QOTD: What's the Worst Looking Car From the Year You Were Born?

Corey Lewis
by Corey Lewis

Today’s QOTD idea came about back in the latter half of May, when Matthew Guy pondered the exact opposite of this question. He is very old, and so in his malaise birth year of 1980 Guy pegged BMW’s 6 Series as the best looking car available.

This week, we move things to a more negative light. What was the worst looking car from the year you were born?

Oh, no it’s not that Accord Coupe, which is lovely. Most of you regulars know roughly how old I am, but for the record my birth year is 1986. After the malaise, before the Dream of the Nineties, and right in the midst of mass-market aero (here’s to you, Sable), I’ll be picking from a largely downsized and more-than-ever front-drive selection of vehicles. But which is the worst looking? Which deserves the ugly digital ink?

Ah, here we are. In its last year of production, it’s Chrysler’s Executive limousine. On sale between 1983 and 1986, Chrysler produced 1,493 of the K-car limousines. Styled like the E-Class and New Yorker, the Executive turned up the volume for its elite business customers.

Said customers may have included owners of successful video rental stores, or perhaps outlets selling scratch and dent appliances. The whole idea was sort of off-base and easily forgotten shortly afterward, which is probably for the best.

What are your picks for the worst looking vehicles from the year of your birth?

[Images: YouTube, Chrysler, Honda]

Corey Lewis
Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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  • Lorenzo I just noticed the 1954 Ford Customline V8 has the same exterior dimensions, but better legroom, shoulder room, hip room, a V8 engine, and a trunk lid. It sold, with Fordomatic, for $21,500, inflation adjusted.
  • Lorenzo They won't be sold just in Beverly Hills - there's a Nieman-Marcus in nearly every big city. When they're finally junked, the transfer case will be first to be salvaged, since it'll be unused.
  • Ltcmgm78 Just what we need to do: add more EVs that require a charging station! We own a Volt. We charge at home. We bought the Volt off-lease. We're retired and can do all our daily errands without burning any gasoline. For us this works, but we no longer have a work commute.
  • Michael S6 Given the choice between the Hornet R/T and the Alfa, I'd pick an Uber.
  • Michael S6 Nissan seems to be doing well at the low end of the market with their small cars and cuv. Competitiveness evaporates as you move up to larger size cars and suvs.
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