You want to see a seriously ugly ride?

I nominate the new Subaru B9 Tribeca SUV. "B9" it is not. Malignant is more like it.

but then in my opinion it's perhaps the ugliest car in a world of ugly cars. I find almost every car I see now to be extremely unattractive. I used to think that some of the so-called "land yachts" of the muscle car era were ugly, like this 1971 Buick Riviera "Boat Tail" model:



Now, I actually think it looks nice compared to the rounded-edged egg-like cars I see on the road. I hate the look of plastic bumper skirts that cover the lower front and back of cars instead of chrome. But I guess I'm completely out of step with the modern American consumer. I even hate the smell of new cars, with plastic, rubber, and vinyl. I love the smell of leather, old wood, metal, natural fibers, oil and gas of, for example, old British sports cars in the golden age of cars.

At least they look like Buicks, and they're a lot prettier than most of the GM products of the past 25 years.

The new Subaru, on the other hand, looks like GM brought in an ALFA Romeo designer (which it apparently did) and told it to design a goofy station wagon on steroids that evokes the old SAAB cars from the 1950s.

(Subaru is part-owned by GM, and ALFA was part of GM's now-aborted takeover of FIAT. SAAB is wholly owned by the General.)

U-G-L-Y - there ain't no alibi, that's ugly! The rest is ok, but the front is just ugly.

Yep, this is Fuji Heavy Industries' new front end for the Subaru. Of course, the good news is that when Subie starts racking up an Edsel-style sales curve as a result of this uglyass sucked-lemon grille tacked onto its entire product line, they'll start hiring designers who aren't peaking on acid.

The WRX/Impreza isn't quite as weird looking as that B9 Tribeca, though. The Tribeca looks like something that would trigger frantic calls to the Science Patrol in the old Ultraman series: "Science Patrol! Science Patrol! There is a high level of radioactivity being detected in Narita Harbor of Tokyo! There is strange monster activity! A giant beetle-like monster has destroyed the airport and is headed for Yokohama!"

"Using the Beta Capsule, Haiyata ... becomes ... ULTRAMAN!"

The front-end is ridiculous and getting more polarizing. Wish they'd smooth it out just a bit. Although I wouldn't buy one, the new Evo-X looks astounding compared to the WRX. When it comes down to it though, I'd rather drive the WRX STi.

unfortunately, that will be subaru's design cue for the coming years

i've got news for auto designers: "New" doesn't always mean "Better!!" (see BMW)

Not that I'd drive one, because nothing telegraphs "Look at me! I'm a Republican fuckstick!" like a new Bimmer—unless you're talking Hummer.

The new Subies, though, look like 1950s-early 1960s SAABs, back when SAABs were made by a Swedish planebuilder (SAAB is an acronym for Svenska Aeroplan AktieBolaget, or Swedish Aircraft Company). Perhaps the Fuji Heavy Industries designers took their cues from SAAB; I've read that the new Subaru front ends are supposed to evoke Fuji's history as an airplan manufacturer.

What usually happens in this case is that the market decides, and after a dramatic drop-off in sales, a massive redesign follows shortly thereafter. Too bad Subaru doesn't hire a good designer, like the Japanese guy who's revamped the entire Nissan and Infiniti product lines. (Yeah, a few of those designs are Subaru-ugly, like the Nissan Murano and its Infiniti counterpart. But most of those cars are quite pretty, and Nissan's surge in sales is a direct result.)

Maybe we should start a thread on automobile design? Hmmm ...

Neck-deep in that river in Egypt.

that's nothing in the ugly department compared to the Scion xB:

Bad, bad inspiration for modern-day design.

Read this hilarious review of the B9:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/content/11236156021648489006/index.php

Guess we should start a pool on when Subaru comes up with a new front end design for its cars, to replace this Edsel misfire.

In Autoweek:

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=103323

Fizzled Alliance: Deal to sell Subaru stake puts $302 million in GM's bank account, spells end for Saab 9-6X

The punchline? GM bails, Toyota buys in. Now Toyota is Subaru's parent corp's largest shareholder.

few model years.

have got cars that shape in the UK. The diesel versions do over 50mpg to an english imperial gallon - some do well over 60mpg. People who buy them need fuel economy amongst other things.

Next comment..... before someone else bellyaches about the patheticly low price of fuel your side......

butt ugly is a bit harsh. What kind of milage does it get?