Just saw my first picture of the 2007 Edge. It has that "high beltline" look which I cannot stand. What is driving this design in most new cars? Is it simply copcat style or a way of meeting some regulatory standard (safety or other)? Inquiring minds want to know. Anyone on the newsgroup have a thought about this? Howard
Copycat. Do a google image search on the Murano or FX45.
Or RAV4, or Saturn Vue, or RX-330, or MDX, or CRV, or ....
My SO just bought a RAV4 and she commented how many vehicles had that "look."
Cost! As new methods of production and materials are found they are used to their limits to reduce costs. Panel shapes have been most affected by this in recent years.
I hate it too. It does lower window cost, at the cost of reduced vision.
So you think there is a significant difference in cost between a few square feet of glass vs. sheet metal on the outside of the door and plastic/fabric/sound deadening on the inside of the door? If anything, I think a lower beltline would lower cost.
As for vision- Where are your eyes? I suppose the lower beltline might give you a little better vision to the rear quarters, but it is probbaly only a minor difference. In my opinion this is strictly a styling thing. High beltlines are "in" right now. Wait a few years and low beltlines wil be back.
Ed
People buying them.
No, it is meeting an accounting standard: Making money.
No. It is more likely the production method that saves the cost. And to produce a lower car that meets the crash tests could cost more. As for 'significant' cost - that would be anything over and including one penny.
I don't like proscuitto ham.... why do they keep making it?
Because people buy it..... and eat it.... Since I don't like it, I don't buy it and I don't consider it....
How about that Chrysler Crossfire? Looks like a regurgitated Gremlin to me..... I'm not going to buy one so it doesn't matter much.
Here-in lies a great secret to todays consumerism..... if we don't like something, we can avoid it.... complaining , in this context, serves no purpose (other than to highlight that we have nobody at home to talk to). If we hope to change styling trends, we could set our goals on achieving a job as an automotive stylist... but, at that point, we run the risk that some critic wont like our design....
Like the Pacer, the Gremlin, the Aztec, the Avalanche and God knows how many others, old or new..... there are cars that are bone ugly... there are cars that only a mother could love.... and there is the odd car that is an orgasm on wheels... and it is all a matter of taste. I've seen cars that I thought were ugly when they were introduced.... only to find that the styling did, indeed, "grow" on me (unfortunately, there are occasions where I did an about face when I decide they were growing like a fungus)
Like women... one mans "curvaceous" is another mans "fat"....
Like chili... one mans "hot" is another mans "ho-hum"....
That leaves us with two truths in this life... the "c" in crap music is silent... if that doesn't apply, there is a good chance I don't know music when I hear it.... but I do know shit when I hear it....
This gratuitous rambling has been brought to you by one really opinionated old bastuhd that doesn't really give a rats rosy red what anyone thinks....
"C. E. White" wrote
..... a lower beltl .... the Chrysler Crossfire looks like a regurgitated Gremlin to me... I'm not going to buy one so it doesn't matter much. Like the Pacer, the Gremlin, the Aztec, the Avalanche and many others, there are cars that are bone ugly, cars that only a mother could love.... and it is all a matter of taste. __________________________________________________
That is it: just taste. Auto stylists try to predict the trend and deliver what they think will sell. When the chopped-top look was a big hit among retro fans, auto makers concluded that everyone must want the high beltline's restricted visibility.
My favorite uglification was the 1960 Plymouth. Decorated with a large tail fin and a chrome strip angling upward over a two-tone panel at the front wheel well, it was an instant eyesore. The insult was made made worse by TV ads showing the car rotating on a turntable while a smirking actor said, "It's beautiful ... it's ahead of its time ... it's 1970 new."
Best regards to all AAFers.
Rodan.
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