There are many good looking cars; there are many ugly ones. But perhaps the most tragic are those that look great, but only from certain angles. Shift your perspective just ever so slightly and it all falls apart. “The designers were so close,” they leave you thinking. Today we’re asking you: which car has a good side and a bad side?
Take the latest BMW M4, for example. It’s a shame the car’s nostrils are so reviled, because from any other angle it looks pretty damn good. Not particularly BMW, mind you — the Hofmeister kink is nowhere to be found, the taillights look like a set from the Alfa Giulia but stretched, and that cut line running low along the side near the bottom of the door reminds me of another brand’s trick, though I can’t put my finger on whose. Maybe Lexus? It’s Monday morning and I haven’t had coffee yet. In any case, if you make a point never to look at the front, it’s pretty alright. I suppose most of these observations apply to the M3, too.
I know it’s sacrilegious to say anything negative about the Jaguar E-Type’s exterior, but the roofline of the coupe always made it look like a clown shoe to me. Others find it rather tongue-like. Any vantage point that accentuates the roof’s steepness leaves me wondering why this car’s design is so beloved. Obviously, this isn’t a problem shared by the roadster, and of that version I have absolutely no complaints.
Enough out of me, though. What cars look elegant or purposeful from some angles, and garish or dowdy from others? With how bulgy and edgy and aggro modern car design is, I expect many newer examples, but it’ll be interesting to see what throwbacks y’all have in store.