Wrong Turn Awards 2026: Vote for the Weirdest Cars

Winners will be announced on this page and in the Recalculating newsletter after voting closes. We count every vote by hand and publish the totals with the winners. One vote per category per person, please. You can skip any category you don't care about.

Voting has closed. Thanks to everyone who voted. Winners will appear here once the votes are counted.

Category 1 of 7 Least Sensible Door

For services to getting in and out of a car the hard way.

BMW IsettaThe whole front of the car is the door, and the steering wheel swings out with it.See the evidence: BMW Isetta Bricklin SV-1Hydraulic gullwing doors that weigh 90 lb each and take up to 12 seconds to open or close.See the evidence: Bricklin SV-1 BMW Z1The doors slide down into the sills instead of swinging open.See the evidence: BMW Z1 Toyota SeraButterfly doors on an economy car, made mostly of glass.See the evidence: Toyota Sera AMC PacerThe passenger door is four inches longer than the driver's door.See the evidence: AMC Pacer

Category 2 of 7 Most Creative Approach to Reverse

Reverse gears are for quitters.

Peel P50No reverse gear: you lift the tail by its handle and drag the car round.See the evidence: Peel P50 Messerschmitt KR200You stop the engine and restart it running backwards, which gives you all four gears in reverse.See the evidence: Messerschmitt KR200 Lamborghini CountachThe traditional technique is sitting on the sill with the scissor door up, looking backwards.See the evidence: Lamborghini Countach Saab 900On manuals, the key between the seats only comes out once you've selected reverse.See the evidence: Saab 900

Category 3 of 7 Most Optimistic Relationship With Water

Cars that went into the water on purpose.

Amphicar 770On the water, the front wheels double as the rudders.See the evidence: Amphicar 770 Top Gear's Rudyard Lake amphibious carsThree homemade car-boats, two miles of lake, one sailing Triumph Herald still upright at the end.See the evidence: Top Gear's Rudyard Lake amphibious cars The NissankDoors welded shut, entry by sunroof, and it still reached Sangatte in France.See the evidence: The Nissank The Indestructible HiluxLost to the tide in the Severn estuary for five hours, and it still started.See the evidence: The Indestructible Hilux

Category 4 of 7 Truck That Shouldn't Exist

Pickups and off-roaders that took a very specific wrong turn.

Lamborghini LM002It needed tyres that didn't exist yet, so Pirelli developed the Scorpion for it.See the evidence: Lamborghini LM002 Subaru BRATRear-facing jump seats bolted into the cargo bed, mainly to dodge a 25% light-truck tariff.See the evidence: Subaru BRAT Mazda REPUThe world's first and only Wankel-engined pickup truck.See the evidence: Mazda REPU Chevrolet SSRA pickup truck with a folding metal convertible roof.See the evidence: Chevrolet SSR Nissan Murano CrossCabrioletA two-door convertible SUV.See the evidence: Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet

Category 5 of 7 Strangest Seating Plan

For rethinking where humans should go.

Fiat MultiplaTwo rows of three: three people sit side by side up front.See the evidence: Fiat Multipla Matra MurenaA sports car with three seats in one row, so the driver gets two passengers.See the evidence: Matra Murena Zündapp JanusThe back passengers sit facing backwards and get in through a door in the tail.See the evidence: Zündapp Janus Hammerhead Eagle i-ThrustThree abreast, with the middle passenger's head in a plastic-box turret on the roof.See the evidence: Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust

Category 6 of 7 Auction Watch Find of the Year

The listings that made us refresh the page.

1996 Geo Metro Mid-Mounted V8 SwapA Geo Metro with a 5.3-litre LS V8 behind the seats and rear-wheel drive.See the evidence: 1996 Geo Metro Mid-Mounted V8 Swap 2000 Nissan President SovereignJapan-only executive limo with rear massage seats, an ottoman and a rear fridge.See the evidence: 2000 Nissan President Sovereign 1961 Robur Garant 30K 4x4 Fire TruckAn air-cooled East German fire engine.See the evidence: 1961 Robur Garant 30K 4x4 Fire Truck 1982 Honda MotocompoA 49cc scooter that folds flat to live in the boot of a Honda City.See the evidence: 1982 Honda Motocompo Jolly-Style 1988 Renault 4A beach-car Renault 4 with a striped surrey top and wicker seats.See the evidence: Jolly-Style 1988 Renault 4

Category 7 of 7 Bad Idea of the Year

From the Garage of Bad Ideas: the homemade build that most deserved to fail.

The Reliant Robin Space ShuttleThe boosters separated. The tank didn't. Neither did the Robin.See the evidence: The Reliant Robin Space Shuttle The caravan airshipTop speed about 17mph, and it went backwards into a headwind of more than 13 knots.See the evidence: The caravan airship The stretch limosA very long Fiat Panda, a roofless MG F and a car with a front at both ends.See the evidence: The stretch limos The campervansIncluding a Citroën whose escape chute covered the fuel filler.See the evidence: The campervans

The Wrong Turn Awards 2026