Top Gear's Top 9: cars with dodgy wood trim

The 1953 Buick Roadmaster Estate was the last wood-bodied wagon mass produced in the US. That was real wood construction though, so it can’t earn a place here. This is the 1990s rebirth of the Roadmaster with its 180bhp 5.7-litre V8 and terrible faux wood side panelling.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Porsche would let you spec supremely ugly wood trim for the 996-gen 911. You could have it on the steering wheel, dash, centre console, gearlever and on the door panels. Turns out what worked on a classic luxury saloon didn’t really look right on a modern sports car.

When the E90 3 Series arrived in the mid-2000s it was available with a number of different woods gracing many of the interior panels. The burr walnut was particularly offensive and you could even option extra bits to cover half of the steering wheel.

The higher grade leather, reclining rear seats, optional side curtains and all of that wood probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but the interior of the Maybach 62 of the early 2000s has not aged well at all.

Ford bought Carrozzeria Ghia back in 1970 and for decades the name was its top trim level on cars like the Granada, Cortina and Escort. It essentially threw in rubbish wood trim and an armrest. Perhaps the worst was the MkI Focus Ghia with its drooping semi-circle of cheap wood on the dash.

The second gen FWD Chrysler LeBaron in Town & Country convertible form might be one of the worst looking cars of all time. Pushed on sale by Lee Iacocca with its dreadful fibreglass framework and vinyl panelling, only 1,105 were sold from 1983–1986.

The Viewt was Mitsuoka’s rebodied K11 Micra designed to look like a Jaguar Mark 2. As you can imagine, it ended up looking terrible. As standard the interior was similar to the original Micra, but deranged buyers could spend more on leather and wood interior trim.

Don’t worry if you don’t remember it – the poshed up Ford F-150 was a flop and only lasted one model year in the US. Named after the fake wood panelling wrapped around its bed, the Blackwood featured a 5.4-litre V8 and might’ve started today’s posh pickup trend if it wasn’t so dreadful.

As if it wasn’t embarrassing enough, after a year on sale Chrysler decided the PT Cruiser needed a fake wood vinyl graphic pack inspired by old Town & Country models. The $800-ish ‘Woodie Package’ was offered between 2002 and 2004.