So what you are saying is design excellence is it's own sort of beauty.
Anyone can look good on the surface, but it takes talent to look good beyond that.
Same goes for cars and other designed products.
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
I'd be lying if I said I don't care about other people's opinions. I will say, however, that that would never be a factor in my buying decisions. It sounds like a recipe for constant worrying and wasted money.
As for how the car looks to me... Having owned two cars that looked pretty good (to me), I completely understand the walk-up and walk-away effects. That said, function becomes beauty to me. If I like functional aspects of an ugly car, I will eventually like how it looks; if I hate functional aspects of a gorgeous car, I will eventually think it's ugly.
Cases in point: I thought the Acura RSX looked like a bug that needed to be squashed, until I drove a Type-S; now I kind of like how it looks. On the other hand, I absolutely loved how the latest Mitsubishi Eclipse looked, until I found out that it's really heavy and has no AWD option; now I think it's butt-ugly.
Maybe that's just me.