The 305 SBC I recently removed from my Skylark came out of an '85 Pontiac Parisienne wagon. Just a Caprice with different badging and trim, as far as I can tell. Not ugly, though.
I live here, and haven't been able to figure that out with any accuracy either. I did some quick research, (ok google) and found that the auto pact actually began in 1965 and ended in 2001. http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categori...en-route-to-free-trade/the-end-of-an-era.html Those Canadian specific cars and models might have had more to do with tooling and production costs to build the US models up here. That would suggest Canadian government involvement as well, especially if high import taxes and duties were imposed on US models as well as a desire to build up Canadian auto production. Then again, it could be simply a case of our winter climate being so rough on many American cars. :laugh: When I was 17 the parents of a guy I worked with had a 64 Catalina or Bonneville 4 door hardtop with a 421 engine. It was the first such car I had ever seen. They did immigrate from somewhere in America though.
The Parisienne was built on a Chevy chassis, which rendered Pontiac's early to mid 60s "Wide Track" ad slogans all but useless up here. Those cars looked rather silly with the wider body, and wheels/tires tucked in. uzzled: You could get virtually any Chevy engine in them as well. I knew of a few mid to late 60s Pontiac Parisiennes with 396 or 427 engines way back when. Yes, the name returned for a short time in the in 80s. My dad bought one brand new in 1984.
Can imagine that the men in and around Quebec would rather own a Beaumont than a Chev-'elle' :Brow: Although an A-body, not an ugly car; despite the title of this thread: Noticed this one in Medicine Hat, AB couple of years ago:
I actually saw a DKW being raced at the old Ascot Park racetrack outside LA in 1968. It was ugly, but there have been several cars depicted on this thread that were uglier. My initial question was about styling, not the mechanicals. I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the Chrysler Corp Airflow series in the '30's. Personally, I didn't think of them as ugly. Like the Studebakers of the 50s, they were simply too far ahead of their time. I don't have a photo, but the last Packard - which was really a rebadged Studebaker with quad headlights scabbed onto the front was pretty bad.
Interesting article on an unsuspected car that had an immense stylistic influence in the auto industry for many years. http://www.curbsideclassic.com/auto...0-corvair-started-a-global-design-revolution/
Amazing. The Corvair wasn't pretty by any stretch. The last ones weren't bad, but the early ones were revolting as they were dangerous. I'm not surprised the French picked up on it, with those ugly Renaults and Simcas. But then again, the French car industry was in it's final death-throes by then anyway.. My Dad had a 64 Simca as a work-beater. We froze to death in that rattle trap, and it was cheap as it was ugly. It was just an all around POS. Love that promo ad for BMW, I think it was the forerunner to the 2002, the woman in that car looks pretty non-plussed; - in fact she kind of looks embarrassed to be in it; - "Out of all the cars you could have picked me up in, you bring this? Don't think you're getting anything outta me later, buster!"
