"Volvosaurus-Rex" (VolvosaurusRex)
10/16/2013 at 12:25 • Filed to: Car Design
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"Volvosaurus-Rex" (VolvosaurusRex)
10/16/2013 at 12:25 • Filed to: Car Design | 2
| 15 |
When the "Spindle" fad first hit the scene, I thought it was dumb. It looked like a kid stuffed too many M&Ms in his mouth, and was about to burst. I will still say it's not my favorite automotive trend, but one company has made it work and one has not. Let's take a look:
Lexus: They made a statement about where they were going with the brand. Love it or hate it, the wide mouth bass spindle was coming. Often though, concept cars look great, while their production counterparts lose that edge.
It was not until MY2012 that the public got a chance to purchase the first iteration of the spindle. The Lexus GS was the first to adopt the new corporate face:
The stable mates were close behind with the ES and LS showing a spindle face in the MY2013:
And finally, Lexus has finished their range of non-performance cars with the IS for MY2014:
In order to complete the corporate look, they did not stop at the car line, and went about Ctrl-C > Ctrl-V to all the SUVs:
You can tell Lexus wanted a strong showing with their first spindle, the GS, but the design wasn't quite as edgy in the first iteration. Combine that with the next two designs of the LS and ES (which have always been quite conservative), and you can see the spindle got off to a slow start. Then the IS entered the scene with a design that took the car company outside of their comfort zone, it had some of that edge from the concept car, it was different and it looks fantastic.
Stay tuned for Part 2 - Infinity, coming soon.
-Amateur
> Volvosaurus-Rex
10/16/2013 at 12:28 |
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Totally agree. I hated the spindle at first and now, it's growing on me and I'm starting to dig it!
Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
> Volvosaurus-Rex
10/16/2013 at 12:29 |
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Things that are going to look hilariously outdated in 5 years (certainly 10): the Spindle.
We're entering a period of car design that's going to go down as one that does not age well.
HammerheadFistpunch
> Volvosaurus-Rex
10/16/2013 at 12:32 |
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This and the gx460 make me cringe.
William Byrd
> Volvosaurus-Rex
10/16/2013 at 12:33 |
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Good writeup!
My take is that it gives some aggression to a seriously non-aggressive car company (at least by volume, IS-F and LFA not included). I own a 2009 IS250 AWD and it's a very nice car, but I would trade it for a new ES with the spindle in a heartbeat. Something I would NOT have said pre-spindle.
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Volvosaurus-Rex
> William Byrd
10/16/2013 at 13:10 |
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Why not the new IS?
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Volvosaurus-Rex
> HammerheadFistpunch
10/16/2013 at 13:11 |
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I didn't even realize those were redesigned with the spindle when I started the writeup...
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Volvosaurus-Rex
> -Amateur
10/16/2013 at 13:11 |
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Just wait until part 2...
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Volvosaurus-Rex
> Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
10/16/2013 at 13:12 |
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I'm thinking my next topic will be emblem size trends
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William Byrd
> Volvosaurus-Rex
10/16/2013 at 13:23 |
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Sorry, didn't mean to be exclusionary. Yes, I would include the new IS as well. I just meant that even the ES, which I used to call a "Camry-derived beigemobile" looks decent enough for me to consider buying now thanks to the new design language.
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Volvosaurus-Rex
> William Byrd
10/16/2013 at 13:30 |
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That is saying a lot. The one they made 2 prior generations ago was hideous:
ColoradoTaco
> Volvosaurus-Rex
10/16/2013 at 14:02 |
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Fucking predator mouth
rawr
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William Byrd
> Volvosaurus-Rex
10/16/2013 at 14:40 |
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Yep, it was awful.
killerkoolaid37
> Volvosaurus-Rex
10/16/2013 at 14:49 |
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The only thing that I don't like about the spindle designs is that... well, the spindle grilles "fit" the design language on their prototypes. On almost every car they've put it on in production, it's been horribly jarring. Look at the last picture you posted here. Start from the rear of the car and work forward, and you'll see a car that's stately, refined, with a bit of a flourish. You get past the front wheel well and it becomes "ZOMG ANGRY ANGRY CYLON RAWRRR!!!" It's not even a gradual transition, it's just there, like they took a normal looking car and gave it's nose a pinch.
SpeedSix
> ColoradoTaco
10/16/2013 at 16:17 |
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Cannot unsee.
wtrmlnjuc
> -Amateur
10/16/2013 at 17:06 |
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My only issue with it is that they make the spindle stand out too much from the rest of it. All the publicly released drawings have it blending into the design, while all the production models love to chrome-it-up on the spindle.