It has been around 125 years since the world is using automobiles. We have seen pretty interesting, effective, and affordable vehicles since then. Some cars were futuristic, some made to serve specific purposes, and some made marks due to their weirdness. You must have seen a list of the coolest cars ever or the most classic American cars, but how about a list of the weirdest cars you must have seen?
We’ve turned back the pages of the automobile industry to discover the nine weirdest cars of the automobile industry.
Contents
1933 Dymaxion Car
You possibly heard the name of American inventor Buckminister “Bucky” Fuller in your physics class. But the weird car invented by him is not even well known. Fuller wanted a lightweight vehicle that could carry several adults in comfort. The first three Dymaxion Cars were revealed at the Chicago World Fair in 1933, looking like a cross between an aircraft and a car,
What was more unfortunate is that the driver hired to demonstrate the Dymaxion was killed after a politician crashed his car into the Dymaxion. Despite this, Bucky produced two other prototypes that featured two wheels at the front and a third back-mounted wheel used to steer. Due to being extremely unsafe to drive, Fuller crashed his prototype before ending the entire venture several years later.
1953 General Motors Firebird | XP 21
The General Motors Firebird looked like a jet fighter. The prototype’s look was by Harley Earl, one of the automobile industry’s legendary car designers. Apart from Firebird, he created many of General Motor’s attractive models.
1956 BMW Isetta
The “Bubble Car,” designed by an Italian company, was later sold as “BMW Isetta” in 1956. The original Isetta had two wheels in front and two close wheels at the back. But it was not the best feature of Isetta.
There were no side doors on Isetta, and it opens like a refrigerator. The car had a single two-person bench seat. BMW took over the production of Isetta in 1955 and refined the power of the car to a whopping 13 horsepower. Around 161,000 Issetas sold over the car’s production life.
1959 Cadillac Cyclone XP-74
The 1959 Cadillac was another Harley Earl’s iconic design. The car could turn into a convertible by flipping the back of the canopy into the trunk. Cadillac had side doors instead of traditional ones. However, the vehicle lacked roll-down windows. General Motors engineers provided an intercom to talk with people outside the car to beat the problem.
Though the car never made it to production, its features are still in many vehicles. The cyclone had a radar system that scanned the road ahead and alerted the drivers about things in front of the car. Till today, cars have forward-collision warnings and automatic emergency braking systems to do the same for drivers.
1962 Peel P50
You’ll be surprised to know the 1962 Peel P50 was the smallest production car in the world. The car is just 54 inches long and 41 inches wide. Peel built around 50 vehicles, but only 27 are still known to exist. It has a room for only one person with a bit of space left for groceries or other stuff.
The car has one headlight, a single door, and one wiper. The original Peel was sold at an auction in Florida for 176,000 dollars. Presently Peel builds a replica of the Peel P50, which you can buy assembled or as a kit.
1970 Chapparal 2J
Jim Hall was an engineer and racer who pioneered aerodynamics in many motorsports and adjustable wings. Halls created many cars under the Chapparal name. While there were many great Chapparal race cars, the most interesting, or weird, was the 2J. The vehicle had plastic rear side skirts that kept a constant 1-inch gap to the ground. This created around 2,200 pounds of downforce on the 2J’s back end.
The car soon came to be known as the sucker car and was quite revolutionary at the time. Though 2J proved to be very quick and outshined every other racing car at Laguna Seca by a wide margin, the car’s fan system would suck up all the foreign objects. The feature resulted in self-destruction, and the 2J was banned from the competition.
Vision Mercedes Simplex
The car’s shape resembles the 1901 race car that first carried the Mercedes name but upgraded with today’s material and technology. The correct information is on display on the right side, e.g., speed, navigation instructions, or vehicle information. The rest of the data is on the instrument panel, which depends on the situation.
1974 Vanguard Sebring Citicar
Electric cars were quite common during the 20th century, and in 1975, Vanguard Sebring Citicar hit the US roads. The Citicar was horrible if we compare it with today’s standards as it could only touch 40 mph.
However, buyers who waited for a little extra got more effective performance. The car’s motor saw an increase to six horsepower, and the top speed touched 45 mph.
1999 Fiat Multipla
The car is by far considered one of the ugliest cars ever built. The design wasn’t bad enough that the designers decided to stuff the front-end with randomly placed headlights.
The Multipla was a six-seater with three in the front row and three in the back. The ugliest of the Multipla’s lasted till a 2004 redesign. Then the 2005-2013 SsangYong Rodius took the title of the ugliest car ever made.
The Bottom Line
The history of the automobile industry is stuffed with bold attempts to create different vehicles that perform extraordinarily. Though sometimes, the combination doesn’t end up well, and maybe that’s why this list could become possible.
