BMW X5
The current, or now old, X5 used to be the last good looking SUV in the BMW portfolio. The new, unfortunately brings this exception to an end. Unveiled today, Munich's new full-scale off-roader looks like the unhappy love child of a Mercedes GL and a X1, with a bit of Honda CR-V, and BMW X3 and 3-Series thrown in for good measure. In short, it looks heavy and awkward. And the decision to increase the width while narrowing the tracks sure doesn't help with that.
And the back is shutline galore or hell. In the attempt to hide the fact that the rear window is not all that raked and probably improve aerodynamics BMW added blacked out buttresses together with a body color spoiler, neither of which lines up with the actual rear window. Add to that the shutline of the split tailgate and the cut off x1 and E34 5 series (which I love, by the way) style taillights and you really got yourself into one busy mess.
For the first time, at least, BMW provided a functional explanation for these obnoxious fender vents cropping up on their new models: supposedly they help channel air through the wheel houses for cooling purposes. If that's true, than I wished they had had found a more elegant solution.
This general tendency to imbue cars with 'athletic' design, i.e. excessive vents, flared arches and the likes, is a bit galling. But that's for another post.
Peugeot and the rediscovery of French elegance
Peugeot seems to have its mojo back, or at least its sense of history. After almost a decade of ever more awkward design, the French firm with the lion as its logo seems to have understood that 'feline' need not mean 'roaring beast'. The new 308 is instead a piece of restrained poise not seen since at least the 406 and in particular the Pininfarina designed coupe of that series. The 508 (despite the sagging boot, maybe a failed reference to the 504) and the 208 already pointed in the right direction. But the 308 got it pretty much right. It might seem a bit derivative from certain angles - there's a hint of Kia in the front and something reminds me of the Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback from three-quarters in the way that the rear-lights and the sides meet - but then most Peugeots of the 70s and 80s had a very quiet design.
In general, I don't quite understand the whole overt sportiness thing. not from a design stand point (Mercedes used to be timeless, very similar to Peugeot here; and Audi used to be clean. now you can order all these fake add-on air vents which certainly help the bottom line, but not the looks) nor from a driving point of view: I certainly enjoy a well-handling car, but for 95% of the time it doesn't matter, while a compliant suspension dealing well with expansion joints and potholes does. In a round about way this brings me back to the new Peugeot: together with the small steering wheel and the so-called 'head-up' positioning of the instrument binnacle, Peugeot seems to have taken inspiration from Aston Martin: the rev counter runs counter-clockwise to form a perfect symmetry with the speedometer. This source of inspiration also prevents me from hailing it as a piece of French idiosyncrasy. Charming nonetheless, though.
Lamborghini lost in solipsistic aggression
Lamborghini just revealed another concept to celebrate its 50th anniversary as a car manufacturer this year. According to its designer Walter da Silva - otherwise head of design for all of Volkswagen - the cars profile is resembling a charging bull. Not so sure about this. To me it looks more like a cockroach. certainly also fierce animals, but not quite celebrated in the way the fighting bulls celebrated in the Italian manufacturers nomenclature.
I am generally not so sure about these hyper-exclusive styling exercises (the Sesto Elemento, Veneno etc.) while the Gallardo is now over a decade old - and has just received another at the very least debatable update. To some extent the corporate schedule at Audi and Volkswagen has to be blamed for this. But the Estoque, for example, at least provided a vision for what a large, elegant Lamborghini could be. And Lamborghini was certainly also about elegant tourers, think Espada, and not only about hyper-aggressive pseudo-racers.
