Vellum Venom Vignette: 2013 Awards Edition
In a few days, TTAC’s editors will present their best and worst automotive picks of 2013. Today, Sajeev Mehta brings you his winners and losers in the field of design. Winners and losers below the jump.
Best Styled Car of 2013: Tesla Model S. What happens when you have no rulebook, no badge engineered platform to start with? Tesla’s impressive engineering and PR Buzz machine aren’t the only factors in the Model S’ shock and awe: it embodies the classic long hood and short deck proportioning that’s made so many cars so classically lovely. It’s the same gospel spoken by everyone from Edsel Ford to Ettore Bugatti. The similarly styled Porsche Panamera only dreams of this low stance, subtle detailing and 1970s Italian concept car like flair in those hatchback hindquarters. Which proves that a clean sheet of vellum is a beautiful, beautiful place to start.
Worst Styled Car of 2013: Not as easy, but the Honda Fit fits the bill. Not only is the second generation Fit a bloated redesign, the small Honda’s once quirky and cute details now suffer from gigantism. The biggest problem? Super excellent DLO FAIL, stealing defeat from the hands of victory: cars in this class justify a day light opening with a black plastic triangle (Sonic, Accent) with their low asking price. Or be outstanding like the Ford Fiesta, using sheets of glass instead. But no, the Honda Fit liked both ideas, having a huuuge DLO FAIL with both the plastic triangle and a rather large sheet of glass ahead of the front door. Congratulations, you’ve witnessed The Failing At Fail.
Best Styled Truck of 2013: The RAM dodges Chevrolet’s cliché truck overstyling and Ford’s “Blue Collar Audi” design sensibilities for something…logical. Yes, the RAM is another modern truck that’s a caricature of its former self. But in a world where cars jack themselves up to mimic CUVs, CUVs try to look like trucks and trucks imitate Peterbuilts, the RAM keeps some semblance of sensibility with subtle head/tail lights, logical hood/fender/bed flares and a gunsight grille that doesn’t try to be cool…because it’s been cool for almost 20 years.
Worst Styled Truck of 2013: The Infiniti JX is one of the best examples of “overstyling” in modern automotive history. With every clumsy lump and flabby fold, the JX embodies everything wrong with the Crossover Utility Segment: trying too hard to evolve from the gritty blue-collar machines from whence they came, yet still remaining in the classic 2-box SUV design. The ridiculous kink in the D-pillar’s quarter window says it all: you gotta know when to walk away from the vellum.
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Too hard to break it down by all cars and all trucks... so, best looking car shown in 2013: IS350 F Sport for me. In person, this car is just an incredible combination of aggressiveness, elegance, and presence. I just love the complete design. Much like music, it was shocking at first and I didn't like it. The more I looked at it, the more I studied the details, the more I fell for it. Seeing it beside a 3 series, A4, ATS, or C really drives home how much of a departure it is from the staid, committee looking entry level luxury sport sedans that make up the rest of the class.
I think the Infiniti JX needs to be noted as significant for one thing: that little forward and back again kink in the D pillar marks the emergence of an Asian design sensibility in a car designed primarily for the American marketplace. This marks a first, as Asian cars have always flowed (more or less) the western view of lines that flow from front to back without being perturbed. This flow-reverse-flow line is something new.