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German online car magazine slags German car design


Junkman

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I tried to translate their captions as close as possible.

 

The headline:

 

Cringeworthy -  These are the most embarrassing German cars

 

Some cars have the average consumer wonder, what the manufacturer was thinking during the development. Here we show the most embarrassing cars of recent German automotive history.

 

 

audi-a2.jpg

This includes the chubby Audi A2 - a prime example of how a car should not look.

 

 

opel-agila.jpg

The Opel Agila doesn't look particularly agile. Specifically the caved in rear end makes you want to look the other way.

 

 

maybach.jpg

The two-tone paintwork of the Maybach is unnecessary as a goiter. apart from that the big barge looks like an S-class for show-offs with no sense of style or taste.

 

 

vw-cross-up.jpg

Off-road look is in vogue, but the off road capability the VW Up suggests is just embarrassing.

 

 

bmw-3er-compact.jpg

A beautiful backside can be a delight - but the hatchback of the BMW 3 Series compact is anything but aesthetically pleasing.

 

 

 

smart-roadster.jpg

Granted, the Smart Roadster is a real fun car. The design, however, went completely wrong.

 

 

vw-new-beetle.jpg

What a letdown: The New Beetle almost tarnishes the cult of the original Beetle.

 

 

mercedes-a-klasse.jpg

The first Mercedes A-Class - one wonders why this car has ever sold quite well. Meanwhile, the compact car has become a real feast for the eyes.

 

 

bmw-x6.jpg

No eye candy: the coupé-like roofline of the BMW X6 looks completely out of place on this behemoth on wheels.

 

 

mini-clubman.jpg

The Brits are not amused, neither are we: The Clubman, Germanised and bloated by BMW, does not bear any resemblance to the English original.

 

 

mercedes-r-klasse.jpg

From the front to the middle, the design of the Mercedes R-Class is no cause for criticism. From the C-pillars back, however, it's downright unpleasant, to say the least.

 

 

vw-lupo.jpg

The VW Lupo with its bulging eyes is not a nice car to begin with, but the police version takes the biscuit.

 

 

mercedes-vaneo.jpg

The Mercedes Vaneo looks like a too tall A-Class. After less than four years the design experiment was thankfully concluded.

 

 

vw-xl1.jpg

One-liter car or not - the styling of the VW XL1 is a complete failure.

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I think half of those are quite nice and tidy. I think current BMWs have lost the plot, but Audi had kept it together over the decades.

Modern cars have to appeal to a Chinese market, which explains their ornamental, chintzy design - almost like cheap jewelry. Even Germany, which was once hardcore 'German'!

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They certainly have a point with most of them.  The smart and A2 still look fresh now though which must show an aspect of good design and the mk2 Agila is a lot less visually challenged than the mk1.

 

Of the mini's I'd find the clubman the least offensive if they had done the suicide door on both sides,  it's just insulting having a supposidly British car which is blatently designed for LHD.

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I always thought the Lupo was quite cute and the A2 does still look quite fresh. The Maybach always looked crap, it's far too easy to see the S-class that it's based on in the design so the fact that they sold any at all is quite remarkable.

The X6 is also quite horrorsome. None of the rest bother me that much. 

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Wouldn't disagree with any of that, German cars are by and large, munters and have been for a good 10 years. The CLS Merc (& the VW Pisshat clone) and current Audi A5 are OK, as is the 911 obviously but the rest of BMW/Mercedes & Audi's output recently has been hideous IMO.

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Audi A2:

 

Looks as if it was designed by an architect with taste and not by a schoolboy without - check

Doesn't have unneccessary swage lines spoiling the side view of the car - check

Windows you can see out of - check

Lights that look as if they were designed for the car and not stolen from a fairground ride - check

Wheels in proportion to car - check

Tyres in proportion to wheels - check

 

I think I'll get the exciting new model Mercedes C Class instead, completely unspoiled by good taste.

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Audi A2:

 

Looks as if it was designed by an architect with taste and not by a schoolboy without - check

Doesn't have unneccessary swage lines spoiling the side view of the car - check

Windows you can see out of - check h

Lights that look as if they were designed for the car and not stolen from a fairground ride - check

Wheels in proportion to car - check

Tyres in proportion to wheels - check

 

I think I'll get the exciting new model Mercedes C Class instead, completely unspoiled by good taste.

 

I'd take issue with 'windows you can see out of.' The rear window is a stupid, split design with no wiper. It offers the sort of visibility that you get after being punched very hard in the eyes.

 

The Smart Roadster is a great looking thing though. Shame the driving experience didn't match the looks.

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I'm going to be honest here, I like the look of most modern German cars with the exception of the following: 1 series BMW (ugly to begin with, just got worse) new Beetle, Upexclamationmark, Audi A1, Audi A7, Binis (all versions),

 

The new A-class Merc is a nice looking car IMO, far better than the old one, the Golf may be dull and bland but its not a bad looking/ugly car, Audi A5s are cracking looking IMO, I could go on, but the point is they are not any uglier/worse looking than anything from any other manufacturers from any other country, they are not any worse cars in any way really in terms of reliability, specification/equipment, how good they are to drive etc. the problem with them and thus the reason I don't like them is how overpriced they are, the apparent "premium" the badge supposedly has, the majority of wanky/snobby/smug/arrogant owners who think they are better than everyone and that their car is the best thing since sliced bread, and the OMGGERMANCARSAREUBERQUALITYFTW attitude even people who don't own them have towards them, My old man for example had never owned a German car in his life, closest he'd come was owning rebadged Opels ie Vauxhalls, yet he would always remark when seeing a VW "quality motor" and now he has one i remarked how the owners manual for his car being in a "leather" bound small lever arch file with separate sections for things was a nice touch he said "that's VW for you, German quality, its the wee neat touches like that and attention to detail that makes them quality"

 

So yeah the Germans are good at clever marketing, people who have never owned them speak about their quality/reliability like they are speaking from personal experience in much the same way others who've never owned a Ford/Vauxhall will tell you how their cars are crap/not up to much, so it'd not so much that German cars are bad they just have a lot of hype to live upto.

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...they are not any uglier/worse looking than anything from any other manufacturers from any other country...

 

Every time I think car styling can't get worse, the next new car show is held, and I'm proven wrong yet again. That something isn't uglier than something else, is nowadays not a token of beauty, far from it.

 

I can't see any trace of beauty in the examples the German car magazine chose, but admittedly some of them wouldn't have been my prime candidates for an article like this. They made worse. Much worse.

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I like things with curves........be they wenches or cars

 

So much of the recent cars and girls and girls thread with it's straight waisted chaves leaves me cold.

 

Siimilarly many of the examples in this thread are meh....

 

But i think the Lupo remains a good looking car........oh.........and I like Binis the more time passes.

 

So the krauts can do what they like. Just give me cars with curves and I'm in.........I don't don't care where they originate.

 

In some places BL is ridiculed.......in others it is czech......now the germans.No change.

 

Just saying.

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