Did the Ugly Duckling grow into a beautiful swan?

Now you need to turn your avatar into a beautiful swan.

 

Partly it is trying to seem eco-smart because people equate the shape with the Prius, and then good gas mleage. However, the Prius is shaped the way it is not because it looks good, but because it is low drag and squeezes out the mpg. When a car company is forced to increased their fuel economy and dont really want to do any design, it is pretty easy to make the shape Prius-like and gain the few mpgs needed.

 

Are you ok windstrings?

Lemme see, copies in the rear end department ...

Honda - Crosstour, Insight yes, CR-Z and rest no copy

BMW - X6 , Acura - ZDX, 'bout all I can think of.

Prius sexy? I'll give it a cute rating with the 17's. with 15's, in need of new shoes.

Sexy daily drivers? I'd say the Lexus IS's are about there, BMW 5's, Corvette's, Viper, Karma, Jags, any black RX, Mercedes Benz SL's yum, Nissan GT-R & Z, all Porsche's, WRX/STI, Tesla Roadster ...

and of course all exotics.

 

Don't forget the Sonata hybrid bumper

 

This thread is a joke right? You make yourself sound so arrogant, as if you don't get flack for driving a Gen III.

I much prefer the Gen II styling over Gen III. If you look closely the G3 has a fat square nice person and is even more wedged shape than it's duckling predecessor. The Gen II has an amenable quality that says "mod me.". It seems suited to a younger (though affluent) crowd. If anything The Gen III is more regal and boring. It reminds me of the styling of the Toyota Altezza (IS) and current Lexus IS 250/350. The Altezza was a cool ricey little car but they made the next gen IS look like every other sports sedan. So if you ask me the GenIII is anything but a trendsetter. Rather, Toyota did what Lexus did to the IS-- made the Prius generic.

I'd take a well modded Gen II over a Gen III anyday.

 

I think the Gen III is ugly compared to the iconic Gen II.

 

beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'd much prefer the Gen III look.

 

I always thought the Gen II Prius was beautiful. In fact, when I first saw pictures of it, my jaw dropped. I thought it was drop-dead gorgeous, and as revolutionary a design as the Audi TT and the Cadillac CTS, which are the two cars that the automotive design world points to as recent revolutionary designs.

When I first saw the Gen III Prius, I thought it looked different -- not better or worse than the Gen II -- just different. Now I think the Gen II Prius looks better than the Gen III. In fact, I like the looks of the Honda Insight more than the Gen III Prius, especially in person.

 

Hi All,

I like the look of the Gen II, its like the DC 3 for the 21 century. Especially with my flush hubcaps I had on my 2006!

The Gen III seems to get allot more stairs of appreciation from other people however. Its a busy design exercise. The side crease helps de-mellow out the high roofline allot. Which is probably what others like.

I do not like that rear tail light area does not come to a metal point, but a plastic (tail light assembly) pont. You should have seen what that metal point did to the Chevy SubUrban hood that rear ended me. And was still perfectly intact (even though the metal that supported it had crumpled).

The central front nose of the Gen III is very nice, better than the Gen II, I think. The only thing bad about it, is the aero-inspired intake lower grill duct, is not a true aero duct. I say this because its about 12 inches wider than the true duct opening into the radiator. That will be my next aero mod AFTER i get new flush hubcaps done. In the Gen II there was a reason for this, as that is where the fog lights went. Not so in the Gen III, so why have a wider grill opening? I can only think they did this for pure viseral (big mouth apearance) reasons. Which is totally Anti-Prius in my point of view.

The flush hubcaps for the 2010 wont be nearlly as nice, however, as the trim-ring bulges outward, and with my simple fabrication skills, I have no way to keep the alumumin skins from rippling....

 

Beauty...see aesthetics.org for many many topics...Is of course about proportion integration of parts to the whole and is certainly subjective.

Art...is the study of the essence of a subject...an work of art is more valuable as it becomes more representative of the subject's essence.

I think the Gen II is a better work of art than the Gen III (assuming the essence of the subject under study was how to get the most people and cargo down the road using the least fuel)...I believe the Gen III merely continues the Gen II study while trying to broaden its appeal a bit.

You guys can fight about beauty all you want...no one will be right.

 

I can't help but see a similarity in design of the front end of the new CTS and the new Prius, especially the leading edge of the front fender and headlight/turn signal/fog light area...

 

I would not look at a Gen II something just looked odd
And I bought a GenIII
So I think a GenIII is a lot better

 

Personally i never thought prius was ugly, or even all that "radical". but then we've had similar cars on the road for a long time:

http://static.cargurus.com/images/site/2008/05/19/06/10/2006_nissan_primera-pic-41092.jpeg

Gen III just looks like a generic european design, part fiesta
http://blog.niot.net/blog-images/22_Sep/first-drive-2009-ford-fiesta.jpg
part mondeo
http://www.priceit.in/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Ford-Mondeo-1.jpg
part mazda 6
http://www.rpmgo.com/images/mazda_6.jpg

and altogether totally unexciting. that's fine by me!

 

+1. The G2 seemed more like an 'honest', simple, functional design. The G3 Prius looks like a G2 with too much make-up. My biggest quibble is the angled beltline of the G3. The parallel-to-the-ground beltline of the G2 is more useful, making the all too familiar sharply angled beltline of the G3 look like an affectation.

The busy front-end and oversized taillights at the rear don't help matters any.

 

When I got my Gen I, I thought its looks were snoozeworthy. I bought it anyhow and found a good solid vehicle hidden behind the nondescript sheet metal.

I thought the esthetics of the gen II were a step up from the gen I. It was a little funny looking. It wasn't noticeably sexy, powerful, expensive or manly. It was mildly sleek and modern. I wanted a hatchback, so I bought it despite how it looked. Again I found a solid car that met adult concerns in an adult way. By now I've owned it long enough that I'm used to it and there are a lot of them around, so now I think it mostly plain and unremarkable looking

With the Gen III I'm back to where I started. There are only a few of them around here so I'm not used to them. They still look kind of ugly and funny to my eye. I'll get used to them, and by the time I'm ready to replace my current car I expect they'll look fine to me.

 

I think the general consensus is the Gen III has too many lines. Less is more.

 

imitation is the highest form of flattery.

 

You can file me with those that NEVER thought the Prius was ugly.
The Gen2 was unique, but I wouldn't say "Ugly".
The Gen3 leans towards even more mainstream looking with the apex of the roof being moved.

The Prius IMO is still unique. Sure there are other hatchbacks, but Honda Insight excluded, not many of them are going to be mistaken for Prius.

So for me it's not Ugly Duckling turning into Swan...but Good Looking Duck turning into Good Looking Duck.

Some of the "extreme" reactions some people would communicate about disliking the looks of The Prius always suprised me....to me the Prius Gen2 or Gen3 has never been ugly...

 

I know Alan from the Portland HSD Group some years ago. He looks a little better in person.

I, on the other hand, use the dog's picture because he looks better than I do.