Prius an ugly car.....

This...besides, if you compare the current Insight to the shape of the 1st Gen Insight, it's pretty clear that the current one comes by its shape honestly. The new one is just the old one blown up a bit.

 

That wasn't any worse than Toyota borrowing the Honda's 2000 Insight-I and mid-1980's Civic CRX designs for the Gen2 Prius.

 

When I first saw a Prius, I thought "Geeze, What an ugly car" Then I slowly realized that it was built for purpose and function. Like a Jeep, Austin Mini, VW bug, and Model T. None of these are good looking visually but have become very endearing because of the insight of the original design and engineering. The Prius has become a modern classic and I don't say this lightly. It is a vehicle built for this time. I have only had my Prius a week I have already had two people ask me about it (and we have a buttload of Prius' in my city).

 

i would imagine reducing drag coefficient to the minimum puts a big constraint on the design possibilities. with that in mind, i appreciate the styling that much more.

 

Personally I Love the look of the Gen3 Prius, I picked it over the FRS for crying out loud (Along with other obvious benefits). I don't think I can drive a car that I thought was ugly even if it gets 1000mpg.
Here's some "ugly" cars that I personally don't like, what do they think about these? "I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder" since enough people bought those (Sorry, I know I am also judging, if anyone have any of the following, I'm sorry. )

 

The Prius looks like a supermodel when parked next to:



It's a Fiat "Multipla"... Looks like a 6 eyed tadpole.

 

FOUL Next time you mention supermodel + cars I better see something in the same line as these (Sorry, have to balance sooo much ugliness with a little beauty) To me the Prius IS a supermodel, I only see Prii in those pictures

 

There is a reason that the saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" exists. There are a whole lot of cars that I do not like - what comes to mind are many of the new Mercedes that have been released in the past few years. Or the back end of the old BMW X3. Or take a corporate design look - take the beak that Acura put on their cars for the past few years. On most it looks pretty decent while being distinctive. However they went wild on the TL and they made what is a great driving car just a monstrosity to look at.

Personally while I think the v and the c are pretty good looking, I'm not a fan of the regular Prius. I think that the Gen 1 is pretty ghastly, the Gen 2 (which I have) is almost good looking but is just not quite fully realized, and that the Gen 3 is overwrought.

All that being said, there is at least a very good reason for why the Prius looks the way that it does - maximum space in a shape that reduces drag and on that front Toyota did a bang up job.

 

I think I opened the Pandora's box by accident, now we are just unleashing all the anger we had against the many anti-Prii "other car" model drivers for making fun of the Prii looks.

 

Here is some same-car weirdness that I posted back in November, and yes the last Prius has an astro-turf hatch:

Some some very unique Prii at SEMA this week. The had a Prius Liftback, Prius C and Prius V, all very customized.

Their motto: "Our car interior make yourself beautiful" and there goal is: "Japanese women's fashion trend meets automotive design".

They may not be your style, but the quality of workmanship was superb. The illuminated front emblem was novel and looked OE. The centre console with a fridge in it, was actually a very clever idea and a good use of otherwise wasted space. The colours, patterns, and textures were different then my own tastes, but you have to applaud their craftsmanship and ingenuity.

Some pictures for you:

 

Not my cup of tea, but you are right about the workmanship. Wow!

Awesome, stationary bike, I wonder how many people would be willing to use that if in the future we can some how multiply and convert the energy created with exercise machines efficiently to power our cars Instead of asking for gas $ from freeloaders, "Pedal my battery up 2 bars then I'll give you a ride." Flintstones anyone?
Could we use exercise machines as energy sources? • Ask an Engineer at MIT Engineering

Shoot, I did it again... sorry mrpcar

Here I attached pics to get us back on subject

 

What kind of springs did you put on it, your car looks lower than the TRDs. Maybe is the shadows playing tricks on my eyes

 

I see, must be the shadows and the slope on your driveway. Looks great, I can't wait for mine to arrive.

 

Well, I think Prius is certainly function over form. To get the lowest Cd, maximum interior passenger and cargo room in a small footprint, this <insert 3rd gen Prius liftback> is what that looks like.

Take it or leave. Do I think it is as classy looking as, say, the new Ford Fusion? Oh heck no.

Prius liftback is an alright looking, alright driving car that's great on gas and gets the job done (except with a few little rattles

 

I would call the Prius look as .....

'purposeful'

Toyota Prius liftback is a purpose built car. The purpose is maximum MPGs, maximum interior room with minimum footprint. There are some compromises in power and handling prowess.

If one wants a much more classic looking, slightly bigger car with 66 more total horsepower (and only 300 lbs), you go out and buy a Camry hybrid.

See Edmunds 2008 Prius vs. 2008 Camry hybrid video. They empahtically state, if you can give up some MPGs, the Camry hybrid is the better car to drive. I concur. Cam Hy is quite a bit more robust, especially on the highway.

 

the front looks good, the side not so much - maybe 3/4 view looks best from the rear