GM Styling?

cegerer · cegerer's Garage

What in the world is going on at General Motors with some of these butt-ugly designs they're coming out with? These new minivans are just incredibly awkward looking! Looks like the front end of a pickup truck grafted onto their old minivan? Yet, people seem to be buying these in hoardes.

Then there's the Canyon pickup truck with the weird angled flares.

Or the Envoy 'XUV' that looks like it's a foot taller than a normal Envoy, made even worse looking by the chrome trim highlighting this add-on appendage!

I guess the Aztec/Rendevous and Avalanche/Escalade are givens in the bad-styling department. The company IS capable of good design - look at the new G6 (ok, so they basically warmed over an Audi A4 ....) and the Corvette. Rant off.

vanwyk4257 · vanwyk4257's Garage

GM Styling, isn't that an oxymoron?! I agree that the new Corvette is acceptable, and for some reason I don't mind the look of the new Cadillac sedans, but without fail just about everything else out there is Fugly! That's why my next two new cars we buy for my household will be either Japanese or European.

Shuie · 03-05-2005, 06:08 AM

bigger must be better. Its not just GM. You've seen the ad for the Ford 500. They have 'raised the bar' by making something bigger than the Chrysler 300

Serge914 · Serge914's Garage

Most peoples I know who buy GM dont even look at the competition and dont realy care about styling.

Pick-up and minivans are not supposed to be stylish, those are utilitary vehicules. If you want something that look nice, buy a sport car

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

Wait, they actually have people STYLING the cars at GM? I thought they just tacked on whatever body panels would fit.

Ex girlfriend had an Envoy. Fit and finish was terrible... you could put almost your whole hand in the gap between the nose and the front bumper.

kumma · 03-05-2005, 07:37 AM

Definitly not the most stylish vehicles. But have you seen the Dodge Dakota that thing is just awful, I mean butt ugly stupid lookin. Not that the GM small truck is any better but there are pigs in every lineup these days.

Shuie · 03-05-2005, 07:46 AM

90% of the vehicales for sale today are hideous. I guess people accept them becuase they dont expect to own a car for longer than 3-5 yrs anymore.

This is sad. When I was a kid (not that long ago, really) there were all kinds of neat cars to drool over and wish to own one day. What kind of cars do kids like these days? The H2?

BlueSkyJaunte · 03-05-2005, 08:02 AM

The CTS and new STS are pretty nice looking IMHO.

928ram · 03-05-2005, 08:10 AM

Vehicle styling in general seems to be awash in confusion these day, it's like no one knows exactly what to do next. These things tend to run in cycles so in a few years (hopefully) cars will start to look better.

The again, with all this retro stuff I wonder how long until tail fins return?

Moneyguy1 · 03-05-2005, 09:31 AM

Like a friend of mine used to say (based on an old slogan)

GM...mark of ignorance.....

oldE · 03-05-2005, 11:34 AM

And its not just the van/SUV thing. Look at the Malibou, with its bulges over the wheels. These are supposed to look like fender flares (I guess) and generate 'surface excitement'. I think they look like 'love handles'. Meanwhile, the Opel which donated the platform is a well-sculpted automobile.
I find the same sort of deal with the Saturn model which is based upon an Opel. Why couldn't they just admit, "This is a good design." and leave it alone? Is there some reason it has to be either 're-designed' or uglified?

Les

cegerer · cegerer's Garage

"generate 'surface excitement'"

Wow! There's some GM Corporatespeak!

Oh Haha · 03-05-2005, 03:52 PM

That's the reasong they are laying off the workers,'cause there aint' nobody buying the products.
We looked at the "new" Pontiac minivan last week. Blechh!
I'm still holdin' out for my S4.

Oh, I know, try finding a part for a GM vehicle in this area! The closest part available is in freakin' New York!!!!!
Alright, I'm done now.

edit: Forgot to mention, the part is a "dealer only" item brake line.
I can get parts for my 911 faster than some for my fleet rigs.

rcecale · rcecale's Garage

And then there is THIS hideous piece of.....um...piece of....er, uh...

YUCK!

Randy

jfw834 · jfw834's Garage

oh man....don't even get me started....i'd better just keep my mouth shut.....

EDIT: ok i must say one thing....up until about a year ago i think, GM did have a special department which had the job of going out and finding what the 'car buyer' thought was a "good looking" car. This was of course the most assinine idea ever and when they hired Bob Lutz (former chrysler big wig) to head up design, he told them the horrible truth. The public doesn't know what looks good....thats why you have designers so that THEY TELL the buyers what is good looking. he then fired that whole department and a good portion of the designers.

sadly, since then i really don't see any great change in their new designs...i mean the corvette is acceptable i guess....not really that different....but there is still a LOT of work to do.

i can confidently say that i will never ever own any GM product.

Oh Haha · 03-05-2005, 04:12 PM

They have slowed production of the SSR as well. It weighs like 5000 #.
Even with 300hp, they are a pig.
In fact, I believe they are based on the Envoy chassis.

Gotta give a thumb's up to GM for the L6 engine, though. That is one nice piece of engineering. Very smooth, good power, and decent MPG.

1973911s · 03-05-2005, 04:52 PM

I am waiting to see what the next Suburban, Denali look like.

Michael

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

I agree that car design isn't really moving forwards right now... looking back, the middle 1990s looked like a golden age of car design.

I think even Ferrari is declining in the quality of their designs. I mean, the F355 is probably the best-looking car that Italy has produced since the 250GTO... but all things must come to an end. So they replaced it with the 360. Nice, but it's no 355. And what now? The 430? Looks like a ricer's idea of what a 360 should look like!

Porsche went through a similar situation about 5 years ago when they replaced the 993 with the 996 - the 993 was arguably the best-looking 911 ever... and the 996, as good a car as it was, looked boring in comparison. At least Porsche has listened to its customers and improved in the looks department with the 997. The new 987, on the other hand...

Lamborghini's Murcialago is their best-looking car to date, if you ask me. Even though the Gallardo is a similar look, there is something just off about it, and I actually think it is one of Lambo's WORST designs.

So who has been getting it right? I think every Aston Martin that comes out is more beautiful than the last... and the DB9 might just be the most attractive car on sale right now...

KNS · 03-06-2005, 06:22 AM

My GF saw an SSR on the freeway the other day and was at a loss for words: "What the hell is.... How can somebody..... It so ugly, I can't.... Who would buy.......

Shuie · 03-06-2005, 06:58 AM

I have a close relative that owns an SSR. They are terrible. No kidding, I can haul more stuff in my '72 911. A weird thing about the SSR is that unlike most modern cars it actually has a lot of steel to it. The hood for that thing must weigh over 200lbs. Its a very solid and heavy vehicle, but still terrible.

The minvan in the first post looks like a minibus. I thought the envoy started out as a compact SUV? It looks bigger than the Yukon was 4-5 yrs ago.

If I had to buy a new car today it would probably me the BMW Mini. At least it looks like a car. I cant think of a current production truck that looks like a truck.