[vineshpikale]

Originally Posted by aim120

When exactly did Hyundai Santro fit into the good looking cars list.
Agree on all other cars.

Have Agree with Aim120. The Santro was a horrible looking car (personal opinion obviously). When they debuted the santro, matiz and indica - the indica was the looker followed by the matiz and the santro being quite the ugly duckling.

The product however was superior, so was the service and the results are for all to see.

[Octane_Power]

Like most others even I agree, previous generation cars were definitely more good-looking than the current gens.

But, the theory doesn't apply to all cars. There are also cases where newer models are more beautiful than their predecessors, but very very few.

I loved how the first gen Sumo looked; a proper butch angry looking SUV. There are many other previous models which I like, but the one closest to my heart and the one which hasn't got any replacement till date is the 1st gen Skoda Octavia.

I mean, just look at it, clean no-non sense design, look at it from any angle its just beautiful, be it the front, side profile, rear. Looks solid like a tank, and those vRS alloys, remain the best alloys till date for me. Kudos to those who have still maintained it well and making our roads more pleasurable with such eye candies

Img Source: T-BHP Official Octavia review.

-Bhargav

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Agree with the general sentiment on the thread, the present generation of cars really can't hold a candle to the design elegance of the earlier generation.

However, I am also surprised at the extreme negativity surrounding the Xcent. Cut-throat phrases thrown like 'Xcent was the maximum I could take'. For once- I felt hyundai got the better of the sub-4m constraints compared to the competition- with cleaner lines. I am not a fan of the fluidic design philosophy and pretty much liked the absence of excessive design elements here-



Agreed it is no lancer/ linea, but then, atleast IMHO- it's no DZire/ Vibe/ Quanto either.




Sent from my iPhone using Team-BHP

[Sheel]

Just two cars which spring to my mind

Octavia vRS

Ford Mondeo

These can give a run to any car, today, as far as looks go. And helps, that they were fast and a very good driver's car as well.

The Pajero and the new Pajero Sport, well...we all know the answer. What was wrong in plonking the new engine in the Pajero SFX?

In all honesty, I like the looks of the Storme, not really prefer it over the Safari, but do like it.

[vivekz]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Just two cars which spring to my mind

Octavia vRS

Ford Mondeo

.

Thanks for reminding of Mondeo.

I used to be a teenager when that car was launched and boy, I was sold. I dreamt of owning one in my life. Never thought it would die so early.

Those black interiors and taut lines, it can still make you juices flow for sure

[devil_klm]

My opinion is that those new Japanese and European designs are still holding good. Those who were done completely in India/modified in india are not up to the mark in terms of designs. Example Amaze, Dezire etc..
Indian designed cars are good when it comes to cost of ownership and maintenance.

[isiv]

Not to forget the first generation Ford Endeavour and the current facelifted one. I loved the 1st gen and simply hate the present one with the 'trendy' peeled back headlights.

My personal favourite for timeless designs is the 1994 BMW 7 series of Tomorrow Never Dies and The Transporter fame. Wikipedia entry:

735i

[GTO]

The examples shared so far have been good -> bad, or bad -> good.

Here's a unique one. How did Mahindra possibly go from:

Bad....


....to worse?

[vinya_jag]

I love the old-Zen for its shape, and also love to drive the car, sitting low, elbow on the window sill, and two fingers on the steering wheel.

But, how many of us would still buy it? (I would)
The norms have changed. The doors cannot be so thin anymore. The car with such low floor would not ride over any humps in Bangalore. My mom would not want to sit in the back seat. I cannot fit more than one suitcase in the boot.
I am 4 inches taller than my Uncle who bought the Zen. The fresh grad out of college in my office is 4 in taller than me, and a clean 20 Kilos heavier.
Last week, my colleague from US was in my car (Alto), and had his knees upto his chin.

The Zen, the old Alto were all never made for the Europeans. They were built for Japanese people, following Japanese standards. And it sold well in India for a while.

Now, Suzuki sells more cars in the US and Europe than ever before. And they sell in India as well. So, a single platform for all the markets is like a boon for the company.

Now, how many engine options do you want to fit into one car? Swift houses a 1.2, a 1.6 and a Fiat diesel. And it also comes in 2 door, 4 door styles. All of it in the same car? Then you ought to have some extra spare space in the engine bay, and also make some space for the Indian luggage.

And now considering the side impact beams, pedestrian safety, tall European passengers, more rear leg room for my mom, Bangalore road humps etc, the Swift is an absolute example of accommodating everything in one car.

And when it came to the super Mini's the Zen had to grow taller to make that extra space, and the result was the Estilo. Even the Minicooper has the country-man as the most locallized Indian car.

This was the Maruti story. Now the Europeans and the Americans. All these guys are of the 1 platform philosophy, trying to make the exact same thing. 1 hatch back, 1 sub 4 meter (Specially done for India), 1 Sedan and then load some gills and a C-segment car is also ready.

The sad part is that the consumer never gets what he wants. The one car fit all is such a boring theme.

In India, we also don't have these small scale manufacturers who would do just 15 cars a month Kind.
I feel, there is potentially a very huge market if someone wants to dare.
A convertible, a roadster, an open top Jeep, a supermini, a re-moded old Maruti 800, a two door hatch, all built to suit Indian tastes, by Indian companies.
Is this not possible? Are there no profit margins?

Or, are we not enthusiastic enough?

[ad3952n]

Originally Posted by GTO

The examples shared so far have been good -> bad, or bad -> good.

....to worse?

Totally agree with you. I never liked Quanto because it was a sliced version of Xylo and appeared cramped up. Mahindra's forte has been 4x4 vehicles and the SUV segment but Quanto was a result of changing times and competition with other existing brands. Just for the sake of having a so called "new model" Mahindra simply launched it. Where was their R&D team? Infact, rather than rolling out a Quanto, they could have re-worked over the front profile of Xylo.

If I am not wrong GTO then except for Scorpio, Bolero and XUV-500 none of the designs by Mahindra flourished in the private owner's mind as all of them ultimately became cabs.

On a lighter note, Was Quanto competing with Premier Rio by any chance?

Originally Posted by GTO

Wondering how a beautiful looking car like this, Became quirky like this:

GTO, Skoda Octavia's design is actually a timeless one no matter how bad their image is and once I also commented that irrespective of the brand's image, a well designed Octavia is still a head-tuner but don't you think that Laura is a fairly well designed car? I find the 2nd generation Laura to be far aggressive than the 1st generation. To my eyes the 2nd generation Superb looked ill-designed but the 1st generation Skoda Superb was really elegant in my opinion.

Thanks.

[nggk5mr]

Why was this ever taken out? Thank god they didn't screw up this beauty by doing a facelift. Quietly retired.



IMO, Baleno, Lancer & 3rd Gen Honda City were great looking cars in the past decade.

As people mentioned, current mindset is to make the car look rich, shinning by adding 'Chrome, crease, cuts'. The 3Cs which makes current cars ugly.

Thanks.

[9thsphinx]

Changing requirements of road safety regulations, aerodynamics and a general sense of design upgrade is what has brought this change. Take it this way - what you're seeing these days is what the junta wants!

Look at the cars of the future, for example. See how weird they get? Sharp, edgy, stark and in your face?!

As much as we would want the old and gold designs back, be prepared for the worst is yet to come!

[rajshenoy]

I feel we are being unfair to the sub 4m sedan segment. Its actually a whole new segment got created specifically for India because of 1. Tax Slab 2. I want a car with a boot

So they are currently just begining to Evolve and require more time before we see things like EcoSport

[shyam163]

Simple Lines. In 2003 there was the Opel Vectra.

[Ferrariwell]

This car although it may have never been sold in india. The challenger still looks good though