I've been fascinated with this thing since receiving this very bad book as a graduation present. The cars listed aren't so much "lemons" as they are "cars that are weird or ugly." Some of them are fascinating. Some of them got a seriously bad rap. And a lot of them are downright innovative - the book lists Amphicars among its lemons and c'mon - nobody is buying one of those thinking it's gonna kick ass out of the lake.
And one of them is the Mohs SafariKar.
International Harvester engine, naugahyde exterior, 120" wheelbase... and for 25 years all I've had is one black'n'white picture of three of them being assembled. Virtually no mention of it anywhere. But what can I say. It stuck with me.
rd95 and I were having an off-site discussion of "ugliest cars" (his vote: Subaru B9 Tribeca, which clearly underestimates the true horror of the Pontiac Aztek) and I was reminded once again of the Mohs Safarikar. Which, now that the Internet exists, can actually be viewed.
Turns out there were three. Now there are two. That's probably one, and possibly two, too many.
Kinda funny, considering all the safety "features", that the same dude created this. Granted, he was sixteen at the time. Gotta give the man props...
Hey now, let's be fair. When I said the Subaru Tribeca was ugly, I just meant it's the first thing I think of when I think of some of Subaru's poor design choices. If I had to actually choose what I thought was the ugliest car, my first choice would be the tumor on wheels known as the Fiat Multipla followed closely by the Nash Metropolitan. The SafariKar though? Now that I know it exists. It's going on my list of ugly and weird.
I should clarify... I like it because it is weird. I'll never forget the first time I saw one. I was riding a bike in Bozeman, MT and it passed by in traffic. I started pumping like a madman to catch up (Bozeman is a small town - so catching a car on main street isn't THAT hard). I found him a few streets up getting out the car and just barraged him with questions. I think you're observation is dead on - and why it caught my eye. It's totally a It was like seeing a model of an old Bel Air or something. Anyway - it is a dead-weird car... but they have always fascinated me.'50s full size sedan styling in a little subcompact
Good.. god, what is that Multipla? That is the most offensiving looking car I've ever seen. Well that's just a recipe for a sexy car if I've ever heard one.Based on the Brava, the Multipla was shorter and wider than its rivals