# Ugly cars we have known



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

*Ugly cars we have known*

Gentlemen, to open the bidding I submit the Porsche Cayenne. It is ugly from all aspects: front, back and side.

https://www.caradvice.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/porsche-cayenne-001.jpg


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## Garnett (Mar 9, 2010)

The Triumph TR7:

Less for its styling and more for the anecdote I always remember hearing when I see one:

"At the TR7 launch Pininfarina spent a good 10 minutes surveying one side of the car before slowly walking around it where he said, "No! they've done the same on this side as well".


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## Asterix (Jun 7, 2005)

Subaru Tribeca


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## Garnett (Mar 9, 2010)

A bit soon to post another but this is one of my all-time least favourites. Sometimes ugliness can be understood if not forgiven, out of some acknowledgment of practicality, but flying in the face of all that, I give you the _Fiat Multipla_:


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Garnett you cad, you beat me to it! :icon_smile_wink: That Fiat was going to be my next offering and in fact along with the Cayenne was one of the 2 cars I had in mind when I created the thread.

So, instead I give you this, I saw a few of them in London when I was a kid. However, I know some people think they're ugly-attractive, I'm not one of them though :devil: 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/1975_AMC_Pacer_base_model_frontrightside.jpg


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Asterix said:


> Subaru Tribeca


Oh, man!! That is pug-ugly!


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Garnett said:


> The Triumph TR7:
> 
> Less for its styling and more for the anecdote I always remember hearing when I see one:
> 
> "At the TR7 launch Pininfarina spent a good 10 minutes surveying one side of the car before slowly walking around it where he said, "No! they've done the same on this side as well".


After the beauty of the previous TRs, the TR7 came as quite a shock!!!


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## Asterix (Jun 7, 2005)

Pontiac Aztec




Honda Element




Nissan Cube


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Asterix said:


> Pontiac Aztec


In the words of Jackson Browne, "Doctor, my eyes!!!!!" :icon_smile_big: aaahhhh!!!


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## Asterix (Jun 7, 2005)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> In the words of Jackson Browne, "Doctor, my eyes!!!!!" :icon_smile_big: aaahhhh!!!


Some cars are just so hideous that I feel the designers should be summarily executed for assaulting the populace with such affront. :icon_smile_big:


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## Asterix (Jun 7, 2005)

BMW X6




Honda Crosstour


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## Garnett (Mar 9, 2010)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> Garnett you cad, you beat me to it!


Sorry! I _did_ actually think I was posting again a bit too soon.


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

Cruiser


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)




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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Asterix said:


> BMW X6


Coincidentally, going past one in the car park this morning sparked the idea for the thread, and then I thought of the Cayenne. The X6 is hideous!


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Cruiser said:


> Cruiser


NOOO!!!! One of my favourite all time cars! That said the one in the photo is ugly because it's been customised.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Howard said:


>


I think that and the AMC Pacer should have a face off for the title :icon_smile:


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## DownByTheRiverSide (Oct 25, 2009)

*I Remember ....*

I can understand how one would consider this car ugly, but I dont.

When I first saw one of these many years ago my first thought was "Oh, how dreadful !!" but after a short while my opinion of them began to moderate, and eventually I came to quite like them, and perhaps all the more as I never saw that many of them.

I last saw one on the highway perhaps two years ago and kept it in view for the next couple of minutes as we drove along and thought how nice it looked in motion and was sorry when we inevitably had to go separate ways. I wonder how long until I see another.

I find with those very few cars that I initially didnt like that are able to change my opinion of them that I will inevitably like them more than most of the ones I had liked from the beginning.



Cruiser said:


> Cruiser


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## 127.72 MHz (Feb 16, 2007)

Asterix said:


> Pontiac Aztec
> 
> I read an article a couple of years ago about the time and effort, not to mention money, (big money even by Detroit standards) GM spent developing this afterbirth. The article was entitled "The Misfire heard Round the World."
> 
> To be right honest the Honda Element is one of those vehicles I believe to be so ugly it's almost endearing.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

DownByTheRiverSide said:


> I can understand how one would consider this car ugly, but I dont.
> 
> When I first saw one of these many years ago my first thought was "Oh, how dreadful !!" but after a short while my opinion of them began to moderate, and eventually I came to quite like them, and perhaps all the more as I never saw that many of them.
> 
> ...


Spot on! I've always loved the look of the Toad.


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

The Yugo!


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## msphotog (Jul 5, 2006)

127.72 MHz said:


> Asterix said:
> 
> 
> > Pontiac Aztec
> ...


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## 14395 (Mar 10, 2004)




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## JerseyJohn (Oct 26, 2007)

The stock Citroen was pretty ugly, but Gabriel Orozco's, on the other hand ...

It's a shame it's not actually drivable.

(This is not a trick photo - he actually removed the center third of the car and stuck the outer two thirds back together)


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

How can we forget the AMC Pacer? You could actually order a Levis denim interior for it. It seemed the perfect "small" car for very big people.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

TMMKC said:


> How can we forget the AMC Pacer?


Ahem...excuse me..we haven't...you obviously didn't read my post (#5) above or open the link! Pay attention man!!! :icon_smile_wink:


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

JerseyJohn said:


> The stock Citroen was pretty ugly, but Gabriel Orozco's, on the other hand ...
> 
> It's a shame it's not actually drivable.
> 
> (This is not a trick photo - he actually removed the center third of the car and stuck the outer two thirds back together)


Disagree, THAT is ugly. As it appeared from the factory however, pure ugly-beautiful. :icon_smile_wink:


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

When you drew cars as a kid, viewed from the front, what car(s) did they often resemble? Although growing up in England, mine always ended up looking like Edsels or the Gordon Keeble or a huge Cadillac (influence of rock n roll record covers) but more often than not just some generic British made box looking vehicle.


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## Beresford (Mar 30, 2006)

*AMC Gremlin*

The Gremlin is right up there with the Pacer:

Looks like a train took off the back half at a railroad crossing.


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## cecil47 (Oct 25, 2009)

Take one of the most beautiful front ends...





and pair it with one of the ugliest rears...



and you have a Lotus Europa. A lesson in how to make a sporty little (and I mean little, 42" to the top of the roof) car look like an El Camino! The first & last photos are the one that used to be mine.


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## fishertw (Jan 27, 2006)

*an ugly contest*

How about a Pacer vs a Pinto? Not sure which would win. Both are uniquely ugly in their own way.


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## Scoundrel (Oct 30, 2007)

PT Cruiser and the Cooper Mini...

Most cars from the 00s


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## Asterix (Jun 7, 2005)

2009/2010 Acura TL


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## Relayer (Nov 9, 2005)

Prius


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## Kingstonian (Dec 23, 2007)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> NOOO!!!! One of my favourite all time cars! That said the one in the photo is ugly because it's been customised.


Agreed a beautiful car. Indicators did not self cancel and it was more expensive than Mercedes but a lovely, smooth ride.

2CV is also good - jolie laide.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Walked past a horrible little new Nissan model when I was out for lunch, with huge bug-eye headlights and a horrible bonnet, no idea what it's called.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

It's the new Nissan micra I saw https://www.tuningcars.us/uploads/Nissan/Micra/Nissan-Micra-Tuned-600.jpg


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## Persephone (Jul 17, 2008)

*Buick Roadmaster (ca. 1990)*

The wood-panelled exterior reminds me of my Austrian great-aunt's living room (her furniture has a similar colour) -- the only thing that's missing is an oil painting featuring deer...

I sometimes see these cars where I currently live; they may be reliable, but I find them very ugly.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Persephone said:


> The wood-panelled exterior reminds me of my Austrian great-aunt's living room (her furniture has a similar colour) -- the only thing that's missing is an oil painting featuring deer...
> 
> I sometimes see these cars where I currently live; they may be reliable, but I find them very ugly.


Oh I love the Buick Roadmaster, for the wood panels but mainly for the super length of the beast. I always loved the wood panelled cars we had in England way back when, like the Morris Minor shooting brake, what a beauty. https://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/images/library/files/MorrisMinor07sml.jpg

New thread...cars we have loved! :icon_smile_big:


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

Although I don't have any pictures of my first car, it was a '53 Chevy Bel Aire like this one; a car that I'm sure many young folks will say was ugly. Looking back at it now, to me it is even more beautiful today than I thought it was back then. With that in mind I will soften my stance on the Citroen. :icon_smile_big:










Is it just me or did cars of days gone by, ugly or not, have more character than cars of today? Young people today just don't seem to have as much fun with cars as did young people in the '50s and '60s, or maybe I'm just imagining that.

Cruiser


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Even Volvos look like Hondas these days...


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Cruiser said:


> Although I don't have any pictures of my first car, it was a '53 Chevy Bel Aire like this one; a car that I'm sure many young folks will say was ugly. Looking back at it now, to me it is even more beautiful today than I thought it was back then. With that in mind I will soften my stance on the Citroen. :icon_smile_big:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's a beauty. And yes the cars of yesteryear had much more character. It was before cars were being designed on computers by 19 year olds, fine tuned in wind tunnels by white coated lab assistants, and built by robots!

Back then cars were designed and built by real car drivers, real engineers and real mechanics using the real skills of carpentry, panel beating, cutting, joining, motor mechanics, engineering and so on.

Morgan still make proper cars using the old methods.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> Morgan still make proper cars using the old methods.


I hope they throw in some safety and economy!!


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

WouldaShoulda said:


> I hope they throw in some safety and economy!!


Well of course they were rolling death traps that got 10 miles per gallon (if you were lucky) and polluted the air like crazy; but otherwise they were so cool. :icon_smile_big:

Cruiser


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## Asterix (Jun 7, 2005)

Corbin Sparrow

The supreme ugly is the 1957 Aurora


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## JerseyJohn (Oct 26, 2007)

My vote goes to the post-BMW Rolls Royces: back end like a Hyundai XG350, front end like a truck.


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## 127.72 MHz (Feb 16, 2007)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> It's the new Nissan micra I saw https://www.tuningcars.us/uploads/Nissan/Micra/Nissan-Micra-Tuned-600.jpg


It looks a bit VW bug"ish."


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Cruiser said:


> Well of course they were rolling death traps that got 10 miles per gallon (if you were lucky) and polluted the air like crazy; but otherwise they were so cool. :icon_smile_big:
> 
> Cruiser


While it is true that the cars of yesteryear may have been getting ten miles of less, to the gallon of gas, it still wasn't so bad. I seem to recall paying only 26 cents a gallon, for gas back then!


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Asterix said:


> Corbin Sparrow
> 
> The supreme ugly is the 1957 Aurora


Those are some weird cars.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Asterix said:


> Corbin Sparrow
> 
> The supreme ugly is the 1957 Aurora


As much as I agree with your aesthetic judgment on those two, were either of them series production cars?


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## mjc (Nov 11, 2009)

It's a car! No, a truck! No, it's a cruck! I present the Chevrolet El Camino...


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## 127.72 MHz (Feb 16, 2007)

^ Actually I kind of like it! You could have picked quite a few other models of El Camino with worse looks than this one.


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## CuffDaddy (Feb 26, 2009)

mjc said:


> It's a car! No, a truck! No, it's a cruck! I present the Chevrolet El Camino...


Ah, the hermaphrodite of cars.


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

CuffDaddy said:


> Ah, the hermaphrodite of cars.


Actually the El Camino came to the party late as it was nothing more than GM's answer to the Ford Ranchero.










Having said that, I don't think the El Camino and Ranchero qualify anymore than do SUVs as the "hermaphrodite of cars." Remember SUVs came into being as a combination of the once popular station wagon on a truck frame.

The El Camino and Ranchero broke no new ground. If you compare this 1923 Ford Model T automobile with this 1923 Ford Model T truck you can clearly see that the truck is nothing more than the automobile with a truck bed hung on the back.



















Actually El Caminos weren't considered to be ugly at all by most folks back then. In fact, I seem to remember that women really liked them as I knew at least two single women who drove El Caminos. After all where else were you going to get a sleek pick up truck with a high performance fire breathing 396 c.i. under the hood. Unless of course you were to choose the Ranchero with the 428 c.i. option.

Cruiser


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## Asterix (Jun 7, 2005)

The El Camino. Coming soon to a dealer near you.



mjc said:


> It's a car! No, a truck! No, it's a cruck! I present the Chevrolet El Camino...


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## mjc (Nov 11, 2009)

Well... the El Camino was sort-of revived not too long ago as the Chevy SSR, which just looked odd:









Still, the Aztek gets my vote for the very ugliest. The photos in an earlier post didn't do it justice. Wow, it was ugly in the flesh.

- Mike


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^^
As a former El Camino aficionado, I almost bit on the Chevy SSR bait but, I resisted. Judging from it's inclusion in this thread of "ugly cars," I guess that it is good that I did! LOL.


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## mjc (Nov 11, 2009)

Well, if I had a Jay-Leno-style garage, I might keep an El Camino around, just for fun. But not the SSR.

Plus, I'd need a 80s Chevy Impala. It's the classic getaway car! For when I need to make a, err, withdrawal, from a bank!

- Mike


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## Garnett (Mar 9, 2010)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> Morgan still make proper cars using the old methods.


That doesn't exempt them from the list!

A cross-eyed Aero 8 anyone?



















I think they may have put it right now.


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## 14395 (Mar 10, 2004)

*Subaru Brat* - Japan's answer to the El Camino and Ranchero


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## mjc (Nov 11, 2009)

According to Wikipedia: "President Ronald Reagan owned a 1978 BRAT until 1998, which he kept at his ranch near Santa Barbara".

Maybe it's a candidate for the tradliest car too, then... :icon_smile:

- Mike


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

eagle2250 said:


> ^^
> As a former El Camino aficionado, I almost bit on the Chevy SSR bait


A couple of years ago I spotted a legendary country music singer driving an SSR. :icon_smile:

Cruiser


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Cruiser said:


> a legendary country music singer
> Cruiser


What kind of car did Hank Williams die in? I know he was being driven, but what kind of car was it,anyone know?

James Dean was a Porsche Spider wasn't it?


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## 14395 (Mar 10, 2004)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> What kind of car did Hank Williams die in? I know he was being driven, but what kind of car was it,anyone know?


1952 Cadillac

https://www.angelfire.com/country/hanksr/death.htm


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

EP said:


> 1952 Cadillac
> 
> https://www.angelfire.com/country/hanksr/death.htm


Thanks EP, poor old Hank, one of life's unfortunates, in a time when the world was full of them.
By the way did you clock his occupation on the death cert? "Radio singer"


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> What kind of car did Hank Williams die in?


It is on display at the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery AL.










Cruiser


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## sowilson (Jul 27, 2009)

^ sweet ride


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## chainsaw4130 (Apr 30, 2008)

Asterix said:


> 2009/2010 Acura TL


This design ruined the TL.


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## mjc (Nov 11, 2009)

^^^ You don't like the Inspector Poirot moustache? :icon_smile:


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## Asterix (Jun 7, 2005)

chainsaw4130 said:


> This design ruined the TL.


It definitely did especially the rear end. A sales person was actually trying to convince me that it looked even better with the optional Chrome instead of the chrome painted plastic sold as standard on the current TL.


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## Asterix (Jun 7, 2005)

Suzuki Vitara X-90










WWII VW 181 Kurierwagen










Yugo


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## mjc (Nov 11, 2009)

That Kurierwagen looks great! What sort of fun could you not have in that?

And it's the perfect antidote to today's "melted-in-the-sun" aerodynamic blobs!

- Mike


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

mjc said:


> That Kurierwagen looks great! What sort of fun could you not have in that?
> 
> And it's the perfect antidote to today's "melted-in-the-sun" aerodynamic blobs!
> 
> - Mike


Totally agree, nothing ugly about it at all. Military vehicles should look odd, but odd is good when suited to a purpose. Next he'll be telling us that the Duck and Landrovers are ugly!

Oh, if I'd had a Duck when I lived in London. Bridge closed? No problem! 
:icon_smile_big:

This is the Duck, for you younger chaps who might not know what it is https://www.milweb.net/features/dukw.php


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

And from the same website as the Duck article I just found this https://www.milweb.net/features/badluck.php

Poor bloke, an early case of friendly fire combined with friendly overdosing!


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