Legendary actor James Garner was the man behind famous TV detective Jim Rockford, arguably the greatest private eye show in television history.
One of the stars in ‘The Rockford Files’ was Garner’s set of wheels, namely 1970s-era Pontiac Firebirds.
Jim Sutherland

The Poncho pony cars used in ‘The Rockford Files’ were upgraded every year after the show’s debut in 1974, but the kicker was Garner did not like the major front end style change made for the 1979 Firebird, so they used the ’78 Firebird front grille for the remainder of the series. The style change was a step too far for James Garner and illustrated a point that car builders have committed a similar visual crime with other vehicles over the years.
We at MyStarCollectorCar decided to throw our hat in the ring and add our highly subjective list of cars where one year turned a swan into an ugly duckling. Your opinions may understandably vary from ours, but here are our choices.
The first car on our list is the 1961 DeSoto. The main reason is the large front grille in the hood looks like the designers were drunk and/or had an axe to grind with Mother Mopar, so they added an extra grille that did not fit in with the rest of the car’s front-end design.

1961 was the last year Chrysler sold its DeSoto model, and it appeared the doomed Mopar division wanted the public to remember it for all the wrong reasons. Call it the Edsel syndrome.
The second car on the list is the 1960 Mercury. The upscale Ford product had an unusual four- headlight configuration with a large gap between them on both sides of the car.

The ’60 Merc’s overall design was unorthodox, but the Grand Canyon-sized gap between the two headlights on each side of the front grille was a memorable way for Mercury to start the 1960s. The Merc’s designers wanted it to stand out in a crowd-for good or bad reasons. We lean toward the latter on this one.

The third car on our list is a little dicier because we picked the 1966 Buick Riviera. The ’66 Riv had a bold new design that launched the famous Buick brand into the back nine of the 1960s and was considered cutting-edge at the time.

The 1966 Buick Riviera only had one major flaw: it followed the ultra-cool design of the 1965 Buick Riviera, arguably one of the most beautiful cars ever built in automotive history. In short, the ’66 Riv had no chance against its legendary older sibling.
The same conclusion may be a part of our fourth addition to our list, specifically the 1972 Ford Torino.

The ’72 Torino was a clean-looking stylish car but the design changes that separated it from the 1971 Ford Torino did not compete with the older edition’s sleeker front end, particularly when a ’71 version was equipped with hidden headlights. Change may have been the order of the day for the Ford designers in 1972, but they left a better-looking car back in 1971.
The fifth and final addition to our “change-is-not-necessarily-better” list is the 1950 Studebaker Champion, affectionally called the “Bullet-Nose” because of its radical front grille.
The ’50 Studebaker front grill was cone-shaped and sat in the middle of the front end. It was a wild design that only lasted for two years and is still a part of automotive folklore in the 21st century.

Studebaker was a small company that built practical unexciting vehicles- right up until its 1950 Champion model replaced its conventionally styled 1949 predecessor. The Bullet-Nose drew plenty of attention for Studebaker, and strong sales for the small car company, but the unusual car was only built for two years, presumably because its rivals were already moving toward a more modern design without gimmickry.
Nevertheless, the Bullet-Nose Studebaker deserves a place of honor on our list because of its offbeat style. In fact, the 1950 Studebaker Champion would be a strong contender if there was an Edsel Cup for homely cars.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
- CLICK HERE to Sign Up for the Newsletter
- CLICK HERE to Like us on Facebook
- CLICK HERE to Follow us on Twitter
- CLICK HERE to Follow us on Pinterest