Car design trends that have come back around

[Glosphil]

RazerSauber said:

Deranged Rover said:

Front quarter-light windows.

They're a lot smaller than they used to be and they don't open but they're cropping up on car front windows all over the place, presumably because of the current fashion for huge, steeply-raked windscreens. They look daft IMHO.

I'd imagine the steeply raked windscreens are for aerodynamics. The bit that irks me most about all that is the sheer magnitude of dashboards. On the passenger side of a Ford Capri, the dashboard is about an inch deep. Modern cars are about 2 feet of black plastic that usually don't do much more than house some vents and maybe a speaker.

My 2012 Octavia vRS had a lidded cubby hole in the centre of the top of the dash under the windscreen. Ideal for storing driving glasses. I also fitted into it a hinged bracket that held my phone in landscape mode with the lid as a sunshade so I could have Google Maps where both the passenger & could see it.

[captain.scarlet]

Uncle Meat said:

BMWs with big grills :-)

The current crop of kidney grilles are definitely hideous, made worse by the fact that they're illuminated on some models.

As for the posts above about touchscreens, I'm assuming as well that nowadays it may actually maximise profits to manufacture a vehicle and have as much as possible dealt with via a touchscreen system (the technology for that getting cheaper, too). I would however much prefer physical buttons /knobs for things like climate control.

[craigjm]

captain.scarlet said:

Nickbrapp said:

As we know fashion comes and goes, as does big trends in car design, BMW admit large grills won’t be forever.

What other trends have come back around? I would say sunroofs, very popular in 90s, then died off and now back in a big way with panoramic glass ones.

BMW surely won't permanently do away with the kidney grille.

I think they'll either incorporate it into the design for functionality in some way, or it'll be there for heritage reasons.

I think you misunderstood what he meant. Not suggesting getting rid of the grille entirely. The design chief said that the massive versions on current cars won’t be around forever and they will become smaller again

[sjabrown]

1970s colours. The return of browns and odd shades of greens and blues. I am just keenly awaiting the return of hearing aid beige.

[captain.scarlet]

craigjm said:

captain.scarlet said:

Nickbrapp said:

As we know fashion comes and goes, as does big trends in car design, BMW admit large grills won’t be forever.

What other trends have come back around? I would say sunroofs, very popular in 90s, then died off and now back in a big way with panoramic glass ones.

BMW surely won't permanently do away with the kidney grille.

I think they'll either incorporate it into the design for functionality in some way, or it'll be there for heritage reasons.

I think you misunderstood what he meant. Not suggesting getting rid of the grille entirely. The design chief said that the massive versions on current cars won’t be around forever and they will become smaller again

Fair enough, but my view (as a side point) is that because it's BMW's signature design piece, even though it'll become obsolete for the purposes of air intake into an ICE, they'll likely keep it there even with EVs for heritage/throwback purposes. I don't think anyone can fathom a BMW without kidney grilles.

[LuS1fer]

captain.scarlet said:

Fair enough, but my view (as a side point) is that because it's BMW's signature design piece, even though it'll become obsolete for the purposes of air intake into an ICE, they'll likely keep it there even with EVs for heritage/throwback purposes. I don't think anyone can fathom a BMW without kidney grilles.

I'd love to see one. Bung the kidneys on the fascia. Or through the windscreen.