First shown to the public in 1999, the Pontiac Aztek concept car was well received.[6] It featured "Xtreme" futuristic styling and promised maximum versatility in support of a young and active lifestyle for its intended Generation 'X' buyer demographic.

The production edition of the Aztek was launched with the tagline: "Quite possibly the most versatile vehicle on the planet." in conjunction with CBS's hit game show, Survivor in 2000.

The Aztek was styled under the direction of Tom Peters, who would later design the Chevrolet Corvette (C7). According to an analysis in 2000, Business Week said the Aztek was to signal a design renaissance for GM, and to "make a statement about breaking from GM's instinct for caution." One designer said that during the design process, the Aztek was made "aggressive for the sake of being aggressive." Peters, the Chief Designer said "we wanted to do a bold, in-your-face vehicle that wasn't for everybody." The 2000 Business Week study said the Aztek was "the first awkward step toward innovation by a company that has avoided that path," likening "the debacle to Ford's remodeling of its 1996 Taurus sedan."

Ultimately, the Aztek was criticized for its styling. Mickey Kaus described the Aztek has having "awkwardly empty and square front wheel wells" and a "gratuitous, fierce animalistic snout, which may have been what prompted incoming GM executive Bob Lutz to famously say that many of the company's products looked like "angry kitchen appliances."" James Hall, vice-president at AutoPacific Inc said it looked "like six-week-old cottage cheese." Ranking the Aztek as one of the ten ugliest cars of all time, Karl Brauer, CEO and editor-in-chief of TotalCarScore.com said the Aztek featured "atrocious proportions wrapped in plastic body cladding," and "looked like a station wagon stretched out by a car bomb."

A poll in The Daily Telegraph in August 2008 placed the Aztek at number one of the "100 ugliest cars" of all time. An article by Edmunds.com placed the car fifth of the "100 Worst Cars of All Time" not only because of its styling, but also because it "destroyed an 84-year-old automaker."[11] Time magazine in 2007 named the Aztek one of the 50 worst cars of all time (adding that underneath "was a useful, competent crossover"),[and again in 2010 as one of the 50 worst inventions of all time.

Information source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Azt...

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