Awkward-looking coupes

[ManOpener]

ZesPak said:

Agreed! Never bothered me until now.
Never found that good looking though, much prefer the CLS it aped.

I really like the CC, was seriously considering a 3.6 before I bought a house, but think it's just been ruined for me. Cannot unsee.

[Jimmy Recard]

ManOpener said:

I really like the CC, was seriously considering a 3.6 before I bought a house, but think it's just been ruined for me. Cannot unsee.

It also puts me off the Insignia, although I don't find that quite as bad as the CC

[Vitorio]

stewjohnst said:

Also, I know its bending the rules as it isn't a coupe per se but I was following a Passat CC the other day and from some angles the misalignment of front and rear door handles just looks totally weird to my eyes.

They both sit an equal distance below the crease in the side bodywork, what am i missing?

[anonymous-user]

stewjohnst said:

ZesPak said:

It does doesn't it, the 3/4 panels in the rear seem like they mismatch. There's one with his ass sticking out behind the driveway I see everyday, and too often I think: ooh, he had an accident.

It's this mess of lines:

That really is an absolutely ghastly car. I also don't get the love for the A5 with it's idiotic snarling face and then sagging gut crease lines on the side it can't quite decide what it wants to be.

[DoubleD]

Is the A7 classed as a coupe?

[StescoG66]

Vitorio said:

They both sit an equal distance below the crease in the side bodywork, what am i missing?

And therein lies an intrinsic difference between German and - say - Italian design. It may measure perfectly, on paper be bang on yet to the eye it just doesn't look right.
I like the Pishat CC but there was something about it that irked. That could well be it....

[HugoFastmann]

My awkward coupehatch E46. Not a true coupe. Not a true hatchback.

[MorganP104]

Vitorio said:

They both sit an equal distance below the crease in the side bodywork, what am i missing?

Allow me to demonstrate...



Picture NOT PhotoShopped (dragged straight from Honest John).

Still think it looks OK?

[HugoFastmann]

MorganP104 said:

Allow me to demonstrate...



Picture NOT PhotoShopped (dragged straight from Honest John).

Still think it looks OK?

I suppose they were designing it for the common scenario of short driver and tall rear passenger?

[GeordieInExile]

God only knows why they chose Audi A4 rear lights for the Bristol Blenheim 3... the combination of 1970s shape and 2000s lights and curves produces quite the dog's breakfast.

[NomduJour]

That's not a Blenheim 3, it's the one-off 4 (and it's not really a coupe).

Cost of developing and type approving bespoke lights is beyond the reach of most low-volume manufacturers.

[s m]

HugoFastmann said:

My awkward coupehatch E46. Not a true coupe. Not a true hatchback.

Why don't you think yours is a hatchback?
Would you regard the Astra below it as a hatchback?

[DoubleD]

They do look very similar

[Front bottom]

[F1GTRUeno]

stewjohnst said:

Also, I know its bending the rules as it isn't a coupe per se but I was following a Passat CC the other day and from some angles the misalignment of front and rear door handles just looks totally weird to my eyes.

Not just misaligned but to my eyes at least surely they should be above the swage line?

[ZesPak]

s m said:

Why don't you think yours is a hatchback?
Would you regard the Astra below it as a hatchback?

Never noticed it before, but on my phone they were hard to distingiush from that angle! Edit: The black does hide some of the finer detail though.

I've always found the real coupe variants of both to be good looking cars though (although around here the BMW is deffo owned by the "wrong" crowd):



Both examples of well-proportioned coupes imho. That BMW needs to get it's suspension fixed though.

Edited by ZesPak on Friday 28th April 07:54

[HugoFastmann]

s m said:

Why don't you think yours is a hatchback?
Would you regard the Astra below it as a hatchback?

Because when I think of a hatch back I don't think of a boot lid - that's what coupes and saloons have.

Hatchback:


Coupe:


And yes that Astra is another blurred lines hatchback.

To me a coupe is a 2-door body shape with a boot lid - don't get me started on this 4-door Gran Coupe thing that ze Germans are doing these days - and a hatchback has a big back door without a boot lid.

[ZesPak]

HugoFastmann said:

To me a coupe is a 2-door body shape with a boot lid - don't get me started on this 4-door Gran Coupe thing that ze Germans are doing these days - and a hatchback has a big back door without a boot lid.

I think it's very hard to define it like that.
That would mean, for example, this isn't a coupe:

[s m]

HugoFastmann said:

s m said:

Why don't you think yours is a hatchback?
Would you regard the Astra below it as a hatchback?

Because when I think of a hatch back I don't think of a boot lid - that's what coupes and saloons have.

Hatchback:


Coupe:


And yes that Astra is another blurred lines hatchback.

To me a coupe is a 2-door body shape with a boot lid - don't get me started on this 4-door Gran Coupe thing that ze Germans are doing these days - and a hatchback has a big back door without a boot lid.

Ah, I see, similar stuff like the fwd Escorts, Peugeot 309 as well I guess?

[williamp]

To further blur the lines, some of those above are 2 door saloons, not coupes. And this is a 4 door coupe: