Rookie
What of the Euro cars do you rekon is the Best design, what is the worst?
It seems to be that the high end of European Carmakers are the only ones that can design such as Porsche(the best). No offence to the maker or enthusiusts lower end makers just cant design, from my understanding... is this the case???
Last edited by brum; 08-07-2004 at 12:59 AM.
There are only two possible explanations: either no one told me, or no one knows.
UCP'S Guardian Devil
Asthetic design you mean? Well, to be honest, I've never been crazy about the looks of French cars. The best, Ferrari and Lamborghini, although, I quite like Alfa Romeos too.Originally Posted by brum
Off the bat, lets remember that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" since I guess this thread is going to talk about something as subjective as looks.
Taz.
"NEVER ALLOW SOMEONE TO BE YOUR PRIORITY, WHILE ALLOWING YOURSELF TO BE THEIR OPTION"
Rookie
Off the bat, lets remember that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" since I guess this thread is going to talk about something as subjective as looks.
Taz.[/QUOTE]
Did you just kill this thread?
There are only two possible explanations: either no one told me, or no one knows.
Super Moderator
What aspect of 'design' DO you want it to cover ?
PSA have and continue to have one of the best diesel engines in the world.
Italian engine and exhausts have one of the sweetest sounds.
Mini had one of the best suspension for it's size and Citroen had/has one of the best for comfort and performance over variable surfaces ( you need to see a 30 year old Citroen lower itself to the road on a motroway to appreciate what they did then)
SO many hatches for their handling, for the mix of performance and handling and for some stunning looks. ( The last gets very subjective )
Alfa for aggresive look.
French for "innovative' look which many cars later copy and then it becoms accepted. Case in point - look at all the new rears and look at the Megane. The new cars are copying ( but toned down ) may of the lines and curves. Look at the fronts and the 'slash' lights
The point is that so often all that's compared are the top end cars that are exported worldwide and the lemons whic are talked about worldwide. All the millions of cars sold in-between get forgotten.
"A woman without curves is like a road without bends, you might get to your destination quicker but the ride is boring as hell'
Furniture
so your saying that TVR which most of there cars are alot CHEAPER than porsches, havent got a good design ??
Lotus elise is cheaper than porsche
And i would much rather have a Aston Martin or TVR in my garage than a porsche anyday
Cedric - I sound like a chipmunk on there. Some friends of mine were like, "were you going through puberty?" I was like, no I was already 20, I just sound like a girl.
Rookie
I guess these would still be name that are still relatively expensive, i mean i was using porsche as an extreme. I guess im talking about the cars that are in the price range of an Astra or Focus? The Italian or Geman equivalent, i guess i should have said this in the opening post.so your saying that TVR which most of there cars are alot CHEAPER than porsches, havent got a good design ??
Lotus elise is cheaper than porsche
And i would much rather have a Aston Martin or TVR in my garage than a porsche anyday
There are only two possible explanations: either no one told me, or no one knows.
For Great Justice.
Each European Car brand has their own Idiosyncrasies When it comes to design.
The French have always been on the cutting edge of Car fashion (Witness their amazing leap from 80's "Drawn using a set square" to the 90's smooth liquid appearance.
The Italians have always been about Wow Factor, which instantly dates their designs, once you've seen it for a few years, you get sick of it and go " Whats next?". Not to diminish their appeal, but they do date like milk.....
The Germans are always very carefully controlled. Or were. BMW has gone off on a hideous tangent, Mercedes Benz is being Egotistical and VW has played it safe one too many times. Porsche is indulging in crass and Audi seems focused to try and create a new image for itself.
The English have always liked their traditional, however recent designs would suggest they are in fact the style leaders of Today. From the Industrial Chic look of the Ariel Atom to the blocky-but-still-cool look of the Land Rover Range, they seem to have an excellent eye for style. Though i am not fond of the New Elise and all the fake vents, and the utter vulgarness of the new Phantom, but we can forgive the Phantom, those blasted Germans got hold of the design........
The spanish seem to like the idea of passion in design, more so than the Italians now, simply because they can afford to make there cars swoopy because of their parent company, although that looks shaky now.
Intertwine this with random specialist car manufacturers and their own spin on what should make a sportscar and you have the style of Europe.
My personal favourite design at the moment is the New Fiat Multipla, simply because, as much as i defended the old one, it was weird looking. Now it looks conventional enough, dare i say good looking, to finally compete with the other Mini-MPV's on a serious level, not just the whole " Oh dear, did it melt" comment. My Dad said the previous model looked like a dolphin from the front with the stepped lip from the bonnet to the windscreen!
From Germany: The Audi A8. Staying true to Audis values of the strictest good taste, although the W12 seems odd.
From England: The Range Rover. The perfect blend of City/Country style, would look cool coated in mud as it would Blinged up on the High Street.
From France: The Peugeot 1007. Daft name, but the ingenious design of the doors, coupled with a relatively cheap asking price, and an eye for style, gets my vote. You can even change the colour of the interior if you see fit!
From Spain: the new Toledo. It's a Spanish Vel Satis, so who said the idea wouldn't catch on.......
<cough> www.charginmahlazer.tumblr.com </cough>
Super Moderator
OK, but waht do you mean by design ?
THe Citroen Pluriel is really nice int he flesh. but WHY would I want a car I can take the roof off in parts. I think they got carried away with 2CV history
Opel/Vauxhall's recent refresh ( though overly reminiscent of the complete Renault range of 2 years ago ) is nice to behold.
Renault IMHO are losing it a little bit wit hthe front end. The problem they have is that having 'innovated' and then evolved it to the nature limit they're kind of taming it down and losing the nice 'edge'. Witness the current Espace versus the previous versionDon't like the loss of the deep slash grilles across the whole range.
Fiat are coming in to a ressurgence in design and all the new models are nice though again all Euroe-boxes are evolving the same similar shapes !!
Rover have lost the plot and rebadging Indian cars as "cityrovers" and sticking plastic on mundane mid-sizes to make them look "off-roaderish" is just a waste. Suspect they've no money to invest in new designs
VW - blah
Seat - clearly being allowed to take aesthetics to the limit in the group.
SOme stunnign looking cars, but I think the new aggressive front will age very quickly.
BMW - no direction really - a few odd curves don't make it.
Mercedes the C200 is a nice looker mid-size, but for most I personanly don't like the sloping grille and the lights treatment - trying to hang on to too much of the old whilst trying to match the new.
Then there's Saab, Volvo producing cars which you cannot doubt the stable but I personaly don't find them appealing.
THEN you have all the dozens of small volume manufacturers producing exceptionally nice looking cars in all their individual ways for the individual - Marcos, TVR, Lotus, Westfield, Caterham, Ginettta,
"A woman without curves is like a road without bends, you might get to your destination quicker but the ride is boring as hell'
Fanatic
in the midlle classed car section:
-the vw golf. I think its designed to carefully, they needed to make it a bit more flashy,and with more modern looks
-the peugeot 307.A nice family car. the looks were nice when it first came out, but as the time goes by, it starts to look outdated and not special anymore.
-the citroen C4.Only seen on pics, but it looks nice on the photos, just wait and see.
-the audi a3. Looks ok,maybe they choose for safe.i think it kinda looks like the last one.the last one looked nice,and this one too.
the alfa romeo 147.it looks ok, but is a bit outdated.
the new ford focus.have only seen it on vague pictures,and so i cant say much about it.
the seat toledo. the new one looks cool, maybe should be a bit more inventive of their own , and dont steal as much from the velsatis.
i think that got most middlle classed cars covered.
sjoerd reverda
Member
You forgot the Mini Cooper which i think is second only to the Alfa in looks
My Photography robneill.deviantart.com
Super Moderator
What, the BMW MINI Copper ? barf - a poor copy with major cost problems.
Cute but so's a puppy till it starts hammering your leg
"A woman without curves is like a road without bends, you might get to your destination quicker but the ride is boring as hell'
Fanatic
i think the minis nice ,but much to much money for that car.it looks like an old mini, but has grown alot and shouldnt be called a MINI anymore.What, the BMW MINI Copper ? barf - a poor copy with major cost problems.
Cute but so's a puppy till it starts hammering your leg
ow, and i forgot the bmw 1 series. it is a big middlleclassed car. it is gonna sell as f**k , even though it sux, just because it has the bmw badge on the front.the looks of it?i dont like it.
Furniture
id rather have an alfa 147 GTA t-spark any day over those two, even it i tmight cost a bit moer
Cedric - I sound like a chipmunk on there. Some friends of mine were like, "were you going through puberty?" I was like, no I was already 20, I just sound like a girl.
'64
Alfa GTA:id rather have an alfa 147 GTA t-spark any day over those two, even it i tmight cost a bit moer
V6, lots of beans, bloody hell this is fast! Look out! A corner! *turns wheel* Nothing's happening! Kerb> Lamp post> huge insurance bill.
MINI or BMW:
Look! A corner! Wheeeeee! That was fun. Lets do it again!
Last edited by Coventrysucks; 08-07-2004 at 03:59 PM.
Thanks for all the fish
Rookie
What happened to the turning of the wheel with the "MINI or BMW" example?Alfa GTA:
V6, lots of beans, bloody hell this is fast! Look out! A corner! *turns wheel* Nothing's happening! Kerb> Lamp post> huge insurance bill.
MINI or BMW:
Look! A corner! Wheeeeee! That was fun. Lets do it again!
Why are you saying the is such a prob with the alfa?
There are only two possible explanations: either no one told me, or no one knows.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote