Worst aging cars?

[BricktopST205]

FA57REN said:

90s soapbar curves, of its time:



Still fresh:

That is actually a good one. The early 90's prelude was always considered the better looker "in period" and the MK5 a bit odd looking but the MK5 looks far fresher now 20-30 years on.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

Mercedes C219 CLS

I think someone else on this thread said that German manufacturers have this gift on making a car that looks amazing when it first comes out and then looks like a Grandad mobile as soon as the new model is announced.

Then they have that awkward period when they get down to the £5K price range and they just look council.

Then 15 years later, any survivors start to look cool as anything, as has happened to the E36 and is about to happen with the E46 soon.

[CharlieAlphaMike]

_Hoppers said:

Truckosaurus said:

Limpet said:

Then you have this :

.

The UK spec ones look better as they have a number plate mounted on the blank 'grille' which breaks up the space giving it a bit more of a face.

I agree the Model S is aging well, but it is a fairly inoffensive design.

The 2023 update has improved the front end looks IMHO

I think this partly sums up the reason why so many people dislike Tesla's. They look at the Model Y, which I have to agree is not a 'looker', mistake it for a Model 3 (apart from the height difference, they look very similar) and then label every Tesla with the same tag. I would never say the Model 3 or Model S are ugly but agree they are at worst, inoffensive, in the way they look.

[V 02]

CharlieAlphaMike said:

I think this partly sums up the reason why so many people dislike Tesla's. They look at the Model Y, which I have to agree is not a 'looker', mistake it for a Model 3 (apart from the height difference, they look very similar) and then label every Tesla with the same tag. I would never say the Model 3 or Model S are ugly but agree they are at worst, inoffensive, in the way they look.

“So many” - Model Y best selling car of any type, globally, IIRC in 2023, yes even more sold than the Toyota Corolla at 1.23 million units sold just that year

Model 3 - 600,000 sold in 2023
So that’s over 1.8 million units just from 2 models

Tesla - best selling electric vehicles of all time so they must be doing something right with the styling

Edited by V 02 on Monday 15th April 13:22

[Olivera]

CharlieAlphaMike said:

_Hoppers said:

The 2023 update has improved the front end looks IMHO

I think this partly sums up the reason why so many people dislike Tesla's. They look at the Model Y, which I have to agree is not a 'looker', mistake it for a Model 3 (apart from the height difference, they look very similar) and then label every Tesla with the same tag. I would never say the Model 3 or Model S are ugly but agree they are at worst, inoffensive, in the way they look.

That's a very flattering pic of the Model 3 taken low down. In reality they look more like this with the vast array of windscreen glass:

[CharlieAlphaMike]

LankyFreak said:

_Hoppers said:

The 2023 update has improved the front end looks IMHO



That looks crap!

FTFY LankyFreak

Edited by CharlieAlphaMike on Monday 15th April 13:33

[mko9]

Olivera said:

CharlieAlphaMike said:

_Hoppers said:

The 2023 update has improved the front end looks IMHO

I think this partly sums up the reason why so many people dislike Tesla's. They look at the Model Y, which I have to agree is not a 'looker', mistake it for a Model 3 (apart from the height difference, they look very similar) and then label every Tesla with the same tag. I would never say the Model 3 or Model S are ugly but agree they are at worst, inoffensive, in the way they look.

That's a very flattering pic of the Model 3 taken low down. In reality they look more like this with the vast array of windscreen glass:

With the Model S there is at least something like a grille across the front of the car. With the Model 3 and the Model Y it was like the designers left a blank space for a grille that was never going to be installed. Or figured out they didn't need a grille, then couldn't decide what to put there instead, so left it blank.

[AmyRichardson]

LuS1fer said:

I think the 2005 Ram has aged well with it's big vertical grille. It is the exception though.

I suspect the Ram represents the first of "the way things went."

US full-sized pickups (Ram in 05, F-Series in 09) were a generation earlier than mid/small-sized pickups, when it came to embracing designs that boldly emphasised their size and potential for visual impact.

Mid/small designs remained relative shrinking violets - until the most recent generation, when many went all-in on macho-man styling.

[otolith]

Olivera said:

That's a very flattering pic of the Model 3 taken low down. In reality they look more like this with the vast array of windscreen glass:

Is a vast array of windscreen glass a bad thing?

[Olivera]

otolith said:

Is a vast array of windscreen glass a bad thing?

Aesthetically yes, taller windscreen glass than bodywork results in gawky odd looks. As exemplified by the Model 3 (and Y).

[AmyRichardson]

Olivera said:

Aesthetically yes, taller windscreen glass than bodywork results in gawky odd looks. As exemplified by the Model 3 (and Y).

Yep; a raised waistline does look good and Teslas don't exhibit that - a M3 max bonnet height is ~55% o/a height, whereas a more normal 3-Series is ~68%.

Greater glasshouse height used to be more normal, but the possibility of deeper/sharper panel pressing allows more pinch & shadow detaling which freed designer's hands to deepen side panels without it looking odd - we see this trend taken a step further with black feature strips along the bottom of the body.

Also, manufacturers realised consumers aren't really too fussed about visibility, at least not at point-of-purchase. So they forgot about that and focused on the looks!

[otolith]

It may well be stylistically unfashionable, but objectively visibility is a good thing, no?

[jamieduff1981]

vikingaero said:

And the coupe styling totally comprises rear headroom. As a powerfully built, but shorter stature, company director, at 5ft 7in, my head touches the roof in the rear:

I often feel rather alone in seeing BMW interiors as extremely cheap and nasty. That leather looks crap. The textured plastic seat backs rear seat passengers have to look at not just in these but also the 5 series are absolutely awful and belong in a 1980s Ford Escort. What's even more galling are the tired, lazy tropes that some other non-German cars with proper upholstery and some actual styling inside lack quality compared to the German offerings. I mean, are they blind, stupid or both?

[CharlieAlphaMike]

V 02 said:

CharlieAlphaMike said:

I think this partly sums up the reason why so many people dislike Tesla's. They look at the Model Y, which I have to agree is not a 'looker', mistake it for a Model 3 (apart from the height difference, they look very similar) and then label every Tesla with the same tag. I would never say the Model 3 or Model S are ugly but agree they are at worst, inoffensive, in the way they look.

“So many” - Model Y best selling car...

Edited by V 02 on Monday 15th April 13:22

I think you must have misread my comment. I said "so many people...". I wasn't referring in any way to the number of cars sold.

[Rob 131 Sport]

jamieduff1981 said:

vikingaero said:

And the coupe styling totally comprises rear headroom. As a powerfully built, but shorter stature, company director, at 5ft 7in, my head touches the roof in the rear:

I often feel rather alone in seeing BMW interiors as extremely cheap and nasty. That leather looks crap. The textured plastic seat backs rear seat passengers have to look at not just in these but also the 5 series are absolutely awful and belong in a 1980s Ford Escort. What's even more galling are the tired, lazy tropes that some other non-German cars with proper upholstery and some actual styling inside lack quality compared to the German offerings. I mean, are they blind, stupid or both?

No. The interior quality my E36 325i Coupe was poor and I wasn’t particularly wowed by the 2 E60’s that I had.
However my previous 19 Plate 530d and the current 440 have fantastic feeling interiors.

[Neil1323bolts]

V 02 said:

MightyBadger said:

_Hoppers said:

The 2023 update has improved the front end looks IMHO

Still ugly as sin.

Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but IMO it’s definitely not ugly. Bland and devoid of style, but not ugly.

I see a slight whiff of PT cruiser in some of the bigger teslas, so for that reason I could never own one!

[LuS1fer]

Citroen Xsaras.

Horrid then, horrid now.

[carlo996]

LuS1fer said:

Citroen Xsaras.

Horrid then, horrid now.

I’ll raise you the blob shaped corolla, think it was 8th gen and Mazda MX-3.

[tupak798]

Neil1323bolts said:

V 02 said:

MightyBadger said:

_Hoppers said:

The 2023 update has improved the front end looks IMHO

Still ugly as sin.

Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but IMO it’s definitely not ugly. Bland and devoid of style, but not ugly.

I see a slight whiff of PT cruiser in some of the bigger teslas, so for that reason I could never own one!

Why do EVs always look so st?

[Bobtherallyfan]

V 02 said:

“So many” - Model Y best selling car of any type, globally, IIRC in 2023, yes even more sold than the Toyota Corolla at 1.23 million units sold just that year

Model 3 - 600,000 sold in 2023
So that’s over 1.8 million units just from 2 models

Tesla - best selling electric vehicles of all time so they must be doing something right with the styling

Edited by V 02 on Monday 15th April 13:22

Yep…overtook the wonderfully styled Nissan Leaf……be still my beating heart….