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In the documentary Objectified (recommended!), a BMW designer brings up the point that a car design should express what the car is. If there's a mismatch betwe

In the documentary Objectified (recommended!), a BMW designer brings up the point that a car design should express what the car is. If there's a mismatch between the look, and how it feels to drive, it will be rejected by customers.

iaw 10y ago
The Fiero comes to mind.
- qbrass 10y ago
  It outsold the Corvette every year it was produced.
- dpweb 10y ago
  Had a GT in high school. Car was alot of fun. Mid-engine and big sunroof that came out and stored under the hood.
tsunamifury 10y ago
Yes, this is the very practical definition of "tacky" design. It's when something visually promises something that it isn't in performance. Form and function are very much tied together and a car that looks like a Ferrari but feels like a civic would cause a negative cognitive dissonance
- tornadoboy55 10y ago
  Something that's a bit more understated like a Maserati but driving like an average sedan would be mostly fine though.
  - tsunamifury 10y ago
    The Ghibli is exactly that, it's Italian design on top of GM parts bins items. It's absolutely terrible.
  - rhizome 10y ago
    Currently, that kind of exists in 2dr form as the Toyota 86 platform (Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_86 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_86 For 4dr GTs, it gets quite a bit tougher to compete with second-hand Maserati prices.
IgorPartola 10y ago
This is a good answer. Hundai comes to mind as a brand that puts overly slick bodies on underpowered cars. It looks silly. And yes there is the Genesis, but that car is not cheap. What would be fun is if manufacturers took more liberties with design. I loved my Scion xB because it was "ugly beautiful" and also very functional. I really like the new Civic: aggressive yet understated. More of this would be really nice. A Scion minivan could easily be the VW microbus of our generation.
- coev 10y ago
  The Scion brand was discontinued last year.
  - IgorPartola 10y ago
    Nooo!
jakebaker 10y ago
The counterpoint to this is the "Aston Martin" Ford [1a and 1b] which I think most people would agree looks much better than the Ford design it replaced [2]. It literally steals the design cues from a $100k+ sports car and adapts them to an economy car and it seems to work quite well as a design (admittedly a bit of design plagiarism). [1a] http://autoguide.com.vsassets.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Ford-Fusion-Aston-Martin-Main-Art.jpg http://autoguide.com.vsassets.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/20... [1b] http://www.autotribute.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Aston-Martin-New-Ford-Fusion-Mondeo-3.jpg http://www.autotribute.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Aston-... [2] http://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/10/2015/11/2012-ford-fusion-i4-se-sedan-angular-front.png http://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/10/2015/11/2012-ford-...
- brokenmachine 10y ago
  Is that a Mondeo? edit: oops, the link says it's a Ford Fusion.

iaw 10y ago

The Fiero comes to mind.

qbrass 10y ago
It outsold the Corvette every year it was produced.
dpweb 10y ago
Had a GT in high school. Car was alot of fun. Mid-engine and big sunroof that came out and stored under the hood.

tsunamifury 10y ago

Yes, this is the very practical definition of "tacky" design. It's when something visually promises something that it isn't in performance. Form and function are very much tied together and a car that looks like a Ferrari but feels like a civic would cause a negative cognitive dissonance

tornadoboy55 10y ago
Something that's a bit more understated like a Maserati but driving like an average sedan would be mostly fine though.
- tsunamifury 10y ago
  The Ghibli is exactly that, it's Italian design on top of GM parts bins items. It's absolutely terrible.
- rhizome 10y ago
  Currently, that kind of exists in 2dr form as the Toyota 86 platform (Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_86 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_86 For 4dr GTs, it gets quite a bit tougher to compete with second-hand Maserati prices.

IgorPartola 10y ago

This is a good answer. Hundai comes to mind as a brand that puts overly slick bodies on underpowered cars. It looks silly. And yes there is the Genesis, but that car is not cheap. What would be fun is if manufacturers took more liberties with design. I loved my Scion xB because it was "ugly beautiful" and also very functional. I really like the new Civic: aggressive yet understated. More of this would be really nice. A Scion minivan could easily be the VW microbus of our generation.

coev 10y ago
The Scion brand was discontinued last year.
- IgorPartola 10y ago
  Nooo!

jakebaker 10y ago

The counterpoint to this is the "Aston Martin" Ford [1a and 1b] which I think most people would agree looks much better than the Ford design it replaced [2]. It literally steals the design cues from a $100k+ sports car and adapts them to an economy car and it seems to work quite well as a design (admittedly a bit of design plagiarism). [1a] http://autoguide.com.vsassets.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Ford-Fusion-Aston-Martin-Main-Art.jpg http://autoguide.com.vsassets.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/20... [1b] http://www.autotribute.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Aston-Martin-New-Ford-Fusion-Mondeo-3.jpg http://www.autotribute.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Aston-... [2] http://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/10/2015/11/2012-ford-fusion-i4-se-sedan-angular-front.png http://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/10/2015/11/2012-ford-...

brokenmachine 10y ago
Is that a Mondeo? edit: oops, the link says it's a Ford Fusion.