Why don't Exec barges look good?
Discussion
Why is it so difficult for designers to make a good looking large exec barge that works visually both inside and out? Maybe I've got the rose tints on but in years gone by I seem to recall that there was a much better selection of aesthetically pleasing big cars.
I've a pile of brochures on my desk and dealer visits/test drives in the recent pages of my diary for a broad range of cars, none of which hit the spot:
Jag XJ - A car that I so wanted to want, that outside looks pretty good in the flesh but inside this cat it's a real dog's dinner. Gaudy, tacky and designed to appeal to Americans/young children (whose concept of style taste are of course remarkably similar). Also suffers from the pretty fundamental flaw of not having any headroom.
Audi A8 - Audi probably gets closest to a decent outside/inside combination. However the outside is cursed with a ridiculously large front grill whilst the inside almost works except they plonk in the most awkward looking gear selector. And across their range they seem to be struggling more than most other manufacturers to make LED lights integrate visually.
BMW 7 - I'll own up that I'm no fan of BMWs (I have owned one in the past and I made BMW buy it back after 12 months for the original price) but I will happily admit that the old family photo album for the 7 series through the generations has some good lookers. But this current model struggles to look correctly proportioned, suffers from misplaced creases along the waistline and a pug ugly front end made worse by tacky touches like putting little signs above the headlights to tell you that they're BMW Xenons.
Lexus LS - like so much that is Japanese, it attempts to copy cat European styling but ends up failing with an awkward, clumbsy facsimile. And being a hybrid has a boot that's 330 litres; absolutely ridiculous on a car trying to compete in this part of the market.
Merc S class - almost gets there but then is fatally flawed by wheel arches that look like some swollen medical condition. Something about the interior doesn't work either but I'm struggling to articulate what it is.
Maserati QP - Mmmmmmmmm. The outside is spot on. Droooooool. Drible. Salivate. But I fear that they used up so much sensuous creativity outside that there was precious little left over for the interior which therefore looks slabby and unfinished.
So what is the problem in this market segment? I don't think I see the same complete lack of style and aesthetic in other categories of cars. Is it something to do with the size and space that the designers are having to fill? After all you can't exactly make the steering wheel 3ft across to fill up space or make seats squabs that are so big that you can't sit on them. Perhaps that's the problems as 4x4s largely struggle in the same way with expanses of metal, leather and plastic that demand to be shaped and garnished in some way; when left alone you end up with the unfinished, slab design that's the Range Rover, but when tinkered with you cross over to Porsche Cayenne ghastliness. But then Rolls Royce seems to have taken on the large car challenge and got it right with the Ghost.
Or is it that in this price bracket customers need some vulgar ostentation in their lives?
I've a pile of brochures on my desk and dealer visits/test drives in the recent pages of my diary for a broad range of cars, none of which hit the spot:
Jag XJ - A car that I so wanted to want, that outside looks pretty good in the flesh but inside this cat it's a real dog's dinner. Gaudy, tacky and designed to appeal to Americans/young children (whose concept of style taste are of course remarkably similar). Also suffers from the pretty fundamental flaw of not having any headroom.
Audi A8 - Audi probably gets closest to a decent outside/inside combination. However the outside is cursed with a ridiculously large front grill whilst the inside almost works except they plonk in the most awkward looking gear selector. And across their range they seem to be struggling more than most other manufacturers to make LED lights integrate visually.
BMW 7 - I'll own up that I'm no fan of BMWs (I have owned one in the past and I made BMW buy it back after 12 months for the original price) but I will happily admit that the old family photo album for the 7 series through the generations has some good lookers. But this current model struggles to look correctly proportioned, suffers from misplaced creases along the waistline and a pug ugly front end made worse by tacky touches like putting little signs above the headlights to tell you that they're BMW Xenons.
Lexus LS - like so much that is Japanese, it attempts to copy cat European styling but ends up failing with an awkward, clumbsy facsimile. And being a hybrid has a boot that's 330 litres; absolutely ridiculous on a car trying to compete in this part of the market.
Merc S class - almost gets there but then is fatally flawed by wheel arches that look like some swollen medical condition. Something about the interior doesn't work either but I'm struggling to articulate what it is.
Maserati QP - Mmmmmmmmm. The outside is spot on. Droooooool. Drible. Salivate. But I fear that they used up so much sensuous creativity outside that there was precious little left over for the interior which therefore looks slabby and unfinished.
So what is the problem in this market segment? I don't think I see the same complete lack of style and aesthetic in other categories of cars. Is it something to do with the size and space that the designers are having to fill? After all you can't exactly make the steering wheel 3ft across to fill up space or make seats squabs that are so big that you can't sit on them. Perhaps that's the problems as 4x4s largely struggle in the same way with expanses of metal, leather and plastic that demand to be shaped and garnished in some way; when left alone you end up with the unfinished, slab design that's the Range Rover, but when tinkered with you cross over to Porsche Cayenne ghastliness. But then Rolls Royce seems to have taken on the large car challenge and got it right with the Ghost.
Or is it that in this price bracket customers need some vulgar ostentation in their lives?
AREA said:
Audi A8 - Audi probably gets closest to a decent outside/inside combination. However the outside is cursed with a ridiculously large front grill whilst the inside almost works except they plonk in the most awkward looking gear selector. And across their range they seem to be struggling more than most other manufacturers to make LED lights integrate visually.
The A8 is the blandest car money can buy, outside it looks completely non-descript and inside is like a good quality tool box- nothing is going to break but hardly exciting. 
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