Honda Element exhaust

You've got that right, Aztec is number one in the ugly department. I'd say the Element is definitely amongst the top three though. Bob

I'd rather drive a 1975 AMC Pacer than either of these two cars.

My vote for ugliest goes to the slant-back Cadillac Seville. I might vote for a Gremlin or a Pinto, but those were cheap cars that weren't really intended to win awards in the styling department.

Roger

I dare say that the Honda Element seems to be as useful as it is ugly. I really liked the rear seats tha fold up against the sides of the cabin. Unfortunately, I am too long legged (and poor) to ever want to drive one for more than short distances.

I really don't understand this. Is there no room for different styling in your minds? Must all cars look like '65 Galaxy's in order to be acceptable?

Do me a favor - state what you think are examples of good styling in today's vehicles.

Everything out there looks the same to me - save for Element, Aztec and the MINI. I can't tell one SUV from the next - all of GM looks the same save for the Aztec - I just don't get it.

The comment previous - insinuating that anybody who'd drive an Element has to be a waterhead with his ball cap on backwards (something you'd never do I'm sure) ignores the fact that far more Elements are sold into my demographic (35 to 55) than the Teen to mid 20's that they initially targeted.

Having said that, I don't understand the quest for loud exhaust. Nor do I understand those who post to Element boards plans to spend $5K on their motors. This is a terrific utilitarian vehicle with loads of room and unique styling. I fail to grasp why somebody'd want to turn it into a street racer that doesn't have the handling to support the power.

Peter Who would like to remind everyone that beauty is in the eye of the beholder - and who really wishes they made Element in Yellow!

Ah gentlemen .... (1)form follows function & (2)beauty is in the eye of the beholder. With ears on the + side of 60, I didn't ask for loud just nice sounding - better sounding than my dog passing gas. Thanks for your enlightened comments. RW

At least I can tell a '65 Galaxy from a '63, '64, or '66. Not to mention being able to tell a '65 Galaxy from a '65 Polara and a '65 Bonneville. And none of them had to tack cheesy plastic panels everywhere in order to be "noticed," either.

I'll caveat this by saying that to a large degree, automotive styling is dead. It was victim of the wind tunnel, which forces a common style on all vehicles in the quest for better economy. Nonetheless, the styling latitude that remains can make a car acceptable or render it HIDEOUS. I think a lot of models (Element, Murano, Avalanche, Aztek, Crossfire, Altima, Maxima) have deliberately embraced "hideous" merely to be able to stand out in a crowd.

But I'll answer your original question and more. I'll break it down by style category.

In "conventional" styling, I think its very hard to beat the BMW

5-series. I actually like the 7-series that most BMW-philes seem to hate, but the trunk is a little too awkward. In terms of everyday cars, the Chrysler LH family still looks awsome- the Intrepid, Concorde, Concorde LX (formerly the LHS) in particular. The 300M looks sawed-off to me. The Crossdresser and Pacifica are pretty lame, though. The Pacifica does a better job at re-discovering the station wagon than the Murano, I will say that! Buicks were looking OK for a while, but the last couple model years are just too slab-sided. Sadly, one of the best looking American family cars of recent years- the Olds Aurora- is long gone. Ford, at least in terms of 4-door cars, is a lost cause. Nothing there but the Taurus and Crown Vic (and their Mercury counterparts) and all are truly boring beyond belief (though I've strongly considered a Mercury Marauder just for the powerplant combination). They are doing some nice things for Jaguar and Volvo, however. Now if only the Volvo mechanicals lived up to the new-found styling.....

Retro styling: The PT Cruiser and Cooper Mini are fantastic. The PT doesn't evoke a single model (though it draws most heavily on the old Chrysler Woodies), but is a throwback to an entire class of car and does it admirably. The mini is an *excellent* re-interpretation of the original in TOTAL contrast to the "New Beetle" which is a cartoon mockery of the original. Love the Ford Thunderbird also, but its more of a blend between modern and retro.

Sports cars: Viper, hands down. The new style is really growing on me the more I see it- less exaggerated than the original. The C5 'Vette is a fine car, but they went a bit too bland in the styling department. And I just can't make myself like the Ferrari Enzo. Too extreme. The Lamborghini Diablo was the last Euroapean exotic that I really liked to look at.

SUV: Durango. Yep, its getting on in years, but it still looks unique yet not offensive. The single styling feature I admire most about the Durango is that it actually has side curvatures (both longitudinal AND vertical) stamped in the sheet metal, and not merely rendered in cheese-ball molded plastic cladding bolted to perfectly flat sides like so many of the others. That alone gives it a huge styling advantage over almost all other SUVs. The Avalanche is hideous, and they've stuck its hideous front-end on all the Chevy trucks now. One has to ask "WHY?!?!?" The Ford SUVS are OK, and visually different from their predecessors. But still too boxy for me.