2002 Pontiac Aztek

Pontiac claims the Aztek was the product of out-of-the-box brainstorming in an effort to create a truly unique vehicle. The result of this creative thinking is a whole new SRV, or sport recreational vehicle, which takes the wide stance and sporty ride of the Grand Prix, the versatility of the Montana minivan and traditional character traits of sport-utility vehicles, and blends them into a unique and polarizing alternative to SUVs and minivans.

The Aztek was might be considered a harsh example of a car designed by the “form-follow-function” concept. The marketing department placed the requests based on marketing studies, the engineers put the elements together and the designers connected the dots. And the result was named SRV – Sports Recreational Vehicle.

Inside, the Aztek featured a car-like dashboard design with rounded shapes for the instrument cluster, in total contrast with the shape of the bodywork. The center console looked taken from a sedan and the center stack from the Pontiac Montana minivan. In the back, the rear seats could have been folded and removed releasing a huge cargo area. On the interior panels in the trunk, the Aztek was fitted with speakers and volume knobs, for an open-air party. The lowered part of the tailgate could have been used as a seat, with cupholders molded in it.

While many SUVs look like they’re cast from the same cookie cutter, Pontiac cooked up the boldest — and the most controversial — design to hit the streets so far. With its latest makeover, it’s softened it up a bit, but it still turns heads. Sure, the styling is different and you can’t do any serious off-roading, but if you need the versatility of a minivan, and don’t want to be labeled as another soccer mom driving a Caravan, the Aztek may be right up your alley.