You may have noticed the trend on Autocar recently of a glut of new cars about which only one thing is certain: they will polarise opinion. And that’s exactly what their makers intend.
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, there’s only one thing worse than being talked about, and that’s not being talked about, and convention-challenging machines such as the Citroën Aircross and Seat 20V20 provide compelling evidence that manufacturers appreciate the perils of occupying the anonymous middle ground.
Granted, both the Aircross and 20V20 are concepts, but they reflect their makers’ desires to be bold and inventive with their future production models.
And although the looks of the Toyota Mirai fuel cell car aren’t to everyone’s taste, the Japanese manufacturer is daring to be different. It’s a significant move for acompany that has churned out some particularly insipid designs in the past.
Rather than trying to please everyone, car makers are striking out in bold, eye-catching but potentially divisive directions, which can only be good news for the car buyer.
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I dislike all of these
Bangle bmw's
Manufacturers get burned on polarising cars
Renault with the big bummed Megane (I liked it). Renault with the Vel Satis (I hated it).
Current Honda Civic - I more than hate it, and think it's one of the worst pieces of car design I've seen in in the last 10 years, despite the fact I generally like Hondas.
These polarising cars sold only to the people who loved them, then sales fell off a cliff, causing the manufacturer no end of financial grief.
My tastes are generally conservative, and I do like the Seat above. So I could be accused of being boring clearly. Each to their own (apart from Civic owners, who need to ask why they bought a car designed using only a set of triangle templates, and designers who just couldn't resist going back time and time again to add another piece of crap design to it before signing it off).
A little digression, but I thought back to Bangle BMWs due to this article. How about a Blog Autocar? On what people think now it's passed into history?
I think the flame 5 series looks very dated now. My wife has a 2010 Z4 now, and I love the styling. The 3 series at the time was bland beyond belief. The original 6 series was very ungainly. Can't remember if there are any others that were Bangled. Would like to know how others judge that period looking back now.