A blog devoted to RANTS ON AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN, car reviews, and - above all - fugly autos. whether looking for vehicular plagiarism or rides of extreme tastelessness, you've come to the right place.


Sunday, April 24, 2011

Bentley Gets Porsche Envy


Bentley's new Continental Supersports ISR (also notable for having an extremely long 32 character name) appears to be emulating the world's most bloated Porsche GT3.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Tirrito Ayrton R



The Tirrito Ayrton R looks like the unholy bastard child of a Pagani Zonda and a Lamborghini Reventon. Although it looks home made, it's surprisingly a boutique car maker that's apparently made multiple cars.

SixTen Sabre





Have a Mustang convertible and think it's not unique enough? Like British cars but have very little taste? The SixTen Sabre is the kit car for you! Using a Mustang base, they add a swoopy (and flimsy) body kit with Mini headlights that lend a Morgan air (not exactly the most attractive car in itself) and rotated Volvo taillights that look all kinds of wrong.

2012 Honda Civic

Again, not exactly a case of fugliness, but a case of moving backward, not forward. Or one might argue maintaining status quo. Still, one would think a major revision to a car would involve making it a bit more desirable.


The 2012 Honda Civic is only remarkable in how much it looks like the current model. The biggest change can be seen on the sedan, which abandons the old hockey stick taillights (aka: controvertial; fugly) in place of some more generic, previous generation Camry type taillights. While they aren't as strange, the also manage to make the car look older.


The revisions to the coupe look even less drastic - but somehow manage to make the look of the previous sleek little coupe a bit more chunky and ungainly.


Although occasional mild redos may be typical Honda fashion, this segment is suddenly en vogue now that gas prices have been and are still rising. Competition is only going to get more fierce, and it's competitors know this. Kia's recent Forte and Forte Koup are lookers, and Hyundai's Elantra is a bombshell. Ford's Fiesta and the Chevrolet Cruze are also substantially better looking and have upped the bar for interior refinement. Hyundai is also planning an Elantra coupe and hatchback/wagon (something Honda doesn't even offer). This might be the wrong time for a mild redo.

2013 Ford Taurus

Ford is facelifting the Taurus for 2013, and while not exactly fugly I definately don't think it's an improvement.

2010 Taurus

2013 Taurus

While the Taurus reboot in 2010 was sleek and attractive, the 2013 refresh tries to bring in a hint of Mustang with it's new headlights. However these are complimented by a larger overwrought grille and fascia. The grille between the headlights is marred by strips of chrome that look like they were added as an afterthought. Down below is more chrome lipping the central portion of the grillework, splitting it into three segments with separate design themes. I think overall a bit too much is going on. I've attached my take on a slight revision to clean up the front end a bit.

Original

Take #1 - No Chrome

Take #2 - Central Strip

2013 also brings a facelift and separate facial identity for the SHO. The grille between it's headlights is an expanse of black plastic mesh, whose simpler look looks better. However from certain angles this huge field of plastic looks a bit cheap.