In the modern world, a car is both a comfortable vehicle and an indicator of a person’s style. There are cars that are hard to look away from – they have great design, but there are also strange cars. The auto industry is trying to add zest to each car so that it differs from others.
Liga.Tech made a selection of American and European cars that may surprise you with an atypical look. These are unusual experiments in relatively modern cars and replicas of historical cars.
Ferrari Superamerica 410 Ghia (1955-1959) – American Ferrari
The Ferrari brand is one of the most famous in the world. Many models of this brand can be called masterpieces of automotive design. But the Superamerica 410 Ghia is not one of them. Italian designers Ghia took charge of the car’s exterior, while Ferrari simply provided the chassis and internal components.
Ghia has created a lot of interesting cars over the years, so it’s surprising that they did such a bad job with the 410. It looks like a bad copy of American design. But the technical characteristics of the model are really impressive.
- Maximum speed: 217 km/h.
- Acceleration to 100 km / h: 6.2 s.
- Engine power: 340 horsepower.
- Engine size: 4963 cu. cm.
- Vehicle weight: 1200 kg.
In the 50s and 60s, the top of the Ferrari lineup was the America model, and as the name suggests, it was aimed at overseas customers.
Morgan 3-Wheeler (2011-2021) – three-wheeled roadster
The three-wheeled “Morgan” is a two-seat three-wheeled car produced from 2011 to 2021 by a small English company Morgan Motor Company.
Morgan Motor Company is a small company with about 220 people who manually assemble 850 cars a year. This is an attempt to revive the classic three-wheeled Morgans, the first of which appeared 110 years ago and were produced for 40 years. The motto under which it was created: “No frills – only thrills.”
The roadster is made in the style of vehicles of the 1920s, weighs only 525 kg, the engine is 83 horsepower and 140 Nm of torque. As a result, it has good dynamics: the tricycle accelerates to 100 km/h in 6 seconds.
Pontiac Aztek (2001-2005) – “decay and hopelessness”
Shown in 1999, the mid-size concept crossover, oddly enough, received a lot of positive feedback from the public and the press. However, everything changed when the novelty changed its status from “prototype” to “production model”.
The official advertising slogan of the manufacturer, which called the novelty “the most multifunctional car in the world” was popularly replaced by “the ugliest car of all time”: in a variety of ratings compiled by automotive publications over the years, the SUV consistently ranked in the top ten least attractive cars in the world.
Pontiac Aztec became the car of the main character of the most popular series Breaking Bad (“Breaking Bad”). This car, according to the director’s intention, symbolized “decay and hopelessness.”
There were predictions that “Aztec” with its appearance will finally “bury” the Pontiac company, which experienced serious financial difficulties in those years. But the actual sales of the crossover turned out to be several times lower than expected by General Motors: the concern expected to sell 75,000 Aztecs annually, but in the most successful year for the 2002 model, only 27,700 copies were sold, and after another three years, sales fell by Five times. As a result, Pontiac stopped making cars in 2009 and closed.
Fiat Multipla with small eyes (2001-2004)
No less unflattering reviews than the Aztec received the first generation Fiat Multipla compact van. A prototype model by Chris Bengle was shown at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1996. The serial version went on sale two years later. The novelty has retained all the key features of the concept, including the atypical look of the dual headlights, the amazing two-volume body and the dashboard, which is located to the right of the steering wheel.
The landing formula of the compact van also turned out to be non-standard – a short and wide car had three seats in the first and second row, which was an innovation for cars in this segment in the late 90s. Sales of the Multipla did not reach the desired level – the model was in steady demand only in its native Italy. In 2004, it was replaced by a second-generation compact van, which received a more traditional appearance – the Italians did not dare to risk more.
Messerschmitt KR200 for one (1952-1964)
Oddly enough, this prototype car was able to get into serial production. This is a three-wheeled microcar KR200 from the aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt.
The Messerschmitt brand is better known as a German aircraft manufacturer. The name Kabinenroller translates to “cab scooter” and was designed by aeronautical engineer Fritz Fend after the company was banned from making aircraft.
The KR200 was sold during the post-war recession in Germany. Already in the first year of production, the model was sold in the amount of 12,000 copies.
The Messerschmitt KR200 was equipped with a 10-horsepower two-stroke engine, which provides a light microcar with a maximum speed of 90 kilometers per hour. The model had several modifications, including a version with a complex soft top.
Although production was discontinued in 1964 when demand for the tiny fuel-efficient cars dwindled, their popularity among collectors grew steadily due to their atypical appearance and place in history.
BMW Isetta 300 (1955-1962) – the atypical baby who saved BMW
In the early 50s, the owner of the motorcycle company Iso Renzo Rivolta (R. Rivolta), together with the Italian aeronautical engineer E. Preti (E. Preti), created a small and economical two-seater car that helped the company go through times of crisis.
The BMW Isetta is a compromise between a car and a motorcycle with an original body structure. It was possible to get into the car only through a single door, which at the same time was the front of the car.
The car is equipped with a 1-cylinder 4-stroke engine (from the R25 motorcycle) with air cooling (245 cc, 12 horsepower) fuel consumption of 3.5 liters and a top speed of 85 km/h. The car weighed only 360 kg, was quite cheap and was very popular as a city car. The Germans readily accepted the model and snapped up more than 200,000 cars made between 1955 and 1962. BMW Isetta 250/300 was popular not only in Europe but also in the USA.
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