What happened to Vauxhall Astra? Why are there these two black triangular patches near the front and behind back side windows? Was that pollyfill to cover up for design errors? The previous model looks much cleaner.
It's to deceive the eye and present a faux fastback coupe glass line on a hatchback / wagon.
The last two (3 door only in 2004) also had faux fastback style with rear quarter windows that tapered to the rear so the glass area looked like a fastback while the roofline doesn't drop to match. This allows a cheap hatch instead of a liftback to be fitted. Unlike proper fastback rear window which stays clean and doesn't even get wet when moving the rear window will get just as mucky as any other estate / station wagon. What the huge rear pillars on these does for rear vision when parking I can only imagine. The 2004 3 door really wasn't worth Jezza eating his own hair over.
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I noticed that this new faux astra design has resulted in a rather pointed edge when you open the read door. I wouldn't like to be hit by that pointed edge when somebody opens the rear door.
I'm curious, you seem to have an interest in car design. Are you a student studying the subject?
Nope, I'm a common end end end car user. But I've always had a fascination with cars. Not happy if I don't know one new car from another. Sometimes I look at ebay classic cars section; amazed how much some old cars can fetch. Sometimes only the ghost of a car is left over, but it still fetches high prices.
You do have to be careful thinking a winning bid on Ebay actually buys the car. Lots and lots of timewasters bid for cars on Ebay. Both on the buying and selling sides. Lots trying to make a fast buck because they think there is a classic car boom.
I fear, with the various new rules on emissions etc, classic cars will be a thing of the past (no pun intended). I traded in an immaculate
1999 MX5 in Nov 2018 under one of the scrappage schemes- I got around 4x book value- it wouldn't have been allowed in the London ULZ (at least without a huge fee) or in some of the places we go in France and need a Crit'Air for.MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.