I’ll start with the Porsche 997, the 996 looked alright imo, but it looks “like a 90s Porsche”, the 997 made it look sleeker and more modern. Still looks good today.
As for cars that looked worse after a facelift? Maybe the facelifted 6th gen Camaro? The 6th gen looked great pre-facelift, but they did something weird with the headlights and now it looks so-so…
The only question is: Is a “new generation” with a completely reworked exterior but same platform and powertrain defined new generation or a facelift? Or would that be a redesign but still the same generation?
e.g. 370Z-400Z