In the early 20th Century it was thought that breaking up an object's lines would make it difficult to target, the idea being that the confusing lines would mask the size, shape, and range of the target. So by 1918 we got this:


USS Nebraska (BB-14), 1918

It may be confusing, but it's really difficult to look at. This "Dazzle" paint scheme continued on warships through the early days of WWII. While it was confusing for gunners trying to find the range, it made the ship pretty obvious when steaming along the horizon . . . . Although tested for years, it was never really successful.

Which brings us to the lines of a lot of modern cars. Some are just to bizarre to ignore. I pulled alongside one of these last night on the freeway . . .



It's lines gave me a hard time keeping it in my sights too. I wonder if this bizarre look is intended to be some kind of protective camouflage? Maybe it's sole purpose is to redeem the Aztec.

 

Aw what a Joke

 

What you saw, Bob, was a Nissan Juke. And, you're right....it is one of the most controversially-styled vehicles today. I did a full-review on one in the winter of 2010....just before my surgery.

 

Preproduction Prototype's still use the breaking up lines stategy to conceal changes.

 

 

The Juke isn't just ugly, the multifarious lines seem to clash in completely unintelligible ways.

What happened was Nissan merged contributions of France and Japan, but they got it all horribly backwards - French engineering and Japanese styling. It could have been so much better done the right way 'round. . . .instead of just weird.

 

To add tot he fun, they offer nismo visual packages like on the car you posted.

The Juke R for folks who have not seen that story is a skunk works project where the GT-R drivetrain was included in a Juke, creating a $600K sleeper.

 

Worst offender in my eye was the 2004 Santa Fe. Looked like it was in an accident with that big indent on the doors.

 

Okay, let's be honest. Look at the multifarious lines on this. I will say Lexus has done a great job of moving away from the "soccer mom mobile", and I am considering this SUV, but you can't really criticize the juke without including the RX. Don't get me wrong. I like it, but from some angles it just looks weird.

 

The current Toyota Harrier is what the RX could have looked like if Lexus hadn't gone all origami on it. The Harrier has plain slab doors without the deep slash cuts on the RX. And instead of being a rebadged RX as before, it now uses the RAV4 platform, making it a larger cousin of the NX. Toyota's messy platform madness never ceases to amaze me.

 

Surely they don't call it an "appearance package" . . . such extreme misnomers have been known to create a ripple in the force . . . .

For less money they could have gone with a Hemi in the back end with a V drive to the back wheels.

Oh, and don't call me "Shirley".

 

Just looking at that pic started to put me to sleep. Glad Lexus went origami on the US RX. Let's hear it for camouflage!