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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.
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A lot of the guys on the E46 M3 boards I frequent are thinking 997 or used 996 GT3 next time, due to oppressive Banglification. PS - there will be no "4" series, will still be dubbed the E90 3 series, including the upcoming 400 HP v8 M3.
Spot on! The designs of German cars are now quite post-modern, in the sense that they have lines and creases where none should be and are adorned with trashy looking details. Come to think of it the bulk of their production is sold in North America (well the USA to be more precise), could there be a connection? Now that MB and Chrysler are one, it is hard to tell who is to blame for what, but it seems that there is some fairness in the distribution of ugliness; case in point the new large Chryslers. When you have to look at hot-rods for design inspiration in a production car you are in trouble. Nothing wrong with hot-rods and customs, I admire them for what they are, but they answer (or should answer) to a different aesthetic than production cars. Squashed greenhouses seem to be THE design statement right now. Inspiration comes from the past. Have you ever seen anything as homely as the Audi TT? The coupe is frightening to look at. The roadster with top down looks like an old bathtub on wheels. Most can't remember the Auto Union racecars of Nazi Germany, so why dig up those old cars for inspiration and design allusions?
was never on my list due to handling & power shortcomings, but a very well-received look (esp. among designers, architects et al) though quite claustrophobic inside.
www.swedespeed.com
Have you taken a look at the 997 or the new Boxster due out in '05? I think they are looking better.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!
Take the time to test drive a Saab Aero. You may be pleasantly surprised. I think they are under ratted.
Your are right... I'm not much a fan of the new style on the VW/Audi Group cars... the big black grill I have seen on some cars (like some pics I've of the new MKV GTI) is ugly. The Audi A3 looks promising of all the new styling from VAG. I've only seen one of the new BWN & series in person... liked it much more than I thought it would... though I have my doubts about how that type of Bangle style will work on physically smaller cars.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
Sorry, but that wont last very long.
Have a look at the new Audi A4:
Front
Back
Full story .Not the prettiest piggy in the pen.
Ugh. Looks like something to make a Hyundai owner proud.
nt
Happy Listening,
Rich Brkich
Retailer & Audio Asylum Industry Liaison
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.
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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
Yes, I have seen those photos, but I've also seen a picture somewhere (wish I could remember where) of the new A3 body color painted with no chrome ring type front... amazing how much better the car looks when finished off like that.
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.
Yep, I am the third owner of the M6, both previous owners and myself have treated it mostly as a "garage queen". Though I am in New Englnad, this car has never seen snow or salt, and still carries original near-flawless black paint.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".
...had the later version in my previous car, an E34 M5... now have an E32 735i-based Alpina B11. Will be back in an M5 (hopefully touring) in the next few years...
Plus this allows you to run in historic races :)Enjoy the Drive,
Steven R. Rochlin
The new A3 isn’t so bad:
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.
Guh... That aztek really is an abomination. It's strange since the Toyota underneath all the nastiness doesn't look too bad (for an MPV). I'm glad we don't get them down here.
You will probably like the BMW advertisement half way down this page. They also did a story about Bangle discovering that he is actually left handed after all these years of designing with the right one.
I was like you with the 7 series until I started seeing them regularly. I think that's Chris Bangle's talent/curse. I felt the same about his Fiat Coupé when it was first introduced... ugly as sin. Now I quite like them when I see them on the road.
One of the guys on 5th Gear (British car show) said of the 7 series; "It's like a supermodel with her two front teeth missing. By no means perfect, but you still would *wink*"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.
Ha! That BMW "ad" was prety good!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.
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