I cannot work out American car design; it has always produced distinctive cars but you have to be blind to the absolute stinkers that get produced along with the classics. There are some cars that just do not look right. The American Ford Focus is such a car.

These are starting to appear on American roads. It is an incredibly ugly car that does not sit well on the road and does not look pleasing to the eye at all. There is a lot of competition in this area with cars that look much better, the Scion being a good example. It is a sleek, tough looking little car with a good - almost Idaho senatorial - wide stance.

This is the same company that caused competitors to create a run of retro cars with its Mustang; Chrysler and Chevrolet are yet to catch up with their retro muscle cars; but somehow the ugly Ford Focus appears on the US market.

To make it even more baffling, the European Ford Focus is a very attractive car.

I just don't understand how these things get on the road when they are so obviously offensively styled. I guess someone loves them. A few people do buy them after all.
More reading: Tags, Ford, USA, Car Design
Cam Riley: South Sea Republic. Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic.

Comments
  • cam . # .
    More proof:

    People bought it. Autoblog commented:

    We're well aware that there are many satisfied owners out there who appreciate the practical design of the Aztek's interior layout, smooth ride and the world's best built anti-theft device (i.e. its looks).

    heh. Someone penned this design, and people agreed that it looked ok, and then with that design much money was spent to bring it to market. Including moulds and dies. How many people hated their jobs with this car?
    'Sworn to no party, and of no sect am I.' Frederick Vosper's republican motto.
  • The thing I noticed when I was over there wasn't so much ugly as boring. We had two or three Chevrolet Impalas - I can't actually remember what we were driving around LA - and it is just a boring looking car. And it had to be boring for me to notice despite my twin handicaps of having a tin eye for design in general and so not being a car person at all.
    • cam . # .
      I was talking to someone about why American cars tend to be black/white/silver/cream. Apparently having a fashionable colour can date a car too quickly and destroy its resale value. So the chartreuse colours you see on Holdens won't be on the Pontiacs they are importing. It is a wierd sort of commercial conservatism. I guess it is just the companies responding to the markets; Honda/Toyota/etc have equally boring colour choices.
      'Sworn to no party, and of no sect am I.' Frederick Vosper's republican motto.