This is quite possibly the funniest car in creation. Sold mainly in the US, the Pontiac Aztek caused worldwide ridicule for Pontiac and General Motors at a time when they really didn't need to be embarrassed further. This car won the (coveted...?) title of being number one in the UK Daily Telegraph's poll of the 100 ugliest cars. But I can't help laughing at it. What am I laughing at - the way it looks, or simple American stupidity? I'm not entirely sure. It just cracks me up.

In 1999, Pontiac showed the world its Aztek concept (left), which, according to most Americans, looked "okay". The Americans were punished for their passivity to crap design with the production Aztek, a great big exemplification of everything that is wrong with the American SUV culture. At launch in 2001, Pontiac had exacerbated the problem by fitting the Aztek with a plethora of matte-grey cladding, which was intended to make it look more rugged. Sadly, it had the look of a two-tone gorilla, with a classic American "slack-jawed yokel" face. Perfect.

This is an interesting bit of trivia: Colby Donaldson won this car as a prize in the final reward challenge of Survivor - The Australian Outback. Some prize, huh? Anyway, after only one year of production, Pontiac had the brilliant idea of ditching all the ridiculous cladding. All this achieved, however, was allowing the lower half of the car to shine in all its hideous glory.

Inside, it was a similar story - acres of boring dark grey plastic that made you want to puke all over it, just so you can get some colour into the interior. General Motors knew they had to make money somehow out of the Aztek, so they made a much more conservative looking Buick spin-off: the Rendezvous (can Americans even spell that correctly?). Thankfully for GM, the Rendezvous sold very well, even though the Aztek bombed (I wonder why...). The Pontiac Aztek was discontinued in 2005, after only 4 years of slow sales. Now the Americans have the conservative Pontiac Torrent, which is hardly a good car, but is still selling twice as well as the Aztek did.

I could go on for hours about why the Aztek was such a failure, but who needs me when you can see the pictures for yourself? And if you start having nightmares about it, don't say I didn't warn you. There was even a GT version (with an ancient pushrod 3.4 litre V6 that used on average 18.5 Litres of fuel for each 100km...!).

As just one final mean dig at American intelligence, I'll leave you with this gruesome thought that screams "Only in America". Only in America would you find a car as ugly as the Aztek, and have a fan club for it. www.aztekfanclub.com - laugh your head off and feel sick to your stomach as you read the gushing pieces of writing people have composed while in love with their Pontiac Azteks.

WTF?! #2: Pontiac Creating a Worldwide Laughing Stock