Fail of the century #29: Youabian Puma

When the Youabian Puma was unveiled at the 2014 LA Auto Show, it provoked many strong reactions among journalists, the public and innocent bystanders.

Shortly thereafter, the Puma’s creator, an actual medical doctor named Kambiz Youabian, issued cease-and-desist letters to those who had published less-than-positive reactions, claiming that to describe the Puma as, for example, “elephantine” or “nightmare inducing” was to defame him and his creation.

So, not wishing to provoke the legally eager doctor or his legally eager lawyers any further, Fail of the Century shall here stick to the undisputed facts of the case. Which are as follows.

The Youabian Puma was a vehicle. It was 20 feet long and eight feet across. It weighed 3.5 tonnes and had a folding hard-top. Somewhere in its midst resided the remains of a Volvo C70. Powered by a Corvette V8, it was theoretically capable of 170 miles an hour. Only a handful were ever made, with an asking price somewhere close to a million dollars apiece.

And it featured... a great deal of styling. Whether this styling was entirely successful is not for Fail of the Century to say. Fail of the Century only notes, in its neutral and non-defamatory tones, that the Puma’s styling was both plentiful and original, and that we are unlikely ever to see anything quite like it again.