Unsuccessful facelifts

[GeordieInExile]

17 minutes ago, Wibble said:

Good thread topic this @GeordieInExile👍

I thought about doing it for successful facelifts but this is way more fun. 

[jon.k]

25 minutes ago, GMcD said:

This is the winner for me. Take a top selling pretty supermini and absolutely fucking ruin it.  A proper own goal.  

I instantly thought of this.

I like the 406 facelift though.

[Wibble]

Sorry @grogee, I quite like the 406 saloon facelift and @MrBiscuits the 800🤷🏻‍♂️

[grogee]

Just now, Wibble said:

Sorry @grogee, I quite like the 406 saloon facelift and @MrBiscuits the 800🤷🏻‍♂️

Careful. We'll gang up on you. 

[andyberg]

35 minutes ago, MrBiscuits said:

Renault have form for this kind of thing. 

As a Safrane licker I prefer the facelifted version, but I wouldn't kick the MK1 out of bed if it came along 😂

[bunglebus]

17 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

Rubber bumper facelift I actually like (and understand why they did it)

Unfortunately US bumper laws saw a lot of car designs ruined 

[bunglebus]

As for the American spec 911 of the early 80s...

[Spiny Norman]

All of them.
I struggle to come up with a car that looked better after a facelift.

[jonathan_dyane]

[Macscrooge]

Renault 21

[Dyslexic Viking]

12 minutes ago, Spiny Norman said:

All of them.
I struggle to come up with a car that looked better after a facelift.

Volvo 240? the first ones in the 1970s were ugly but they got much better later after facelifts.

[chaseracer]

Yes.

 

OMG yes.

 

WTF?

[egg]

Debatable?

[barefoot]

 

[J R Hartley]

I was never keen on the MK3 Octavia update..

[catsinthewelder]

Not a car but the 2015 facelift on the Citroen Relay etc worked really well.

 

[ETCHY]

For me mk1 Fiesta, I loved that sharp edged look it had. The mk1.5 update with the dodgy rounded front & altered tailgate looked crap imo.

[morrisoxide]

It would be easier to name the facelifts that actually worked, the list would be tiny. 😄
But then that wouldn't make for a good thread.

[D.E]

[Surface Rust]

29 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Volvo 240? the first ones in the 1970s were ugly but they got much better later after facelifts.

I'd agree with that. I also thought the later slopey nose Saab 900 looked better than the early flat front 900.

[RoverFolkUs]

Very subtle, but JUSTICE FOR THE GINGERCATORS

(And this rather iconic peppermint(?) green colour they decided to do away with..)

[RoverFolkUs]

Yes yes, I know, GM....

All the design characteristics, wasted by being so heavily watered down

[Jazoli]

8 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Yes yes, I know, GM....

All the design characteristics, wasted by being so heavily watered down

That wasn’t a facelift it was a new car

[RoverFolkUs]

Just now, Jazoli said:

That wasn’t a facelift it was a new car

True, however in my books if they've tried to make it look the same but failed miserably then it still counts 🤔😉

[Dan302]

42 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Volvo 240? the first ones in the 1970s were ugly but they got much better later after facelifts.

I prefer the earlier 70s ones, that might be nostalgia though as a mate of my dad's had one complete with C.B radio (I was obsessed with Smokey and the Bandit!)

[Asimo]

58 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Volvo 240? the first ones in the 1970s were ugly but they got much better later after facelifts.

Wrong. 
The first 244s with round headlights and the massive forged-aluminium bumpers were properly Volvo.

 

Later models look like they lost their self confidence and just want to be popular, like Datsuns.

[KWhite]

Whilst an Omega was never an ugly car, I still think the pre-facelift looks sharper than the later cars

[Justwatching]

The 75 was very classically styled on launch, but then it got face-lifted using very contemporary looking wheels, lights and bumpers. Always thought the design languages clashed and gave it an identity crisis. 

[Asimo]

1 hour ago, morrisoxide said:

It would be easier to name the facelifts that actually worked, the list would be tiny. 😄
But then that wouldn't make for a good thread.

Funnily enough, I have always thought the “facelifted” BMC Farinas were a real improvement upon the early cars.

[adw1977]

I've never liked the facelifted front end of the lower spec Hillman Hunters