Lexus NX = Toyota RAV4 Huge Facelift

Toyota's Lexus Brand has done well for many years with its RX series crossover SUV.  But management felt there was room in the brand's lineup for a smaller, less-expensive crossover.  Voila!! the 2015 Lexis NX crossover (more information here).

In order to create this new model economically, Lexus went to Toyota's RAV4 to form the basis for the NX body.  The result is a SUV with the same wheelbase as the RAV, but slightly longer, wider and higher.  Also, as many of Lexus' new styling theme details as possible were crammed onto the RAV's basic structure.

Gallery

Two NXs are shown here sporting the spiky, angular look Lexus deems necessary for brand identification.  I find it an overly-contrived visual mess of superficial detailing.

This is a 2013 Toyota RAV4 posed almost the same as the NX in the previous image.  The windshield and cut lines for the hood, front strike panel and front door are the same or very nearly so for both cars.

Here we see various creases and cut-lines converging on the tail light assembly.  This is a sensible way to tie design elements together, but I think there are too many of those elements.  The side treatment of the tail light assembly is well into cliché territory, looking very similar to that of the current Nissan Maxima, for instance.  Sculpting on the trunk panel repeats the double-L (for Lexus) theme of the grille, an especially awkward bit of styling.

The additional length and height of the NX, as compared to the RAV, can be seen in these rear views.  The RAV has less overhang and its roofline is more curved.  The NX has a higher belt line, resulting in smaller side windows.  Rear doors and the gas filler doors are in the same positions in both cars, though cut lines differ.

This NX side view features the sheet metal folds and planes that catch and emphasize light originating above the car.  Because there are so many of these light-catching details, the overall impression is busyness.

The RAV4 looks dull by comparison, and could have used a higher belt line anchor at the front and perhaps a horizontal character line about two-thirds up the doors.  Otherwise, it's a superior design to the frantic NX.

Toyota Prius Evolution: From Plain to Rococo

Toyota's Prius was the first successful (in the marketplace) hybrid-powered car in America.  As of now, it has gone through four design generations, the first of which I treated here.

The first Priuses were stubby and nondescript.  They might be considered a proof-of-concept design rather than a car more closely tailored to the automobile market.

It was the second-generation Prius that defined the brand.  Its body was given thorough wind tunnel testing that resulted in a basic shape that remains little changed.  What has changed over time are secondary, ornamental details.  The most recent Prius is a victim of Toyota's recent new styling policy moving from bland to ostentatious appearance for its various car and SUV models.

The comparative-image sets below have the second-generation (2004) Prius at the top followed by third generation (2010) and current (2016) generation examples.

Gallery

First-generation Prius
As I mentioned in the post linked above, the nose of the car is poorly related to the rest of the body.

Front Quarter Views

The second-generation Prius was a simple, clean design.  It was followed by a design with details giving the car a stronger wedge-shaped look than its basic shape actually warrented.  This can be seen in the treatment of the side windows and the character crease below their sills.  Current Priuses are decorated by fashionable spikes and other angular treatments of light assemblies, air openings and sheet metal in general.  One result is a return to the first-generation Prius' defect of the front end not being very well related to the rest of the car, a problem not found in generations two and three.

Side Views

Profiles of Priuses have changed subtly over the last three generations.  The second-generation car had a lower hood line and no aerodynamic spoiler at the rear.  The hood was raised for the third-generation car, probably in response to European regulations.  The current Prius has a rear spoiler as well as the Euro hood line.  Another difference is the roof curve.  Second and fourth generation cars have the roof peaking near the driver's head, whereas the third-generation cars have the high point noticeably farther aft.

Rear Quarter Views

Rear styling of second and third generation Priuses can be characterized as basically functional, though the second-generation car is more successful in this regard.  Current Priuses have highly contrived rear-end detailing.  The spiky tail light assemblies seem to dictate the body sculpting rather than the reverse.  So far as I am concerned, Prius styling is now a fashionable mess.

Toyopet Crown: 1st Toyota Export to the USA

Toyota's Toyopet Crown (1955-1962) was first exported to the USA in the fall of 1957, marking the start of the Japanese automobile "invasion," as it was commonly called for many years. One of the first American Toyota dealerships was within sight of the Seattle house where I grew up.

Background on the Toyopet Crown is here.

Toyotas didn't sell well at first, perhaps because foreign cars were still a rarity and some of which quickly gained reputations for poor reliability.  The only really successful import was the Volkswagen Beetle which dominated the market through the 1960s.

Toyota had to regroup its American effort and the rest, as they say, is history.

Gallery

1958 Toyopet Crown Custom advertisement
Yes, here it is in America!  Isn't that SanFrancisco's Golden Gate Bridge in the background?

1955 (ca.) Toyopet Crown
I think this is a 1955 Toyopet Crown: note the divided windshield not seen on later models.  The fenderline is dropped below the belt in Harley Earl's General Motors 1950 B-body fashion.  The dog-leg C-pillar is one of many that predates BMWs signature sedan feature.  The strip above the front wheel opening is awkwardly-placed.  Plenty of glass area gives the car an airy appearance.

1957  (ca.) Toyopet Crown ad card
Only the grille features the fussy detailing often found on 1950s Japanese cars.

1959 Toyopet Crown Custom
I don't have a source for this photo, but I'm using it because it clearly shows Toyopet rear styling.  Note the almost-tailfins that serve to make the car look a little longer.  That seems to be a dent between the tail light and the backup light at the left.

1959 Toyopet Crown Custom
The grille design has been cleaned up a bit here.

First-Generation Honda and Toyota Hybrid Cars

Hybrid cars have been sold in the American market for around 15 years now.  Many such cars are difficult to detect because, aside from a small badge, they look the same as equivalent conventionally-powered models.

The first hybrids were different-looking, something like the current crop of electrically powered cars.  And the two earliest hybrid entries in the USA -- the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight -- are still being sold and still have their own styling themes.  One change is that the initial Prius and Insight models have been replaced by new designs.

In this post, I present the initial Priuses and Insights along with the usual commentary.  For background on the first Prius, click here, and for the Insight, go here.

Gallery

Australian market version Prius shown here.  It has small wheels on a short (100.4 in, 2550 mm) wheelbase along with a short, stubby nose.  From the cowling back, the design is in line with small sedan styling conventions of the the mid-1990s.  The Prius redesign used a longer (106.3 in, 2700 mm) wheelbase and a body derived from extensive wind tunnel testing.

For me, the problem with the initial Prius design is that the front and the rest of the car are poorly integrated.  The main culprit is the curved character line above the front wheel opening: it shouldn't be curved.  I would have extended it forward to touch the headlamp ensemble, splitting the latter so that the part above the contact point would be an amber color turn signal.  Something like this would have related the front to the rest of the car.

The Prius rear is bland, but not ugly.  The car cries out for larger wheels, but engineers probably insisted on small ones as a weight-saving measure.

The first Honda Insight had a very short wheelbase (94 in, 2400 mm) and held only the driver and a passenger.  The design was clearly influenced by wind tunnel testing -- note the covered rear wheels, among other details.  Like the Prius, wheels are aesthetically too small.

The Insight had a much better-integrated design, though the area in the vicinity of the top of the front wheel opening is a bit confusing.  Fortunately the curves, folds and cut lines are subtle, thereby limiting the damage.

Both the Insight and Prius (to a lesser extent) designs have strong folds on the sides towards the rear.  In both cases the objective was to have a usefully wide axle line while having the upper part of the aft body taper slightly inwards for aerodynamic reasons.