Saturday, July 14, 2007
An announcement? On my day off?
The 2008s are slowly trickling onto the market, so I've decided that I need to start a Your Car is Ugly Buyer's Guide! How else will you know if the car you're looking at is ugly or not? I'm going to do it brand by brand, starting with North American models, and if people are actually reading this thing by the time I look at them all (and let's face it, even if they're not) some foreign brands and models too. Stay tuned for Acura tomorrow, to kick this shebang off.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Well, at least they tried - Kia Amanti
In about the mid-90s, Korea's biggest car manufacturer - Hyundai and their Kia subsidiary - decided that, dammit, they weren't going to be regarded as cars you buy when you're lacking in both standards and dollars. They weren't going to go outside of the country for all of their design and engineering expertise, they'd go in house and learn to make great cars. And they did. Sure, it was only with the relatively recent introduction of the newest Hyundai Sonata that a Korean car could really be considered a world class contender, but the intervening years had leaps and bounds over previous products much larger than had ever happened before.
With this plan, they also decided that they'd take their styling in house. Most of the time before they'd commission foreign talent to do most of that, but now, since they were world class now, they'd better learn how to design cars all by themselves.
It actually worked at first. The Hyundai Tiburon was, and is, a very good looking car, even when they put silly round headlights on it for no apparent reason. The first Accent looked something you'd actually want to own and drive. It wasn't, really, but it did look the part. Then, recently, they figured it out again. The new Sonata is one of the better looking family sedans on the market, though I suppose nobody would accuse it of being adventurous. The new Accent again looks like something you'd actually want to own, and it's not entirely bad to drive either. But between then and now, there was a glorious moment where nobody actually had the slightest clue what they were doing. The styling was bizarre, pretentious, and hilarious. There were big chrome grilles, weird accent lines all over the place, and cues that suggested that the designer had never seen another car before in his life. And, on the same cars, there were a multitude of cues so flagrantly ripped off of other models that you wondered just what was going on in the studios over in Korea.
It's hard to pick exactly which of these miscues is the best candidate. I wouldn't even count out them appearing here in the future. The previous generation Sonata is by no means good looking, but I almost have to give it credit for being in the most common market segment and yet managing to be completely unique and kind of off putting, no matter how ubiquitous it might be (the infamous '96 Ford Taurus also pulls this trick, and will also show up here eventually). The first Santa Fe had a collection of curves so misguided that it always looked damaged. But if I'm going to give an introduction to Hyundai/Kia's weirdest styling, I have to pick the most representative sample, the model that perfectly sums up everything wrong with their design philosophy at that point.
Hellooooo Kia Amanti.
Parts of this look like a Mercedes E-Class. Well, what one might imagine an E-Class to look like if it were described over the phone. Four round lights? Check. Big Chrome grille? Check. Not a great execution of the concept, but it does get the jist of it. Then you go past the grille and notice the strange formal roof line, and the soft rear end, which doesn't mesh with the more upright look of the rest of the car. With its tall roof and big vertical grille, they're trying to make it big and tough, but since it's not that long, it actually makes the car look significantly smaller.
They had clearly intended to make a car that had class and style, since it's the most expensive Kia. Instead, it looks like an adorable elementary school art project which got way out of hand.
And, because of that, how can you hate it? Sure, it's terrible, but honestly, you can see the enthusiasm in it. They're trying to make themselves a car that looks classy and luxurious because they believe they've made the best car ever to wear a Kia badge. They believe in themselves, and their abilities to such an extent that you almost feel as though you're crushing their dreams in criticizing it. It's crap, but don't tell the designers, it'd be like telling a six year old that Santa isn't real.
I suppose I made up for missing last week by making an extra long post.
With this plan, they also decided that they'd take their styling in house. Most of the time before they'd commission foreign talent to do most of that, but now, since they were world class now, they'd better learn how to design cars all by themselves.
It actually worked at first. The Hyundai Tiburon was, and is, a very good looking car, even when they put silly round headlights on it for no apparent reason. The first Accent looked something you'd actually want to own and drive. It wasn't, really, but it did look the part. Then, recently, they figured it out again. The new Sonata is one of the better looking family sedans on the market, though I suppose nobody would accuse it of being adventurous. The new Accent again looks like something you'd actually want to own, and it's not entirely bad to drive either. But between then and now, there was a glorious moment where nobody actually had the slightest clue what they were doing. The styling was bizarre, pretentious, and hilarious. There were big chrome grilles, weird accent lines all over the place, and cues that suggested that the designer had never seen another car before in his life. And, on the same cars, there were a multitude of cues so flagrantly ripped off of other models that you wondered just what was going on in the studios over in Korea.
It's hard to pick exactly which of these miscues is the best candidate. I wouldn't even count out them appearing here in the future. The previous generation Sonata is by no means good looking, but I almost have to give it credit for being in the most common market segment and yet managing to be completely unique and kind of off putting, no matter how ubiquitous it might be (the infamous '96 Ford Taurus also pulls this trick, and will also show up here eventually). The first Santa Fe had a collection of curves so misguided that it always looked damaged. But if I'm going to give an introduction to Hyundai/Kia's weirdest styling, I have to pick the most representative sample, the model that perfectly sums up everything wrong with their design philosophy at that point.
Hellooooo Kia Amanti.
Parts of this look like a Mercedes E-Class. Well, what one might imagine an E-Class to look like if it were described over the phone. Four round lights? Check. Big Chrome grille? Check. Not a great execution of the concept, but it does get the jist of it. Then you go past the grille and notice the strange formal roof line, and the soft rear end, which doesn't mesh with the more upright look of the rest of the car. With its tall roof and big vertical grille, they're trying to make it big and tough, but since it's not that long, it actually makes the car look significantly smaller.
They had clearly intended to make a car that had class and style, since it's the most expensive Kia. Instead, it looks like an adorable elementary school art project which got way out of hand.
And, because of that, how can you hate it? Sure, it's terrible, but honestly, you can see the enthusiasm in it. They're trying to make themselves a car that looks classy and luxurious because they believe they've made the best car ever to wear a Kia badge. They believe in themselves, and their abilities to such an extent that you almost feel as though you're crushing their dreams in criticizing it. It's crap, but don't tell the designers, it'd be like telling a six year old that Santa isn't real.
I suppose I made up for missing last week by making an extra long post.
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