Japanese Auto Styling

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted by JeffKeryk

Best looking Japanese car...

Beg to differ. Alan Mullally called the LS430 the finest car in the world before he took the helm at Ford - Boeing paid for it. Not the best pic, but here's my parent's '05 LS430 after a wash and wax. . . .

I sat in a pre-owned 430 in October of 2012, considering buying it. It was a sage green color with a cream interior. You could barely hear the engine run . . . and it was sitting indoors between two SUVs, and I had the window down. If I had run across the right 430 before I bought the 328i BMW, or the Buick LaCrosse, I would have gone for it.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I sat in a pre-owned 430 in October of 2012, considering buying it. It was a sage green color with a cream interior. You could barely hear the engine run . . . and it was sitting indoors between two SUVs, and I had the window down. If I had run across the right 430 before I bought the 328i BMW, or the Buick LaCrosse, I would have gone for it.

That's a beautiful car!!

 

[Benzadmiral]

That's a beautiful car!!

I've regretted not buying it ever since. At the time, my finances weren't quite right to go into debt again. I had just been looking around to see what was out there.

 

[andyd]

Blame it on pedestrian impact regulations which were passed in Asia and the EU over the past decade or so. Basically none of the old designs which people allegedly love would ever pass muster.

Thanks for the reality check. Ugly cars for a reason. German recycling rules resulted in biodegradable cooling systems. Japanese cars get their styling cues from their cartoon monsters.

 

[GJM120]

BMW has been beaten with the ugly stick also.

 

[alcyon]

Originally Posted by wings&wheels

The 1st gen Lexus SC/2nd gen Toyota Soarer was an interesting case study in design - it was penned and designed at Calty in Orange County. The lead designer used plaster-filled balloons as an experiment in shape. It was a departure from what was being designed in Japan. I felt the Lexus of the 1990s to mid-2010s designed for the American market. A Lexus looked more American than an Acura or Infiniti to me. http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/25-year-club-lexus-sc/

Lexus SC is 3rd gen soarer, not 2nd gen as pictured below from the article.

 

[nthach]

Thanks for correcting me. 2nd gen Soarer slightly looks like a Corona Mark II/Cressida coupe.

 

[alcyon]

Thanks for correcting me. 2nd gen Soarer slightly looks like a Corona Mark II/Cressida coupe.

You arent wrong there, but toyota created the soarer first in 1986, and they found that it was very attractive and sold very well, so they made slight permutations to it and created the next gen corona, corolla,Mark II/cressida, carina, levin, all having the "same" kind of look.
1987 levin

1988 corolla

1988 corona

1988 mark II/Cressida

The basic theme being generally boxy but with softer rounded edges. They were ahead of the game compared to Nissan, which had ultra squarish boxy cars until 1988. The 1981 R30 skyline and subsequent 1986 R31 skyline was still very much 1980s squarish staple shape.
1982 Skyline

1986 skyline, new chassis , but still very squarish and boxy