Let's rant about car designs (post unpopular opinions in here)

Mitchi

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I was about to dump this into the dumpster or even The Telegrams, but why not create its own thread so it doesn't just fall into the abyss after a couple of hours?

I feel like ranting about a certain car right now. Or at least it's design. You do the same in this thread - post cars and designs, where you think they are not as good or as pretty as most people say. Let's have discussions!

Possibly unpopular opinion: While I really like the car (and its engine!) for what it is, I feel like the Carrera GT isn't really a pretty car. Pretty as in racecar & form-follows-function-pretty, but not beautiful to the eye per se as it probably should, being the supercar that it is.

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Obviously one has to think about the car back in the day, not now. But I never really liked the rough cut off from the roof to the engine. I also think, the headlight covers are just a way of somehow protecting the xenons, as just sticking them onto the body like Pagani did with their Zonda is un-Porsche-like. The first gen LED tail lights look somewhat aftermarket-like. And while I love 996's, the interior is a bit too ... cost-cutting for my personal taste. All in all, I feel like there's quite a lot of late-rad-era-90s-design in the CGT, more so than early 2000s car or supercar design.

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Though the fact that you're that close to the (wooden!) shift knob is quite cool, and iirc the high center console is also a structural part of the car's tub.

It is surely a very interesting car design and an approach, that has never been seen before (it could've been a random supercar design), but I feel like the 918 is the car design which Porsche always had in mind for the CGT but never achieved back in the day.

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There's no hard cutoff after the passenger cell, as the combination of engine and exhaust is made to fit snug on the roof line, giving it the (again) racecar-like appearence with its two humps. And the retracteable rear spoiler doesn't just stick out, but actually has some aesthetics to it. Even the somewhat round headlight covers seem to have more of a design purpose as with this car Porsche premiered their four-point-LED-DRLs (whatever you call those).

In certain positions, the CGT can look really awkward in my opinion:

porsche_carrera_gt_us-spec_2.jpg
 
Seinfeld claimed in CICGC that the Carrera GT doesn't have any bad angles. I don't really agree with him.
 
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I'm going to have to chuck the AMG GT into the mix here. It looks for all the world like the front and back were designed by two people on different continents who didn't have each other's contact details.

Or put simply like a cut and shut with the front of an SLS grafted onto the back of a 911.
 
I can't say I've ever disliked the design of the Carrera GT, to me it looks like a Smart Roadster with two jet engines in the back.

I agree that AMG GT doesn't seem to have a consistent style, the front end of the original SLS was a much better match for the rear end styling but actually looks rather dated now.

I don't have a specific car in mind but the French don't make a single car in 2019 that I like the look of.
 
One of the modern car designs I like the least is the Toyobaru. I know, speccing it in a certain colour and certain wheels makes it look less jarring, and people who have driven them say they are excellent on the road or track. And I really respect Toyota and Subaru offering these small RWD coupes.

toyota-gt86-2016-exterior-tme-009-a-full_tcm-3031-763214.jpg


However, they look terrible. The design is wildly unbalanced and all the detailing is superbly overwrought. In a way, if all the lighting, the scoops and exterior details were taken out and re-done to fit the actual body shape the result could be more pleasing, but I also don't really like the dimensions that much, either.

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It's just so immensely try-hard, partially due to the design language Toyota's been implementing on most of its cars in the past decade or so. The interior isn't great, either.

Of course, I'd probably enjoy owning one, especially a really cheap one from the UK. But it's not one of those cars I'd look back to after parking it. The Subaru version is slightly less bad than the Toyota, but when these look worse than any Hyundai Coupe ever built, I think there's a deep problem.
 
I'm going to rile some of the Ferrari fanboiz here, but the Enzo is plain ugly and the 612 Scaglietti makes me feel sick.

I'd actually go as far as saying that were Enzo still alive at least 80% of their designs since the 355 and 456 would never have been signed off.

If I were spending the amount of money you need for a Ferrari I'd want a car that's "bite the knuckle" gorgeous and they just aren't.
 
R32 and R33 Skylines, R32 is too boxy and if you look at the sedan version it's clear that the 2 door is just a sedan with some middle missing. R33 is too transitional, like it can't make up it's mind whether its an R32 or an R34. Ofc R35 is straight ugly but I don't think it's a very unpopular opinion.
 
One of the modern car designs I like the least is the Toyobaru. I know, speccing it in a certain colour and certain wheels makes it look less jarring, and people who have driven them say they are excellent on the road or track. And I really respect Toyota and Subaru offering these small RWD coupes.

toyota-gt86-2016-exterior-tme-009-a-full_tcm-3031-763214.jpg


However, they look terrible. The design is wildly unbalanced and all the detailing is superbly overwrought. In a way, if all the lighting, the scoops and exterior details were taken out and re-done to fit the actual body shape the result could be more pleasing, but I also don't really like the dimensions that much, either.

toyota-gt-86-primo-3_1600x0w.jpg


toyota-gt86-2016-exterior-tme-011-a-full_tcm-25-763212.jpg


It's just so immensely try-hard, partially due to the design language Toyota's been implementing on most of its cars in the past decade or so. The interior isn't great, either.

Of course, I'd probably enjoy owning one, especially a really cheap one from the UK. But it's not one of those cars I'd look back to after parking it. The Subaru version is slightly less bad than the Toyota, but when these look worse than any Hyundai Coupe ever built, I think there's a deep problem.

Interesting thoughts. Important notice aswell: Facelift looks much more agressive than pre-facelift, imo. I prefer the prefacelifted BRZ out of all.
 
Can we go back to the simple clean lines of the 2010s?

That is such a big problem so many modern cars have. Wondering where and when it's gonna end. Is every car gonna look like an Aventador or the current Prius? Or will we have round soap shaped cars like in the 90s again... idk.
 
I'm going to rile some of the Ferrari fanboiz here, but the Enzo is plain ugly and the 612 Scaglietti makes me feel sick.

I'd actually go as far as saying that were Enzo still alive at least 80% of their designs since the 355 and 456 would never have been signed off.

If I were spending the amount of money you need for a Ferrari I'd want a car that's "bite the knuckle" gorgeous and they just aren't.

I'd definitely have to agree, the mid 2000s weren't a good time for Ferrari design-wise. I do think they got better starting with the 458 and FF, though.
 
That is such a big problem so many modern cars have. Wondering where and when it's gonna end. Is every car gonna look like an Aventador or the current Prius? Or will we have round soap shaped cars like in the 90s again... idk.
Likely it’s gonna go 90s style self driving pods of misery
 
You know, @Mitchi , I started reading your post and thinking "WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS ANYMORE!" but you won me over.
The 918 looks like a properly designed Carrera GT. If I could choose, I would still choose the analog brute with the ridiculous V10, but from a design perspective, the 918 is much more elegant. Probably my favorite modern supercar, prettier than LaFerrari and Mclaren P1.

I'm going to rile some of the Ferrari fanboiz here, but the Enzo is plain ugly and the 612 Scaglietti makes me feel sick.

I'd actually go as far as saying that were Enzo still alive at least 80% of their designs since the 355 and 456 would never have been signed off.

If I were spending the amount of money you need for a Ferrari I'd want a car that's "bite the knuckle" gorgeous and they just aren't.

The Enzo is HORRIBLE. I always feel like someone described an F50 over the phone to someone who is mildly deaf and then that person tried to make one at his garage, but he only had some Rocket Bunny rejected parts. Speaking of the F50, I feel like this a very underrated design, and even underrated car. I had the chance to see both the F40 and the F50 side by side and latter looked more well-built, more cohesive. In a sense, a bit like the Carrera GT and 918 comparison. Which one I think looks best? Please don't make me choose. The F40 is pure nostalgia, while the F50 has the V12 wail.
On a final note about Ferraris: the F355 was the last one that made me all fizzy in my nether region. The ones that came afterwards all seem to be trying to hard to look AGGRESSIVE, and LOOK AT ME. Edges, slashes, vents and creases. Ugh.
The F355 is elegant.
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Just about anything Audi's putting out today (other than the A7, upcoming RS6/7 and the R8 GT2). Can we go back to the simple clean lines of the 2010s?
Amen.


And now, my own unpopular opinion:
I don't understand the praise and love for the Jaguar E Type.
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It looks like it's missing a rear bumper, or rather, a clown shoe without a heel. The design looks unbalanced to my eyes. I don't know, I see it and I feel...nothing. "Right. It's an old British car."
The catfish mouth doesn't help.
 
Admittedly, they would've looked a lot better had Chrysler execs had not eavesdropped, screwed up, and emergency downsized their entire lineup

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And now, my own unpopular opinion:
I don't understand the praise and love for the Jaguar E Type.
View attachment 3556259
It looks like it's missing a rear bumper, or rather, a clown shoe without a heel. The design looks unbalanced to my eyes. I don't know, I see it and I feel...nothing. "Right. It's an old British car."
The catfish mouth doesn't help.

I know! It’s striking, especially IRL, but it’s not fantastic. The tires are also deeply, deeply inset as was the practice at the time, making it look like a boat on wheels. The Toyota 2000GT looks far better to my eyes, or the 507.
 
I agree about the E-type. It's so over rated. Park it next to a DB4 and it starts to look very ordinary.

I know it was a shit car anyway but I had cause recently to look up the Austin Maxi the other day. Damn I had forgotten how ugly and poorly proportioned those were.

Do not Google those while eating.
 
I don't understand the praise and love for the Jaguar E Type.
I’ve gotten in trouble with some people here for saying just that but I’m with you, the wheels are too skinny the body is too large, proportions are awkward. Though I will say they look better in person.

The last Ferrari I thought looked good was the Testarossa, rest look like “generic supercar #3”
 
The F355 looks like a Fiero. Good job I like Fieros. :p

:cautious::p
I like Fieros too. :LOL: They're the GM version of a Mazda MR2.
I know! It’s striking, especially IRL, but it’s not fantastic. The tires are also deeply, deeply inset as was the practice at the time, making it look like a boat on wheels. The Toyota 2000GT looks far better to my eyes, or the 507.
To be honest, I never saw an E-Type in person, also I am amazed I never noticed how much the Toyota 2000GT looks similar, but much better!
The BMW 507 is also nice, but to my eyes it is the British-est roadster Germany ever made.

I agree about the E-type. It's so over rated. Park it next to a DB4 and it starts to look very ordinary.
Good point.

I’ve gotten in trouble with some people here for saying just that but I’m with you, the wheels are too skinny the body is too large, proportions are awkward. Though I will say they look better in person.

The last Ferrari I thought looked good was the Testarossa, rest look like “generic supercar #3”
Yeah, things started getting weird right about then.
 
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