July 7: Car front end look alikes

You've seen it. Every so often a car comes along with a front end that looks very, very familiar, "Now, let me think, haven't I seen you somewhere before?". Happens quite often. A lower priced car tries to emulate a luxury model, thinking that the good vibes will enhance its sales. Works sometimes.

One you are probably most familiar with is this front end........

......the Chrysler 300 with its optional grille. This car reminded most folks of a Bentley, like the one below. See the resemblance?

And the rest of the car also had the look and feel of the ultra luxurious original.

This wasn't the first time that Chrysler had looked to a foreign luxury model to copy. Remember the famous or infamous, depending on your point of view, K car? Who doesn't? So does its front end remind you of another brand?

I know, I know, you're thinking that it doesn't look like much of anything, but how about this Mercedes........

Now, do you see the resemblance? A line here, a line there and voila', the little K car becomes a high end Benz. Well, maybe that's a stretch (no question that's a stretch). Ok, so let's move on to something a tad more obvious. If you are copying, wouldn't it make sense to go to the very highest end of the luxury car spectrum? Of course. So what sits on the highest throne?

Sure, even non car people would probably say Rolls Royce. This is an older pic, but this famous radiator grille hasn't changed forever. So who decided to copy this iconic front end?

Yep, Lincoln. This one is from the '70's, but starting in 1969, Lincoln, emulated Rolls and did so well into the  1980's. Funnily enough, for a time in the '90's they softened this grille to be more Bentley like. Go figure.

This brings us to the present day, Lexus and their quest for front end identity.........

..........standing out, but not in a good way. Wouldn't be the first time a car company went a little over the top in their efforts to make their cars stand out and be instantly recognizable in the way a BMW is and has been. I've blogged about this before and if you read the car magazines, this hourglass grille is seldom thought of in a postive way.

Now it can't be that this strange look has been copied from another brand? Surely, they wouldn't have tried to emulate something this peculiar? That's what I thought, until I came across this car in my online ramblings......

No question, the Lexus designers had a vision of this old 1961 Plymouth and decided that its front end looked strange enough to stand out. What a great car to emulate and who in the world is ever going to put two and two together? Plymouth, if it was still around, would be flattered. The rest of us, well, I'm not so sure.

So front end copying has gone on for years and will no doubt, go on for many more, but be careful who you decide to copy, since there is always someone out there who will point a finger and say, "That looks like an old (insert the name here)........". And as for Lexus, maybe you should have looked at a 1957 Chevy - it was a classic.

Until next time......