"in reply to WillDeBeest"...
I find myself agreeing with everything he said. I'm not generally a fan of retro styling in anything, but in terms of cars, I do like 'hints' of past glories if they're done well - current Aston Martins and Maseratis spring to mind (IMO).
S6 1SW
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>>in reply to wildebeest....
Yes, I agree with all of that too. The 75 was another wasted effort by Rover. A car that, for once, was reasonably well engineered yet they hamper it with styling that would only appeal to a very small market sector. Jaguar too have wasted some decent investment by trotting out old-fashioned designs. I actually don't mind the S-Type, at least they made an effort, but the x-type looked old hat before it even went on sale.
>>in reply to round the bend
Yep, the Vauxhall V grille is another mistake. Back in the early 90s Rover made a bit of an impact with the traditional chrome grille (but then got carried away). Everyone else seemed to want to make a similar impact and Vauxhall cunningly thought up the idea of a great big chrome V. Every equivalent Opel has looked smarter since, yet the Vauxhall contrived mess has somehow lived on.
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in reply to no one
Car makers try to have a corporate image, a style. Unfourtunately due to sheer lack of imagination and flair this has been reduced to a stupid shared radiator grill drawn up on an etch a sketch,
Jaguar still manage a "look and feel", as do Volvo. SAAB used to but suddenly lost it. BMW still have it but its changed, and SEAT have sudenly gone out an found a rather funky and sexy look and feel.
Renault had it for a while, but they seem to be throwing it away. Stylish, funky, sexy, sporting is suddenly beeing washed down the drain.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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>>in reply to wildebeest.... Yes I agree with all of that too. The 75 was another wasted effort by Rover. A car that for once was reasonably well engineered yet they hamper it with styling that would only appeal to a very small market sector. Jaguar too have wasted some decent investment by trotting out old-fashioned designs. I actually don't mind the S-Type at least they made an effort but the x-type looked old hat before it even went on sale.
The 75 was the best looking Rover for years - so what if it was retro - retro was in when it was launched - look at the Mini and the Beetle - singling it out in a market filled with such cars is rather petty. Very few customers I ever met with 75's were under 45 and most well over, but they are just the kind of people who have money to buy spend on a large saloon/estate.
Looking at how many are on the roads, it doesnt seem to have put many people off.
The Beetle is the true criminal for retro styling - atleast the Rover was a fairly cohesive design, the Beetle however looks like it was left in the oven too long and melted. Its utterly vile and good at nothing other than a retro trip - atleast the Rover, back in 1998, was fairly well received whereas the Beetle was NEVER taken seriously by anyone other than the odd hairdresser.
I have three customers with XJ Jags ( previous shape ) and the reason they love the cars AND in two cases have driven large Jag saloons for 20 plus years is exactly because they love the elegance of the design and neither want the latest version on account of the styling being ruined.
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The 75 was the best looking Rover for years - so what if it was retro - retro was in when it was launched - look at the Mini and the Beetle - singling it out in a market filled with such cars is rather petty.
I don't know the sales targets for each model, but I know the Mini exceeded BMW's wildest expectations. I don't think the 75 did. The 600 was a good looking Rover too IMO, a far tidier effort than the 75.
I have three customers with XJ Jags ( previous shape ) and the reason they love the cars AND in two cases have driven large Jag saloons for 20 plus years ....
Lovely cars, but Jag's problem was to attract new buyers. That was the X-type's brief, which it has singularly failed to fulfil.
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