Which ugly F1 car do you have a soft spot for?

Seeing as it's nearly the end of the season...

Simple question, really. Which F1 car that is often described as ugly do you actually like? Post your strange confessions here - if nothing else, it might act as a reminder for some of us to finally get around to booking that appointment at Specsavers. 

My contributions:

Williams FW26 'Walrus' nose:

Often appears on lists of "ugliest F1 cars ever" - but I've always liked it. I don't think it is offensively ugly - the nose made it stand out and was something unique at a time when a lot of cars just looked like carbon copies of each other. Plus, Montoya drove it, so that has to be worth something extra, right?

Ferrari F2012:

No car from the "stepped nose" year can be described as beautiful - but I am drawn to the Ferrari for reasons I probably can't best describe. Perhaps Alonso's heroics that year have somehow added to it? Please tell me I'm not the only one.

Ferrari F14-T

No, this isn't a wind up - again, I do, for some reason, find myself liking this car. Despite having the looks and performance of a car that had already been crashed, I thought it was one of the better looking ones from that year - for a start, it was blessed with not having a...umm...phallic object on its nose. Sure, it isn't going to win any beauty contests, but compare it next to that year's Caterham and it's almost good looking. Just me?

So, what about you?

Ferrari 312 T4:

https://formula1.fer....com/en/312-t4/

Ferrari 312 T4:

 

https://formula1.fer....com/en/312-t4/

I only support this claim because people call the 312T4 ugly but in my eyes, it wasn't an ugly car. Certainly not with just about every post 2000 car with their raised noses and the current long wheel based endless long freight liners

Ugly?..Functional more like. Cars designed for a specific purpose are not designed  with  eye candy top of the tree lol!

I also like the Ferrari F14-T, as it reminds me of what I consider to be the most beautiful F1 car of all time, the Ferrari 641:

Ugly?..Functional more like. Cars designed for a specific purpose are not designed  with  eye candy top of the tree lol!

https://forums.autos...hl=ugly f1 cars

McLaren MP4/10

https://www.fanmerce...-mclaren-mp410/

That Caterham from the penis-noses era

I also have a soft spot for the FW26 with the Walrus Nose.  I think it looked great actually.  Aggressive and unique.  Rubbish though!

Ferrari Spazzaneve for me.  How could an Italian team perpetrate that?

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Eifelland E21. For one, Rolf Stommelen drove it.

Also, to this day, I remain convinced that, back in the 1990s, some poor designer at Fiat looked at pictures of old F1 cars for inspiration, stumbled across the Eifelland, and thought "You know what? They used this in Formula 1, so it can’t be that bad."

And that is how the Fiat Multipla was born.

A cracking first post, sir!  You are most welcome to the forum.  Keep up the good work!

for me Arrows A2, ofter ranked amongst ugliest F1 cars.

The Arrows A2, considered ugly by many, it's amazing imho.

Cut the cr@p! 2007 & 2008 cars were looking amazing!

I liked the old shadows because although something you could make in your kitchen with a 2018 3D printer you bought from a man in a white van it still had all the attributes of a car

front wing.

cockpit

engine

rear wing

and huge air scoop only it's mother stroke designer could love.

It's ugly but it has all the attributes for F1 single seater we love to this day.  

No halo though.... imagine putting a halo on that.  Bless.

Edited by Andy35, 24 November 2018 - 21:34.

 

Ferrari F14-T

No, this isn't a wind up - again, I do, for some reason, find myself liking this car. Despite having the looks and performance of a car that had already been crashed, I thought it was one of the better looking ones from that year - for a start, it was blessed with not having a...umm...phallic object on its nose. Sure, it isn't going to win any beauty contests, but compare it next to that year's Caterham and it's almost good looking. Just me?

 

So, what about you?

I said it back then and I still say it now: the F14-T is one of the most beautiful cars of the last 20 years.

I never understood why anybody found the walrus nose ugly. I'm not and have never been a great fan of Williams, but I really love and loved that car.

March 711 and 721 with the tea tray front wing just look wrong on so many levels. Yet, still better than anything from 2007-2008 and the step nosed monstrosities of 2012-2014.

March 711 and 721 with the tea tray front wing just look wrong on so many levels. Yet, still better than anything from 2007-2008 and the step nosed monstrosities of 2012-2014.

Agree. http://www.grandprix....org/mar711.htm

Just needs a penny in the back of it!

Crazy that a 2018 computer game looks more real than a 1970s photo!

I liked the old shadows because although something you could make in your kitchen with a 2018 3D printer you bought from a man in a white van it still had all the attributes of a car

 

front wing.

cockpit

engine

rear wing

 

and huge air scoop only it's mother stroke designer could love.

 

 

 

It's ugly but it has all the attributes for F1 single seater we love to this day.  

 

No halo though.... imagine putting a halo on that.  Bless.

I've never considered the Tony Southgate Shadows anything other than beautiful. In fact I love the look of all the cars of that era with the possible exception of the BRM P201,

and the Fittipaldi FD 01

and I do have a soft spot for both of them

Edited by RacingGreen, 25 November 2018 - 07:15.

Not F1, but I always liked the pre-bodykit DW12

Edited by karl100589, 25 November 2018 - 08:22.

I thought that Ferrari 312T was one of the ugliest Formula 1 race car at the time. 

On the contrary, McLaren that Hunt drove, and Lotus that Andretti drove the finest.

Times past, I getting to attain skills to design, I think in the other way round. 

McLaren hunt drove was one of the easiest car to design, Ferrari 312T was the invention of the heaven's talent and human intelligence.

If a man can flip an unthinkable into the best solution, that is when men proves its intelligence.

Ugly cars, do not underestimate, if you are a designer with ambition, you must turn the ugly into utmost sensation.

In this respect I nam ALL NEWEY car the ugliest.

Ferrari F14-T

No, this isn't a wind up - again, I do, for some reason, find myself liking this car. Despite having the looks and performance of a car that had already been crashed, I thought it was one of the better looking ones from that year - for a start, it was blessed with not having a...umm...phallic object on its nose. Sure, it isn't going to win any beauty contests, but compare it next to that year's Caterham and it's almost good looking. Just me?
 
So, what about you?

Peculiar side pods but still a beautiful car in my eyes:

The MP4-26

https://upload.wikim..._Japan_Race.jpg

The F2008, like its 2008-colleagues, gets a lot of hate.

To me, it's probably the coolest post-19997 car outside of - perhaps - the MP4-20.

It probably helps that I have a 1:18 scale model that's just brilliantly executed. The only downside being it carries the shark-fin that Ferrari used in some races.

Great car!

Edited by Nonesuch, 25 November 2018 - 09:34.

Edited by Murl, 25 November 2018 - 09:39.

Cut the cr@p! 2007 & 2008 cars were looking amazing!

Ok this one then?

Not really sure, which ones are ultimately called ugly, but I always liked the 2004 walrus Williams, which as I remember was widely laughed at, when it was unveiled.

The Arrows A2, considered ugly by many, it's amazing imho.

 

 

 

 

Who could consider this wonder 'ugly'?

I liked the old shadows because although something you could make in your kitchen with a 2018 3D printer you bought from a man in a white van it still had all the attributes of a car

 

front wing.

cockpit

engine

rear wing

 

and huge air scoop only it's mother stroke designer could love.

 

 

 

It's ugly but it has all the attributes for F1 single seater we love to this day.  

 

No halo though.... imagine putting a halo on that.  Bless.

Don't think you find a majority that would consider the DN5 'ugly'...

It's easily in my top ten prettiest F1 cars.

The first time I saw the Brabham BT60Y in the 1991 season review, I thought it was a car from a different formula.

How about Merc W04?

I find that nose terribly ugly to say the least... 

The Toyota TF109 comes to mind. A very strange car, front row in Bahrain for example, but dead last two races later in Monaco. Still, the car just had something.

No mentions of this yet ?

Edited by Louis Mr. F1, 25 November 2018 - 16:41.

I also like the Ferrari F14-T, as it reminds me of what I consider to be the most beautiful F1 car of all time, the Ferrari 641:

Wait, the Ferrari F14-T reminds you of this one?

Compared to its peers, this was a beauty: