Streamlining, three-wheelers, tailfins, and rocket-inspired bumpers: all weird and wonderful design trends that didn’t last. Tastes change and each generation of designers tries to create something new to grab our imagination. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they crash and burn. Here is a Leith Toyota guide to eight interesting, odd, or just plain quirky automotive design trends that may or may not stick around.
Retro
Rounded corners, small windows, and a sit-up-and-beg stance hark back to the 50’s and 60’s. Is it a car or a baker’s delivery van? Hard to tell. Then there’s the classic boulevard cruiser look, a low, wide convertible built for looks rather than speed and often sporting a cute shade of pink. Briefly hot, Retro has since cooled.
Crossover coupes
Truck-based SUV's have morphed into crossovers; high-riding vehicles that look like SUV's but drive like cars. This makes them practical, though not necessarily stylish. Coupes, on the other hand, are low and sleek, but more than a little impractical. So why did the car companies think we'd be interested in tall coupes? Interesting, distinctive vehicles to be sure, but they’ve not sold well.
Four-door coupes
Find coupe in the dictionary and you'll see it describes a sleek, two-door car. Yet a hot trend today is the four-door coupe. Yes, they’re drop-dead gorgeous, but the sexy, fastback roofline means the rear seat is not the place for tall passengers. A triumph of form over function?
Gloss is so last year
Few aspects of a car's appearance are as subject to consumer tastes as color. Orange and copper shades are fashionable today, but the big news is matte paint. First seen around 2010, this is now making its way onto the street. Beware though, buy a matte paint car and you may be asked to sign a disclaimer: these exotic finishes must be hand washed and need special treatment to remove bird droppings and tree sap.
Put a hatch in it!
Hard to believe, but back in the 1970's the hatchback was an interesting design trend. Pioneered by the subcompact AMC Gremlin and its larger sibling, the Pacer, the third door would bring added utility to our three box sedans. Today, hatchbacks are something of a niche product in North America and yet they sell extraordinarily well in Europe.
Lights as jewelry
When aerodynamics and fuel efficiency dictate so much of a car’s design, light clusters are one of the few ways in which a designer can really differentiate his work. Three distinct trends are currently illuminating our highways: LED daylight running lights, which have been adopted by almost every manufacturer with upscale pretensions, headlight halos that give an almost reptilian look, and a strong trend towards narrower headlights.
The Motorcycle Helmet look.
Clever use of black trim makes the windows appear to wrap around the front of a vehicle. And a rakish roofline narrows the side windows, creating the appearance of a helmet visor. It’s a sleek look, but will it catch on?
Cubist
Interior space is a priority for many car buyers, yet inherently lacking in small cars. Perhaps that’s why several companies have given us remarkably square vehicles. Eminently practical but far from aerodynamic in appearance (though the numbers say otherwise,) are they good looking? You be the judge.
Automotive tastes change. What looks good today may seem odd tomorrow, but as designers strive for something new, quirky trends will keep emerging.
