PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 21, 1997--Ugly Duckling Corp.  (NASDAQ/NM:UGLY) Monday announced that it has completed the  registration of 5,413,144 shares of common stock.           Of those shares, 5,075,500 were originally sold in February 1997  to institutional investors in a private placement and 337,644 were  previously sold to a single institutional investor.  Since the  registration statement covers the resale of shares previously issued  by the company, the company will receive no proceeds.           A copy of the prospectus may be obtained from Ugly Duckling,  2525 E. Camelback Road, Suite 1150, Phoenix, Ariz. 85016,  602/852-6600.           With headquarters in Phoenix, Ugly Duckling operates the largest  publicly held chain of "buy here-pay here" used car dealerships in  the United States and underwrites, finances and services retail  installment contracts generated from the sale of used cars by its  dealerships and by third party used car dealers located in selected  markets throughout the country.           This news release includes statements which may constitute  forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor  provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.   Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and  uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially  from the forward-looking statements.           Factors which would cause or contribute to such differences  include, but are not limited to, factors detailed in the section titled "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the company's prospectus  dated April 21, 1997, and in Ugly DUckling's other Securities and  Exchange Commission filings.           --30--EW/la*  RPL/la       CONTACT:        Ugly Duckling Corp., Phoenix       Steve T. Darak, 602/852-6600       or       Silverman Heller Associates       Eugene G. Heller/Lori C. Parks, 310/208-2550 |