2001 Pontiac Aztek Gets Redesign From YouTube Artist, Stops Being Interesting

The Aztek may have been ugly, but it was ahead of its time, a pioneer of what it meant to be a modern crossover. Also, while people go as far as to blame this vehicle for Pontiac's demise, the problems that plagued the company were much deeper. Thus, we really don't see the point of another Aztek redesign.

Admittedly, it's not the best-looking thing in the world, but it's already become an icon, and we think it would be collectible even without the Breaking Bad connection. There are plenty of good, clean designs from that era that nobody even remembers. Even so, there's a clear distinction between something quirky but good-looking, like the FJ Cruiser, and this thing.

According to TheSketchMonkey, the thing that makes the Aztek so bad is a lack of continuity, as the lines appear out of nowhere or aren't repeated enough. The two-character lines seen in the profile are given as an example, but we don't agree with this. For starters, people hate the Aztek with the black side cladding, not this version. Also, most SUVs and trucks with strong off-road connections have bumpers with a slight lift, as this also gives better approach/departure angles.

However, we will admit that the front end is a little too quirky, having no connection between the two headlight units. And the back looks like it was improvised. Let's just call the Aztek an experiment that almost worked out. The guy who designed it, Tom Peters, went on to design the Stingray Corvette.

So what do we think about this YouTube artist's makeover? Well, it certainly doesn't make it worse. But with better lines, the Aztek becomes forgettable. The front end almost looks like a second-gen Honda CR-V, which came out at roughly the same time.