Discussion
Stupid thought but I've always wondered why a lot of Jap cars are styled so....well..bland? Obviously, there are a few exceptions out there that are still beautiful cars but if you look in the market now, there are some truly horrendous things out there. The new Prius, being one of them.
I'm just wondering, what is it with the Japs? Surely if they were to combine an Italian/German car designer with their Japanese build quality, they would have a potential market leader on their hands?
I'm just wondering, what is it with the Japs? Surely if they were to combine an Italian/German car designer with their Japanese build quality, they would have a potential market leader on their hands?
There are certainly some nice Japanese motors out there but some are very odd looking things.
I get the impression with some motors that parts of the car are designed separately. Like one team deals wit the tail lights, another the head lights, someone else the door handles and then they bung it all together afterwards. So it doesn't flow very well.
There's a few 'classic' Japanese cars like the GTRs, Supras etc but personally a lot of them don't do much for me in terms of looks.
I get the impression with some motors that parts of the car are designed separately. Like one team deals wit the tail lights, another the head lights, someone else the door handles and then they bung it all together afterwards. So it doesn't flow very well.
There's a few 'classic' Japanese cars like the GTRs, Supras etc but personally a lot of them don't do much for me in terms of looks.
I think it's part cultural. Japanese are not known for beauty and such whereas the Italians and French are beautiful to look at witb beautiful cities and buildings. I get the impression Japs make stuff properly for it to serve it'd purpose whereas Europeans go all arty farty and the like
LP670 said:
thats how i see it too, the audi range is what i call bland. they all look the same just in different scales
Maybe bland was the wrong term to use, but can you honestly say you look at a new Prius or a Bog spec civic and go "corrr that's beautiful". The Type R civic, whilst quite "loud" looking, is handsome from certain angles. But let's be honest, the majority of these Jap cars are woefully boring to look at/sit in. I did say in the original post that there are/were some Jap cars that are still very pretty for today's time. But overall, it's a real shame.
giblets_ said:
Maybe bland was the wrong term to use, but can you honestly say you look at a new Prius or a Bog spec civic and go "corrr that's beautiful". But let's be honest, the majority of these Jap cars are woefully boring to look at/sit in.
So who would you say makes much better looking cars? The latest Civic isn't my cup of tea either but at least it's a bit different. The new Astra is hideous, the Focus somewhat 'staid', Golf/Leon/A3 etc utterly bland. The Pulsar continues the angular theme I mentioned above and has a half decent engine to match. Other than the GT86, current Toyotas are pretty bland though.giblets_ said:
LP670 said:
thats how i see it too, the audi range is what i call bland. they all look the same just in different scales
Maybe bland was the wrong term to use, but can you honestly say you look at a new Prius or a Bog spec civic and go "corrr that's beautiful". I think that since the very beginning of Japanese mass manufactured motor cars the west has been leading and the east following, when it comes to styling at least. Left to their own devices they will come up with some properly out there designs but when they are designing anything to sell in significant numbers on the domestic market and overseas they come over all conservative and produce a poor facsimile of a European or American car.
Toyoda said:
So who would you say makes much better looking cars? The latest Civic isn't my cup of tea either but at least it's a bit different. The new Astra is hideous, the Focus somewhat 'staid', Golf/Leon/A3 etc utterly bland. The Pulsar continues the angular theme I mentioned above and has a half decent engine to match.
I'm going to get slated like hell for this but I actually do think that Mercedes are currently doing a top job of their vehicle design..But then again the new IS300H Lexus is a proper nice looking thing IMO. If we're talking hatchbacks/saloons - Look at the new Mondeo, Passat and XE. All very nice looking cars. Then you have the Avensis/Prius which look like bloated insects.I believe it's a trait whereby they like to focus and find beauty in small details as opposed to our preference to take an overall view.
Add in their space limitations and presumably taxation regime etc. and their taste will have developed differently over the decades of domestic car production.
Sometimes they nail it though, for 1993 and 1991 respectively, these are pretty excellent designs that (many people think) look good even now (used Wiki images to try and avoid modified examples)
I'm sure someone will now point out that they were designed by a European?
Add in their space limitations and presumably taxation regime etc. and their taste will have developed differently over the decades of domestic car production.
Sometimes they nail it though, for 1993 and 1991 respectively, these are pretty excellent designs that (many people think) look good even now (used Wiki images to try and avoid modified examples)
I'm sure someone will now point out that they were designed by a European?
Yep, I'd say the RX7, and also the MK2 MR2 are incredibly good looking designs. The RX7 to my eyes at least, is probably the best looking car to come out of Japan, and a rival to anything Europe produced in the early 90's. I'm talking the early
cars before everything went predictably Japanese and ever more aggressive in susbsequent revisions.
Both the cars I've mentioned, with a little bit of tinkering here and there, would not look out of place if they were launched today, which is the biggest compliment you can pay to what is 25 year old design (and the rest!) IMO.
cars before everything went predictably Japanese and ever more aggressive in susbsequent revisions.
Both the cars I've mentioned, with a little bit of tinkering here and there, would not look out of place if they were launched today, which is the biggest compliment you can pay to what is 25 year old design (and the rest!) IMO.
f1nn said:
Yep, I'd say the RX7, and also the MK2 MR2 are incredibly good looking designs. The RX7 to my eyes at least, is probably the best looking car to come out of Japan, and a rival to anything Europe produced in the early 90's. I'm talking the early
cars before everything went predictably Japanese and ever more aggressive in susbsequent revisions.
Both the cars I've mentioned, with a little bit of tinkering here and there, would not look out of place if they were launched today, which is the biggest compliment you can pay to what is 25 year old design (and the rest!) IMO.
I couldn't agree more about the RX-7. It's a timeless design and still looks fantastic today, in particular the 99-spec versions with the revised bumpers and rear spoiler. But they couldn't sell one today even if they wanted to in particular due to pedestrian safety regulations. The hood line on these cars are so ridiculously low and obviously pop ups wouldn't work either despite how cool they are. cars before everything went predictably Japanese and ever more aggressive in susbsequent revisions.
Both the cars I've mentioned, with a little bit of tinkering here and there, would not look out of place if they were launched today, which is the biggest compliment you can pay to what is 25 year old design (and the rest!) IMO.
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