Today's Cars Look too Much Alike?

[Ferrer]

I do too.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Avantimes are actually really cool, I concur.

The Multipla would have been a more popular car have a BMW badge been affixed, certainly. but I dare suggest a RWD 6 seater van would have been popular anyway.

Hell, I would have bought that.

[LeonOfTheDead]

A friend of my father had a Vel Satis. He was the happiest owner of the world, until the ECUs went crazy on a French delivered car. Basically all electronic systems failed on the motorway, causing the cruise control to set the top speed and with the car refusing to be turned off in any way. The police emptied the road ahead of him, and just waited for the fuel to be drained.

That was enough for him to sell the car, but I wonder if he would have done the same if it was a BMW X5 or something.

Should we trow in the the Lancia Thesis and the Citroen C6 as well? Or even the Volvo C30 to some extent. Possibly the VW Phaeton is the best example of fail-badge, which is weird considering the success of the Touareg (oh sorry, you're a SUV, you shall pass...).

The Ssangyongs are ridiculous though.

There is a service garage next to a place I go to study (it's supposed to be a university department, but it's used just a couple of hours each day, win).
Every time I see a Rodius I takes me a while to accept it went all the way through the decisional process, buyer included. Don't mind the other models as much as this, even if the Actyon is quite "something".

[Kitdy]

Possibly the VW Phaeton

I actually saw a Phaeton on Friday.

[Ferrer]

Should we trow in the the Lancia Thesis and the Citroen C6 as well? Or even the Volvo C30 to some extent. Possibly the VW Phaeton is the best example of fail-badge, which is weird considering the success of the Touareg (oh sorry, you're a SUV, you shall pass...).

More like the entire Lancia, Saab, Alfa Romeo and Volvo lineups and anything big that isn't german.

Which is sad if you think about it.

[Commodore GS/E]

More like the entire Lancia, Saab, Alfa Romeo and Volvo lineups and anything big that isn't german.

Which is sad if you think about it.

Well, let's see... the Thesis failed because many people don't like the front (resembles a frog, they say). The biggest part of Saabs lineup is far too old (apart from the new 9-5). Alfa Romeo has been discussed in full length already, and Volvo... well, Volvo has it's loyal customers. Besides, many non-german luxury sedans fail because they lack reputation. In this price class, people want prestige. Only a few can deliver that, mainly because reputation is something that can't be bought for money but has to be built with good products.

[henk4]

Well, let's see... the Thesis failed because many people don't like the front (resembles a frog, they say). The biggest part of Saabs lineup is far too old (apart from the new 9-5). Alfa Romeo has been discussed in full length already, and Volvo... well, Volvo has it's loyal customers. Besides, many non-german luxury sedans fail because they lack reputation. In this price class, people want prestige. Only a few can deliver that, mainly because reputation is something that can't be bought for money but has to be built with good products.

complicated way of saying that it is the badge that decides about quality

[LeonOfTheDead]

Only a few can deliver that, mainly because reputation is something that can't be bought for money but has to be built with good products.

The reason why many people rejected the Thesis was the previous Kappa, which indeed was not as good as the previous Thema, and most of all, had horrible quality stories regarding the station wagon (retired from the market) and coupe versions. So basicaly the Thesis was dead since the beginning because no one bothered to get the company a second chance.
And it truly was a great car.

I've yet to read something bad about the Citroen C6 or Volvo S80, yet I've seen just a handful of both. Both companies are known for their previous very good flagship models. Yet no one buys them.

So it isn't a matter of quality, history or even reputation.
It's just the badge.

My friend's Skoda is busting a light every six months, for real, yet the shitty car is my mother's Stilo, and it's lights are pretty much fine. The Fabia's left stop light goes on and off and you have to hit the light with your fist (old school isn't it?) to get it working, but VAG's quality is awesome. Indeed his Golf mk4 needed new fuel injectors after 60.000 km. The car was driven well by his father, who's also a mechanics. But hey, the Golf was/is the benchmark!
(RM, you're car is still a nice purchase, no hate )

If it was Alfa to pull an X6? I can't stand the concept behind the 5 Series GT, despite the horrible execution. Yet, if it was Lancia introducing such car, fire in the hole!

[Ferrer]

Alfas will always have dashboards with more lights on than a christmas tree, all Lancias can only be had in Rust Brown color, all Saabs are silly front wheel drive hatchbacks made for designers and all Volvo's are boring bricks on wheels for beige people.

Everything else is irrelevant.

[LeonOfTheDead]

You forgot to write "deutschland uber alles" 10 times.

[Fleet 500]

I still think American cars from the sixties and the likes are all very similar, but then again I know I can spot the right version of many European cars just by a few details.

The '60s American cars are probably the easiest to identify of any decade. I, too, can spot the make of a '60s American car by just a few details and even from 200 feet away.

Also, mid-to-late '50s American cars and many '70s, too. From the '80s and later, it became harder to do. Late model... forget it! Many times I've mistaken a Chevy or Ford for a Toyota or Honda. That would have been impossible to do in the '60s!

[Fleet 500]

It is hard to think of more than two or three US models from the '60s (Corvette, Toronado?) that could be called aerodynamic.

The '69 Dodge Charger Daytona was another one.

[henk4]

The '60s American cars are probably the easiest to identify of any decade. I, too, can spot the make of a '60s American car by just a few details and even from 200 feet away.

the easiest cars to identify are the ones that one grew up with, and had a keen interest in cars. For me the US cars of the fifties and sixties arre not easy to tell apart, as there were so few around where I lived. You would have the same problem with European cars from that period. So it has nothing to do with specific designs but only with the place you were born and raised.

[henk4]

The '69 Dodge Charger Daytona was another one.

visibly aerodynamic and really aerodynamic are sometimes world apart

[IBrake4Rainbows]

the easiest cars to identify are the ones that one grew up with, and had a keen interest in cars. For me the US cars of the fifties and sixties arre not easy to tell apart, as there were so few around where I lived. You would have the same problem with European cars from that period. So it has nothing to do with specific designs but only with the place you were born and raised.

I would agree with this immensely. I have a remarkable ability to determine 90's cars (despite their somewhat similar appearance) whereas anything later than about 1975 I struggle with