I know there has been some blatant design copy/ pasting going on in the Chinese market but today as I pulled up at a set of lights there was a new model mini in the left lane and a fiat 500x in the right. Apart from the obvious height difference you could hardly see any difference between the two from the rear. Is it by chance or are designers getting lazy?

I'm not sure about lazy although that could also be true but just seem to play it safe with the mini facelift. Oh, what can we do. I know lets give it bigger lights.

I actually think it looks worse for it. Also the standard Fiat 500 facelift not sure of the light upgrades on that either.

I wonder if the bigger lights are there to make ever more silly / elaborate patterns with LEDs?

That wouldn't surprise me given the new larger lights on the mini clubman, it looks like they lifted them from a seventies ford Grenada

This is a well asked question these days. Loads of cars do indeed appear to be of the same/similar design & there is a good reason for it. Streamlining & making the vehicle as fuel effective as possible brings up sameness. Cost, designers have to make sure that the car they are designing will sell.

Basicly they are staying safe.

I was coming out of the local pub recently and parked in the front was a new Jaguar XE.

From the back it was very hard to distinguish it from the Audi A4, A5, A6

Easy to see why when you look at the segment its in and like said above, the car needs to sell well. At least at the front it was more striking/ individual.

Cooperman you are 100% right.

Most normal cars look boring nowadays.

It's just the same dull designs over and over and over again. But most importantly, they sell, so it makes perfect sense from a commercial point of view.

Most people just aren't bothered about car designs. In the same way that most people probably don't care too much what their toilet roll holder looks like, they also don't care what their car looks like as long as it does the job.

The really exciting and interesting designs are quite understandably reserved for the supercars, where people specifically want something nice looking.

The 90's had cars like the Mazda RX7, Nissan 300ZX, Mitsubishi FTO, Toyota Supra, Fiat Coupe, Alfa GTV- essentially 'normal' cars that were designed with flair and that could turn as many heads as supercars!

Blimey is your local pub down at the docks?

Nice docks! I'd certainly volunteer to sail off in the Jag!

I personally think the DB9 brought about the S5, XF etc.

I consider myself a car spotter but even I struggle to distinguish between the XE and the XF now?!

Agreed!

+1

Although there are some cars that do look strikingly similar these days, I don't think there has ever been a time in history when there has been more variation in car design. Try looking at the sidelights on my '68 Aston Martin DBS and then the sidelights of a MkII Cortina, or the rear lights and the rear lights of a Hilman Hunter/Humber Sceptre. They don't just LOOK the same, they ARE the same!!!



Now that's lazy!!!

Take any single year in history and you'll see the same automotive design themes over and over again across different makers.

My 1968 AM DBS - very impressive!

On the theme of tail lights - I recall Ford Cortina Mk2 and Vauxhall Viva Mk2 rear lights being very similar?

That's shocking! I'd ask for your money back

Think that's lazy? They couldn't even be bothered to make a new ECU for the Ferrari F40 - and just used the one out of the coupe 16V (twice!).

Rear light cluster on the Rover SD1 and Lotus Esprit I seem to remember being the same.

One thing that has made for the possibility of widely varied car design is that you can make metal and plastic in any shape relatively affordably. Imagine making the Nissan Juke in the 1970s. (OK, you can stop imagining...)

Not the Esprit but the Lotus Excel seems to be suspiciously similar (upturned)

I'm not so sure...

Those lazy Lotus guys!

Ahh yes it would appear so.

I was looking at the mk1 as seen in James Bond.

Wonder where they pinched the mk1 lights from?!?

And, for those of us with more time to spend...

Pistonheads nails it...

Oh dear:-

Bristol Blenheim
Vauxhall Senator

Good thread! There must be some good car spotters out there thats for sure, I used to think I was quite good at it but not in their league!!

My personal favourite, this MG seems to use Fiat Punto Mk2 headlights actually to good effect:-

I think it uses the Fiat Coupe taillights to even better effect!

Wonder if you can get those stainless rings anywhere?...

Maserati Barchetta from the early 90s... check out those headlights

The S1 Esprit rear lights were from the X1/9. Chapman was a big fan of the X and bought his daughter a 1300 for her birthday - until she was nearly killed in it in a bad accident. The later 'Stevens/X180' rounded Esprit used rear lights from the
Celica.

The previous Gen Panda Cross used the Coupe rears as well :

Didn't the McLaren F1 nick the rear light from a Bova bus/coach?

For 10 bonus points, what part does one of the Esprit models share with the Fiat Coupe?

And you can't use Google!

A nagging feeling of impending failure?