Cars can come in all shapes and sizes, with a unique array of fancy features and optional add-ons too, but when it comes to colors, they’re often a bit samey. When you buy a new car these days, you often have to choose between blue, black, three different shades of gray, and maybe a red if you’re lucky.
For some people, these basic options just aren’t enough. So they decide to get custom paint jobs to show off their individuality. And some of them go way beyond a simple lick of paint! Here are 75 of the weirdest, wackiest, and most downright bizarre paint jobs the world has ever seen.
1) Mrs Puff Just Failed You
Spongebob Squarepants lives in a pineapple under the sea. Let’s leave him there.
2) Hilarious…
You really have to have no shame at all to think that this is funny for longer than about five seconds. This guy keeps the joke going every single time he goes for a drive.
3) Amateur Hour
Is this guy for real? He’s literally ‘painting’ his car with nothing but a black magic marker! We’re not sure if he’s just super cheap and trying to save some cash or running from the cops and in need of a quick paint job to cover up his white car. Either way, this is dumb.
4) Look At Those Teeth
This paint job is pretty impressive from a purely aesthetic point of view, but does it really belong on a car? Especially a Lexus! That is one expensive vehicle, and the owner decided to cover the whole hood with this totally bizarre image.
5) Tribal
Ouch. This car has been literally covered from top to bottom in awful tribal-style shapes and patterns. It looks like it had too many beers and walked into a tattoo parlor in the early 2000s.
6) You Cannot Be Serious
Any rock and roll lover would agree with the idea that the music will never die, and they’d be perfectly happy with the faces of Kiss sitting at the top of the picture. But Nickelback? Really? You could have taken your pick from the likes of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, and Guns N’ Roses, and you chose Nickelback?
7) So Legit
Oh yeah. You fooled us. This is absolutely an official Louis Vuitton car. 100%. Absolutely.
8) *Eye Roll*
Wow. Flames. Really? Are you 11 years old? We’re cringeing just looking at this one.
9) Gone Fishin’
Clearly, whoever sits behind the wheel of this thing must love to fish. Or maybe they just love watching fish swim around in aquariums. Either way, their obsession has gone a little too far.
10) Do We Need To Dial 911?
Is this for real? What kind of message is this truck owner trying to convey with such a scary paint job? Do they think that this is funny? Someone needs to keep an eye on this guy!
11) Where’s The Logic?
We really want to know what would possess someone to paint something like this on their vehicle. Are they trying to be edgy and cool? Are they making some kind of statement? Sadly, we’ll never know.
12) Kill It! Kill It Now!
This is the stuff nightmares are made of. It’s terrifying. It’s awful. It’s evil. And we’re done looking at it. Let’s move on.
13) What Is This?
There’s so much going on here and, quite frankly, it hurts our eyes. We’ve got a scaly green car that looks like some kind of snake, followed up with a crudely-drawn cheetah running down the side. And then there are a bunch of leaves sticking out from the wheels. What is this?
14) Fish Are Friends
Okay, Finding Nemo is one of the best movies ever made. We can all agree on that. And the paint job on this Smart car isn’t bad at all from a technical standpoint, but why does it exist?
15) Oh Dear…
These paint jobs just seem to get worse and worse. This one is a real mess, from the crooked ‘Dragon’ lettering at the base of the hood to the terrible ‘3D’ effect of the dragon itself. Can we even call that thing a dragon? Let’s just move on and forget about it.
16) What A Waste
That car is worth around $3 million. And someone did this to it. This just goes to show that money can’t buy class.
17) Houston, We Don’t Even Know Anymore
We can all agree that the moon landing was an extraordinary achievement for mankind and Neil Armstrong is one of the world’s true heroes. But even Neil would have to cringe a little if he saw this homage to his heroism.
18) Ugly!
This one has us scratching our heads in confusion and disbelief. How could anyone think that this was a good idea? What pushed them to cover their car in such an ugly way? Is it even legal to drive around town in such a weird-looking vehicle? So many questions, so few answers.
19) An Embarrassment
Oh no. There’s just nothing good about this picture whatsoever, and it’s scary to see that the guy posing beside the car actually seems pretty proud of what he’s done.
20) How Flowery
This looks like they just covered the hood in some cheap wallpaper! Flowers are fine, but they really have no place on a car like that.
21) Typo
There’s an apostrophe missing here. But even without the typo, it still looks stupid.
22) Here, Kitty Kitty
These cars should be outlawed on the roads. They could cause an accident if some other driver sees this design and tries to figure out why it exists.
23) Wow
In general, it’s not a good idea to try and copy McDonald’s in any way as they have a tendency to sue pretty much anyone who attempts that sort of thing. But even without the threat of legal action, this car is just one big mistake.
24) Sailing The Seven Seas
Looks like the owner of this car must be a big fan of sailing. There’s nothing wrong with that, exactly. But if you love sailing so much, get out there and sail! Don’t waste hours painting your car.
25) Gotta Catch ‘Em All
The owner of this elaborately modded and painted vehicle is clearly a big Pokemon fan. They’ve got pictures of several Pokemon around the body and the van itself has been adjusted to look like a Gyrados. It might be cool for a kid, but imagine driving to work in that thing!
26) One Step Further
Leopard print wasn’t enough for this woman. She just had to go one step further and get an actual big cat head on the side of her car. We love cats, but this is a step too far.
27) What’s Your Age Again?
Seriously, unless you’re a teenager, this bad Blink 182 design is just embarrassing! Whoever did this probably had some major regrets not too long after.
28) Snake Style
Snakeskin was once a real fashion statement, but these days, it’s a little old-fashioned. This car looks like it’s owned by some old guy who wants to be cool but doesn’t quite know what ‘cool’ really means.
29) Slowpoke
Someone has painted this old car to look like a tortoise. We wonder if it was done intentionally by the owner, or as a prank by one of their friends. Either way, it’s a shame to ruin a classic beauty with such a silly paint job.
30) Eww
Wow. You know exactly what sort of guy is behind the wheel of that thing. It’s funny how he clearly took the time to get a custom license plate with the word ‘Dropper’, but then we guess he decided people weren’t getting the message, so he added the paint job to clarify what he meant.
31) Look At The Paw!
There’s so much wrong with this design, it’s hard to know where to start. Oh wait, no it’s not! Just look at that paw on the side! It’s totally out of perspective with the gigantic face covering the whole hood. If that was a real cat, it wouldn’t even be able to walk with such a massive head and such tiny paws.
32) Grandma?
This one looks like the ‘artist’ took inspiration from some bad wallpaper in their grandma’s house. Who could possibly think that this looks good on a car?
33) An Anti-Theft Paint Job?
Usually, people want to avoid even a tiny bit of rust anywhere on their vehicle, but this van has actually been painted to look old and rusty. The only sensible explanation we can think of is that the owner wanted to make their van less of a target for thieves.
34) Joke’s On You, Pal
It’s cute that this guy is smiling despite sitting behind the wheel of such a hideous monstrosity. We can’t even figure out what that weird design is supposed to be, but we can tell you one thing: it’s ugly!
35) Snake-mobile
This is what happens when you take the whole ‘snakeskin’ effect to the extreme. It might look fine in some weird art gallery or in your own private garage, but you really can’t take that thing out on the road.
36) Incredible
A whole lot of work must have gone into this design, with that intricate, colorful mosaic covering the whole thing. There’s even a matching paint job on the wheels. And for some reason, a bust of Elvis is sitting on the dashboard. Because why not?
37) What Even…?
There’s absolutely no logic to this one. At least not any that we can see! The whole car is covered in random arrows and lightning bolts, with no rhyme or reason to be found anywhere.
38) There’s A Snake In My Boot
This looks like the sort of car that Sheriff Woody would love to drive around in. But there comes a time when we all need to put down the toys and act like responsible adults with regular cars.
39) So Much Detail
We almost have to respect the amount of detail in this design. The 3D ridges and props like the severed hand between the teeth really help to sell the whole thing. It’s still a little silly, but at least some real effort went into it.
40) Hello, Kitty
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with liking Hello Kitty. But there’s definitely something wrong with thinking that this is an acceptable vehicle for an adult to drive.
41) Ruining A Classic
The Rugrats was a truly classic cartoon of the late 90s and early 2000s, and many of the kids who grew up with the show are adults now with children of their own. Maybe one of them wanted to relive a little of the past with this ‘Thug Rats’ paint job, but it just looks awful.
42) Arty
This crazy, colorful design is actually quite impressive from certain angles, but it would be so distracting if you happened to be driving along and saw that thing on the road beside you.
43) Barbie Girl
Barbie dolls are some of the most iconic toys of all time and many kids grew up with them. Judging from this paint job, it looks like one of those kids never quite grew up.
44) Where’s The Car?
Wow! With that hardcore camo effect, we had to squint to even spot this car! Just kidding, that is one of the laziest camo effects we’ve ever seen.
45) So That’s Why They Call It An Eyesore
Our eyes are so sore just from looking at this thing. Someone has been reading way too many fantasy stories and decided to paint a red-eyed dragon on the side of their old car. It’s quite a detailed design, but we’re sure it looks better on a book cover or in a video game.
46) Amazing
Okay, this one has a cat with a gun riding a fire-breathing unicorn with a huge rainbow in the background. So we kinda love it. But we also kinda hate it. What’s your view?
47) Does Anyone Else Feel Nauseous?
This old Pontiac Aztec has been fitted with a whole mess of decals and unique design features, and we’re not even sure quite where to start with this one. It has Lamborghini-style scissor doors, pictures of chimps with guns on the sides, and some weird mural on the back. The poor lady in skintight yellow vinyl is doing her best to sell the vehicle, but it’s a pretty gross design from all four angles.
48) Can You Solve It?
There’s something slightly interesting about this Rubik’s Cube-style paint job. It’s not quite as bad as some of the snakeskin and leopardprint designs we’ve seen, but it’s frustrating to think that this is one Rubik’s Cube that will never be solved!
49) Fooled Us
You know Porsh, right? It’s just like Buggaty. And Lambrogeeny. And Ferrary.
50) Aww
This cute little Mini Cooper has been painted with an adorable little bear sitting on the side in a field of daisies. It’s quite cute, but it’s the sort of picture that belongs on a greeting card, not a car.
51) No, No, No
And at the other end of the spectrum for cute little bears and cartoon daisies, we have this monstrosity. It’s yet another car covered in scales, because some people think snakes and alligators are just the coolest things on Earth and anything that looks like them must be equally cool.
52) Roar!
Maybe the owner of this car really loves The Lion King. Maybe they had a great time on safari in Africa. Or maybe they’re just a bit silly and have no notion of good taste.
53) We Don’t Get It Either
You know when you go to an art gallery and see a bunch of people analyzing one picture for quite a while? We want to do the same with this one, because we just can’t figure it out. There must be some kind of symbolism or hidden story here. Or maybe it’s just a dumb picture on a car.
54) Groovy
At least there’s a lot of color in this design, but that’s pretty much the only good think we can say about it. It might not have looked so bad on an old hippie van or as part of some big street art mural. On a car, it just looks dumb.
55) Creepy
Okay, this isn’t exactly a paint job, but how could we not include such ridiculousness in our list? This car has been covered with a bunch of troll dolls. Imagine following behind this thing on the highway!
56) Eco-Friendly?
We’ve seen some awful paint jobs here, and this one goes a little further off-the-rails with a weird wooden design! There’s even a wooden bumper on the front, which probably won’t offer much protection if ever this thing crashes into something tough. Let’s hope the owner keeps it off the roads.
57) Can’t Buy Taste
Money can buy a lot of things. It can buy you fancy houses and flash cars like this one. But it can’t buy you the common sense to realize that covering a sports car with leopard print will never be a good idea.
58) How Decorative
A lot of intricate work has gone into the paint job of this Mini. It might be okay if you shrunk that thing down and used it as an ornament, but out on the roads, it’s just a distracting hazard.
59) 3, 2, 1, Go!
Looks like the owner of this car wanted to enjoy some real-life Mario Kart antics with their buddies. The paint job is a little lazy though. It looks like they just got some Mario stickers and plastered them on the sides.
60) Bad Idea
This is actually a traditional Russian design you can often find on dolls, plates, and random souvenirs. It’s quite pretty on those items, but it definitely does not belong on a car!
61) What Were You Thinking?
That orange looks like rust. And that bright blue doesn’t go with it at all. What on Earth was the person behind this poor paint job thinking?
62) Ranch Is Better
Someone must really, really, really love Sour Cream & Onion Pringles to have chosen such a ridiculous paint job. It’s not even the best flavor!
63) Squidward, We Feel You
Earlier on, we saw a car that had been painted just like Spongebob. Now, the rest of the Bikini Bottom gang are getting an automobile of their own.
64) Look Out For Gators
Want to know how to ruin a classy Mercedes Benz? Just cover it with pictures of alligators.
65) Very Sticky
Ha! We have to guess that this was some kind of prank. The whole car has been covered with post-its. Even the windows and dashboard are all covered up, so that thing definitely isn’t safe to drive.
66) No Thank You
Imagine going to a car dealership and being offered this thing. It makes you realize that the standard colors like black and silver really aren’t so bad, after all.
67) Now We’re Hungry
Nerds are always a tasty treat, but even if you love them more than life itself, is that any reason to get your car painted like this? The only person who should be behind that wheel is Willy Wonka himself.
68) Spidey-Style
This Spider-Man themed car appeared at a car mod show. For someone who loves Spidey, it might not be such a bad design, but you’d definitely turn a lot of heads while driving this thing through the city streets.
69) Special Delivery
We’re not sure about the story behind this UPS-themed car but with only two seats and not a lot of space, it’s not exactly the best-equipped vehicle to be making deliveries around town.
70) Now We’re Really Hungry
We were already pretty hungry after seeing the Nerds car, but this one is pushing us over the edge. These kinds of cars can actually do an amazing job of selling more snacks!
71) Do Not Pass Go
This just looks weird. There are plenty of cool things you could have done with a Monopoly-inspired card design, but just lazily sticking a few property cards and Monopoly logos on the side makes the whole thing look pretty pathetic.
72) Too Many Colors, Not Enough Sense
We get it. Picking a color for your car is hard! But that’s no excuse to decide to have a whole bunch of different colors all over the car without any kind of structure or style.
73) An Ad On Wheels
Whoever owns this car must really love Burberry. They copied the brand’s famous color scheme and plastered it all over their car, basically turning the vehicle in an ad with wheels.
74) The Real Thing Is So Much Better
Everyone can benefit from getting away from it all now and then, heading out of the city and visiting somewhere beautiful in nature. That’s the sort of thing we can all appreciate. But we definitely cannot all appreciate this random nature painting on the side of a car.
75) Last But Not Least
This list just wouldn’t feel right without one last leopard print design. We have to wonder if the interior of this car is styled in the same way. It’s probably not worth thinking about.
People really will go to extreme lengths when it comes to expressing themselves!
It’s fun to be yourself and show the world who you are, but painting your car like these people did is just asking for trouble. It totally wipes out the resale value of your vehicle, it makes you look silly out on the road, and it can be super distracting and dangerous for other drivers too.
What’s your view? Share the list around with friends and family to see what they think of these crazy paint jobs.