In 1991, Homer Simpson learned he had a half-brother who ran a car company. The company wasn’t doing great, so they put Homer in charge of building the kind of car that he’d like to have himself. The result was “the Homer”, a freakshow on wheels that in 1991, would cost $82,000 dollars. As a result, the company went below the waves and the half-brother’s company got scooped up by the Japanese. One bad design can kick a manufacturer square in the kids and if not straight-up kill them off, cripple them badly and give them a reputation that will haunt them for years to come. Ford’s Edsel marque, Chrysler’s many near-death experiences, AMC’s 1970s oddballs…think about it. Remember the impression that Renault made when they started pumping their cars into the market in the early 1980s?
Pontiac died because Buick sold well in China, but the Aztek certainly had something to do with it. Built on a shrunken U-body platform (read: dustbuster vans), and wearing more body cladding than the remainder of Pontiac’s 2000’s lineup, the actual production vehicle was an instant bad taste…like when you burp and your dinner wants a round two fight with your taste buds. Compared with the 1999 concept version, which was supposed to be the love child of an S-truck and a GTO, the production Aztek was a horror show of blandness. Not that the concept was a looker, but compared to production, it was palatable.
The Aztek’s ugly-as-a-man’s-ass looks have earned it a lifetime achievement award of infamy. It is a benchmark of bad taste, proof that design by committee can really screw up when called upon. But can the design be saved? Unless you count the one that was rendered to be a CUV version of a late 1970s Trans Am, the answer is…well, let’s see what Foose can do before making a judgement, ok?
Extensive work involved to make this concept a reality, then in the end you wind up with a custom Aztec? I’d like to have the money to have Chip do some conceptual drawings on my truck, that he would have charged to do the work on that polished turd of a Pancho…
I remember the Aztec’s debut at the U.S. Nationals and could barely believe what I was seeing. “That’s a Pontiac?, even a top rated tv show won’t be able to save us now.”
So I guess you can polish a turd after all.
Sadly every manufacturer now offers a 5 door clone of the Aztek. They all look the same.
The Lamborghini Urus is a modern Aztec.