The Pontiac Aztec Was Ahead Of Its Time
The worst car of all time. The butt of every auto journalist joke. The ugliest car ever.
The 2001 Pontiac Aztec.
But here is the funny thing - GM was right. Pontiac was right. Whoever designed this thing is laughing, crying, and yelling "I told you so!!!" into the void. I hear ya mystery car designer, I hear ya.
The reason is, we all drive one now. We drive edgy looking crossovers which are actually cars. When the Pontiac came out, everyone made fun of it because it was "not a real SUV" but it tried to look like one with plastic and sharp lines. Journalists laughed as well all kept buying Ford Explorers, or actual cars like the Camry.
Fast forward on your VCR to 2019. Pontiac is dead, the Aztec is reviled, the Camry is fading as 'cars' fall off the sales chart and the up and coming crown prince of units sold is the 2019 Rav4. Notice anything?
It's a Pontiac Aztec!!!!
It is based on a car. It has plastic body panels (2 tone!). It has a sloped rear glass. It has an aggressive "I'm a real truck, I am" front fascia. It is FWD or AWD with a computer controlled limited slip diff... which is what the Aztec had.
It's 184in long, 66in high, weighs 3,500lbs, has 180HP, and can tow 3,500lbs.
The Aztec? 182in long, 66in high, weighs 3,800lbs, has 185HP, and ... tows 3,500lbs.
Freaking identical.
The Rav4 now sells 400,000 units a year.
Look at how similar they are:
It's amazing. We are all excited about plastic clad fake SUVs with AWD, low ground clearance, decent MPG, and aggressive styling. The Aztec is the grandfather to them all.
An extra kicker? The Tesla Model X looks like nothing more than a Aztec with all the sharp angles turned into swoopy lines - the body style is damn near identical.
The Aztec. We all want one now.
The 2001 Pontiac Aztec.
But here is the funny thing - GM was right. Pontiac was right. Whoever designed this thing is laughing, crying, and yelling "I told you so!!!" into the void. I hear ya mystery car designer, I hear ya.
The reason is, we all drive one now. We drive edgy looking crossovers which are actually cars. When the Pontiac came out, everyone made fun of it because it was "not a real SUV" but it tried to look like one with plastic and sharp lines. Journalists laughed as well all kept buying Ford Explorers, or actual cars like the Camry.
Fast forward on your VCR to 2019. Pontiac is dead, the Aztec is reviled, the Camry is fading as 'cars' fall off the sales chart and the up and coming crown prince of units sold is the 2019 Rav4. Notice anything?
It's a Pontiac Aztec!!!!
It is based on a car. It has plastic body panels (2 tone!). It has a sloped rear glass. It has an aggressive "I'm a real truck, I am" front fascia. It is FWD or AWD with a computer controlled limited slip diff... which is what the Aztec had.
It's 184in long, 66in high, weighs 3,500lbs, has 180HP, and can tow 3,500lbs.
The Aztec? 182in long, 66in high, weighs 3,800lbs, has 185HP, and ... tows 3,500lbs.
Freaking identical.
The Rav4 now sells 400,000 units a year.
Look at how similar they are:
It's amazing. We are all excited about plastic clad fake SUVs with AWD, low ground clearance, decent MPG, and aggressive styling. The Aztec is the grandfather to them all.
An extra kicker? The Tesla Model X looks like nothing more than a Aztec with all the sharp angles turned into swoopy lines - the body style is damn near identical.
The Aztec. We all want one now.
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