Marmite motors: The most divisive car designs ever

One enthusiast’s perfect peach can be another’s rotten apple. Here, we look at five classic designs which divided opinion when new and continue to do so now… Let us know which side of the fence you’re on, as we explore the most divisive car designs ever.

Alfa Romeo SZ

Credit - The Market

With a back catalogue brimming with gorgeous cars, Alfa Romeo stunned, shocked and wowed the world when it introduced the SZ in 1989. There were details in among the Zagato lines that hinted at past classics, but the unrelenting wedge profile was quickly likened to a training shoe. All it was missing were laces up the bonnet.

Time and familiarity have done nothing to soften the aggressive looks of the SZ, which is why those who love it really love it. It’s a car for drivers who don’t care what anyone else thinks, and it could soon leave its detractors trailing behind as the SZ went and handled superbly. Power came from the same Alfa 75 that donated the basic chassis, so there was a 210bhp 3.0-litre V6 up front that delivered 0-60mph in 6.5 seconds and 137mph.

More impressive still was the SZ’s ability in corners, helped by the composite body panels that kept weight down to 1260kg. The result was the SZ could generate 1.1g of cornering force, so it certainly went down the road every bit as well as any of its more conventionally pretty ancestors.

BMW 7 Series

Credit - BMW (GB) Ltd

It would be easy to point a finger at the BMW Z3M Coupe as an example of design from the German firm that has divided opinion. However, no other car in the company’s history has received as much flak as the first Chris Bangle-designed 7 Series. It didn’t help this car’s cause that it followed on from the E38 model that was widely regarded as one of the most handsome, desirable luxury saloons ever made.

The E65 generation of 7 Series arrived in 2001 and stopped onlookers in their tracks with its flame surfacing style and ‘Bangle butt’ rear end treatment. This was necessary to make the boot big enough for several sets of golf clubs, while the sheer presence of this new 7 Series easily made it stand out from its more reserved rivals from Audi, Jaguar, and Mercedes.

The legacy of the E65 7 Series is still visible in BMW designs of today, so there’s no doubt this was a hugely important car for the company regardless of whether you liked the look of it or not. Just as vitally, it also introduced BMW’s iDrive system to the world that was just as divisive in its own way.

Edsel

Credit - Greg Gjerdingen (Flickr)

The Edsel brand burned brightly for two short years in the US as part of the wider Ford empire, acting as a mid-level range of cars to take on Buick and Oldsmobile. With a brief to look modern and daring, Ford carried out a huge amount of market research to define how the Edsel should look. Unfortunately, what the public saw at the 1958 launch was not what they wanted.

The seven model line-up all shared the same quad headlights and upright grille that gave the cars an ‘astonished’ appearance. Even the most ardent Ford buyers were underwhelmed and chose to spend their money elsewhere. The Edsel name, taken from Henry Ford’s son, did not convince and nor did the car’s innovative cabin technology.

After only two years, Ford pulled the plug on the Edsel experiment after selling less than half of the projected volume, but all was not lost. This short-lived range of cars served as a harsh lesson to Ford in how not to approach car design and to listen much more closely to what the public told them.

Ferrari F50

Credit - Ferrari S.p.A.

There will always be a queue of willing buyers for any limited production Ferrari hypercar, but the numbers show the F50 was more of an acquired taste than the F40 that went before. While the F40 ran to 1315 cars in total, making it a runaway success for Ferrari, the F50 shifted a mere 349 over two years.

A lot of this was down the appearance of the F50, which was penned by Pininfarina. Its low, flat nose was not as pretty or chiselled as the F40’s, while the large rear wing that swept up from just behind the doors missed the aggression of its predecessor. Then there was the removable roof panel with nowhere to stow it in the car when it was lifted off, much to the peril of UK customers enjoying topless motoring...

The F50 did hit the spot with its Formula 1-derived 4.7-litre V12 engine with 513bhp. It powered this limited run Ferrari from 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds and on to 202mph – a handy 1mph ahead of the F40. Sensational as all that was, affluent buyers did not flock to the F50, perhaps lured by other temptations such as the McLaren F1 or the Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster that appeared in the same year.

Rolls-Royce Camargue

Credit - Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts Club

Proof that even the most restrained of car companies can split opinion comes in the form of the Rolls-Royce Camargue. It looked like its inspiration was Lady Penelope’s FAB 1 from the Thunderbirds puppet series, though this was as much to do with the famous Rolls grille being canted forwards at a seven-degree angle as the car’s overall appearance.

Such departures from Rolls-Royce norms were a serious shock to the company’s usual clientele, who stayed away from the Camargue and resulted in a mere 531 leaving the Mulliner Park Ward factory where they were assembled on a Silver Shadow platform. It also didn’t help that Rolls offered its two-door Corniche saloon alongside the Camargue that embodied all that was good and elegant about the British firm.

Even now, the Pininfarina-styled Camargue continues to divide onlookers and enthusiasts into two opposing camps. However, it did innovate by being the first Rolls-Royce to come with split-level air conditioning, and it was also the most expensive car on sale in the UK at its launch in 1975 with a list price of £29,250 - when a new Ford Escort cost just £1299.

Over to you… are these divisive designs a hit or miss in your book? Let us know your opinions in the comments.