The New York Times writes on January 3, 1899:
There is something uncanny about these newfangled vehicles. They are unutterably ugly and never a one of them has been provided with a good or even an endurable name. The French, who are usually orthodox in there etymology, if in nothing else, have evolved 'automobile,' which being half Greek and half Latin is so near indecent that we print it with hesitation.
From Crabgrass Frontier by Kenneth T. Jackson.
I feel like that is true now too... there is a trend where ugly athletic shoes and cars are modeled after each other. The most offensive I have seen is the sprewells
I wrote a paper in my history of design class about this, but that was a few years ago, and I never could have foreseen this.