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so car makers have been making 'distinctive' grills forever.
a couple that come to mind that have been around forever are the 'dual kidney beans' by bmw, and the giant 'vaulted gate' used by rolls royce.
i've come to believe that it doesn't matter much whether it's pretty or not, as long as it's distinctive, and it's consistently applied.
perhaps that's why lexus has gone to the spindle - it's certainly distinctive, and has been applied to most (all?) of the line now. it's not for everyone, and the applications vary some, but hopefully it will be recognized as saying "lexus" by anyone who sees it. it's tough road though that takes years, decades, of repetition. hopefully lexus will stick with it, refine it, but keep at it, and not go in any different direction.
bmw amazes me with the consistency of applying the double kidney. as soon as you see it (for me at least), i know it's bmw.
audi went to the 'big' grill probably a decade ago, but i don't find it very distinctive, although the 4 'olympic ring' type logo is extremely distinctive, and enhances the uniqueness of the grill.
and then we come to the grill everyone loves to hate. yes, i'm talkin' 'bout the beak.
the execution has ranged from totally hideous to more muted - some examples...
OMG, LOL
not quite as bad on the new tlx.
while certainly not my fave, it's evolved to be a bit less 'obnoxious' imo, but the one thing we can all likely agree on, is it's distinctive.
mercedes on the other hand, (no time right now to do research) but i don't really think about their grills, and i think they rely more on the distinctive and excellent 3 pointed star logo.
u.s. brands seem to try to use history or whatever, but i don't find any of them particularly memorable. not cadillac, ford, etc. lincoln and buick are trying to use past design cues, but i don't think it works that well.
what are your thoughts about grills, their importance, and difference designs?
It seems that everyone is trying to out-distictive grill the other guy these days. In thses pictures the BMW kidney grill stands out as understated and traditional. Less is more.
I'm a huge fan of the grille on the Super Duty. More specifically the King Ranch which uses a body colored surround, rather than completely chromed out.
what are your thoughts about grills, their importance, and difference designs?
I think I'd rather look at an Acura parrot-beak than THIS....a last-generation Lincoln grille. It looks like something a dentist would put on crooked teeth.
Admittedly going back to a different age and time, here is what I think is one of the smartest-looking front ends of all time...the 1970 Pontiac GTO. It was one of the first times the entire front end of a car (not just inserts with chrome around them) was done in a flexible, body-color, vinyl substance (Pontiac called it Endura).
put it this way, of all the grilles out there, acura is the only one that has failed on ALL counts, literally ALL.
lexus i say 50/50. it looks good on large cars. on small cars it looks funny
Good point on the spindle grill on small cars. I'm not sure if it's considered small, but the spindle on the new NX seems to overwhelm the car and not necessarily in a good way. But I'm not the demographic Lexus is going after so it probably won't hurt sales much.
09-07-14, 10:49 AM
Distinctive grills
