Some cars feature some of the finest steering wheels in the automotive world, many of which can be described as works of art. Just think of the Spy the C8s, the Chevy Corvette C1 Series 2 and of course – perhaps the prettiest of them all – the Pagani Huayra’s aluminum, carbon fiber and leather bar.
Then there are cars like the Ford Fairmont XE Ghia, with an unbalanced, uncreative and ugly steering wheel. Or the Dodge Neon’s – which is probably the least imaginative and least interesting in the automotive world. Some manufacturers choose interesting designs to spice up their car’s interior – many with great results, like the Renault 5 Turbos with its equally crazy dashboard, seats and colors.
Here are nine production cars that have the ugliest, most annoying steering wheels in the American auto industry — and one that isn’t a wheel at all.
ten chevrolet cavalier
The Chevrolet Cavalier was a small sedan and coupe, produced between 1981 and 2005. The name was revived for a Chinese-only model in 2016, and an even newer model has been sold in Mexico since 2019. The 1995 to 2005 Cavalier featured engines ranging from a 2.2 to a 2.4 liter, a choice between a 3- or 4-speed automatic or three different 5-speed manuals.
The car’s design was heavily influenced by other late 1990s cars, but was rather bland and boring. The car’s ugliest feature, however, is the steering wheel. It is a wheel with four spokes, all four pointing downwards in a sad style. As a single item the driver will look the most, it’s a pretty awful design.
9 Saturn Ion
The Saturn Ion was a terribly boring, generically designed car. It was offered in a sedan or four-door coupe body, with the coupe being by far the most interesting. The top-of-the-line Redline edition featured the engine from the Chevy Cobalt SS, with 241 hp, 218 lb-ft of torque, 2.0-liter inline-4, power going only to the front wheels through a 5-speed gearbox. speeds. Manual.
Just like the exterior, the interior is just as plain except for the steering wheel, which is one of the ugliest of the era. It was round – like most traditional steering wheels – but the central part where the airbag is located was also round. The wheel featured two spokes, both located below the centerline and mimicking more roundness in the form of knobs. It looked really terrible.
8 dodge neon
The Dodge Neon, while not an entirely thrilling car, has quite a cult following, especially with the top-of-the-line SRT-4 trim. While the SRT-4 has an uneventful three-spoke steering wheel, the normal Neon is probably the least interesting steering wheel out there.
It is a four-spoke model, with the name NEON embossed in the middle. That’s it. There are no buttons, no flashy trim or anything interesting to look at – just a round bump of molded plastic to steer the otherwise correct car with.
seven Ford Fairmont XE Ghia
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The Ford Fairmont XE Ghia is an Australian full-size sedan, designed to do battle with the Holden Commodore. The Fairmont looks like a larger version of the Cortina and featured a 351cui V8 in the XE Ghia. While the Fairmont looks exceptionally 1980s in design, the interior is pretty good for a car of that era.
The downside to the interior – as you can guess by now – is the steering wheel. It features a dual spoke design, with the two spokes being quite thick and right next to each other. This is all nice and understandable, but the spokes are angled relative to the rest of the interior. This makes the wheel completely out of place in an otherwise square-shaped cabin.
6 Tesla Model 3
The design of the Tesla Model 3 is synonymous with minimalist elegance. Less is more. Sounds good, but as a result, the Model 3’s interior is tasteless. Everything must be controlled from the massive central display, including the driver’s instrument cluster and even opening the glove box.
It can be forgiven, but Tesla went one step further and made the Model 3’s steering wheel even less cluttered by putting just two unlabeled buttons on it. Granted, these buttons change functionality depending on the specific menu chosen, but the wheel as a whole feels like a piece of hard plastic. Unfortunately, the Model 3 was just the beginning of Tesla’s terrible wheel saga.
5 Ford Crown Victoria
The Ford Crown Victoria is a legendary car. It’s probably gotten more screen time than any other car in existence, as it’s been a favorite of taxi companies and American police forces for many years. It was tough, reliable, and had a 4.6-liter V8 for good measure.
The interior design was more utilitarian than sedans in the same class, but this added to the appeal for use as public service vehicles. While the dashboard design isn’t anything out of the ordinary, it’s the steering wheel that stands out – or rather doesn’t. It was a weird two-pronged design, which again looked like a lump of molded plastic. Even if it’s ugly, it’s even more boring to watch.
4 Ford GT
The Ford GT was Ford’s attempt to make a supercar. The first generation 2004 GT was built to commemorate the original 1960s race car and was available to everyone. It wasn’t that expensive either, because it was a special offer for spare parts – and it even had the engine from the SVT Lightning van!
With the new GT, Ford did something completely different and made the car exclusive and very expensive. All this while still having the engine of an F-150 Raptor. Yes, it made 647 horsepower, but that didn’t sound particularly appealing. The interior looked like a supercar, but the steering wheel looked like someone at Ford had taken the one from the Crown Victoria, added more buttons and stuck a GT badge on it.
3 Chevy Malibu
The 2005 Chevrolet Malibu was a dreary car. It had a neutral interior – not particularly ugly or pretty, uninteresting, and featured no exciting buttons. Engine choices were also on the boring side of the spectrum. The most interesting part of the whole car was the Malibu MAXX sedan – which looked like someone had backed a Malibu sedan into a wall and left it unsecured to go into production just like that.
Then we get to the wheel. It looked like a headless body. The four spokes were parallel and perpendicular to each other – completely horizontal and completely vertical. It sounds weird and, to be brutally honest, pretty awful.
2 Mercury Cougar
The Mercury Cougar has always been considered the most luxurious and comfortable version of the Ford Mustang. As such, the interiors were different to suit the car class, with the Mustang being the less expensive of the two. That wasn’t the case with the 1983 to 1988 Cougar – which is one of the ugliest cars of the era.
The sixth-generation Cougar featured a two-spoke steering wheel, with both spokes coming from the bottom. The resulting design made him look like a handlebar mustache or a clown with sad face makeup. Thanks to these remarks, the steering wheel is referred to as a “sad clown handlebar mustache” by members of the automotive community.
1 Tesla Model S Tiles
Finally, we come to the Tesla Model S Plaid. What a monster of an electric car – producing 1,020hp from three electric motors, pushing the car from 0-100km/h in a pinch of 2 seconds and peaking at around 200km/h. It really is an amazing car to have in the market.
But then Tesla went to do the traditional Tesla thing and added some quirkiness to an otherwise brilliant car. In the case of the Model S Plaid, it is a yoke. Yes, a yoke, because the Plaid is as fast as an airplane apparently! While a cool feature in an already cool car, the yoke is probably the ugliest steering wheel of any car currently on sale. One can be excused if one thinks the designers are paid enough to put in a better effort. Fortunately, Tesla also offers a traditional steering wheel option – which unfortunately still lacks imagination.
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