Dan's Papers - April 3, 2009 -

What on earth is going on with the design of Asian imported cars lately? Just a few years ago virtually all of the automotive press were railing at the ugliness of the Pontiac Aztek. It seemed that in the public eye, with the exception of the Corvette, GM could do no right. Yet, when it comes to foreign cars, especially those imported from Japan, these guys can do nothing wrong. This double standard has led to big trouble for the American car companies.

What is it with the Asian beauty-impaired cars selling so well? Take the box shaped Scion Xb. When that thing first appeared several years ago I said to myself, "Is Toyota crazy? Who the hell is going to buy that thing?" The thing was not only box-shaped, but an ugly box shape (more on that later). Amazingly, it outsold its attractive sister car, the Scion Xa. The current model of the Scion Xb is a more attractive box with at least some rounded corners that hint at some design thought, but is still an ugly duckling.

Just last week I looked at a new Kia Soul, which resembles the new Scion Xb. I've also heard that soon Nissan will be importing their own boxcar called the "Cube." At least Nissan is honest about what its car is shaped like. These three cars all have the same look. It's totally amazing that they have found a place in the competitive automotive marketplace, especially when the more attractive Pontiac Aztek was a sales disaster and only in production for three years.

In the above paragraph, I used the expression ugly box shape because in the past there have been other pure box-shaped vehicles that were attractive. Take the early pure box shaped air-cooled Volkswagen vans. There was a Bauhaus simplicity to their design, with clever little details. The 1974 GMC 26-foot motorhome design was probably the best looking box ever put on wheels. Today, it's a highly prized collectable, and still draws admiring stares on any highway as if it were a red Ferrari.

If you remember, when Japanese cars were first introduced to America about 30 years ago, virtually all of them were dogs. Toyota had to go begging for dealers, and "made in Japan" usually meant that the product was a cheap copy of an American product. For decades the Japanese concentrated on improving the quality of their automobiles, but they still had that Japanese look, which usually meant odd, unimpressive body designs with ill placed chrome accents. In my memory, the first really attractive Japanese car was the 1969 Nissan 240Z. This little GT car was beautifully made, had superior performance with a highly competitive price. It easily outclassed and outsold its sports car competitors around the world. It was also a competent racecar and won the 1971 East African Safari and came in third in the 1971 and 1972 Monte Carlo Rallies.

During the '70s, Japanese cars started catching up with the design themes of the American and European designers. Their cars had first gained a reputation for dependability and now they were finally starting to look good - a formidable sales combination. Don't kid yourself, American and European car designers were certainly no slouches. In many details, the Japanese were still copying many design elements. They were just doing it in an automotive package that was built with seemingly more care that led to more dependability. The best example of this copycat mentality is the original Mazda Miata, perhaps the purest of Japanese car designs as far as clean lines. However, as everyone knows, it's a virtually unadulterated copy of the decades earlier British Lotus Elan sports car. The Miata had dependability and long life that was far, far better than the delicate Lotus.

Honda, which personally is my favorite Asian car marque, has certainly had a few design gaffs lately. It's new Acura is really off center. What is it with Acura front ends? That corporate grill looks like the face of Batman's nemesis, The Joker. The new dashboard in the Honda Civic is a joke. It looks like Tokyo at night. In fact, Honda's flagship sedan, the Accord sedan, is all wrong. There isn't a single line on that car that looks right. The car is a jarring design, and I'm amazed it made production. Note: The two-door Accord coupe is pure beauty. And while everybody raves about the new Nissan 270Z sports car, the thing visually turns me off. It looks like a car from a Fast and Furious computer game. My advice to all Japanese car designers: Calm down and spend a week at the PininFarina design studio in Italy. Please.