsysler products took the non-functional design of the 1957 line that at least had some integrity in the styling and made them ugly.
I know that the 1947 Studebaker has been noted for starting a stying trend. I think that the 1946 Jeep Station wagon should have received a design award for its functional design.
The Thing seems to have been a practical vehicle. And they seem to have acquired quite a following over the years. Their greatest shortcoming in my opinion was roll over protection.
MikeInNH
I’m sorry…but the AMC PACER (aka Fish Bowl) is still the ugliest…At least according to me…It’s just plain UUUUGGGGGLLLLLYYYYY…
We always called them terrariums since only a blooming idiot would drive one. No offense to any former pacer owners, I was young and wild then. It was supposed to have a GM rotary engine but would not pass emissions so it got the 258 str 6.
I still remember the commercial showing a large sub sandwich being built across its width
The Marauder makes the H3 look like an econobox. Unless I missed it, I don’t remember anything being mentioned about fuel mileage although I guess if one has 500k pounds to shell out for one of these things the price of fuel is irrelevant.
A friend was given a Pacer as a graduation gift by her father and for her it unfortunately lasted F-O-R-E-V-E-R. She finally told her father that it was on its last legs and sold it but it was on the road for several more years to her disgust.
The Pacer is ugly no doubt about it but was a pretty decent and functional car. A local woman who is now deceased owned 2 of those things. She owned a couple of small businesses with one of them being an antique shop. The Pacer was used as an errand runner and for ferrying around various antiques and collectibles.
The Pacers and the Gremlins are actually becoming somewhat collectible. Who would have ever dreamed of that happening.
To the list of SUV oddities, we can add the stillborn Studebaker XUV.
This vehicle, of which a couple of prototypes were made by Avanti Motors of Georgia, did not actually go into production. These prototypes were displayed at some auto shows in the 2003-05 period.
For those who lusted after Hummers, this might have presented a decent alternative. Power was supplied by a Ford V-10 gas engine or a large Ford Powerstroke Diesel.
