"...I should say that I have talked about this before with the P1, and fake widows apparently fill me with a deep, soul-filling rage.
The weird thing is that the fake window looks like it's supposed to differentiate the 2015 car from its previous generation, but that car was hardly changed since its previous generation. And that car was hardly changed since its previous generation And that car was hardly changed since its previous generation. Line up a Gen 5, 6, and 7 Camry (as Curbside Classic did) and you'll see how similar these cars are, right down to the platform. The roofline (along with all the other body lines and interior layouts) is the same as it's been since 2006, and that model was barely any different since the debut of the 2002 model."
Selected comments:
-"I'm more disgusted by the fake grille made of plastic on the front of this car.
Big grilles are a thing, I get that. Hell, I even like it on many cars. But here it feels forced, like they just decided to make most of the front end look like a poorly shaped plastic "grille"."
-"Absolutely. And it's sickening to know that Toyota can make a car dull and ugly, but as long as it's reliable, people will continue to buy it solely on that reputation."
-"makes C pillar look smaller.. i like the attempt at clever styling. Obviously it can't be glass because under that plastic's a chunk of iron keeping the roof from caving when you flip it. Safety sells midsize sedans afterall."
11 comments:
I have looked at zillions of pictures of the 2015 and never noticed it.
I never cared for the faux gills/side windows in the Mustang Fastback. The original hardtop and convertibles were better looking.
I had to read too much stuff to know what I couldn't unsee, and I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to see and never forget. It's a Camry, how more forgettable can you get? Maybe Ford Fusion or Chevy Malibu?
The best design feature that used to be standard but is now gone were those little up-front triangular side windows that could be angled open at just the perfect angle for perfect airflow. Lowering the whole side window is not the same thing, not at all.
In the days before auto air conditioning became more common those triangular vent windows were useful to direct a bit of a cooling breeze on the driver or passenger.
I have spent a lot of time looking at cars, read a lot about the great designs made by great designers and engineers, and so on and so on, blah blah blah - but I couldn't read that article past the words "fake widows". Even now I am unable to come up with a retort or snark or even word play. Stopped in my tracks I am.
The thought of spending the time needed to look at zillions of pictures of one particular car, specifically a 2015 Camry is what stopped me in my tracks, but I went back and pressed on to read the article in scan mode and amazingly found this gem at the end, a place where I could say "Amen!
That it's fake is what really gets me. I mean either do a window, or don't. Don't try and pass off plastic for glass, the rehashed for the groundbreaking, the old for the new.
Another amen to missing the triangular vent windows. I am also mourning the loss of the vent option on the heating and cooling switch in the dash that would allow me to access fresh outdoor air.
Yes, those little triangle windows...little did we know how we'd later miss them.
From Joni to the glam Cinderella not knowing what one's got til it's gone has been lamented in song, while the story goes back to Paradise being traded for weeds and pain if not a parking lot.
I do like to direct my own air, with the set-up in my current vehicle making it impossible to bring in a blast of fresh air through the ventilation system without opening a large window.
Mama M, my guess is that the control for fresh air is obscure in your vehicle. On late 80's, early 90's Chryslers you would press the "dash vents" button for A/C, then pull that same button out for fresh air through the dash vents without A/C. RTFM.
Not sure why we're ranting about a 2015 Camry review, but the resident graduate of auto design at The Truth About Cars has been ranting about "DLO Fail" in modern cars for more than 4 years. DLO is the Day Light Opening in a car, and the "Fail" is that faux DLO's in back windows make even expensive cars look cheap.
DLO is an obvious fail, one that I have been aware of ever since technology got to the point that auto glass could be glued to the body. Throw in some black out and dots and there you go - a tiny actual DLO versus the appearance of huge tracts of glass.
If you have ever pulled apart an old car you would understand the costs involved in including a vent wing in a production car. There has to be an upright with a track for the window glass to ride in, a hinge for the vent wing itself, a latch, and the upright has to be secured inside the door itself, and all of this has to be water tight and not produce excess wind noise. Very complicated, very time consuming to install, and all in all, vent wings went the way of dodo birds due to management by accountants.
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