10 'surprisingly' popular car models

Just because a car is considered a "bad car" doesn't mean it will be a sales disaster, sometimes buyers are looking for a car that can get them from point A to point B, and that's it - so they look for the cheapest vehicle that can meet their needs.

The list below is a compilation of models that are poorly rated for their appearance but still have millions of units sold.

10. Ford Mustang II

The first generation Mustang was a huge success, there's no denying that - some even consider it the first muscle car and the greatest car of all time... However, its successor was a different story. The Mustang II was produced from 1974 to 1978, and when it first debuted, the V8 engine option was gone from the first Mustang. The only engine options in '74 were a 2.3-liter four-cylinder making 88 horsepower and a 2.8-liter V6 making 105 horsepower.

The most surprising thing, however, is that over 1.1 million Mustang IIs were sold to the public. In its second year of production, Ford relented and added a V8 engine to the lineup. However, it was still a car based on the Ford Pinto platform – a car that was both bad in performance and bad in safety.

9. Ford Pinto

The Ford Pinto is considered one of the most hated vehicles on the planet. Not only was it slow and terrible to drive, but it was also dangerous. In rear-end collisions, the car was prone to fire because its fuel tank was placed improperly; this resulted in a reported 25 fatalities.

However, sales were impressive with over 3 million units sold between 1971 and 1980.

8. Chrysler PT Cruiser

Chrysler came up with the PT Cruiser because they thought it would be a great idea to create a retro-inspired family car with tons of customization. It sounds like a great idea on paper, but only on paper.

In fact, the PT Cruiser was deformed and looked very “weird”. Chrysler realized this, but they could not afford to replace the model due to the financial crisis in the 2000s. As a result, this strange hatchback sold very well with over 1 million units reaching customers worldwide.

7. Fiat 500L

The Fiat 500L is the successor to the Chrysler PT Cruiser. Chrysler was owned by Daimler-Benz from 1998 to 2007, but after 2007, Chrysler was nearly bankrupt and no one wanted to be its parent company.

In 2014, that changed when Fiat took Chrysler under its wing and formed Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, or FCA for short. It attracted buyers by marketing it as a family-friendly Fiat 500, which many people actually liked and believed they were buying an iconic Italian car, so it sold well, despite being a rebadged Chrysler PT Cruiser.

6. Hummer H2

Hummers, especially the Humvee, are world-famous icons for being one of the most powerful vehicles ever built as well as being capable of conquering any terrain. For that reason, Hummer knows that the upcoming H2 will be a huge success, regardless of its performance and capabilities.

The H2 has a shiny chrome finish and impressive height. It also has low ground clearance and is a gas guzzler. Hummer believes the success of the H1 is reason enough for people to buy the H2, and it has worked, with the brand selling more than 150,000 in the United States alone.

5. Toyota Prius

The Prius has been manufactured by Toyota since 1997 (in Japan), and since it first reached American buyers in 2001, more than 15 million of these hybrids have been sold worldwide.

On paper, it sounds like a sensible choice, it's fuel-efficient, it's a good value for money in terms of features, and it's a green car. However, we can't ignore the fact that the Prius is a boring and unattractive car.

4. Volkswagen New Beetle

Like the Fiat 500L and Hummer H2, the New Beetle sold well in 2001 largely due to the legendary status of the previous generation and its nostalgia. People had the opportunity to experience the first Beetle that had been discontinued.

Overall, the Beetles didn't have many problems when it came to reliability, but they were definitely overhyped when it came to their driving experience. The New Beetle was actually pretty mediocre to drive, it wasn't fast or efficient, but it sold well thanks to its predecessor.

3. Nissan Juke

Now, the latest version of the Nissan Juke has changed a lot and become more beautiful, however, that cannot be said for its previous generation, which has sold more than 1 million units worldwide. The first Nissan Juke existed in 2011, and if you look closely, you can see that it really does resemble an angry, squinting Japanese man.

The most powerful engine that Juke is equipped with is a turbocharged inline 4-cylinder that produces nearly 200 horsepower and together with 4-wheel drive, Juke is capable of reaching 60 mph in just under 8 seconds, which is very fast compared to the standard version - 12 seconds.

2. Smart ForTwo

There’s not much to say about the Smart ForTwo; it certainly excels at what it’s been tasked with doing: Being the smallest, best-selling car possible. As a result, the ForTwo’s engine is located at the back, maximizing space for two passengers (though not too much). All of the car’s power is sent to the rear wheels because if it had to be front-wheel drive, there would be no cabin space.

The first generation Smart was powered by a 599cc turbocharged three-cylinder engine that produced between 45 and 61 horsepower, allowing the ForTwo to slowly accelerate to 60 mph in 15 seconds flat. There have been two more generations of Smarts, but both were as cramped, impractical, dangerous and slow as the first generation. That hasn't stopped buyers from picking them up, though, as around 2 million have been sold to date.

1. Yugo

The reason for the Yugo’s success was its price and service. The Yugo was introduced in the mid-1980s for just $4,500, with a 10-year/100,000-mile warranty and free maintenance. It may have been slow and ugly, but for less than $5,000, it was a very attractive purchase. So much so that over its eight-year lifespan, nearly 140,000 Yugos were sold in the United States alone, with the highest recorded daily sales rate being 1,050.

However, with the “unbelievable” price tag, it was no surprise that customers received their cars with dents, dirty seats, a terrible stench, and some even had engine problems right from the start. Fortunately, after realizing the shortcomings of this model, the public stopped buying them at a rapid pace. Unfortunately, however, many people were injured and even died due to the Yugo’s lack of basic safety features in their cars.