to making some of the ugliest vehicles ever seen? First it was BMW, with their hideous desecration of what had been regarded by many as some of the most refined-looking models in recent years. Then Audi joined the trend with their recent application of garish and just plain ridiculous front-end treatments across the model lines. Now, sadly, VW has done their part with the most recent iteration of the Passat, turning a once-classic and elegant design into just another Japanese-wannabe styling mess.

Can Porsche be far behind?

New BMW 4-Series shown.

 Kho tang meo vat Viet Nam - meovat 06:16:10 07/10/06 (0)
 Porsche & MB still stylin' - triode 21:53:55 01/25/05 (0)
 Re: Where to look for sensible, well-styled cars, now that the German auto industry has been reduced... - middleground 05:32:13 10/14/04 (1)

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 Kho tang meo vat Viet Nam - meovat 06:16:10 07/10/06 (0)
 Porsche & MB still stylin' - triode 21:53:55 01/25/05 (0)
 Re: Where to look for sensible, well-styled cars, now that the German auto industry has been reduced... - middleground 05:32:13 10/14/04 (1)
 your TT opinion definitely in the minority - triode 21:56:07 01/25/05 (0)
 Volvo - e1618978 12:03:56 10/12/04 (0)
 Porsches are actually getting better looking... - geof 15:19:55 09/26/04 (0)
 Saab Aero - xr628 16:38:07 09/25/04 (0)
 Sigh.... - Rich Brkich 19:39:15 09/13/04 (6)
 "Audi A4 (better yet the S4) is one really nice looking ride" - Peterloplop 03:57:20 09/14/04 (2)
 Re: "Audi A4 (better yet the S4) is one really nice looking ride" - Neil49 11:20:31 09/14/04 (0)
 Already seen the pics... don't make me look at them again!!! :-) nt - Rich Brkich 09:06:31 09/14/04 (0)
 Re: "The Audi A3 looks promising..." - Neil49 19:54:37 09/13/04 (2)
 I was thinking more along the lines of this A3.... - Rich Brkich 09:42:25 09/14/04 (0)
 Re: "The Audi A3 looks promising..." - Rich Brkich 09:10:14 09/14/04 (0)
 Like Steve R. sez.....vintage is where it's at (pic) - otari 17:54:38 09/08/04 (3)
 That's a real beauty, otari, and only 60k?... (pic) - Neil49 18:32:42 09/08/04 (2)
 Re: That's a real beauty, otari, and only 60k?... (pic) - otari 18:53:44 09/08/04 (1)
 Awesome E24... the S38 is a gem - the_stranger 01:40:19 08/10/06 (0)
 Forget new, go vintage :) PLUS... - Steven R. Rochlin 17:28:32 09/07/04 (0)
 Re: Where to look for sensible, well-styled cars, now that the German auto industry has been reduced... - Peterloplop 03:28:03 09/04/04 (3)
 Re: "The new A3 isn't so bad" - Neil49 04:48:29 09/04/04 (2)
 Re: "The new A3 isn't so bad" - Peterloplop 16:55:50 09/04/04 (1)
 Re: "The new A3 isn't so bad" - Neil49 19:31:38 09/05/04 (0)

• Kho tang meo vat Viet Nam

The exception is that new station wagon they've been making.

IMO, the best car for styling is the Lotus Elise. It's everything an SUV isn't.

-Geof

There ain't no such thing as a fat-free butter pound cake! I want fried chicken! With ALL the skin on it!

Personally, from what I have seen of the current line-up of cars that I like styling wise is Mazda.

All I can say is buy used... I have a neighbor down the street who has a 02 or 03 M5.... what a nice looking car. While I have a 03 Passat wagon, I'm rather indifferent to its looks, but its brother, the current Audi A4 (better yet the S4) is one really nice looking ride... I like the clean muscular lines of this car.

Happy Listening,
Rich Brkich
Retailer & Audio Asylum Industry Liaison

Not the prettiest piggy in the pen.

Perhaps you haven't seen photos of the '06 A3? As I suspected, they've uglified the front end, consistent with the rest of the models. They took a perfectly fine body style and trashed it.

Without the big black honking grill shown on the sportback picture in the posting above... less chrome, more body color.
Happy Listening,
Rich Brkich
Retailer & Audio Asylum Industry Liaison

My 1988 BMW M6. 60K miles, all original including paint.

Best,

otari :-)

My mother-in-law, after seeing the Levinson 33H amps in my listening room: "Those are the nicest electric room heaters I've ever seen".

I guess it's just about broken in, huh?

My personal favorite (gotta have four doors) is the E34 5-Series, which I think was the pinnacle of the design efforts at BMW. It always seemed to me that the 5 had just about perfect proportions, and that the 7-Series simply looked like a stretch job, and the 3-Series as if it shrank slightly in the wash. Not that either of the latter models was not attractive on its own, just that the 5 looked like the starting point.

In my opinion, each successive design became increasingly bloated- looking, until the ultimate freak show of the current models.

Anyone interested in helping me finance the acquisition of a pristine E34, please E-mail me for an address to which you may send funds.

Fat chance.

I agree with you Neil about the E34 and also the 7 series E32 non "L". I have a '94 740i and I feel that it is proportioned well. I'm 6'4" so need the space.

Too bad Chris Bangle has taken BMW in the styling direction of hell.
There is a groundswell and I believe you will see BMW turn around and go back to the more understated and refined lines of the past.

Best,

otari :-)

My mother-in-law, after seeing the Levinson 33H amps in my listening room: "Those are the nicest electric room heaters I've ever seen".

Enjoy the Drive,

Steven R. Rochlin

It’s by far the best use of their new Audi corporate nose. I thought the new A8 looked great too... until they decided to uglify it with the new family features.
So far all the pictures of the Porsche 997 have been quite nice but they did make the cayenne so some of the modern car design mental illness has got into Stuttgart.
BMW isn’t all bad, the soon to be released M5 looks gorgeous and the 7 series has grown on me. Alfa Romeo is the only mainstream car company I can think of that has consistently good(ish) looking cars, even if the 156 facelift looks worse than the original one.
If you liked the old Passat and other VWs you might like the current skodas; VAG engineering but with a more conservative style (and they’re in the WRC so I like them).

Okay, Peterloplop, I'll have to agree with you, somewhat, on that nose treatment of the A3. Not nearly as bad as the more widely-used version, as you show on the A8, but still a little snoutish for me. Just give Audi some time, though, and I'm afraid even their little one will get a stronger dose of ugly.

To my eye, the 7-Series is just about the most awful-looking thing on the road today, giving even the sorry Pontiac Aztek a run for the money for Numero Uno in the category of Most Horrific Styling. GM has always gone after the bottom-of-the barrel auto crowd (no offense, GM fans). BMW is perhaps picking up a whole new customer base to replace the traditional fans who wouldn't be caught dead behind the wheel of one of the current models. As one writer here in the U.S. surmised, probably correctly, BMW seems to have gone after the market consisting of people with lots of money but little enthusiasm for the BMW heritage of The Ultimate Driving Machine. What a shame.

Pictured is the beautiful Pontiak Aztek. They couldn't even dignify it with the proper spelling.

Oh and here's something to horrify you...

The new Rover 75.

The blind leading the blind.
In a few years every car will look like that. The "snoutish" disease had already infected Audi, VW, Rover, Subaru, and Bugatti. I fear that this may jump to humans and the next generation will all be born with one giant nostril instead of two small ones.

As far as the 7-Series, I guess we'll have to leave it at "to each his own". Actually, I've only seen probably fewer than twenty or so examples around here since its introduction, and this area is heavily populated with BMWs and Benzes. I just can't get over that awful hump in the rear that passes as a trunk (boot) lid and which looks as if it was transplanted from an entirely different make of car. And the front end, as well, with its over-styled headlamp treatment, which has been described as the "Kabuki" look, and seems even more pronounced on the new 5-Series. It just bothers me that BMW has chosen to put so much emphasis on styling that borders on gimmickry. And speaking of gimmickry, it seems that the company has gone off the deep end of weirdness with such fooishnesss as I-Drive, or whatever, which has been just about universally derided in the automotive press. What's the point?

Tellingly, I have a friend who owns a Z3 who tells me that he wouldn't go for a Z4 based on its odd styling, and another friend who has a 2003 3-Series who expressed a similar lack of interest in the newer genearation, across the range. It's been my observation that the Z4 has not been selling nearly as well as the Z3 around here, as I've only seen a handful. But there might be other factors, such as price or reliability--I just know that they're not exactly plentiful, while the Z3s are a dime a dozen, locally.

Re that Fiat photo--I actually think it's not a bad looking car, except for the grillwork and surrounding area, which could be cleaned up nicely. But I'm afraid the sound of it rusting away would keep me awake nights.

And that Rover? Fuggeddaboutit--it reminds me of nothing more than that steaming pile in that BMW "ad."

Oh, well. Those older Volvos are starting to look pretty good again.