From the “What Were They Thinking?” Styling Desk…
Some car design decisions are real head-scratchers.
Take the rear of the “freshened” (2011+) Accord sedan, pictured above. It just…confuses me. And I’m a designer by degree and occupation.
I saw one on the road for the first time a few months ago and thought, “Wow, somebody’s put tacky aftermarket red rectangles inboard of the taillights. That’s ugly.”
Once safely home and ensconced behind a computer screen, I did some research, and found out it comes like that from the factory? And lest you think I’m making much ado about nothing, wait until you see it on the road. It jumps out at you, and is truly, utterly disjointed-looking.
I have no idea what they’re going for. Usually, I can look at a car’s lines and “figure them out;” they make some sense to me, but I just don’t get the intent behind the trunklid styling on the Accord. Even ugly cars have a sort of context—there’s a kind of off-kilter harmony between all their unappealing lines. But the Accord… It’s not a Quasimodo; it’s sensible and predictable looking…until you get to the trunklid. It has the same effect as catching a flash of chartreuse sock under a cuff of a pair of well-tailored slacks.
Weird.