Nobody likes an ugly sports car, yet sadly that doesn't stop even the brightest minds in the automotive world from producing such monstrosities.
We all think sports cars should be sleek and beautiful machines, but as this list will prove, there are some that do not pass the vibe test and that we'd much rather not exist at all.
Get ready to see just how ugly a sports car can be.
Covini C6W
Italian manufacturer Covini Engineering thought the world needed a six-wheeled sports car, and its design was inspired by the 1976 Tyrrell P34 F1 car. So they dreamt up the C6W, a sports car with Audi's 42.-liter V8 under the hood producing 430 hp.
While that sounded like an intriguing combination, the sheer ugliness of the C6W meant that the company only ever made a handful of cars. Produced from 2004 to 2016, Covini only made around 6-8 a year as they struggled to find buyers interested in a six-wheeled supercar. It didn't help that the unusual creation had an asking price of over $500,000 when new.
1988 Consulier GTP Series 1
Like race cars and supercars, sports cars have to have some aerodynamic properties. This isn't just for speed but for general performance and efficiency. Yet the designers of the Consulier GTP Series 1 didn't get the memo when it came to aerodynamics and elegant-looking cars.
Hedge fund manager Warren Mosler wanted to create an awkward-looking race car, so he made the GTP Series 1. Ironically, the GTP was fast with a 204 hp 2.4-liter turbocharged inline-four under the hood. But Mosler offered $25,000 to anyone who could beat the fastest lap time set by the GTP. Car and Driver duly beat the GTP with a 1991 Chevrolet Corvette, reinforcing the point that awkward-looking race cars aren't that fast.
Weber Faster One
Following the success of the incredible Bugatti Veyron, Swiss carmaker Weber wanted to one-up the French brand. So they came up with the Weber Faster One, or F1, with a twin-supercharged 7.0-liter V8 under the hood producing 890 hp. They made it as fast as the Veyron, with a 0-60 mph time of just 2.5 seconds and a 248 mph top speed.
However, the Weber One was much uglier than the Bugatti, with some of any sports car's strangest lines and proportions. When unveiled in 2008, the audience reaction wasn't overly positive, and it quickly vanished from the performance car scene. Yet it somehow appeared again in 2013, with Weber now placing a massive V10 engine under the hood of their monster.
Mitsuoka Orochi
Japanese manufacturer Mitusoka claimed that the Orochi was a supercar. This was backed up by Orochi's use of the same platform as the legendary Honda NSX. Unfortunately, the Orochi was not only a terrible car to look at but also a terrible car to drive.
Under the hood, the Orochi only had a 3.3-liter Toyota 3MZ-FE V6 that produced 213 hp. It's much less than the power on offer from any iteration of the Honda NSX. Unsurprisingly, the awkward styling further hurt the appeal of the Orochi, and even if Mitsuoka had made the car produce 1,000 hp, it would unlikely have improved sales. Few vehicles can claim to be as ugly as the horrible Orochi.
Chevrolet SSR
The Chevrolet SSR is an unusual mix of a sports car with a pickup truck and a convertible. In the mid-2000s, Chevrolet decided we all wanted a pickup truck with sports car credentials, a folding roof, and a retro design. Enter the SSR, which made its debut with a 300 hp 5.3-liter Cortec V8 under the hood, and it did indeed have a folding roof.
However, the heavy SSR wasn't powerful enough, so Chevrolet added the 6.0-liter 390 hp LS2 engine in 2005. This still wasn't enough for the pickup, thanks to the added weight from the folding roof, and its usability as a pickup was diminished thanks to its short bed. The SSR was a great concept, but Chevrolet's execution could have been better.
Lamborghini Veneno
It isn't often that Lamborghini's designs go wrong. But sometimes, the Italian manufacturer is too outlandish for its good. That was the case with the Veneno, a wild-looking car that followed on from the gorgeous Miura, Countach, and Diablos of the past. It had a 740 hp 6.5-liter V12 under the hood and could go from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds.
Yet this was a case when Lamborghini badly got its design wrong. The angles and lines were all over the place, and a horrible mismatch of ideas blended into one. As far as Lamborghini's go, the Veneno was one of the worst, and it's little wonder that the car never made it into full-scale production.
1998 BMW M Coupé
BMW has designed some real duds over the last few years. But it did this in the late 1990s, so ugly BMWs are nothing new. In 1998, BMW launched the M Coupe, which looks like something made by an off-brand version of the German manufacturer and is a mix between a classic Jaguar and a late 1970s Honda Civic.
It did have a respectable performance. Under the hood was a 3.2-liter inline-six engine, producing 315 hp and 251 lb-ft of torque. This was good enough for 155 mph and a 0-60 mph time of just 4.7 seconds. As you would expect, this unusual creation has largely been forgotten, although it is a reminder that BMW has form when it comes to ugly cars.
Marcos Mantis
In the 1970s, plenty of smaller manufacturers took up the challenge of creating a sports car to rival the big names. British manufacturer Marcos Engineering was one of them, coming up with the Mantus M70 sports car in the early 1970s. Marcos probably hoped it would look like a Lamborghini Miura, but instead, they produced one of the oddest-looking performance vehicles in history.
Ugly would be too harsh a word, but odd suits the Mantis perfectly. Thankfully, Marcos would only build 32 M70s, making them exceptionally rare. Even by 1970s standards, it wasn't that fast, with its Triumph-sourced 2.5-liter inline-six producing 150 hp for a top speed of 125 mph.
Jensen S-V8
British manufacturer Jensen's most outstanding achievement is possibly the Interceptor, a British sports car with all the credentials of an American muscle car. Yet that same manufacturer built the horrible Jensen S-V8, an awkwardly looking sports car that cost over $40,000 when it launched in the late 1990s.
Jensen intended to build 300 S-V8s, yet it received orders for just 110. However, the British company couldn't fulfill those orders, with 20 complete and 18 partially built before Jensen went bankrupt in 2002. If it wasn't the high price tag that put off buyers, it was almost certainly the horrible design.
Studebaker Avanti
The Studebaker Avanti was created in the 1960s when many manufacturers were experimenting with automotive design and pushing the boundaries of what was possible. The Avanti had some exciting features, such as its curved side glass, off-center power dome on the hood, and jacked-up rear end.
However, the combination of all those produced an awkward-looking sports car that didn't look like a sports car. The public felt the same way as this strange-looking car was in production for just one year, from 1963 to 1964. Studebaker didn't take long to follow the Avanti either, with the company collapsing just a few years later and closing for good.
BMW M8
Something more modern, the BMW M8 is one of the current staples of the BMW range, with its 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 under the hood producing 617 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. So, on paper, this sports coupe is an exciting and powerful car, yet it isn't as good as you might think
The BMW M8 isn't the smoothest to ride in thanks to its stiff suspension, and that will limit how far you wish to drive it. Plus, it is costly, with an asking price of $136,800. Yet, while the M8 isn't ugly per se, it's not a particularly ‘out there' looking sports car, and you probably wouldn't give it a second glance if you passed one in the street.
Jetstream SC250
Of all the sports cars on this list, the Jetstream SC250 is probably the ugliest. It became well known after briefly appearing in the news segment of BBC Top Gear, and while it looks like a 1960s creation, it was built by a British company in 2008.
Yet despite its shed-like design, the SC250 was no slouch. Under the hood, it had a 250 hp turbocharged 2.0-liter engine powering it, with a claimed 0-60 mph time of just four seconds and a 165 mph top speed. Needless to say, the ugly design of the SC250 didn't endure it to many buyers, and it has since faded into history.
Caparo T1
Rarely does a manufacturer that tries to create a race car for the road do so successfully. Caparo Vehicle Technologies wanted to develop a road-going Formula 1 car and look as close to an F1 car as possible. The striking T1 is the product of that thought, and it did meet all the requirements needed to become road-legal.
Yet it looked nothing like an F1 car and had some of the most hideous proportions of any modern sports car. While it had a detuned 3.5-liter IndyCar V8 under the hood, producing 375 hp, there were few places where the Driver could use that power. So, while you can create an F1 car for the road, the Caparo T1 proves that it doesn't mean you should.
