Why we’re thankful for “ugly” cars

It's almost rote, this pattern that flows from the posting of a list like this one at Edmunds claiming to rank the 100 ugliest cars ever. The writer makes a play for attention that's both naked and respected (especially the ranking of the Lamborghini Veneno atop the countdown) while enthusiasts shred the work like Rottweilers tussling over beef-scented pashmina. I disagree with a majority of it, but despite the danger of encouraging such things, it's worth a moment to talk about the bigger point stories like this raise: Without "ugly" cars, there'd be no beautiful ones.

Take the car above, the Tatra T603, the 1956 edition of which comes in 15th by Edmunds' rankings. Built behind the Iron Curtain by Czechoslovakian engineers, the 603 was the ride of choice for people with connections, still known in parts of the world as "the Communist Party's finest car." Unlike much Soviet bloc engineering, Tatra had talent on hand, and its rear-mounted, air-cooled V-8 was known for reliability, and stayed in production through 1975.