13 of the weirdest, most bizarre cars ever made

13 of the weirdest cars ever to have hit our roads.

Give us an hour and unfettered access to the internet, and we’ll return with some of the coolest, strangest, weirdest, most bizarre things the automotive world has offered up since – well, since the dawn of the automotive world.

From cars with weird names to defunct manufacturers, we love a trawl through the annals of motor industry time.

Today we’ve brought you a bumper edition, featuring some of the weirdest cars ever launched.

Most from the 19th Century, which really was an innovative, lawless time when it came to automotive innovation. Companies tried to be different and tried to bring a new twist to what is, ostensibly, a shed on three or four wheels.

But sometimes?

Sometimes, this went a bit awry.

From a monster truck convertible to a car with eight wheels, we present to you 13 of the oddest cars from automotive history.

Ford Model T: 1909

You might not think that the Ford Model T, one of the most famous cars ever created, is that weird.

But you’d be wrong!

Henry Ford was a genius, and like many geniuses, he was a bit eccentric. He was also a minimalist.

An interesting combination that resulted in the Ford Model T being a minimalist and eccentric car. Well, they do say owners take after their cars. Or cars take after their owners. Either way, the Model T had some quirks that lend themselves to this list.

In the pursuit of minimalism, there were a few key features left out of the Model T, including front brakes, shock absorbers and – on the entry-level Model T Touring – a driver’s door. And despite the electric starter having been invented in 1911, Ford didn’t bother offering one until 1919.

Astounding that it was so popular, really.

The other weird-to-our-more-modern-sensibilities thing about the Ford Model T was just how many different vehicles and/or things it was turned in to.

Not only was it often turned into a tractor, in a time before tractors really existed (surprisingly off-roady and good with all terrains, the Model T), but it was also converted into a vehicle that could traverse heavy snows, fire engines, and a number of companies built Model T-based railcars.

All normal, you might think.

Until you get to the minister who transformed his Ford Model T into a mobile church.

Complete with an organ.

Reeves-Overland Octoauto: 1911

It’s almost a shame that various regulations (and the need to be aerodynamic and fuel efficient, among other bits and bobs) are so strict these days.

I feel like it’s not often we now get a vehicle that truly pushes the innovative boundaries of what is actually possible before it’s not a car anymore.

Enter: the 1911 Reeves-Overland Octoauto.

It really took the motto ‘more is better’, and ran with it. After all, if four wheels are good, then surely eight wheels are better? As it happened, at the time, this was entirely correct.

The roads back in 1911 weren’t what they are today, so Reeves set out to smooth the ride by nicking a design used on railroad cars. They used quad-wheel ‘bogies’ to distribute the weight and make the ride smoother for those on board.

It worked. Brilliantly.

But this brilliance came at a cost. A cost to the tune of $3,200 – or well over $90,000 in today’s money.  And with the car sitting at 20ft long but only able to carry four passengers, Reeves’ Octoauto never really took off.

A technological marvel, but a financial failure, the Octoauto has been banished to the depths of the automotive history books, never to be replicated again.

(Photo credit: blog.hemmings.com on Wikipedia)

Anderson Detroit Electric Model 90: 1914

Did you know that electric cars aren’t a 21st Century innovation?

In fact, the oldest EVs first appeared over a century ago, with the Anderson Detroit Electric Model 90 sitting among the first.

Sure, they didn’t take off in the same way that combustion engine cars did, and didn’t really reappear until more recent years – but they were certainly around for quite a while. The Detroit Electric Model became the preferred method of transport for the well-to-do in the early 1900s, counting people like Thomas Edison among its fans.

But it isn’t odd just because it’s an old electric car.

No, it’s odd in its own eccentric right.

Driven from the backseat (insert low-hanging fruit joke about back-seat drivers here), the Anderson Detroit Electric also featured a front seat that could swivel to face the back, making it a sociable little car indeed.

Odd? Yes. But cool? Definitely.

(Photo credits: Sfoskett via Wikipedia and Asterion via Wikipedia)

Dymaxion: 1933

If there ever was a prize for ‘Coolest Name in History’, it would surely go to the inventor of the Dymaxion – Buckminster Fuller.

American engineer, architect, futurist and dreamer, who was truly born into the right decade, with the 1930s really the start of the automobile craze.

But he didn’t just create the car.

No. After coining the word ‘Dymaxion’, Buckminster went on to invent a house, a map, and even a Dymaxion sleep schedule, that featured four naps a day.

Yes, we have asked if we can adopt the Dymaxion sleep schedule at Carparison HQ.

The Dymaxion car, however, earns its place on the Weirdest Cars of All Time list not just because of its name, or its inventor, but because it simply is an odd little guy.

A three-wheeler (always a good start (even better when the single wheel is at the back)), Buckminster intended it to be the basis for a land-sea-air vehicle. And yes, there is a reason why a vehicle that could take on all three never really took off. Pun fully intended.

But even the road-going Dymaxion never made it to full production.

Only three were ever made: one was wrecked, one was scrapped, and one was turned into a chicken coop.

And there endeth the tale of the Dymaxion.

(Photo credit: Brewbooks via Wikipedia)

Stout Scarab: 1935

Sound the weird car klaxon, because boy, do we have a good one.

It comes as no real surprise that this one is also from the 1930s – an astonishing time for automobile innovation, but also a land filled with innovation that didn’t always adhere to the laws of physics or sanity.

An early ancestor of the modern minivan, the Stout Scarab was invented by William Stout, automotive pioneer and founder of America’s first scheduled airline, Stout Air Service (which later became United Airlines).

An all-around pretty cool guy, who brought us a very weird car.

Much like an aeroplane, the bulbous and lengthy Scarab had an aluminium skin bolted to an aluminium space frame. It looks a little like the Dymaxion, a little like the scarab beetle it was named for, but a lot like no car we’ve ever seen before.

Passengers entered through a central door, and only the driver’s seat was fixed in position. All of the others could be swivelled to face each other, and there was a fold down table to enjoy a cuppa and a cake together.

It is seriously, properly odd.

There’s not much more to say about it.

(Photo credit: Jim Evans via Wikipedia)

Iso Isetta: 1953

If we said this car was built by an Italian refrigerator manufacturer, you’d probably look at us askance.

And then we’d show you a picture of the Iso Isetta and you would say ‘ah yes, that does make sense’.

It has a flat front, that does resemble a retro fridge door, and it’s tiny. So tiny that the front door isn’t just for aesthetic purposes, but because there is absolutely no other way to get into the vehicle.

Iso built the microcar in response to the post-war growing need for small, inexpensive cars. Although it didn’t prove too popular at first launch, pickup truck version did take off in Italy.

But the company eventually licensed the design to other automakers, including one popular German manufacturer.

The much-improved-but-still-very-odd BMW Isetta did much better, with the brand eventually selling over 160,000 over the years. In fact, this tiny oddball saved BMW from bankruptcy.

Funny how the world works.

(Photo credit: Thesupermat via Wikipedia and Dcsutherland via Wikipedia)

Amphicar: 1961

If you’ve ever questioned why there are no cars that can tackle land and water, one look at the 1960s Amphicar should give you the answer.

Half car and half boat, the Amphicar couldn’t make its mind up.

And subsequently wasn’t very good at being either.

The Amphicar looks very much like a classic convertible turned into a boat, with its high ground clearance, upward-sloping underside and rear fins. This ungainly look makes it look like a boat when it’s on land, and a car when it’s in the water.

Awkward, to say the least.

Performance wasn’t great either, with the Amphicar able to do 7mph on the water, while it topped out at 70mph on land.

The project sank within three years of launch, though it was 1968 before the last Amphicars were built and sold.

In the end, just 3878 Amphicars were made – far short of the 20,000 a year the manufacturer was hoping for.

(Photo credit: Alf van Beem via Wikipedia and I, Dontworry via Wikipedia)

Peel P50: 1962

On this list of oddballs, the Peel P50 is likely the one you’ve definitely heard of, after it starred in an episode of Top Gear when presenter at the time Jeremy Clarkson drove it into a lift at the BBC, and over to his desk.

And that should give you an idea of the scale of this thing.

It’s small.

The Peel P50 makes most other microcars look big. Which is no mean feat, considering they are microcars.

In fact, the three-wheeler is the smallest car ever made. At 41cm across, it’s not that much wider than your average office chair.

Safe?

Not very.

Quirky?

Yes.

Around 50 P50s were manufactured in the 1960s, and sold for £199 apiece, before falling out of production in 1965.

The diminutive car would likely have been lost to automotive time, but the Top Gear episode revived interest in the P50. Its newfound popularity resulted in the birth of the P.50 Cars company, which restarted production of the Peel P50 in 2011.

You can even purchase a convertible P50, with ’93 million miles of headroom’, should the original P50 prove just a little too small.

Or a P50 kit car, if you fancy putting it together yourself.

(Photo credit: MrWalkr via Wikipedia and Andrew Bone via Wikipedia)

Bond Bug: 1973

The Bond Bug is often labelled the best of the British three-wheelers, which is quite the accolade really, when you consider how many iconic British three-wheelers there are.

We’re an odd nation, and we love an odd car.

Built by Reliant, the Bond Bug preceded the iconic Robin. We won’t lie, it’s not anywhere near as practical as the Robin. And that’s saying something, considering the Robin sits just above the chocolate teapot in terms of real-world practicality.

It looks like a wedge of bright orange cheese.

We wish we were exaggerating.

It wouldn’t look out of place on the Christmas table, paired with a Jacobs cracker or two. But it is a real car, though it has no doors. Instead, the entire thing tilts forward so you can access the two seats, and allegedly it’s a lot of fun to drive.

But it died a untimely death after the launch of the Robin, when Reliant ended all other production lines because of the demand for the newer car. Fewer than 200 were sold overall, and the remaining few are treasured by their owners.

Is the Bond Bug the perfect car for Wallace? We think so.

(Photo credit: Charles01 via Wikipedia and Mick from England via Wikipedia)

Reliant Robin: 1975

The upstart three-wheeler that knocked the Bug out of production, the Reliant Robin is an absolute classic.

An icon, dare we say.

The perfect car for clowns across the nation.

Or those who enjoy the hair-raising drive that a slightly wobbly three-wheeler brings. Though the car is actually sturdier than popular media would have you believe, with a balanced chassis that wasn’t prone to rolling over.

The Reliant Robin was designed so that people with just a motorcycle license could drive it, marketed by Reliant as the new Mini: practical, cheap to buy and run, and perfect for small, working families.

And it wasn’t slow either.

But there’s no denying the Robin has earned its place on the weirdest cars of all time list.

(Photo credit: Chris McKenna via Wikipedia)

Nissan S-Cargo: 1989

Hopping across the pond now to Japan, home to some of the weirdest cars ever created.

And the S-Cargo is perhaps the weirdest of the lot.

Taking its inspiration from the humble snail (escargot, S-Cargo – get it?), the Nissan S-Cargo is a tiny commercial vehicle made for delivering goods in tighter urban areas.

It really does look alarmingly snail-like.

But more of the sort of snail you might see in a cartoon – all bulging eyes and bulbous shell. It’s adorable, in a weird car-shaped way, and we can see why it’s still popular in Japan to this day, despite having only been on sale for two years.

And despite many labelling it ‘the ugliest car in the world’. Beauty is subjective, sure. But if this thing trundled down the road towards you?

We bet you’d smile.

(Photo credit: Tennen-Gas via Wikipedia and dave_7 via Wikipedia)

Renault Avantime: 2002

Hurtling headlong into the 21st Century now, which has had its fair share of weird cars, despite more emphasis on aerodynamics and efficiency and, you know, safety laws.

The Renault Avantime is just one example.

Coming just before the crossover craze really took off (you can’t move for them these days), the Avantime – ahead of its time – tried to bring the coupe-minivan to the people.

But the people didn’t want it. At least, not at the time. There are a whole number of coupe-SUVs on the market now, though none quite like the Renault Avantime.

There is no other word for this two-door people carrier than hideous.

And yes, we were saying beauty is subjective. But subjectively, there is no world in which the Avantime would be considered a good-looking car.

It wasn’t practical either.

And if you’re not going to look good or be practical? Well, you will find yourself confined to the depths of automotive history.

(Photo credit: Vauxford via Wikipedia and Vauxford via Wikipedia)

Youabian Puma: 2013

The last car in the weird car line-up is an eccentric oddity indeed.

Not least because it’s inventor, Dr. Kamiz Youabian, is a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon by trade.

There aren’t many plastic surgeons that moonlight as car designers in this world, and the Youabian Puma is a solid case as to why.

Combining elements of a Volvo C70 convertible with elements of a monster truck (yes, you read that right), the Puma is perhaps the world’s first convertible monster truck. It is, at any rate, the world’s weirdest convertible monster truck.

20ft long and 7.5ft wide, this thing is an absolute behemoth.

But unsurprisingly, priced at around a million dollars, not a very popular behemoth.

There’s nothing like chasing your dreams.

And Dr. Youabian certainly tried.