Ugly Concept Cars

[capngrog]

A friend emailed me a photo presentation entitled:  "Cars That Never Made It".  While some of the concept cars shown were downright beautiful, some were "so-so", a few were ugly, but this one, the 1958 Ford X-2000 was just plain "butt-ugly"!  What were they thinking?  It looks like a combination of cheap drugs, cheap booze and too many "The Jetsons" re-runs.  Uh, oh, "The Jetsons" didn't debut on TV until 1962 ... never mind.  You know what I mean. 

 

I know that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", but this THING?!  That front end looks like a .... well, I'd better not say, but you can fill in the blanks.

 

I ain't drivin' this one,

Grog

 

 

[CarlLaFong]

The Simpsons cartoonists must have seen this when they designed "The Homer"

 

[whtbaron]

When I was in Grade 6 me and a couple friends were tasked with drawing what we thought the car of the future would look like for a school newspaper. lol... it was almost that ugly and actually somewhat similar in design. That would have been about 1970. I can see the advantages of having a grille you could potentially have sex with though!

[Guest Skyking]

Imagine trying to do bodywork on that!

[Restorer32]

Looks like an Edsel that mated with a Dyson vacuum cleaner.

[capngrog]

 I can see the advantages of having a grille you could potentially have sex with though!

 

LMAO!   Delicately put, sir.  Those were my thoughts, but I couldn't come up with a phrase that would do the design justice.

 

Cheers,

Grog

[Bhigdog]

LMAO!   Delicately put, sir.  Those were my thoughts, but I couldn't come up with a phrase that would do the design justice.

 

Cheers,

Grog

Twat!

[jeff_a]

The  X-2000 is, uhhh, quite the find, Grog. Not sure I'd wanna drive it, either, especially if someone lit up those JATO bottles on the rear fuselage! If it weren't from 1958, I would say it was the bad styling exercise of the year. It does cover a few bases:

• sell it as a Barbie & Ken car --- and a few kids would buy it
• sell it as a scary model kit with a halloween theme ("It Came From 1958!") --- ditto
• it's only a little uglier than the Batmobile --- so someone might buy it at Scottsdale
• if I worked at an automobile design studio, I'd want to have a picture of that on the wall and if someone didn't like my latest drawing I'd point to the X-2000 and say : "Well, it's better than this thing Larry designed and Ford sank a 1/4 million on!"

I don't think it has enough hood scoops.

Edited July 13, 2015 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[whtbaron]

In their defence, cars did become more streamlined in time, so they were on the right track ( more or less, arguably moreso less). The interesting design influence is that windshield. Take a hard look at it and you will see that it has more in common with 90's and newer vehicles than it does with anything that was on the road in the late 50's/ early 60's. lol.... sorry, that was the only good thing I could think to say about it.

Maybe there was another car airbrushed out of the picture, but how does the license plate end up being reflected in the back window?

Edited July 14, 2015 by whtbaron (see edit history)

[Ozstatman]

See this!!!!! ->  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkMdrJx6sQk

[ghostymosty]

Looking closely, I think I see the plate on the rear package shelf causing the reflection in the back glass.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

I don't see head lights. You can see it but it can't see you.

[Ozstatman]

Interesting that in the video, and of course you can believe everything on youtube, there's a statement at about 2'19" that it was only ever a 1/4 scale clay model!

[nick8086]

https://www.google.com/search?q=ugly+concept+cars&biw=1259&bih=824&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMI1Zaa6eXZxgIVjFOSCh0tGwjS#imgrc=TxLCRu0HAgtjWM%3A

 

 

 

Did i see a ford pinto in the pictures...

 

 

 

or

 

http://blog.autoshopper.com/articles/3665/Finally-An-Auto-Auction-Lot-That-Comes-With-A-Lifetime-Mating-Prevention-Guarantee/

Edited July 14, 2015 by nick8086 (see edit history)

[36 D2 Coupe]

Side scoops taken straight off the front fenders of the Hudson Italia - not too original

[8E45E]

#1, That car at the top is NOT ancient!  It is a modern-day iteration of a late '50's/early 60's 'space car'.  Look at the windshield for one.

 

#2, The ugliest 'concept cars' were all those safety-inspired ESV's, from the early 1970's with those big black bumpers, heavy black rub-rails on the sides, and periscope on the roof.  Perhaps the ugliest was British Leyland's with its built-in 'pedestrian-saver' lift-bar on the hood.  Unfortunately, lots of those ugly styling 'features' seen on those ESV's in the name of safety rubbed off onto production cars not long after. 

 

Craig

Edited July 16, 2015 by 8E45E (see edit history)

[John_S_in_Penna]

Craig, you're observant!  I was thinking the same thing.

And the video indicates that this car is indeed

a modern re-creation.  The re-creation takes an odd design

and makes it fatter and malproportioned, taking away

what little grace the original concept had!

 

The windshield appears to be from an early 1970's car.

The sharp creases in the front bumper planes, where they

would normally be more rounded, make the re-creation look

amateurish.  They were probably done that way by

a home craftsman because they were easier to fabricate.

And the video shows the re-creation to have a rear end

lifted from a 1962 Mercury and totally different from the original concept.

 

Does anyone have more knowledge about the TRUE concept car?

Edited July 14, 2015 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

When I was a kid in school I got into the hobby in 1959. I always had an image in my mind of the "future car". I was really surprised when I actually saw it.

 

Bernie

 

 

[danleblanc]

When I was in Grade 6 me and a couple friends were tasked with drawing what we thought the car of the future would look like for a school newspaper. lol... it was almost that ugly and actually somewhat similar in design. That would have been about 1970. I can see the advantages of having a grille you could potentially have sex with though!

Yes, because if you drove that car, nobody else would.

[60FlatTop]

That sex thing was part of the conversation on the Edsel: "Look at those Cadillac bumper guards, we can run with this idea." "Nah, the Caddy got by but I think this is pushing it." Come on, we can play stupid if the media says anything." "If we get this one past it's wide open." "I'm not so sure. I would be as risky as telling them the Falcon on the drawing board can be a sports car." "Well if your think it will sell to some guy who can't understand normal thinkin'".

Bernie

[ScarredKnightfan]

LOL!!!!
 

I've seen this concept a few times before ... & each time, seems I either observe something different ... or get more chuckles out of the conversations that flow from it.  The "sex" line takes the cake ... followed closely by the Dyson-Edsel mating ritual, since it sorta relates.

 

 

Cort www.oldcarsstronghearts.com

1979 & 1989 Caprice Classics | pigValve, paceMaker, cowValve

"Where's the mini skirt made of snake skin?" __ Bowling For Soup __ '1985'

[whtbaron]

If you watch that film clip closely there looks to have been at least one version that didn't have that Edsel like grille, and looked much better. The original windshield was more of a half bubble too.

[Bleach]

I found that the car in the photo is a recreation of the original model. It was made from a 62 Mercury Monterey in the 90's.

What a waste.