pman6

You ever feel a car looks ugly when it first comes out, and then you become numb to it..... it's not so ugly anymore, but it's not pretty either. Passable.

Can you say it often happens to you?

I think car manufacturers probably feel a car is ugly at first, and because they crew working on the car has to see it everyday, they actually think it looks good when they release it.

RXSF

Happens to me all the time. GLE will probably be one of them, as the X6 is a good example.

NickTee

According to some members, they're all ugly and so even a Civic should look like a Lamborghini.

mmarshall

Sometimes that is true, but there are just some vehicles I NEVER get used to. 35 years ago, I thought the 1980 Cadillac Seville was a gross eyesore......and I still do today.




Conversely, I thought the BMW Isetta and Messerschmitt KR200 looked silly the first time I ever saw them as a young boy......and I still do, more than a half-century later.

These were known, BTW, as "Bubble" cars".

FrankReynoldsCPA

I thought the 08-10 Ford Super Duty was hideous when it came out, but it grew on me.

GiantsFan

iTrader: (9)

The Aztec is still ugly

So is the crosstour/ZDX

MattyG

Yes! Normalizing ugly cars is a function of the industry until the backlash starts, and then they'll retreat and hope they can recover some of the sales.

I hope we don't have to go that far back to find f-ugly vehicles. Lot's of modern examples around:

The gaping maw of most Ford, Lexus, Hyundai/Kia vehicles. Street racing tuner meets ugly catfish/angry Cylon. And now the 2015 Camry wants in on the act. At least the Mazda 6 stylists tried some restraint.

And there's the bug-eyed crowd of Fiats and Mini's and even the Infiniti stylists couldn't resist wrecking a great grill that announced a very Germanic side profile.

The Germans did this too. Strange weird butts that started with the disaster that was the Bangle Butt on BMW's. Fortunately they came to their senses and moved on.

But for mid-sized sedans. Why does the Fusion think it's an Aston Martin? Why did Hyundai/Kia take a German design and turn into a strange Kumadori face?

Old school example, the Alfa Romeo 156 wasn't going to be on the top of a mid-size family sedan buyers list but it offered one thing that no one else could match. Charisma, style and simple lines.

Classic designs live on forever. The Italians and Germans know this

Hopefully the Anime, frowny Fast and Furious crowd comes to it senses and gets back to elegant clean lines once again.

dseag2

Mazda came to their senses when they took the cartoonish "smiley faces" off the front of their cars. And it looks much better...

dseag2

[QUOTE=mmarshall;9069529]Sometimes that is true, but there are just some vehicles I NEVER get used to. 35 years ago, I thought the 1980 Cadillac Seville was a gross eyesore......and I still do today.

/QUOTE]

I know there is no accounting for taste, but I actually liked that bustle trunk Seville. I also liked the similar shape of the 1982 Lincoln Continental. But hey, it was the 80's!

theory816

One part is that the design grows on you or you get use to it, another part may be that we don't understand the design philosophy behind the cars. As time goes on you may start seeing why they did this or that.

Lil4X

Think maybe Lexus' current "Predator" design idiom will be accepted? Especially now that Toyota has followed down the same path? Wait'll the people down at the wind tunnel get their hands on this in an attempt to meet CAFE standards. Will they take a tip from NASCAR and start taping off most of that enormous intake in favor of aerodynamics?

I'm definitely not a fan, but I think that like every other automotive fashion, this too shall pass. Remember opera windows?



Yeah, I thought so.

LexBob2

I was trying to forget them! Same with the vinyl roof. Although back in the day they were stylin'.

mmarshall

I remember them very well, Bob.....a craze on American cars during the mid-late 1970s. (Volvo, BTW, with its traditional emphasis on safety, would not use them, because the company felt that they restricted outside vision too much).

And, BTW, opera windows have actually come back on some vehicles. The Buick Verano, for one, has them in back...but in conjunction with four regular windows.

mmarshall

I understand, but there is a significant difference between the trunk-lids on the Lincoln you posted and the Cadillac Seville that I did...at least IMO. The Lincoln's was far more conventional......the Seville's was quite radical. And it showed in low sales.

dseag2

I actually had a boss with that Continental and his wife drove that Seville. It was the 80's equivalent of the "Bangle Butt".

And yes, I remember opera windows. My Dad's '73 Lincoln Mark IV had opera windows. It was silver, with silver leather, silver vinyl top and a hood that must have been 12 feet long. He bought it slightly used from a business aqcuaintance. It would barely fit in the garage but it barely accommodated back seat passengers. My Mom drove a '67 Buick Electra Coupe that was as long as a football field. The height of decadence!

Later, even my American Car Dad came to his senses and bought '91 and '99 LS400's. He always drove big cars. I think that's why I don't want one. (But I picked up his penchant for silver.)