Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A color commentator for an ALMS race said he was impressed with the Ferrari 458 Italia, but he didn't much care for the looks compared to the F 430. I couldn't disagree more. Styling-wise, these are my Top Three over, say, the last decade. What are yours?
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| Ferrari 458 Italia "securely parked" at Blackhawk Farms. The whole car works for me, including the greenhouse and the rear. But I especially love the front: all the surfaces and slits are aerodynamically functional, and the front of the car no longer looks fat (like the 360 Modena and the F 430 did). It doesn't shout "Look at me! I'm a Supercar!" like the F 40 did. The silver trim "nostrils" echo the Tipo 156 GP car. Who says you can't do a "regulation bumper height" front end that doesn't look great? |
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| I must have dozens of pictures of the S 197 Mustang. As usual, Killboy captures the look best. Of course, Ford only did this body for 5 years. Then they began screwing it up. Now, with the "family identity" Carp Nose, the Mustang is flat ugly again. On this one, the owner has painted the mirrors body-color: an improvement. But he should have checked the "rear wing delete" box too. |
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| 2003 Acura RSX. I love the slope nose, headlights, and simple alloy wheels. This car is so "close-coupled:" there is not a square inch of sheet metal on it that doesn't need to be there to enclose the mechanicals, cabin, and trunk. Very few "character lines" to develop the surfaces, and the ones that are there work well. The Tuner Way seems to be that a car is improved with a body kit--or at least faux carbon-fiber panels here and there. On the RSX, tuners would be wrong. It's as good as a mass-produced car gets. |
5 comments:
Dear fellow Mustang driver,
I'm sure that if the truth was told we have all hugged the yellow line at one time or the other, but what you are doing borders on insanity...especially on the Dragon.
Take care,
Watchtower
Well...I wasn't gonna bring that bit up while I was making a different point. Amen, Watchtower. Killboy's caption was something like "I was gonna compliment you on your car, but now I can't."
I love the Ferrari, but would love it even more if it didn't have that LED(?) treatment above the headlamp.
I always thought GM did a good job on the C6, it's just that I see so many that I don't appreciate them like I once did.
I like that they did away with the retractable headlamps.
Agree (l.e.d.'s and C-6, and C-6 headlights). The C-6 almost made my list. It's certainly an improvement over the C-5, which was an improvement over the C-4. But, to me, Corvettes look "fat." Or maybe like they were carved from a block of something dense. Maybe cheese. Is that because sharp creases are hard to do in fiberglass? The thing I like about the early S-197's is that "taut" (and simple) look.
Yeah, I like the Ferrari. For Xmas, BK? Don't bother to wrap.
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