QOTD: Best Standard Car Design of the 2010s?
As we’ve entered a new decade, I thought it might be time to take a look back at the 2010s and see if, among the largely nondescript egg-shaped crossovers, there were some design gems. The sort of cars that’ll be looked back upon fondly down the road.
Got one in mind?
Before we begin, I’ll clarify that we’re only talking standard production cars today. That means no bespoke cars or one-offs, no design exercises that were cancelled during the prototype stage, and no ultra high-end supercars or exotica. Today’s designs should be relatively attainable; let’s keep their starting prices under $100,000. You know, cars for the common peoplekind, as they say in Canada. The model year of your pick must reside between 2010 and 2019.
Here’s mine:
And isn’t it lovely? It’s the original Audi A7. When introduced in 2010, I recall being very unsure about this new four-door liftback experiment from the conservative people at Audi. As an Audi traditionalist, prior owner of three Audis, and an apologist for their maladies as they age, I’d had a set of characteristics in mind for what an Audi should be and how it should look. Namely, the only acceptable shapes for Audis were coupes with trunk or liftback, sedans, or wagons. And that’s it.
But what I didn’t realize at the time was that Audi was about to go the Same Sausage Different Length approach with its models, standardizing the appearance of even the prestigious A8 along strict corporate design lines. So this new Audi which didn’t fit the mold ended up being, relatively speaking, the only unique design the brand offered. Sameness and crossovers, that’s what Audi was about post-2010.
Then I started seeing the A7 in traffic. I noticed its proportions, sleek shape, and little details. Like how the A7 had different wheels to other Audis, and how the Audi Rings played inside the rear tail lamps. A decade on it still looks great, especially in dark colors. The original A7 is easily my pick for best standard car design of the 2010s.
If you’ve got a better pick, let’s hear it.
[Images: General Motors, Audi]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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"...and how the Audi Rings played inside the rear tail lamps." As opposed to the front tail lamps?
Tough call. I think there were plenty of examples of stellar automotive design throughout this decade. For me, the best-looking sub-100K car to come out in the last 10 years is the current-gen Mustang. The lines and proportions are spot-on. It's been out for 5 years and I still stop and stare whenever I see one on the street. Runners-up: Saab 9-5 (RIP) Mazda 3 hatchback (current generation) Honda Accord (current generation) Volvo V90 (current generation) Lincoln Continental