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Sometimes, carmakers will introduce a facelifted version midway through a model's life, and in these cases, it really improved their looks.
There's a certain rule that most automakers follow when it comes to the lifecycle of their models. Usually, one generation of a car lasts for approximately six or seven years, before the automaker introduces the next generation, which often brings a multitude of changes and improvements. To keep the current generation feeling fresh, most automakers put together a mid-cycle facelift, with the best efforts to update the car and keep it in line with market demands and competition.
Facelifts are called so because most of the noticeable changes happen on the outside of the car. It's a great opportunity for the automaker to fine-tune the design and give the car some new exterior improvements, like new and improved lighting or perhaps their new logo, should that have been updated in the meantime. In most cases, this goes very well. Sometimes, facelifts can change very strange or ugly cars dramatically, and make their way nicer to look at as a result.
One of the most iconic cars on the internet, the Fiat Multipla was introduced in the late 90s in an attempt to solve the minivan crisis in Europe. It was the same length as a normal family hatchback, but it was very wide, to accommodate two rows of three seats. It was also very tall, and the first generation car is infamous for one thing and one thing only; it's hideous.
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Even though the looks didn't stop the Multipla from doing well in terms of sales, Fiat realized that they made a pretty controversial car. In 2004, they put together a facelift, which immediately improved things drastically. The bump below the windshield was smoothed out, and normal headlights were installed, while the rear end replaced the stamped "MULTIPLA" writing with a Fiat badge. You can't help but feel that some of the original, insane appeal of the Multipla was lost, though.
The automotive world was set alight when this generation of the Jeep Cherokee was launched for the 2014 model year, and not in a good way. The front end was heavily, heavily criticized for its nonsensical upside-down headlights and piddly daytime running lights directly above.
It took a little while, but Jeep finally put together a facelift for the Cherokee in 2019, replacing the ridiculous upside-down headlights for more conventional units. While the new Cherokee looks far better, we can't help but feel the new Compass looks a little tidier.
As we know, the various iterations of the lovable Subaru Impreza WRX STI are denoted by the shape of their headlights. Although North America missed out on the original Mean Eye and the later Bug Eye models, the first one to be sold officially on the continent was the Blob Eye generation in 2004. The front end was a little confused, and the headlights were, well, blobby.
In 2006, Subaru introduced a facelifted WRX STI, known as the Hawk Eye. It featured Subaru's new corporate face (which we will get back to), as well as more conventional-looking headlights. It was still the complete WRX STI package, only it was easier on the eyes.
When the Internet talks about the ugliest cars in history, the original Ssangyong Rodius is a regular, and a regular on the highest spots on those lists too. There is no other way of saying it; the Rodius is a truly unsightly automobile, with awful proportions and possibly the most obscene rear quarter windows in automotive history.
2014 saw the introduction of a new Rodius, which was called the Turismo in some markets, and things improved a fair bit. Don't be fooled, this is by no means a beautiful car, but at least compared to the first-gen Rodius, the second generation is a lot, lot better.
2017 was a somewhat sad year for Citroën, as they axed their C5 sedan in Europe, to the dismay of many. A year later, they brought back the C5 nameplate for... a mid-size crossover. What a surprise. It's not so bad though, as the C5 Aircross is a pretty solid crossover with a greater focus on comfort. The original model looked a little busy, though.
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Citroën seems to agree, as they cleaned it up quite a lot for the just-revealed facelift 2022 model. The silly upside-down headlights have been thrown out in favor of more conventional units, with a front light bar and a much cleaner front bumper design. Good job, Citroën.
Remember Subaru's corporate face in the mid-2000s? While it did somewhat work on the Hawk-Eye Impreza, their flagship B9 Tribeca SUV was... a different story. As well as being the only Subaru in history to adopt their proposed and nonsensical nomenclature, it was a very unfortunate-looking SUV.
It was so poorly received, that a facelift that got rid of the terrible corporate face was introduced just two years later. The damage was done, however, and the Tribeca was never as successful as Subaru had hoped. That's a shame, because bulbous styling aside, this was a pretty good car. However, their latest three-row competitor, the Ascent, is doing quite a lot better.
Let's get one thing straight; the 308 is by no means an ugly car. The second generation was one of the best-selling cars in Europe during its heyday, and it's easy to see why. However, the first generation was a little busy as far as the front-end styling was concerned. A big smile, very angular, and the badge was on the hood for some reason.
The facelifted 308 improved things a fair bit. It moved the badge to front and center on the grille, and it cleaned up the lower bumper intakes for a much smoother look. The end result is one of the best-looking modern C-segment hatchbacks, and no questions as to why it lasted for almost 10 years on the market with consistently great sales, despite the competition moving forward and the advent of SUVs.
Every car enthusiast remembers the absolute fiasco that was the proposed MY2019 facelift for the Chevy Camaro. With styling seemingly inspired by the bespoke Camaro used in Transformers: The Last Knight, the facelifted Camaro was immediately hit with criticism left, right and center. It just looked wrong having such a huge grille on the front.
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Thankfully, GM realized the error of its ways very quickly, and they put together an emergency second facelift, which split the obnoxiously massive grille with a body-colored strip, which was an instant improvement. Still, this doesn't warp the unfortunate reality that the Camaro is most likely on its way out.
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is one of the best luxury sedans of all time. Throughout all of its generations, it's always been a benchmark of the segment; excellent comfort, practicality, performance, and luxury. The W212 E-Class came along in 2009, and the styling somewhat divided opinion. The split headlights, the aftermarket-looking LED DRLs, and the strange crease above the rear wheels.
In what has to be one of the most dramatic facelifts in automotive history, the 2014 E-Class facelift corrected all of these flaws, consolidating the headlights and DRLs into a single housing. The arched crease was also replaced by a simple horizontal one. The end result was a truly beautiful, stately luxury sedan that still retained all the qualities that made the E-Class a worthy buy.
Launched in 2004, the Fiat Croma was the Italian automaker's flagship family car. It was a station wagon. It was a minivan. It was an SUV. It was stuck in an awkward limbo between all three of those segments, not helped by its Kinder egg styling.
In 2008, Fiat facelifted the Croma. As well as a new face, the new Fiat badge and new headlights, the Croma received some subtle plastic cladding on the exterior, which gave it a more SUV-like appearance, somewhat bridging the aforementioned limbo that the pre-facelift car was stuck in.
Marko has been part of the HotCars team since July 2020. He started out writing for various sites on a variety of topics. He prefers weird, unusual cars to luxobarges and sports cars.