Ugly automotive styling trends

I agree that everything Nissan makes has been well-beaten with the ugly stick.

We need more cars that look like this:

I'll take 4 of these please...and they look oh so much better than anything recently

Edit: I posted that as I wanted to see if you could start by chopping an E-type's roof and windshield off and turn it into a D-type....appears possible.

All it does is make the wheels look dinky, no matter how big they are, and the car look excessively ponderous and heavy.

the reason cars are so fugly today is because of the "box" that the stylists have to build around.. it's what you get once you factor in all the safety stuff you have high belt lines for passenger impact protection with things like airbags all over the place and to keep you in the car so the rescue workers don't have to search the ditch for your corpse after a really bad crash and those stupid European pedestrian regulations that say that a hood has to have so much room between the top of the engine and the hood.. this leaves the design crew with the job of making that poorly proportioned box look kind of cool and "bold", which leads to big grilles and body lines that make the facial hair of the "bad boy" in a 90's boy band look simple in comparison.

Gearheadotaku wrote: Huge (over 18") wheels and even the bigger fender wells can go.

I liked the 19s I put on my E38 and the 20s I put on my Mustang. Sorry.

This board is getting more and more closed minded by the day, I swear.

And high beltlines with slitlike windows? Can anyone say hot rods and '50s customs?

I like these...

And the idea with the wide whitewalls was to make the little 15" wheels look bigger in diameter, like modern customs do with their big wheels. But since it's not a 100 pound homebuilt sportscar that cost $15, it's just not something to care about anymore, is it?

16vCorey wrote: I know we've covered this topic by simply saying "Nissan", but what the hell is up the curve on the top of the doors of the Armada/QX56... And yes, I know. The QX56 could be one of the ugliest vehicles ever.

Ew. I never noticed that, and I wish I hadn't. Gross.

16vCorey wrote: I know we've covered this topic by simply saying "Nissan", but what the hell is up the curve on the top of the doors of the Armada/QX56, and how it has absolutely no flow with the rest of the vehicle? It's like they were going to design a sloping hatchback of sorts, then gave up and just put a block back there. And yes, I know. The QX56 could be one of the ugliest vehicles ever.

Am I the only one to see a resemblance?

Jeff

In reply to JKleiner:

Whoa!

Chris_V wrote: But since it's not a 100 pound homebuilt sportscar that cost $15, it's just not something to care about anymore, is it?

+10!!! I would much rather see old cars and locosts cobbled together with some DIY ingenuity than the latest bloated.......Oh, wait

Ah, I get it, now. You're making fun of people like me. Whatever. You can read the new car reviews that I skip. I'm much more impressed by the styling of a K-car with flares made out of file cabinets

JoeyM wrote:

Chris_V wrote: But since it's not a 100 pound homebuilt sportscar that cost $15, it's just not something to care about anymore, is it?

+10!!! I would much rather see old cars and locosts cobbled together with some DIY ingenuity than the latest bloated.......Oh, wait Ah, I get it, now. You're making fun of people like me. Whatever. You can read the new car reviews that I skip. I'm much more impressed by the styling of a K-car with flares made out of file cabinets

Problem is Joey, I can like BOTH newer cars AND $100 beaters that are homebuilt. I've done the homebuilt route, having grown up below the poverty line. But I'm tired of the closed minded attitude that that's the ONLY kind of car worth owning or driving.

I posted it in another thread, but these are my daily drivers for the last 5 years (the BMW) and the last year (the Mustang). 19s on the BMW and 20s on the Mustang and I love it.

I've also built cars like this $700 Falcon in the past:

And countless cheap-ass autocross cars like this $1000 RX3:

and this Fiat I bought for $100, drove home and fixed in my garage:

And yet I still love the late model fun stuff

I guess I'm just weird.

Here's my automotive styling ideal:

Volkswagen Fox. Fox rhymes with Box and that's what it looks like.

I'd seriously love to get a Fox someday, but they're getting seriously hard to find.

I might be late to the party, but when this is fashionable, grilles are gonna be big and shiny.

alex wrote:

16vCorey wrote: I know we've covered this topic by simply saying "Nissan", but what the hell is up the curve on the top of the doors of the Armada/QX56... And yes, I know. The QX56 could be one of the ugliest vehicles ever.

Ew. I never noticed that, and I wish I hadn't. Gross.

The new generation is even worse

GameboyRMH wrote:

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Excessively tall belt lines and huge wheel gaps on Pickup trucks I'd like to get stuff in the bed thanks.

So basically every American pickup ever made except the Ford Ranger and Dodge Dakota?

I'm 6'2". I could reach over the bed and lay my hand flat on the bed of a mid 90's GM 1500 4x4 and still have room between the top of the bed and my armpit to stick my fist through. I can't do that with my buddies '07 Silverado and I didn't shrink.

The beds are also so high that it's difficult to throw heavy stuff over the side of the bed. You just have to drop the tailgate and call it a day.

I dislike the newer one less. At least the roof line is flat(er).

Led headlight trim

They were ok when they were only on audis but now Chrysler has copied too and it's getting out of hand.

Knurled wrote: I guess I'm just weird. Here's my automotive styling ideal: Volkswagen Fox. Fox rhymes with Box and that's what it looks like. I'd seriously love to get a Fox someday, but they're getting seriously hard to find.

I had one just like that, same color and everything.

Big wheels suck big balls. They are heavy and ugly and low profile tires ride like crap and it means I can't find decent tires for my cars. Also the high beltline is super annoying.

Chris_V wrote:

JoeyM wrote:

Chris_V wrote: But since it's not a 100 pound homebuilt sportscar that cost $15, it's just not something to care about anymore, is it?

I would much rather see old cars and locosts cobbled together with some DIY ingenuity

I can like BOTH newer cars AND $100 beaters that are homebuilt.

But I'm tired of the closed minded attitude that that's the ONLY kind of car worth owning or driving.

The average GRM reader would probably agree with you, but many of the GRMers active on the forum tend to like cars that are old, cheap and obscure. I know I do

Not sure if this is considered a styling trend, but this E36 M3 needs to go.