Flame Surfacing

BMW makes a second appearance on this list, thanks again to Mr. Bangle.  Full disclosure:  I actually own a BMW, and certainly don’t have any personal axe to grind with the brand.  However, I find it difficult to ignore the polarizing nature of what Bangle termed “flame surfacing”  The deep, almost organic scalloping along the side and hood of vehicles like the original BMW Z4 and the BMW 1 Series feels almost random, like a child was playing with a clay model but never quite got around to finishing up the car’s entire package.  Some people love it and some people don’t, but then again I am sure that in 1975 there was at least one person who was completely infatuated the look of the opera windows cut into the back of their land yacht.

The Entire Pontiac Aztek

So much has already been said about the Aztek that it has already been mythologized as the ugliest design of the past 10 years.  Is it?  Well, probably.  The real story of the Aztek, however, is that its design-by-committee exterior appearance concealed a startlingly versatile platform that will now never, ever be owned by future generations in anything other than an ironic context.

Hard Plastic Interiors

General Motors has come a long way with their recent styling efforts, but not far enough for us to completely forget the fact that over the past 20 years stepping into most of their products was immersing yourself in a sea of hard plastic.  Even relatively new models like the Pontiac Solstice give the impression of being trapped in a polymer sarcophagus, as you gaze at the vast expanses of unadorned black, grey or terrible, terrible beige plastic surfaces that surround you.  It was even worse on the armrests of cars across the entire domestic spectrum in the 1990’s that threatened to flatten your elbows and bruise your wrists.  Hard plastic can almost be thought of as our generation’s crushed velvet.

The list might be short, but as far as fashion offenses go, there is no doubt in my mind that at least a few of the areas I have touched on will eventually generate the same shudders as enormous jutting front and rear bumpers do now.  Is there anything I have left out?  I would love to hear your take on which elements of current automotive design will in your opinion elicit the most laughter in the future.

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