Thursday, August 27, 2009

Poke-Mazda and Acura's Madam Guillotine

Mazda has a history of building affordable, fun to drive cars--most of which are beautifully styled as well. The RX-7, RX-8 and Miata stand out, as do many of their sedans like the Millenia and Mazda 6. The Mazda 3 used to be in that group until recently, when they stuck a Pokemon character on the front end.

To be fair, I was caught off guard. I approached the new Mazda 3 from the rear. From that angle it looks taught, with some lines that could have been penned from an Italian design studio. Then I got to the front. The suprise almost made me yelp and drop my coffee.

The ugly front end treatment doesn't just apply to the Mazda 3. It's spread to the new Miata, which looks only slightly less cartoonish. I'm surprised the company doesn't offer an Anime edition to replace the old M edition.

There are other makes that have come out with similarly repugnant visages. Acura's new grille looks like someone welded on a guillotine or a giant cheese slicer. It sticks out like the Rolls Royce style grills you used see on the old VW Beetle.

The term "coyote ugly" comes to mind for most of these cars. Only instead of my arm, I'd chew my leg off to keep from driving one.

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