Published: July 19, 2018, 10:30 PM
Updated: October 11, 2021, 10:20 AM
Happy Ugly Truck Day!
Initially a car-meet-like contest of the wildest, most ungainly truck modifications, Ugly Truck Day (celebrated annually on July 20) has come to be seen as a chance to ridicule some of the worst pickup, SUV and van designs in autodom. We’ll refrain from calling designs such as this Ford Ranger II concept pickup ugly, though, since beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Instead, what follows are 20 of the oddest “trucks” we’ve come across.
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If it looks like a truck, it must be a truck
Widely regarded as the ugliest pickup ever made, the Chevrolet SSR (for Super Sport Roadster) shares less with Chevy’s much-praised Silverado than it does with the mid-sized TrailBlazer SUV, from which the SSR-architecture was adapted at the turn of the century. And although it drew inspiration from Chevy pickups of the 1950s, the retractable hardtop and small-block V-8 make it more of a Corvette attraction than a pickup anomaly.
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Swimming against the current
Maybe the reason the SSR is looked-down-on is that its retro-look reminded people of the first-generation C/K full-sized pickup (Chevrolet and GMC), even though those came in after the Advance Design trucks that inspired SSR. The first-generation C/Ks were commonly derided for their hunchback looks, exacerbated by low-mounted headlights, eyebrow vent/turn-signals, high beltlines, top-hat-looking cabin and small wheels. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Mick)
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Cab-forward, unibody oddness
In all fairness to the C/K pickups, it’s the benefit of hindsight that makes people consider designs of that time ugly, since they were very much in keeping with the infancy of the passenger-truck era developing through the 1960s. Many pickups at the time were being developed from other designs, such as the Dodge A100 that looked like a typical understated van with the engine located between the driver and front passenger, but took on a polarizing look when the 1-box cabin was modified to accommodate a pickup cab/bed combo.
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When cars beget vans that beget pickups
And Dodge was by no means the only carmaker of the time turning their passenger vehicles into pickups. Even though it had perfectly good pickups at the time, Ford still decided to turn its Econoline van into a pickup, creating this 1-year model that was quickly taken out of production when sales projected to outdo those of the van accounted for just 10% of the mix at the dealership. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/dave_7)
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Stubby departure from Jeep classic
The Jeep hasn’t changed much in looks for over 70 years, but when Willys wanted to provide some fresh styling for its signature compact products in the 1950s, it created a series of utility trucks with the look of the larger trucks at the time, putting the driver and passenger over the engine. The FC series of trucks (for Forward Control) featured a wheelbase that was practically the entire length of the truck, allowing it to reportedly climb abnormally steep grades, but making it look like it would do a face-plant under heavy braking. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/CZmarlin)
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When a perfectly good pickup is not good enough
And if you are thinking that at least General Motors had the common-sense to keep their pickups separate from their passenger car business, we’ll bring up the Chevrolet Corvair Rampside Pickup (yes, based on that Corvair). This odd pickup got even odder, with the inclusion of a bed sidewall that flipped down for loading and unloading, and a horizontally-opposed 6-cylinder engine located at the rear axle.
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Selling the pickup lifestyle
At least the van-based pickups were more truck-like than some of the passenger car coupe/pickups like the Chevy El Camino and Ford Ranchero, and later the Subaru BRAT and Dodge Rampage. The BRAT actually took the pickup “lifestyle” to heart, equipping the bed with rear-facing sport seats, though they were primarily included to avoid paying a 25%-tariff on imported “trucks,” even though there was very little “truck” in the BRAT (which reportedly stood for Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter).
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Giving the compact sedan truck versatility
But you have to hand it to the El Camino and the BRAT for their sporty coupe-like looks, whereas the Nissan XIX (pronounced kicks, like the name of the new Nissan compact crossover) looked like a Sentra with an elongated trunk (because that was basically what it was), except that it had a tailgate that facilitated loading and allowed the carrying of longer items and it featured a trunk sub-lid that could be removed to facilitate carrying tall items. Four wheel drive and rugged body panels added the illusion of toughness but there's apparently a price to pay for all that versatility … looks.
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Size doesn’t matter when it comes to oddities
Theoretically, this is more a motorcycle than a light truck, but this is what local-use commercial vehicles were like in many of the world’s urban areas through the 1960s and well into the 1970s. Although it was a tight squeeze for more than one and couldn’t carry much more than standard-size home refrigerator, it did have a fully enclosed cabin and steering wheel, which was more than motorcycle/pickups at the time. Its looks are inherent in the function of the vehicle, but that doesn’t make it any less odd. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Taysio)
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Promoting the roadster pickup
“Trucks” like the Chev SSR and Subaru BRAT at least added a bit of utility in their bodystyles, but the same can’t be said for the Suzuki X-90, which was about as close to a roadster as you could get in a utility vehicle — two seats, open cabin, very little trunk room. Available in rear-wheel or 4-wheel drive, it does hold the distinction of being Red Bull’s first promotional vehicle when it launched in North America. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/AKO)
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Looking like a bubble-wrapped SUV
When Isuzu started enjoying success in North America, it did it mostly on the backs of traditional SUVs such as the Trooper and Rodeo. Attempting to appeal to a younger audience, the company created the VehiCROSS, a sport-utility designed to be lightweight, tough, environmentally conscious, and fun, but the market was moving toward 4-door wagons and Isuzu intentionally limited production, so the curvy VehiCROSS, with "rugged" cues such as plastic lower body and rippled doors. maybe didn’t convey the desired image to its intended audience. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Mad_)
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Stepping away from the mainstream
The Pontiac Aztek was meant to achieve two ends — shed the General Motors image of making overly-conservative (read, boring) vehicles; and promote an active, adventurous lifestyle. The company was emboldened by the auto-show reception of the concept, and inked a contract with the premiering Survivor television show. Survivor went on to become an unparalleled success; Aztek became one of the most ridiculed vehicles of all time, although its quirkiness did earn it a loyal cult following, mostly among European-descended outdoor recreationalists.
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Military grade power to the people
The hot utility market may be top of mind today, but it started heating up around the end of the 1980s. Many companies jumped on the utility bandwagon, including supercar maker Lamborghini, which long before the Urus was a gleam in a designer’s eye, marketed the Countach-based LM002 that used the Countach’s mid-mounted V-12 up front, under the hood. The concept was initially presented for military applications but found a consumer base. It ceased production in 1993, about the same time that the Hummer H1 started its production run.
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Military might from the maker of cute city cars
If you think of Fiat as the maker of cute little city runabouts, then the Oltre will come as a surprise (if not a shock) as the concept is none of those things. Introduced in 2005 at the Bologna Motor Show, Oltre is nearly five metres in length, stands over two metres tall, and weighs in at four tonnes, thanks to all the armour bolted onto the tubular steel structure that doubles as a roll-cage. The vehicle is nearly indestructible, which suits its military customers quite well.
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Thoroughly futuristic retro pickup
If you really want to find odd trucks, though, you have to look at concepts, and there’s probably none so boldly creative and oddball as Swiss “imagineer” Rinspeed, which every year creates one vehicle to show off at its domestic auto show in Geneva. Around the turn of the millennium, it created the retro-inspired Tatooo.com (the first vehicle named after its own website) as a combination of body-art with the three 0s of the final year of the century. Among notable features are an electric lift to aid in loading up the bed, and a personal underwater moto-scooter with an air-bubble so users don’t have to wear scuba gear.
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Backwards thinking as future vision
So remember when the Detroit Big 3 were experimenting changing their vans into pickups? Around the same time, they started visualizing what those vehicles would look like 20-or-so years into the future, and came up with some even odder vehicles, like the Dodge Deora. Based on the A100, the Deora featured a face from the rear hatch of a 1960 Ford wagon. The vehicle didn’t have doors and cabin access was gained, you guessed it, through the front windshield/hatchgate. To facilitate this, the engine was moved out from under the cabin and into the bed, where it was covered by a tonneau to make it unobtrusive at tailgate parties, we guess.
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Exploring SUV possibilities
Twenty years before the Explorer sport-utility went into production, Ford showed off a concept based on the styling direction of the Econoline truck, envisioning a go-anywhere vehicle to take families on adventures. It was more pickup than the wagon style we’ve come to associate with Explorer but it did have some nifty features, including a tent that popped up out of the truck bed, and a fitting of a V-8 to appease Econoline customers who complained of lack of towing power. Regardless of what promises it held, buyers still couldn’t get over the looks and the concept never made it past one season of auto shows.
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When aerodynamics rule the roost
Remember those “Dustbuster” minivans General Motors marketed in the 1990s (Chev Lumina APV, Oldsmobile Silhouette, Pontiac Montana)? A lot of people thought they were ugly, so we don’t know why GMC decided to copy their front end looks for its Centaur pickup concept. The concept was not actually based on the minivans, but on the compact S-15 pickup, and though it had all the hallmarks of what make a pickup a desirable family vehicle — extended cabin to provide room for four or five, nice big bed to carry all sorts of stuff — people couldn’t really get over the overall profile.
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So much inspiration; so little execution
Ten years ago when Toyota was exploring the possibilities of its compact pickup, it came up with the unibody, armour-like A-BAT concept, a California-designed hybrid pickup mean to appeal to everyday use as well as the occasional chores of carrying home-improvement supplies or recreational equipment. It sort of looks like a Prius sitting on an elevated platform, which isn’t surprising seeing as designers “studied the ‘trapezoid’ silhouette from the side profile of the Toyota Prius and applied it to create an entirely new truck image.”
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Aiding recovery from the war
German maker Tempo created two consumer vehicles as the country came out of World War II — the 3-wheeled Hanseat and the 4-wheeled Matador — in addition to the military vehicles in made for post-war use, such as border patrols. Both the Hanseat and Matador were compact in size and meant to handle the everyday delivery and service duties in an urban setting. Like most trucks of the time, the Matador featured a Cab Forward design, and came in various configurations — pickup, panel van and passenger bus, to name a few. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Andrew Bone)
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