Ugly cars

finbaar

I don't think you lot are wearing rose tinted glasses when looking back in time, I think you've had your eyeballs transplanted for some rose hued eyes. Anyway, each generation has some !!!!!! models, some forgettable models and some good looking models. And most of the mass market cars have always been completely forgettable. It's amazing how a Ford Cortina is considered a classic these days when it was just a three box mass market saloon. However we do like different things as can be seen from this forum. To me that 2011 Seat Leon is scary ugly but, as you can see from this forum, that isn't a universal opinion!

Ditzy_Mitzy

Cars are getting uglier, with BMW seeming to be the worst offender.  The latest model, with its bumper-to-bonnet vertical nostrils, looks like a pig.  

That_Sinking_Feeling

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?

I have a 1987 Sierra - it's a thing of beauty to my eyes, but some people aren't into the black plastic bumpers and boxier shape of the 1980s. 🤷‍♀️

I liked my 2012 Focus, but some people hate that model and I've seen it referred to as 'froggy' looking. 🤣 My 2017 Focus (essentially a facelift of the previous one) took a while to grow on me, looks-wise.

100% don't buy into the 'cars all look the same nowadays' narrative. They've always broadly followed the same fashions.

Goudy

That_Sinking_Feeling said:

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?

I have a 1987 Sierra - it's a thing of beauty to my eyes, but some people aren't into the black plastic bumpers and boxier shape of the 1980s. 🤷‍♀️

I liked my 2012 Focus, but some people hate that model and I've seen it referred to as 'froggy' looking. 🤣 My 2017 Focus (essentially a facelift of the previous one) took a while to grow on me, looks-wise.

100% don't buy into the 'cars all look the same nowadays' narrative. They've always broadly followed the same fashions.

In the same period as those cars above you could have bought a SAAB 99 or a Mk1 Golf or a Citroen GS or an original Renault 5.
All far more stylish and/or interesting cars.

Even the Datsun 120Y looked far more stylish and it had a habit of working!

Take the badges of these and could you really tell which is which?
Kia EV9 | Our generation-defining electric car | Kia UK
All-Electric Ford Explorer: Adventure Ready | Ford UK

WellKnownSid

Goudy said:

Take the badges of these and could you really tell which is which?
Kia EV9 | Our generation-defining electric car | Kia UK
All-Electric Ford Explorer: Adventure Ready | Ford UK

The cheap light bar and the goofy face (plus the fact it's a tiny wee thing) kind of gives the Explorer away.  The Explorer is barely larger than a countryman, but somehow manages to look even smaller on the road!

Cornucopia

I think the Renault 5 is a good approach - take something iconic from the past and give it a modern makeover with new styling and new tech...

 

Ditzy_Mitzy

Goudy said:

That_Sinking_Feeling said:

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?

I have a 1987 Sierra - it's a thing of beauty to my eyes, but some people aren't into the black plastic bumpers and boxier shape of the 1980s. 🤷‍♀️

I liked my 2012 Focus, but some people hate that model and I've seen it referred to as 'froggy' looking. 🤣 My 2017 Focus (essentially a facelift of the previous one) took a while to grow on me, looks-wise.

100% don't buy into the 'cars all look the same nowadays' narrative. They've always broadly followed the same fashions.

In the same period as those cars above you could have bought a SAAB 99 or a Mk1 Golf or a Citroen GS or an original Renault 5.
All far more stylish and/or interesting cars.

Even the Datsun 120Y looked far more stylish and it had a habit of working!

Take the badges of these and could you really tell which is which?
Kia EV9 | Our generation-defining electric car | Kia UK
All-Electric Ford Explorer: Adventure Ready | Ford UK

That Kia is really quite slow, for the amount of power it's got.  

Goudy

Cornucopia said:

I think the Renault 5 is a good approach - take something iconic from the past and give it a modern makeover with new styling and new tech...

 

Yes, it's a modern interpretation of a car designed by a person.
In this case Michel Boué, who unfortunately died before seeing what a huge success the original car was.

Ok, some of these people and design houses contributed to a few pigs and some of the cars themselves weren't very good as cars (not looking at Alfa Romeo in particular), but we seem to have lost their contribution to the everyday end of the market.

Today's main stream cars are all designed and styled by software these days.
Is there anything new (ie not a modern interpretation of an old car) on today's market under say £50k that looks stylish?

motorguy

Cornucopia said:

I think the Renault 5 is a good approach - take something iconic from the past and give it a modern makeover with new styling and new tech...

 

Renault have carried that off very well.  

The dark blue one reminds me of the Clio Williams, with its gold trims.

Cornucopia

Goudy said:

Cornucopia said:

I think the Renault 5 is a good approach - take something iconic from the past and give it a modern makeover with new styling and new tech...

 

Is there anything new (ie not a modern interpretation of an old car) on today's market under say £50k that looks stylish?

Tricky one - I quite like the current Vauxhall Mokka, and that was a brand new design.