Sometimes a new generation of a long-running model comes out and shatters expectations — and not always for positive reasons. With the new Hyundai Santa Fe fresh in mind, we asked you earlier this week which cars’ redesigns caught you off guard. You responded with a range of answers, from ‘90s American luxo-barges to econoboxes to big and tough SUVs. Let’s get the show on the road.
The Lincoln Mark VIII. The Mark VII was a good looking car, very 80s in it’s presentation with composite headlights, mostly linear styling with a few rounded corners. While it was still a handsome car, it was looking a little long in the tooth when it was finally replaced with the Mark VIII.
This was a HUGE departure from what the Mark VII was. It went a size larger (moving from Fox to MN12), VERY aero, super sleek, high tech modular V8. This was a super stunner!
Suggested by Sucker for a ‘23 300C (formerly Magnum_SRT8)
2023 Prius.
There’s one in the parking lot at work.
Work has had some interesting cars. We had an early Tesla adopter, the first C8 in town and some weird stuff like a guy with a Goldwing Trike.
NONE of these cars atttracts attention like that Prius. The Prius is just plan shockingly pretty in person. This one is a very pretty Pearl White that would cost a fortune to repair.
I can’t think of a car under $80k that attracts the eyes like that Prius.
And given Toyota’s 10 year history of making butt ugly vehicles and coating every parking lot in America with them, the Prius is even more shocking.
Suggested by hoser68
Mustang II to Foxbody Mustang in 1979.
To my 15 year old eyes, the 1979 Mustang looked like a space ship compared to nearly every other car on the road at the time.
I was particularly in love with the Indy Pace Car edition
The Fox body was no Mustang RSX, but I get it.
Suggested by Earthbound Misfit I
WTF is this crap? That’s not a goddam Defender, that’s pandering to stupid Americans.
skeffles agreed:
Came here to say this. It surprised me, but not in the good way.
Suggested by RIP-TESLA and others
The new Chevy Trax update caught me off guard. The previous gen has been one of the ugliest cars available for a while and then the 2024 comes out and it’s almost attractive. That is a huge swing between generations.
Nathan Gerdes added:
In recent memory, it’s gotta be the Chevy Trax. Went from a serious contender for the worst car on sale in America to what is, by all accounts a compelling, competitive, and genuinely affordable compact crossover.
Would I buy one? No; I don’t care for compact crossovers and it holds no real appeal for me individually. But I see and respect the glow-up, and if I were in the market for something in that segment or at that price point, I would seriously consider it.
I get it, but also: did they have to make it bigger? Is it not essentially a Trailblazer at this point?
Suggested by engineerthefuture and others
NSX. First one had a timeless design. The second one had Acura’s beak. The second one would have been a hit if it weren’t for design and limited options. Imagine someone spending $100k and looks at this and a Porsche. They can choose their stitch color if they wanted. Acura says take this. Talk about knowing your buyer.
Suggested by CarNerd4Life
The transition from the 9th to 10th generation Civic. It went from being a good but, let’s be honest, pretty homely and anonymous car, to...a lot of things going on. Maybe not quite as radical a departure as the Santa Fe, but enough that it got people talking (especially in the Type R guise, which Jeremy Clarkson had quite an unkind mouthful to say about it in one of The Grand Tour episodes). Personally, I liked the styling, but glad it returned to a more conservative but still fairly interesting design with the 11th gen.
Suggested by paradsecar
One design the surprised me in a BAD was was the Dodge Avenger.
I had a 1995 Avenger, which was a 2 door coupe that was a corporate cousin of the Mitsubishi Eclipse/Galant. Nice package, V6 and good looks (well, more of a Viper/Stealth lite).
Flash forward to the redesign and it’s grown to 4 doors and they tacked on the Dodge Ram/Durango nose on the front, like they tried to do with every car. Yuck. I’m surprised they didn’t try to graft that nose onto the Viper (I’m sure they wanted to).
I understand they sold way more trucks, but sweet baby Jeebus, it wasn’t because America was in love with the design of the front end...
I know that this wasn’t a DIRECT replacement to the OG Avenger, but yikes.
Suggested by gcodori
I’ve never been a fan of Lexus, but the recent GX redesign still causes low traction for my mental wheels. The GXs, as far as I remember, have always been stilted, awkward-looking monstrosities for rich suburban mommies. And then a month ago they release the Terminator, which is probably the best looking Lexus since the original RX came out, what, 20 years ago?
Suggested by Maha
The Hyundai Sonata/Kia Optima glow up? If you remember what the first and second gen looked like, they had a tremendous glow up in the later years that helped to reshape the company image and position them as a true competition to the Japanese automakers.
I’m going to assume you’re talking about the sixth-generation Sonata, which put the Camry and Accord on notice and probably even looked better than those cars did at the time, too.
Suggested by Matt Longman