Who copied whom?

[bluetwo]

Honda and Toyota have been using this kind of design for years and it's actually impossible to say which one came up with it first and because I believe this so much (and of course I could be wrong but it's on you guys to prove it) I'm going to go to the trouble to demonstrate below.... and I went to some trouble to find similar photos and upload them so at least look. And by the way, for anyone who says one automaker copied the other know that you have to be BLIND to miss the glaring similarities in these models (well, that or not looking) and work on these first two, the FXC Clarity and 8th generation Civic, started WAY back, lets say in about 2005 for lack of looking into the exact details. I present to you, who copied whom? And of course the point! It's all about aerodynamics people!!! A car can only be shaped to cut through the wind to a certain extent (at least production cars) and these designs are about as good as it gets right now.

[gone-ot]

...aerodynamics is aerodynamics.

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by bluetwo

Honda and Toyota have been using this kind of design for years and it's actually impossible to say which one came up with it first and because I believe this so much (and of course I could be wrong but it's on you guys to prove it) ... I present to you, who copied whom? And of course the point! It's all about aerodynamics people!!! A car can only be shaped to cut through the wind to a certain extent (at least production cars) and these designs are about as good as it gets right now.

I think Honda and Toyota copied CHRYSLER! American car companies developing hybrid prototypes back in the '90's with the full financial backing of the U.S. Gummint scared the bejeezus out of the Japanese, who proceeded to build something competitive and we proceeded to drop the ball, as usual.



This from 1998!



But I disagree about the aero. Benz has shown a .19 Cd with their Bionic and it looks NOTHING like the others.



Good aero can and will be distinctive.

[cfg83]

Frank -

I agree on the Chrysler/FCX, but when I saw an FCX live I noticed this design detail :



You can't see it as much in the side view of the FCX, but the tapering rear-window screamed Bionic to me. Even though the "fish" are different, they still share DNA.

CarloSW2

[bluetwo]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...aerodynamics is aerodynamics.

WTF? If there's a point to that statement it's completely lost on me.... note my post hasn't been edited so obviously I spelled it the right way from the beginning. Maybe you're saying I should've made aero bold? ...curious.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

I think what was meant was: aerodynamics is not styling -- it has to be right for the air flow to be right. Styling is what you do after you get the shape right.

[bluetwo]

Ok, well if that's so then great but I never mentioned styling. In fact my thinking is the "styling" is completely irrellevant and I just say that because I don't care about that much in this comparison.

What I see when I look at all 4 cars is a cab forward design, a short nose or front end. I see the little windows (for FCX same shape) in front and back and I see mirrors that are attached by little beams due to the need for such a mounting method. I see a sloping roof that melds with the rear end and I see basically the same angles on every car. What they do with the little lines here and there don't mean much to most people who see them, in fact I'm sure most people will agree they are SO much alike.

THANKS to Frank Lee for those older pictures, I'd never seen those for sure.

[cfg83]

bluetwo -

Originally Posted by bluetwo

...

THANKS to Frank Lee for those older pictures, I'd never seen those for sure.

Frank's posted them before, but I never get tired of seeing them. Those Chryslers were beautiful car designs.

CarloSW2

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by bluetwo

...I see basically the same angles on every car.

Because those angles are a way to get efficient airflow, given constraints like seating 4/5 people and putting an engine in there somewhere. Same as the way most (flying) birds have much the same body shape, and that shape's a lot like bats & pterosaurs...

[bluetwo]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Because those angles are a way to get efficient airflow, given constraints like seating 4/5 people and putting an engine in there somewhere. Same as the way most (flying) birds have much the same body shape, and that shape's a lot like bats & pterosaurs...

Exactly right, and I wish more people knew about it. I remember seeing a preview of the Civic sedan back in 2004 if I remember right. Some magazine had it and they previewed the FCX at the same time touting the design as the new direction for the company. Seemed ugly to me at the time but like most new designs it grew on me eventually.

I'm glad there haven't been a whole lot of horribly negative comments on this. For some reason I was expecting worse......