...some thoughts on styling...

...while out driving today, I made a conscious effort to keep tabs of the various new vehicles on the road and how they compare in terms of overall exterior styling. The first observation that really hit me was how snub nosed and pudgy the front of a lot of cars have become, many have also developed massive flattened chrome grills. It seems that big schnozzes have become quite popular on a lot of cars now, what's that thing on the front of the new Subaru's? UGLY! But almost everything from Toyota has a schnozz on it now including the new Camry. I think the new Camry makes the old one look nice, the new one has so many weird lumps and bulges that don't coordinate that I find it looking like a committee design. And if you think the Yaris is a nice looking car, then you'd probably be happy with anything round and lumpy, the Yaris looks like the cartoon cars they drive in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"...
...Another car that has a lot of folks all agog is the Chrysler 300, the 'gangsta cahh' My reactions when seeing it for the first time remain the same today, gag me with a stick, what a prepostrous concept. Lets make a car with such a high beltline and low roofline that you can't adequately see out of it, real safe, right? ...then we'll give it the aerodynamic qualities of a brick to really finish it off. Its sibling the Challenger is, IMHO, just as rediculous in appearance, these cars are the eqivalent of automotive characatures or parodies of the real thing, they make anything from Honda look sleek as silk by comparison, including the Element...
...and what's with the new pickups? They all seem to have 'monster truck' envy, they're all a lot higher, bigger, and much more 'in your face' than they were a few years ago. I thought we were going to try to to get more environmentally responsible, not with these gas ****ing behemoths, it must be a lot of fun parking these monsters nowadays, with so many cities having downsized the average parking spot...
...as for the good news, I saw a new Jaguar XK8 out on the road, VERY nice, that definitely fits with my idea of great automotive styling. Other good jobs, again these are my personal criteria: the new Lincoln Zephyr is actually a pretty good looking car; the Volvo S80 makes me blink hard every time I see one, what a change in direction for that company; most of the newer Mercedes sedans and coupes have definitely been styled by some people who understand what looks nice as well; the TL is still looking quite stylish and holding its own against the newcomers, and my personal award for the prettiest car on the road today still hangs in there, put one of these under my Christmas Tree and I'll be a very happy camper. My award goes to the 2001 to 2006 BMW M3 Coupe, my idea of automotive perfection, I can't help but stare with admiration whenever I get to see one on the road...
...anyway, just thought I'd pass along some more of my observations from a day on the road...

cheers,

Lorne Miller
05 EX-L deep green pearl with ivory
96 Odyssey taffeta white with sage

You know what car's styling I'm really fond of right now? The 4th gen Eclipse. It's a tad on the "swoopy" side, but overall, I like it.

http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/attachments/bar/9168d1117561910-new-2006-eclipse-arrived-up-me-2.jpg

Not really my style... I'm more of a Sedan fan - TSX, Lexus IS, BMW 3,, etc, but this is one swoopy coupe that strikes my fancy. It reminds me a bit of the Fiat coupé or something similarly European.

Mitsubishi keeps getting more and more daring with their styling,a nd with his one, it worked out. Too bad I can't say the same for the newest bodystyle Galant. :puke:

edit: oh yes, I think the TL is one of the best looking sedans on the road right now, except for the "ACURA" embossed into the front bumper. That really bothers me for some reason.

I can't stand all this fake chrome that is starting to show up all over the place on new cars. The only parts on my 2006 that are in this fake chrome are my interior door handles and the actual Honda H's on the car and I'd have it no other way.

When I saw a 2007 Civic I couldn't place why I liked it more than all the other 8th gen Civics I've seen, and it wasn't until I saw two fairly close by in a parking lot I made the connection....the 2006 has chrome between the headlights, whereas the 2007 has a "gunmetal" grill shaped similar to the 2003-2005 Accord Sedan and 2006-2007 Accord Coupe.

oh yes, I think the TL is one of the best looking sedans on the road right now, except for the "ACURA" embossed into the front bumper. That really bothers me for some reason.

It's the $10K price increase for the "A" instead of an "H"...Don't you just love marketing... :lmao:

There are so many different design styles out there now that it makes my head swim. With all of the new manufacturing technologies, flexible manufacturing, CAD/CAM, robots, etc., companies can experiment and retool relatively quickly and inexpensively. So we see all kinds of crazy stuff...like the Scions, the Element, the Yaris, the 300, et al.

As for me, I'm more of a traditionalist, which is why I've always loved the Accord sedans, the BMW's, and the Mercedes. And of course, the Accura and Lexus sedans are nice too.

But as always, these things are completely subjective, and also generational.

There are so many different design styles out there now that it makes my head swim. With all of the new manufacturing technologies, flexible manufacturing, CAD/CAM, robots, etc., companies can experiment and retool relatively quickly and inexpensively. So we see all kinds of crazy stuff...like the Scions, the Element, the Yaris, the 300, et al.

As for me, I'm more of a traditionalist, which is why I've always loved the Accord sedans, the BMW's, and the Mercedes. And of course, the Accura and Lexus sedans are nice too.

But as always, these things are completely subjective, and also generational.

...you're probably right with the generational thing, not knowing your age group, I too can best be described as a bit of a traditionalist and fall into the early 50's category. Both my kids who are just now in their early 20's tell me my car tastes are definitely traditional, they think the Yaris looks cool - GAG!
I suppose you can almost equate current car styles with current fashions, everything is about making a statement, whether its your clothes, your hairstyle, your tattoo or piercings, or even your basic attitude, it can most certainly be reflected by what you choose to drive nowadays as there is pretty well something available for every type of taste...
...I hope it steads well for my sense of automotive taste that I quite like the Sports 4 concept from Honda that some say points to the next European Accord or Acura TSX. If this comes true I may well be tempted to go for whatever develops from this concept car...very nice lines, a touch of tradition but still adventuresome and cutting edge at the same time...

cheers,

Lorne Miller
05 EX-L deep green pearl with ivory
96 Odyssey taffeta white with sage

I'm 25, and I think the Yaris hatchback looks like butt.

My girlfriend drives a 2000 Echo, though, and it's not bad looking for a "cute" car.

You know what car's styling I'm really fond of right now? The 4th gen Eclipse. It's a tad on the "swoopy" side, but overall, I like it.

http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/attachments/bar/9168d1117561910-new-2006-eclipse-arrived-up-me-2.jpg

Not really my style... I'm more of a Sedan fan - TSX, Lexus IS, BMW 3,, etc, but this is one swoopy coupe that strikes my fancy. It reminds me a bit of the Fiat coupé or something similarly European.

Mitsubishi keeps getting more and more daring with their styling,a nd with his one, it worked out. Too bad I can't say the same for the newest bodystyle Galant. :puke:

edit: oh yes, I think the TL is one of the best looking sedans on the road right now, except for the "ACURA" embossed into the front bumper. That really bothers me for some reason.

Those new eclipses are great looking. They look very, very sporty. I hated the last generation eclipse, I thought they looked really bland. The only thing that I find weird is that the car looks almost more sporty than a 350z, yet it is FWD (I think, too lazy to look it up). I'm not a huge rwd fanboy, but for straight performance cars, like the Z, it does make sense. The eclipse looks great, I just found it weird that they chose that extremely sporty styling, yet stuck with FWD. I guess it's a good compromise for people who have to deal with snow and want 350z-ish looks, plus it closes the performance gap more than the accord 6mt does if I remember correctly. Wish they would bring back the AWD eclipse though, that'd be even better. Though look at those wheel gaps in that picture, makes the accord look like it's already lowered.

Yes, they really should revive the Eclipse GSX. That ****er was a beast.

Personally, I kind of liked the 3rd gen Eclipse. My dad used to have a 2000 GT. the V6 model. It was pretty quick.