IT has been described as one of the ugliest cars ever made.

The 1957 Aurora is a collection of exaggerated curves and other unusual features that combine to make it a monument to bad taste.

The windscreen, part of the vehicle's "astrodome" roof, bulges outwards - supposedly to improve visibility in rain and snow.

One of the four seats faces backwards and is separated from the other three by a small, oval-shaped table.

Thought to be the only one ever built, the black and silver-coloured car was strongly criticised when it was unveiled in New York.

The Aurora is among a bizarre collection of vehicles that have gone on show at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.

The attraction's new Weird Cars Exhibition also includes a Ford X-2000, a futuristic-looking car with brake lights housed in two rocket-shaped cylinders mounted on the back.

Both vehicles are owned by custom car enthusiast Andy Saunders, of Poole, who used to visit the museum as a child.

Working in a double garage behind his home, he now spends almost all his spare time restoring odd vehicles and making others from scratch.

Mr Saunders recalled the start of his hobby and added: "I just knew that one day I would build my own weird car. Each car I built caused more of a stir."

Other vehicles in the exhibition include a 1922 Leyat, which was powered by a huge propeller on the front.

One of the other cars on display appears at first sight to be missing a wheel.

The 1922 Scott Sociable was a British "tri-car" with a difference - the front wheel was at the side instead of in the centre.

A museum spokesman said: "It has the appearance of a motorcycle and sidecar, but both driver and passenger effectively sat in the 'sidecar'."

The exhibition runs until March next year.