Why some hybrids are dammed UGLY!

I noticed a lot of similarity with Hyundai and 4th Gen Prius. Only, Hyundai's look was a bit more restrained and harmonious.

Kinda like the class clown who gets everyone going, then cools it, just before teacher returns.

 

I agree, Toyota did get carried away. My Gen 4 is black and I don't really notice the contorted front design like on lighter colored cars. JMO

 

The last I checked the have the big ugly black front too. After you see it for a while you get numbed to the ugliness.
I started looking at Corolla last year. My wife notice a picture of the front and wondered what that ugly mess was.

 

yeah, the trademark grille, but not as bad as prius i think. that's why i inserted 'relatively'.

 

One reason I bought the Prius is because it does NOT have as obnoxious a grille, IMHO. The Prime on the other hand...
From photos I have seen, Lexus is even worse.

 

you think the gen 4 prius front is better looking than the new camry?

 

I bought one other car that was ugly and it was the most expensive car I ever bought.

I consider the Prius a conservative practical car. It isn't a really cheap car, you can always find cheaper cars.

 

I think exterior automotive design has been following the same path as the cloths/fashion industry. They try anything and everything and produce what sells most, regardless of how tasteless it may be. Eventually design evolution brings the offerings from most all producers to the same conclusions. We have seen this with personal watercraft. During the 1970's there were a multitude of different ideas tried and now days most everything is sit and steer, no talent required, Seadoo type machines that get boring after a few hours. Many new cars turn my stomach.

Interior designers have gotten into a bad habit of using bucket seats and consoles. In decades past this was the exception rather than the rule and was reserved for performance cars so as to emulate real race cars and make owners feel superior on the road. More of that automotive psyops 2k1toaster eluded to. Now you cannot find a bench seat in any car. Your legs will be crammed into a small cavity below the dash preventing you from adjusting your position on long drives and if you are on the passenger side your feet will likely be fighting with the HVAC box for the same space. Your feet will loose. The modern console is usually just a waste of space of which there is already too little of in modern cars.

 

But people could have said the same thing about 50s American cars. And now most of people (including me) like those. Not that that would mean that these designs would be liked in the future.

Probably only true in USA as in other places bucket seats were lots more common long time ago. And of course cars use to be so much smaller that there was a lot less space for your feet as well.

 

It doesn't try to fake you out with a huge, cosmetic grill.

There are liability issues. Put a bench seat in a car wide enough for three to sit abreast, and you have to design the safety systems for having a person sitting in the middle.

 

I think Hybrids is Purty....

Que Banjo Music.

 

The large black area with the black bumper between the grilles definitely turns me off. I am not to thrilled about the center dip dividing the top grille either.

 

Then a passenger, sometimes my feet lose but they have never come loose!

 

The Honda belt buckle though!

 

trying to find pics with a straight on shot is difficult, but looking at the angled front shots on toyota.com, you're right, it's pretty bad. i'll go 50/50 each, depending on taste. the prius grille is better, but the gills are worse.

 

I believe these are the 2 versions. The chain link fence is on the right. These do not look quite as bad as some of the other photos though.

 

agreed. the hycam definitely looked worse from an angle.