7 really, really ugly Formula 1 cars
We’re all about celebrating the great things in motorsport, but sometimes enough things go wrong in a row to mean that a truly awful looking race-car is born. Even F1 cars, the most glorious of single-seater breeds, can have a really bad day,when designer lose their way. Ladies and gentlemen, these are the worst.
Whilst we’re sure that a good portion of our fans would like to see every Formula 1 car built during recent years on the list, we thought it best to dig into the archives and bring out the truly abhorrent.
Ligier JS 5 – 1976 – “The Teapot”
Just one look begs the question – who the hell thought sticking that thing on the engine was a good idea? OK engines need fresh air, but we feel sorry for Sutton Images, and any other poor soul who had to take the Ligiers picture.
BAR 01 – “Two-Faced”
BAR principle Craig Pollock had convinced British American Tobacco to spend the fortune required to go F1 racing, explaining to BAT that they could run each of the two team cars with completely different liveries representing different major sponsors: Lucky Strike red and white on one and 555 blue and yellow on the other car. Turns out Bernie didn’t agree, and the team was forced to run identical liveries on both cars, meaning they had to split the cars down the center by using a “zipper” graphic to tie the completely contrasting liveries together. Whilst the design of the car itself wasn’t shocking, that livery made the car ugly!
Eifelland Type 21 – “The W-T-F”
Is that an upside-down F16 fighter jet with a submarine periscope right in center of the drivers view? No, it’s the Eifelland Type 21. Image : Cahier Archive
March 711 – 1971/2 – “Tea Tray”
We’ve seen the tea-pot, now how about the tea-tray? Common decency should have dictated that this wasn’t a great idea – they could at least have raised the front a couple of degrees so the drinks wouldn’t slide off! Image : Cahier Archive
Ensign N179 – “The News Stand”
For all intents and purposes, it actually looks like the designers of the Ensign N179 wanted the nose to feature a step-ladder. The arrow on Derek Daly’s helmet appears to be highlighting the issue.
Ferrari F2012
Is there such thing as an ugly Ferrari? The F2012 featured a ghastly, stepped nose and combined with a lack of testing pace it looked like the F2012 would go down in history as a disappointing at best, but somehow the magnificent Fernando Alonso managed to fight for the title in it, for us it is an uncomfortable design.
Williams Fw26 – “The Walrus”
The 2004 season saw Williams place what can only be described as a Walrus nose on the FW26. It was meant to see Williams challenge Ferrari for the 2004 Drivers and Constructors Championships. It didn’t work and was scrapped mid season for a conventional front end. Image : Cahier Archive
