By now, you’ve probably read all about Matt’s adventures in fashion, but the unexpected reveal of Kia’s upcoming Telluride SUV during New York City’s Fashion Week has me reeling. And it shouldn’t.
It shouldn’t, because alluring concept vehicle morph into far less savory production vehicles all the time. Or, in the case of Buick and Cadillac’s concepts, they morph back into the invisible nothingness from which they came. Spy photos of the Telluride pointed us towards an expectation of what appeared on Sunday.
Still, it hurts. Why?
Here:
Maybe it’s not clear enough. Let’s try again.
Yes, that’s the Telluride concept from two years ago, looking both elegant and brawny. Handsome might be a better word. Sure, the bumper, if it can be called that, looks pretty vulnerable, but just imagine for a second that there’s a couple of inches of protrusion and a clear demarcation line between fascia and fender panel (and hood and fender, for that matter).
While the face of the not-yet-in-production Telluride of Fashion Week fame is of a more segment-acceptable height, it shows plenty of real estate between the narrower grille and stacked headlamps, with that mouth narrowing greatly increasing the real estate below it, too. Or at least the sense of it. It would be nice to believe changes could still occur with this model before its official debut, but I’m not holding my breath.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, and I’m just one guy throwing his pointless bitchery into the internet winds, but I feel I’m not alone in these criticisms. Looking at the top image of this piece, I’m reminded of the first-generation Cadillac CTS. And by no small amount. It’s possible the disturbing use of leather straps, buckles, and other tacked-on accoutrements have clouded my judgement, but I don’t think so.
Moving aft along the vehicle’s body, things improve greatly. Still, it’ll take a long walk next to the river tonight to fully unburden myself of this shock.
(Was I ever planning on purchasing a Kia Telluride or any other three-row crossover? Nope. So I’m sure Kia couldn’t care less about my opinion. I’m not the one they need to please.)
[Images: Kia Motors]
Didn’t think the front-end of the Telluride concept looked elegant or handsome.
Both the inset headlights and the shape and size of the grille looked out of wack (moreso in conjunction with each other).
The production version looks more cohesive (even if a bit mundane), esp. the grille.
Something more interesting should have been done w/ the headlight design, but I’d take what they did over unnecessary over-design they did for the taillights.
Looks like a Volvo.
Stupid auto correct! You meant Volga.
Vulva
Looks like a Lincoln/Bentley/Jaguar grille with just a pinch of something different, but was it worth a whole article?
Stat you, Sanjay?
Agreed. Edit out the superfluous crap and this should have been a (much shorter) comment in the earlier Telluride article.
When you start getting charged by your ISP per word on your screen you can bitch all you want. As it is, why do you really care?
Changes from the earlier Telluride concept were already covered in the earlier story. Was the topic really begging to be rehashed in THE VERY NEXT ARTICLE POSTED?
Such blatant (and frankly lazy) attempts to stretch one story into two have become a recurring theme at TTAC over the past few months, and IMO they’re emblematic of the site’s continuing decline in quality.
Well, it’s…unique.
Very ugly, but ugly is the norm.
As usual the author ignores the fact that show cars and concept cars are just clickbait and are designed to give journalists something to write about. Look!Pretty!Shiny!
They don’t have to be drivable, buildable, or meet any regulations. They sometimes indicate styling themes that will be used down the track. Sometimes not. For example about the only thing that made it from the GM Volt show car, which had the fanbois drooling, into production, was a triangle of black paint.
I liked the overall look of the Telluride. It will be interesting to see what it looks like without all of the fashion accessories. If the goal is to build a proper SUV, then I think the execution is in the right direction. Its a shame to me what the designers have done to the Pathfinder and the Pilot whereas looks like it could haul your kids around and pull your boat to the lake.
I hope I survive this enduring “everything ugly is beautiful” craze so that I may witness true beauty once more.
The concept just looks like a London taxi cab.