Re: 427concept quicks 300C ass Reply #30 – September 20, 2005, 12:37:39 PM toyota has a motor that they are using in trucks on the track with a 9500RPM redline. Quote Selected
Re: 427concept quicks 300C ass Reply #31 – September 20, 2005, 12:48:59 PM Donno if you guys have seen a Fusion next to a Taurus, Camry and Accord, but the Fusion is drop dead gorgeous compared to those three vanilla rides. When you see it in person it will change your mind. And the grille for the Fusion and 427 came from the 1965 Ford Galaxie...my first car...and it looks real sweet in person. Quote Selected
Re: 427concept quicks 300C ass Reply #32 – September 20, 2005, 01:22:54 PM Quote from: Haystacktoyota has a motor that they are using in trucks on the track with a 9500RPM redline.all the nascar motors can turn that kind of rpm, some more. :D personally I don't care what the street Fusion looks like, as long as it makes a good race car!! Quote Selected
Re: 427concept quicks 300C ass Reply #33 – September 20, 2005, 01:49:05 PM Jeeves, you hit the nail right on the head. At a quick glance the Fusion, Accord, Camry, etc. do blend together, but at least the Fusion is proportioned right. I think it has just enough touches to make it better than the rest.The above cars also represent what I feel is a wrong turn for automotive design: everything new is almost too polished. There are no more rough edges. Things are badged and branded and smoothed and pushed and creased to the point where there is no stand-out car anymore. Sure, some of a vehicle's elements by themselves are good, but together as a whole, nothing flows anymore. It's like a big mesh of good elements thrown in a blender. I'm not sure if designers are being restrained or if that's just how they are now, but the whole thing sucks big time.We are spoiled because we own the very last generation of cars where there are still rough edges, nothing is too clean, and the whole design just works. I can point out questionable design elements on our cars all day. Does that make the design any worse? Not at all...that's what is called "character". We love the design because it's NOT polished to death. It is our expression of imperfection that sets us apart. We enjoy the fact that our cars were 97% there in the first place (and that the 3% is still rough). Now, it seems every design strives for that 100% but in reality is about 65%. Look at the Charger. I think its heart is in the right place, but the ass end just screams 'old people'. It has too many incongruous pieces thrown together. I can't even begin to understand how the Nissan Quest exists, and let's not touch upon the Pontiac Ass-tek.We may be in the 21st century but designers still have a lot to learn from the 20th century.Still, I think the Fusion will tide us over for the next few years. What we really need is the Euro-version of the Focus. I think that would be a tremendous 1-2 punch and a much-needed slap in the face to the current state of design. Quote Selected
Re: 427concept quicks 300C ass Reply #34 – September 20, 2005, 02:08:23 PM a company that i think has something going for them, is ScionThe Scion TC isnt too bad looking of a car, and its not a 100% perfect design, but what i feel that it has going for it, is that you can take that 97% car, and make it 100% to your liking with the "factory modifications" you can order, wheel options, and things like thati think they have a brilliant idea with being able to get a car with a list of available parts, without even having to leave the dealershipnow if only they could add some power to those poor things Quote Selected
Re: 427concept quicks 300C ass Reply #35 – September 20, 2005, 02:21:42 PM I see it this way, the designs are on kind of a merry-go-round. In the 40's most cars were rounded. By the 50's there were some sharp edges and lines appearing along with some rounds. Throughout the 60's and 70's most of the curves were gone and cars had mostly hard lines. In the 80's, more curves began to appear and by the time the mid -to-late 90'shiznit, cars were again very rounded with some that had no sharp edges at all(like some of the 40's cars). Now they are starting to sharpen those curves again and judging by the concepts I've seen and some of the current production cars, they will be back to the brick shape that most were in the 60's/70's. The thing is that each time they try to reuse old styling techniques and try to make it modern as well, it appears overdone.I wonder if chrome bumpers will ever make a comback. Quote Selected
Re: 427concept quicks 300C ass Reply #36 – September 20, 2005, 02:56:29 PM Quote from: Tbird232cia company that i think has something going for them, is ScionThe Scion TC isnt too bad looking of a car, and its not a 100% perfect design, but what i feel that it has going for it, is that you can take that 97% car, and make it 100% to your liking with the "factory modifications" you can order, wheel options, and things like thati think they have a brilliant idea with being able to get a car with a list of available parts, without even having to leave the dealershipAmen! I've been saying this since Day 1. The tC is a great-looking car with just the right amount of rough edges I'm talking about. There are shades of Volvo, actually, from a front angle. It doesn't really look puppiesanese very much. And it has a presence on the road that is undeniable. I think paint is still an option on those cars. IIRC, the original idea was that you could order the car with just primer so you can paint it yourself. It's a shame that it took a puppiesanese auto manufacturer to understand how things worked in the 1960's in America (accessiories, options, etc.) and apply them to a 2000's car line that's sold in the United States. They are out to beat us at our own game, with ideas from 40 years ago!Anyway...I know a lot of people don't care for the xA or xB. The xA is a bit pretentious, but to me the xB (or spelled backwards, 'box'!) is just quirky enough to pull off being a shoebox that's the right size and fit for younger car buyers. Boxy vehicles are all the rage in puppiesan. Expect to see more of them here in the future. As people say, it's now hip to be square. Is it anti-round (read: anti-establishment)? Sure. It might not be the best-looking vehicle on the road but it is unique--for now--in a cutesy way, and you certainly don't forget one when you see it.And then you have the Honda Element and Honda Ridgeline, which are both boxy and both styled uniquely, and you certainly don't forget them when you see them either. But 'unique' sometimes means 'fugly' and in these two vehicles' cases, that cannot be more true. They are the equivalent of automotive afterbirth. To which, again, I say boldly and loudly: SCREW HONDA. :flip: Quote Selected
Re: 427concept quicks 300C ass Reply #37 – September 20, 2005, 03:24:58 PM Does anybody else notice that the Ridgeline looks kind of like the Chevy Avalanche? The Ridgeline is smaller of course but I'm talking aobut the styling.Also that the Cobalt looks kinda like the Civic?I wonder how that happened :rolleyes: Quote Selected
Re: 427concept quicks 300C ass Reply #38 – September 21, 2005, 09:19:37 AM On the subject of Ford styling....catch this before Wed. Sep. 28th (changes every Wednesday):http://www.autoextremist.com/page2.shtml#Rant Quote Selected
Re: 427concept quicks 300C ass Reply #39 – September 21, 2005, 01:27:27 PM Quote from: EricCoolCatsOn the subject of Ford styling....catch this before Wed. Sep. 28th (changes every Wednesday):http://www.autoextremist.com/page2.shtml#RantVery interesting indeed. The guy is saying what I've been saying about GM and Ford for a decade: "It's good enough" isn't good enough. Quote Selected
Re: 427concept quicks 300C ass Reply #40 – September 21, 2005, 04:35:16 PM the cobalt is like the jetta, the civic just stole that styling also. Quote Selected
Re: 427concept quicks 300C ass Reply #41 – September 21, 2005, 05:18:21 PM Except the Cobalt looks nothing like the Jetta.And the Jetta is like the Corolla.I've said it before, there isn't a modern car on earth that can't be cut and pasted from the thousands of models that came before it. Nothing is entirely original. Quote Selected