It seemed to start with the hybrids where we lost sight of the design vs. utility. It looks like a fat, ugly arrow and the new models are not getting any better. I am surprised the ugliness is accepted. Now the ugly has has seeped into Mercedes, Range Rover, Audi, Acura, Honda, plus all the cheap auto makers like KIA. It's just terrible. An offense of the ages. That said, I won't by buying anything soon.
Car design: a trend to ugly?
By: Les Dobson
Date: Thursday, 10. May 2012
Ugly, if you didn't already know it, is in. That's the word at least from the Tokyo Motor Show, where the major auto manufacturers are parading their latest designs, some of which look more like boxes on wheels that the sleek kind of private transportation we've all become accustomed to.
That paragon of the U.S. investment community, the Wall Street Journal, took a swing at several of the designs on display, including Honda's concept car, the Fuja-Jo (we think it was named after a Japanese cowpoke). The paper describes the car as "a dance club on wheels with a high ceiling, bar-stool seats, two-foot-wide speakers in the doors, and a rack for skateboards in the back."
What's wrong with that, we ask, for a gal or a guy who likes a good time?
Then there's the new Ford entry, an orange-and-white compact called the 021C that the Journal says is reminiscent of "something that a five-year-old would draw."
We'd have you know there are some very talented five-year-olds out there. The O21C also boasts pedestal seats and a trunk that slides open like a drawer.
In addition, the Journal also mentions a contribution by Toyota, the Will Vi, that it says "looks like the fruit of a liaison between the classic European ugly car, the Citroen 2CV 'deux chevaux' and a Tonka toy."
The Will Vi, apparently, represents part of a big push by Toyota in Japan and the U.S. to connect with young buyers after years of taking in profits with conservative vehicles targeted at the post-war generation.
So, tell us something new, WSJ. Ugly is no stranger to today's highways and byways where it seems as if every other vehicle is either an SUV or a passenger van. Not only are these esthetically offensive, they block the view and guzzle gas at the same time. Still, before Drivers.com is deluged with torrents of irate e-mail, we have to admit that beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder.
It's perhaps no surprise, either, that the Internet has a number of sites devoted to ugly cars. It is difficult to define the motivation behind such altruistic endeavors, but they are fun, nevertheless.
One
of the best is a British site that
restricts itself entirely to models past and present on U.K. roads.
"We've put together a collection of what we believe to be the most hideous cars that have ever had the nerve to tread the tarmac of Britain," the author says. "Past or present, cheap or expensive, we'll consider them all. We don't give a monkey's if a car was a technological marvel of its day-if it looks awful, we'll list it.
"Note: This is a page for cars that have been sold in BRITAIN-got that?" he adds. "We can't cover cars sold in America as, let's face it, almost all of them would qualify."
The ugliness of the cars depicted is rated according to a unique "paper bag" system, which is "the number of paper bags you'd need to wear on your head in order to agree to accept a lift in the car."
For fear of being sued by the manufacturers, we won't mention the models that get the maximum of five paper bags. Just check out the site for yourself.
Come to think of it, if we're aiming for really ugly, perhaps the whiz kid designers at Toyota, Ford, or wherever, could design a vehicle that looks like a paper bag. Better still, like a giant condom.
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Jost Bisch,
