May 25: What's in a name?

One of the first crossovers or maybe even the first? Whatever you called it, the Toyota Venza, with us from 2009 until 2016, was an unusual effort from Toyota. How unusual?  Check it out........

For one thing it was good looking at a time when looking at a Toyota was the next best thing to taking a sleeping pill. And check out the size of those seemingly huge rims, 20 inchers when 18's were considered to be big. Another anomaly from Toyota. So what happened to the Venza. In our world of suv and crossover adoration this creation should have set Toyota's world on fire. Initially it did, but for some reason, they let it sit and made almost no changes over its eight year run. So what happens in the ever changing car world? Yeah, you got it. People forgot about the Venza and moved on to the next big thing.

Now five years after Venza's funeral, Toyota has announced a new one for 2021.......

 

Place it between the Rav4 and the Highlander and you've nailed its size and price. Here's an interesting (at least to me) point, this model is called the Harrier everywhere else in Toyota's world. I guess Toyota thought we'd fondly remember the forgotten Venza. It's called name recognition, folks.

Harrier. This name has been on a Toyota suv for years and we've had it in the North American showrooms from the beginning. Recognize it........

 

Of course, you do, This is the Lexus RX350, that we've sold since the late '90's. I believe it's been the best selling luxury suv since it's intro. But why call it the Harrier and sell it as a Toyota? That's easy to answer. The Lexus brand is a recent addition everywhere else in the world except North America. So what carried a Lexus nameplate over here, was a Toyota everywhere else. You can thank me for this tidbit of semi useless car info at your next social distancing cocktail party

So what's in a name? Now you know.

Until next time........

May 19: How to design a box

How do you design a box?

Sounds simple enough, but doesn't every box look alike? Four corners. So just how creative can one be?

Sport utes are boxes. Actually two boxes, the sporty one at the front for the motor and utility one behind it for the passengers and cargo. Does this mean then that all suvs will look exactly the same, with the only difference being at the front end to identify them?

Not likely, but they started out that way.......

 

Two almost identical boxes, one is a Ford Explorer, the other a Chevy Blazer, but which is which?

Hey, this is the car business, so you just have to know that those designers will do their best to design a new box. Maybe one that looks like this.......

Ok, so this suv is as boxy as they come, but being a Rolls-Royce do you actually think that it has to make a fashion statement? It's a Rolls. 'Nuff said. But not all companies can fall back on tradition or a very famous name. What are they to do and how will they design their box?

This would require some out of the box thinking and yes, the pun was intended. I think one of the first sport utes to get "styled" was the Murano.......

Hardly radical these days, when even the latest Murano makes this copper coloured effort look conservative by comparison........

And then there are the wild child efforts like this Lambo........

All this is being done to show us that there is more than one way to design two boxes and join them together. Of course, there are still many box on box designs, particularly in the huge people mover category, like the Caddy Escalade and the Lincoln Navigator. Traditional to the Nth degree.

So after almost thirty years later, how have those two suvs, that I showed at the beginning evolved? Well, one has had a name change, but how about their designs?

No longer boxes, but interestingly their designs have evolved to look much the same to the uninformed eye. Go figure.

With all the time you probably now have on your hands, how would you design your box?

Until next time and stay safe.........

May 12: Red Flag and friends

How appropriate that this pic of Red China's Hongqi Red Flag limo should be tinted RED. This recent model shows all the class and design cues of a prime 1950's something or other. Only a few decades behind the curve, but featured with great pride in all of China's special events. Don't get too carried away, Barry, since they did update this model not so long ago......

Oops! I guess they missed the memo about how fender mounted single headlights were a design feature, that packed it in over sixty years ago. I guess good design ideas don't reach China as quickly as their wretched virus reached the rest of the world. But fear not, Hongqi does have some rather more modern looking vehicles in their product line.......

Contemporary with a grille that makes no excuses and an interior that makes no sense. Take a close look at that oddball design that carries over onto the steering wheel hub. And speaking of grilles, Hongqi seems to be taking a page out of BMW's book, chapter 12, which talks about how the car's grille has to be as large and possibly as objectionable as possible. Ok, so it's not in the same league as Lexus. I'll give them a pass on that point.

Everyone is doing electric. Hongqi? Of course and this camo covered suv shows theirs.......

Tahoe big and in profile quite attractive. How close will it be to the concept?

 

Actually, it will be identical, right down to that electric razor grille that so prominently announces the arrival of the Hongqi E115. As good looking as the better looking suvs anywhere. That grille of course will take some getting used to, but all the better for mowing down the proletariat.

Need we line up for this next BIG thing and hope to be the first on our block? Probably not. I keep reading about the latest Chinese company with designs on the world and specifically the US market, but show me a Chinese car that has made the trip. It'll come eventually and when it does, let's hope it doesn't look like this........

Until next time and stay safe.......