Obscure 2004 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx Gets Modern Cyber Redesign, Still Looks Weird

According to Edmunds, a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx is worth from $380 to around $2,000 right now. Basically, it's a weird thing nobody wants to buy. But wasn't that the case with Pontiac Aztek too?

While the Maxx is unlikely to get featured in a popular TV series, we at least have a complete redesign from YouTuber TheSketchMonkey. This is just like the time he did a rendering based on the Fiat Multipla, which by the way, was in a Doug DeMuro review. What the heck?

Let's admit that there have been some pretty weird-looking Malibus over the years. In the 2000s, General Motors moved the car to a platform called the Epsilon, which was shared with the Vauxhall Vectra C, the Pontiac G6, and the Saab 9-3.

And this Maxx version was the first hatchback since the 1989 Chevrolet Corsica. It does feel like they were trying to be more European, right? Well, luckily, we know whose homework they copied. Between 2003 and 2008, the German factories made something called the Opel Signum.

The Signum was also a five-door, derived from the Vectra sedan. Struggling to imagine that car? Well, we remember the perfect Top Gear review from over a decade ago, where Jeremy Clarkson makes fun of it.

TheSketchMonkey begins by talking about how the Malibu Maxx was a missed opportunity to have a well-designed wagon. He keeps insisting that it was marketed as a wagon, but we find it a "5-door." It's a weird-shaped thing either way, with a strangely placed wheelbase. He compares it to the Dodge Magnum, which is arguably better-looking.

He then starts turning it into a real wagon by playing with the wheelbase and getting rid of the messy lines at the back. Maxx models came with a 3.5-liter V6 producing 200 horsepower. However, we also find mention of a 3.9-liter with 240 hp and 240 lb-ft (325 Nm). Maybe those are the ones to search for if you're into the most obscure Chevys of the 2000s.