Clever execution of required elements

Whether it's cars, electronics, wristwatches, or whatever, I don't like stuff that doesn't do anything functional. With a few exceptions like cars that people use like jewelry and/or art, we purchase durable goods because we need them to help us perform a set of tasks. Usually I find any styling or other purely aesthetic consideration that interferes with that performance offensive.

On the exterior, cars generally require bodies, wheels, lights, vents, windows, and bumpers. Inside, cars generally require seats, an instrument panel, a steering wheel, and door panels. Designers that derive most or all of a car's styling from clever execution of required elements always have my respect, even if they go in a visual direction I don't particularly like.

Character line through the sheet metal all the way down the side? Sure, why not? The car has to have fenders, doors, and quarter panels; putting a stylized crease in them is trivial. Wood on the instrument panel? No problem. A car interior's wiring and controls need protection from everyday stresses, and if said protection is aesthetically pleasing, so much the better.

Today's lighting clusters, both front and rear, are often complexly styled. That's another legitimate arena in which a stylist can work, as cars have to have lights. They're also small and light, so the possibility of creating problems with other systems is remote. Look at the rear cluster on a first-generation Lexus RX300:

There were a few baby steps toward making rear light clusters a significant styling element before the RX300, but in my view this car was the first one on which designers said "hey--as long as it works, we can do all kinds of things with taillights and turn indicators."

So what happens when form trumps function? You get cars like the Infiniti J30. What likely happened with this car is that someone drew the profile and said "this is what the car will look like." Over the wall to engineering it went; "make it work" came the declaration. It's pretty, isn't it?

Unfortunately, with the J30, Nissan forgot something fundamental: above all, a mainstream car has to work. It has to be suitable for the way its customer will use it. This one wasn't. Prices paid for that swoopy backlight and droopy rear: no headroom in the rear seats and a tiny trunk.

Remember the severely oval Ford Taurus, ca. 1996? "If it can be oval, make it oval," seemed to be the guiding principle on that effort, both inside and outside. Check out the stereo and HVAC controls:

Think you could use that easily at night? What's involved to put an aftermarket stereo in there? User considerations be damned; it was oval, and that's what was important.

So how do you get style without sacrifice? The Chrysler PT Cruiser isn't my cup of tea, but it's an excellent example of a distinctively-styled car that sacrifices no function for its form.

Essentially it's a tallish station wagon: a practical but decidedly unhip concept. Yet it's made appealing by minor (from an engineering standpoint) touches that successfully evoke much larger, more extravagant cars of 60 years ago. The styling grabs attention and puts warm bodies in showrooms, but it's the car's massive interior and usability that keep it a hit. If looking cool was the only thing you could do with a PT Cruiser, it would have already died. But it works, so it sells.

The Honda Accord has been a benchmark of form following function ever since its introduction more than 30 years ago:
From the factory, everything on an Accord does something. (I say "from the factory" because in response to demand, Honda must offer $700 wads of resin called "spoilers" as dealer-installed accessories, for example.) Stimulating few and offending none, the Accord has always been one of the purest expressions of a vanilla family car available. (Don't forget, vanilla is #1 because it's plain, but also because it tastes good).

Automakers, keep your scoops (unless they actually increase airflow). Keep your spoilers (unless they actually increase downforce at speed). Give me something stylish and memorable using only what has to be there anyway, and I'm impressed.

Thanks to tein.com for the RX300 image. Thanks to Main Street Motors for the Taurus center stack image. All other images are from respective company literature.