Unfortunately, in the modern era of auto design, ugly vehicles are becoming more and more common. When a brand like Toyota describes one of their cars as having a "bold" design, as they often do, more often than not, it just means a design with no cohesion, general theme, or purpose. Sometimes it just turns into a grotesque mess, which is a shame, because many ugly cars (Toyota Supra, BMW M4, Lamborghini Veneno, etc..) are actually fantastic, if you dig a little deeper. And while Toyota is an admittedly improving brand, nearly every single vehicle they sell looks less than ideal. The Toyota 86, Venza, and Rav-4 are the only ones in the fray that can claim to have an impressive design. While design is ultimately subjective, there is clearly something wrong with Toyota's sheet-metal as of late. The recent reveal of the Tundra (pictured top) is worrying, because it signals a possible return to the Japanese automaker's old ways. Even worse, key competitors such as Mazda, Kia, and Honda are making gorgeous cars, such as the Mazda 6, Kia K5, and Honda Civic Si. And while Toyota still sell millions of vehicles every year, there is still a big issue.
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Gotta agree, Toyota seems obsessed with weird looks. Yet people buy millions of them. New Tundra is freakish. My 1980s Toyota trucks looked fine. Even in the early 70s, Datsun gave great styling to the 240z. 510, and 620 truck, while Toyota's were stodgy, yet people loved them then too. Same now. compare the new Z to the new Supra/bmw. I guess weird looks are a Toyota trademark, just like their reliability.
ReplyDeleteThank for the great comment. Yup, I don't see where they are going with their designs, they are simply not appealing.
DeleteYou wrote that "ugly vehicles are becoming more and more common." I agree 100%. Toyotas are fantastic cars that have given me a total of 549k trouble-free miles from two models, a Corolla and an Echo. But now, they are just ugly cars. No way around it. They look like DustBusters. I am considering buying a lesser quality vehicle currently simply because the Toyotas look embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteI quite agree that most Toyotas are ugly and even downright weird looking but there an unknown beauty that was never sold in North America: The third generation Avensis station wagon. The Avensis this was sold in Europe, rather than the Camry and has it been discontinued since they started selling with a Camry in Europe too. I owed a 2012 station wagon. Not a fun car to drive, but gorgeous from every angle. When I showed a photo of it to a friend in Canada, he said, “It looks like it’s been chopped and channelled.” Indeed, it does.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. I agree.
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