Here’s the thing about being in style: it never lasts. It doesn’t matter if it’s cars or clothes, furniture or footwear, music or mustaches (I had trouble thinking of an m-thing): as soon as everyone agrees on what’s totally cool, that’s a pretty good indicator those cool things are rapidly approaching their expiration date. One minute you’re the guy with his finger on the pulse, the next you’re throwing your parachute pants in the trash and crying in your room, face buried in a beanbag chair.
REALLY did the Cordoba dirty, oof đŹ pic.twitter.com/81I1xbTBsM
— The Autopian (@the_autopian) February 1, 2023
Now, for cars, styling trends can be particularly perilous. These are major purchases after all, so manufacturers are keen to make sure the new models look super fresh and modernly-styled, and naturally we consumers want our new cars to look all futuristic and rad and whatnot. But looking new and looking good don’t always go hand-in-hand, and time can be very unkind to what was once cutting edge. For example, remember when rectangular headlights were an absolute must-have? Round headlights were for squares, ironically. Heck, even motorcycles were wearing rectangular headlights. Gross.
Today, car-styling trends are more diverse than ever. Some are tired but still innocuous (I can’t get mad at floating roofs), others were dubious when they first arrived and have only gotten dubiouser ever since. Plastic cladding, I’m looking at you. Literally, right now. I’m sorry, Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness, you look like a frickin’ sneaker. And what is the deal with giant, hideous grilles on trucks and SUVs? Sorry if you read that in a Seinfeld voice. They’re like parodies of alpha-toughness. Don’t get me started on phony cheek-intakes so large that they would look at home on an A-7 Corsair. Especially when they’re fake, I mean come on. I could go on.
And so, The Autopian Asks: what are three styling trends, past or present, that you would select erase from history? To the comments!
Top graphic image credits: Subaru Crosstrek/Subaru; 1959 Cadillac Coupe Deville by That Hartford Guy/Wikimedia Commons; Lexus LX600/Lexus; Cylon Warrior by Klapi/Wikimedia Commons
Erase
1. Fake vents
2. Crackle exhausts
3. BEVs
4. Four door CUV “coupĂ©s”
There’s been BEVs for well over a century now, what’s your issue with them?
I have one I’m sure of:
Erase split headlights, (the ones that have a line with the daytime running lights and then a separate one to all other functions because “style over function!”
Then, I would say simplify the lines, especially the front. A good example I feel, is the European RAV 4, with the grill split into three, and all sorts of crazy angles (and aggressive lights).
Then, there are cars that I think don’t look good, but nothing universal, so I won’t erase anything of those.
But, that said, there are two things which are more common, which I would choose from.
I would erase complex wheels, make them simpler, (and in some cases, smaller).
And cozyer interiors. Something that feels comfortable, but is simple, maybe not all leather, and some color accents, but not only wood like brown.
Kill:
* red turn signals, where the entire brake/tail light turns off and on and off.
* disappearing door handles.
* overly complicated, gaudy wheels.
Bring back:
* huge long hoods like the cartoon Wolf’s car with the pipes showing. Like Excalibur type kit cars.
* popup lights.
* WAGONS with CAR ride height. Not XC/cross whatever. Cars with a big square ass.
I’m going all out on the present because the past had troubles, but they don’t affect me.
1) I’m killing huge unnecessary grills and vents, then:
2) ending the trend of trying to spruce up bland shapes with excessive graphics and surfacing, I’m sick of cars whose “body lines” are dented into the doors, sliced into the bumpers and penciled on with chrome strips, and finally:
3) allowing each manufacturer ONE angry face in production at any given time. Even if SOME cars look decent angry, nobody’s family crossover needs to look like it wants to beat me up in the Qdoba parking lot. The car’s facial expression will be determined by a panel consisting of the leading behavioral scientists (5 8-year-olds with iPads who vote by tapping an emoji they believe resembles the car. If it’s angry, the car’s design is scrapped).
Only three?
Well, my first instincts have been well trodden in the comments. This pleases me; I know I’m in the right place. I offer these instead.
Grayscaleification: Colors other than black, white, and silver exist. Use them.
Four door coupes: Yes, I’m aware coupĂ© does not mean “two door”, but they look best as two doors.
Daytime running lights that are also the turn signal: Always looks like one of the headlights is out. Terrible look.
Ditto on 4-door coupes, they’re invariably uglier than both the 2-door coupe and 4-door sedan versions.
FIAT’s got you covered on #1:
https://youtu.be/uWLX94pzYVk
1. Modern BMW front clips. I’m going to drive my ’18 440iGC until the wheels fall off or until 3-4 years after the vomiting-out-the-nostrils style is retired. If I don’t make it til the latter I need a new favorite fun car.
2. Modern Lexus front clips. Not that I ever intend to ditch the old’ 04 GX470 that’s currently on indefinite loan to my college-age kid (when she’s old enough for her own car this becomes my toy), but even people who just want a driving appliance with leather seats don’t deserve to be subjected to these monstrous noses.
3. Bubble-Gen F150s (and for one year in ’98, the F250 too). Sorry to the stans on staff here, but the 1993+ Rangers wear this style considerably better and even those look worse than the pre-1992 models (this coming from a guy who has owned an 88, a 93, a 94, and currently dailys a second 94 [Rangers, that is]).
Past: the vinyl top. An excremental styling exercise to make mediocre coupes and sedans look like mediocre convertibles and funeral cars. Also the genesis of the little-known My First Rust children’s toy.
Present: tie between (1) making windows into narrow slits so that traveling in a modern car is akin to either riding in an armored personnel carrier or driving a pagoda, or (2) putting ridiculously large diameter wheels and corresponding rubber band sidewall tires on non-performance vehicles. Why does a typical family car or crossover need 19- or 20-inch wheels with 40-series tires? I mean, who doesn’t appreciate the extra noise, reduced fuel economy, and wheel damage from running over an acorn, plus the four-figure cost for replacing tires?
Future-ish: the “modernization” of the driver’s user interface to eventually move all controls to screen- or voice-based locations so we can’t use our God-given opposable thumbs or our muscle memory. Apparently the sense of touch is becoming “old school” and should be avoided at all cost. I’m looking, for example, at the bell-end designer at Tesla who decided that a screen is the best way to change the direction of freaking cabin air vents, or the “engineers” at other manufacturers who think that saying out loud “Car, please turn the heat up by two degrees” is better than silently turning a knob in a fraction of the time.
* landau roof. What were they thinking?
* big rounded bulbous everything with fins
* touch screens
Suggestion: follow-up story about design trends you wish would come back.
Nonfunctional “spoilers” above rear windows on SUV/crossover hatchback… hatches. All they do is harbor dirt, dust, leaves, and probably mice if you’re really unlucky. Like they actively make it worse to wash a car.
The most egregious example I’ve come across is my partner’s parents’ Nissan Murano, because not only does the above suck, it also jacks up the vortices in the rear just so that dust just… settles on the rear window. The entire rest of the car can be basically spotless, but that back window is FILTHY. ALWAYS.
they are at least functional, they help to maintain a clean aerodynamic separation edge on the back of the car, making a “kammtail” from the air, thus making it more aerodynamic (and spattering dust all over the back of the car).
Deleted because i just wanted to type some bullshit
I think your bullshit was “I wish cars would stop blinding me for really dumb and avoidable reasons” which is a good opinion if I’m remembering the right comment.
Wow, huge slam on beanbag chairs, out of nowhere!
But as to the question, I imagine my answers are similar to many here. I’m assuming that we’re talking about original manufacturer styling, rather than idiotic stuff that idiots do in their garage:
The bumper taillights are functional. If the hatch/tailgate is up, you’ll still be able to see turn signals.
1) Black plastic cladding on ALL models. I’d say that Subaru is the most guilty in this regard, but others weren’t free from this problem. I get that it looks “tough”, but no cladding should still remain an option for those that don’t want their car to be spoiled (seriously, what is up with the latest WRX with the trim?).
2) Visibility ruining hoodlines. Pedestrians aren’t going to get taller, so vehicles need lower hoodlines to allow drivers to see them easier. If a small car is almost able to hide from the drivers view, there’s a problem.
3) Lighting as a afterthought – I didn’t think that driver visibility would be as distant a concept as it is now, but it’s incredibly bad design to put the brake lights or turn signals in the rear bumper. Sure, back in the 60s/70s it was common, but combined with (2) above the trend is making people more blind to others.
Can we talk about interior design styling trends?
This is the best comment for practical use design. Afterall, a car has a utility purpose at its core and the lack of physical controls is a lack of utility.
1) Stupid ass, oversized, compensating for something, pavement princess, bro-dozer, pickup trucks!
2) Fake air vents (Civic SI and Subaru)
3) Big ugly ass grills! (BMW and Genesis)
My work trucks (94 Ranger, 95 K2500) are really getting old and I’d love to replace both with something more modern, but the stupid bed height and size (who in the fuck that actually uses a truck to do truck things can tolerate a 5.5′ bed, and why should I need a tailgate step to get to my tools? ÂĄ?) keep me loyal to gas guzzlers that were first sold before I was old enough to drive them.
I was original hater of extended cab trucks, because I thought they were goofy looking. I’m now the owner of a crew cab, 5.5′ bed full size truck. Guess what – it does everything that my 8′ bed did for me. I can carry the precious 4×8 sheet of plywood. I can carry boards up to 12′ long. I can carry yard debris or nasty engine parts. I can also carry 4 other people with me to the river when I tow my boat. I can carry a load of people to go tailgating before a sporting event. I also have dry storage inside the cab.
Genesis grilles are awesome. Fite me
On the GVs agree. On the sedans, too big.
Fake exhaust tips, and I’m going to say the closer your effort to make it look like an exhaust, the worse it is, though those silly chrome trapezoids with black plastic infills are still downright terrible.
Massive black cladding over wheel wells, Subaru is right in my crosshairs for this. The concept is fine if it is a dedicated trail vehicle or an aftermarket accessory, but as a base design? Never.
Pick ups with front ends that are taller than the ass end of a wagon. Those things are criminally dangerous. Y’all took away our pop up headlights over pedestrian safety, but you’ll let angry middle aged men drive a 400 horsepower brick wall around town?
My top choice is vestigial rear three quarter windows on CUVs which compromises visibility and are only there to fool people into believing they did not purchase an oversized lifted hatchback.
# 2 is lowered family sedans with less headroom which was apparently a decision by automakers to make them seem more “sporty” since families have largely abandoned them for half ton pickup trucks. All this does is get even more people into CUV’s because sedans have become more difficult to climb in and out of. Maybe the Toyota Crown will reverse this trend if it is sucessful.
# 3 is waning fortunately but upswept styling during the 2010s on vehicles on nearly everything, with the worst offenders including the Ford Escape and Chevy Malibu. The upswept body sculpting tended to make vehciles appear “nose down” as if their owners replaced the rear springs on an old car while leaving the front ones broken.
<Puts on my curmudgeon suspenders>
Well, I think Iâve made my thoughts on this pretty clear, but once more for the cheap seats:
Black wheels (diamond turned are fine though – they have contrast)
Hidden rear door handles (youâre not fooling anyone)
Too many feature lines (that add nothing and fuck up the surfacing).
Engineer: Look, if you didn’t want a crease there, you wouldn’t have put a line there on the sketch.
Designer: That was hatching!
Dashes off a barely legible doodle full of nonsensical lines and 30â wheels with no tyres.
Designer: Build this!
Returns to looking at watches online
Never thought I’d witness someone defending diamond cut alloys. It’s a trend I really wish would just put itself to bed already. We’re well beyond the need to rely on that to make wheels look interesting.
I think there should be an exception for certain colors of car, i.e, a yellow car NEEDS black wheels.
Erase? As in never happened?
This is probably heresy, but anything involving hexavalent chromium. Beautiful, but oh so toxic.
I elect that we bring back brass and nickel trim. much classier.
Lets keep it simple and to OEMs in the current market-
-The front is ALL GRILL
-tacked on screens, not integrated, pop-up, or anything
-Stripper model? Oh no, thats a limited edition and costs more than one with all those options
Unintegrated screens on the dash/instrument panel.
Angry Jeeps.
Bangle Butt.
I’m not going to rail against anything that’s purely an aesthetic choice. There are plenty of design details out there that are not to my tastes, but other people may like them, and it doesn’t hurt me at all for them to be out there in the world even if they wouldn’t be my choice. So Predator grilles, sedans that look like coupes, and nonfunctional spoilers are all fine in my book.
Instead, I’m going to go after things that could hurt me. The design details I’d banish are chonky A-pillars and needlessly high beltlines that impede visibility. In those cases, the design choices are making cars more dangerous by increasing blindspots*.
*Yeah, yeah, I know those design choices make cars safer in a collision, but I’d rather prevent crashes in the first place.
High belt lines and poor visibility donât just make it miserable to see whatâs around you like youâve got gun-slit windows – but a danger on the road.
I do miss my VW Golf.
Floating roof pillars, fake plastic windows, gigantic wheels with zero sidewall tires
I think the comments have made clear everyone’s view on giant grills, and I can only agree.
Likewise crossovers, but particularly the new trend of literally dropping all models from the market except crossovers.
And fake grills/vents. I guess it’s been happening so long it’s barely definable as a trend, but with aero making practical vents less relevant, or certainly seems to be more common now.