Highly controversial cars

There’s no such thing as bad publicity, or so the saying goes. But is controversy always welcome for groundbreaking new cars? Here are five models that caused a real stir for their respective makers.

BMW 7-series E6

When BMW revealed the E65 7-series back in 2001 you could have been forgiven for thinking that they had covered it with racist slogans and offensive doodles, such was the extreme reaction to Chris Bangle’s styling of the big limo. The heavily eyebrowed, frowny front end and split-level rear bookended what was actually quite a conservative design in the middle. But boy, did those bookends upset some people. Not the people who bought it, however, as the E65 would go on to be the biggest selling incarnation of the 7-series.

Lotus Carlton

While we are well used to massive power from family sedans these days, the idea of a saloon upgraded to hit a 285kmh top speed was just too much for some people back in 1990. Much like the Aussie ‘supercar scare’ of the 1970s, the 281kW Lotus Carlton (a Lotus-tweaked version of a mainstream Vauxhall) provoked a hysterical reaction from the media and various concerned groups, who called for General Motors to place a speed limiter on its production cars. They didn’t. The Carlton would become a favourite among criminals, as it could easily outrun the Vauxhall Senators the police were stuck with.

Hennessey Venom GT

The Hennessey Venom GT is the fastest series production car in the world. Or is it? There is absolutely no doubt the Venom GT is fast: it rockets from a standstill to 300kmh in 13.63 seconds and is powered by a 1082kW/ 1745Nm twin-turbo 7.0-litre V8, which also makes it the most powerful series car in production, at least according to Hennessey. But is it really a series production car? After all, it’s basically a rebadged Lotus Elise that is shipped over to the US from the UK, so it can have a massive engine jammed into it. Some say that still counts, others don’t.

Porsche Cayenne

When Porsche first revealed it was going to build an SUV, the sky literally came crashing down. At least, it did if you believed the Porsche purists who thought the idea of the company that builds the 911 making a family friendly SUV was about the worst thing ever. Then Porsche actually released the Cayenne and it looked like a braindamaged goldfish which, admittedly, did little to calm the purists. But it sold well enough to save the company and has now evolved into a fine-looking thing. The howls of anguish from the purists are quieter these days – but then they also have the Panamera and Macan to worry about now.

Ford Focus RS

The current poster child for carrelated media outrage across the ditch, the Focus RS has something that quite a lot of fast cars have – a track mode. But the RS also has a further setting that makes it easier for the driver to have a bit of tail-happy fun on that track. And the problem is that Ford decided to call it Drift mode. Cue outrage, anger and the predictable calls for it to be banned, because young people could get their hands on this powerful car and wreak havoc with said Drift mode. Never mind the fact that very few young people have a spare $70k lying around. And those that do would also theoretically have access to any number of high-performance cars.