The 10 Most Vulgar Cars To Ever Exist

The phrase “money can’t buy taste” is a cliché, but it’s one of those clichés that’s a cliché for a reason. The enemy of taste is vulgarity, but there will always be a market for people with more money than taste. And the automotive market is no exception.

However, despite it being a common theme throughout this list, that doesn’t mean the most vulgar cars are always expensive. In fact, the top of the list of vulgar vehicles is available to buy now and costs less than $70,000. And don’t worry, we haven’t fallen into the trap of thinking vulgarity is a bad thing.

When applied correctly, you can get an icon of a car.

Chrysler PT Cruiser

We’ll start off gently and work our way up, starting with the Chrysler PT Cruiser – a car that can now only driven on the road ironically or because it was handed down to someone without the funds to buy something else. Somehow, Chrysler managed to cash in on the retro-modern Americana trend of the early 2000s with something so watered down and cheap, and sell it by the bucketload to the kind of people that can’t see how quickly a design will date itself.

BMW XM

Credit: BMW

As it moved into the 2020s, BMW realized that rich people with no taste are a profitable market, and the way to reach them is with vulgar design elements, like the giant grilles. The whole idea reached its zenith with the middle finger to taste that is the BMW XM.

BMW has a long history of wickedly good design. It also has some questionable moments, which is to be expected from a company that’s happy to push the envelope of design.

However, the XM is so clearly designed as an unsubtle statement of brutish wealth that it falls directly under the definition of vulgarity. It doesn’t sell well in the US, but it’s clearly not meant to – this is an SUV designed to flex foreign oil money, and the official SUV of “I just bought a small sports team”.

Various Jeep Wrangler Special Editions

Credit: Jeep

The Jeep brand is molded around its origin as a beloved army vehicle and the affordable ability to go anywhere. Its lineage of utilitarian off-road vehicles is iconic, its mainstream demographic is broad and adventurous, but Jeep hasn’t been afraid of plumbing the depths with a vulgar special edition. Enter the Jeep Wrangler Call Of 2011 Call Of Duty Black Ops edition, the 2012 Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty: MW3 Special Edition, and the 2012 Jeep Wrangler Dragon Limited Edition.

It was billed as “aligning Jeep’s adventurous spirit with the tactical and rugged theme of the Call of Duty franchise”. But, as much as we love a bit of multiplayer COD, the Call Of Duty editions are a vulgar tie-in with the Jeep’s actual military heritage. But, also in 2012, at the Beijing Motor Show in China, the bizarre Jeep Wrangler Dragon Limited Edition was unveiled – essentially, a blacked out Wrangler with gold wheels and decoration with big dragon decals all over it.

Dodge Viper

Credit: Newspress USA

If you ever want proof that vulgarity isn’t always a bad thing, the Dodge Viper exists. The original idea was that Chrysler should produce a modern Shelby Cobra – a powerful, front-engine, V10-powered, rear-wheel-drive, open-top sports car. The result was a car that was borderline terrifying to drive in 1991 with its 8.0-liter V10, no traction control, no anti-lock brake system (this edition), and a curb weight of only 3,280 lbs.

The Dodge Viper was big, loud, brutal, and unapologetically wild. A bold, obnoxious, vulgar display of power in the era of the minivan. It was an important reminder that America could still build the most muscular of muscle cars.

Hummer H1

Credit: Hummer

The Hummer H1 was hard to debate as America’s most vulgar vehicle until recently. It’s a shame, because the Humvee was a genuinely brilliant military vehicle. But, when converted to civilian specifications, it served no purpose on American roads beyond being intimidating and obnoxious. The smallest engine was a 5.7-liter V8 and the largest was a 6.6-liter Turbo-Diesel V8, while the truck itself was over seven feet wide – a foot wider than a Toyota 4Runner. Which resulted in a fuel economy, at its best, of 10 MPG.

Not only was the Hummer H1 a vulgar, tasteless abomination of a vehicle, it did it all with the same complete lack of self awareness as its owners. Its most famous owner was the man who persuaded the original manufacturer, AM General, that a civilian version was a good idea – Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Read the full article on CarBuzz

This article originally appeared on CarBuzz and is republished here with permission.