Photo: Theophilus Chin
From the moment we first saw the final production version of the Borgward SUV, we said it lacked personality. Apparently, we weren't the only ones, as rendering master Theophilus Chin quickly performed plastic surgery on it.
If somebody was to conduct one of those public tests where the logo of the car is covered, and people are asked what brand it is, we really couldn't guess the outcome. Two things are certain: there would be a lot of different answers, and nobody would say "Borgward".
It's a no-brainer that the front end of the car is what defines its character the most, but even so, the ease with which the Borgward BX7 can jump from one brand to another is worrying.
The best fit by far has got to be the Buick. To be honest, it kind of looks like a Buick without any modifications, if it weren't for that rhomboidal logo that Borgward uses. That's probably due mostly to the shape of the headlights, which is very Buick-ish.
However, the BX7 doesn't look that out of place as an Audi either. The new grille fits in nicely, and the overall shape isn't that far away from that of a Q5. The Jaguar version is tidily done, but Jaguar models are more dramatic than that so it can't fool anybody.
Same goes for Maserati - the Borgward BX7 with a trident grille looks like a decent car, but it would never convince Maserati clients to pull out their wallets.
And we're down to the two main German premium brands, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. As much as we disagree with the decision to uniformize the Mercedes-Benz range, we have to admit the Stuttgart cars have plenty of personality. The same personality all across the lineup, it's true, but a strong one. Placing the Mercedes-Benz grille on the Borgward BX7 looks like strapping an Apple logo on an old Nokia phone.
The BMW is considerably less obvious, but it also seems like Theophilus Chin also put some more work into it. There's the BMW hood, the logo on top of the grille and the license plate holder that's missing on the Mercedes - all these together with the scenery make it look more feasible. But that's still one BMW we wouldn't buy.
Take a look through the gallery below and tell us what you think. Which conversion looks the most credible?
It's a no-brainer that the front end of the car is what defines its character the most, but even so, the ease with which the Borgward BX7 can jump from one brand to another is worrying.
The best fit by far has got to be the Buick. To be honest, it kind of looks like a Buick without any modifications, if it weren't for that rhomboidal logo that Borgward uses. That's probably due mostly to the shape of the headlights, which is very Buick-ish.
However, the BX7 doesn't look that out of place as an Audi either. The new grille fits in nicely, and the overall shape isn't that far away from that of a Q5. The Jaguar version is tidily done, but Jaguar models are more dramatic than that so it can't fool anybody.
Same goes for Maserati - the Borgward BX7 with a trident grille looks like a decent car, but it would never convince Maserati clients to pull out their wallets.
And we're down to the two main German premium brands, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. As much as we disagree with the decision to uniformize the Mercedes-Benz range, we have to admit the Stuttgart cars have plenty of personality. The same personality all across the lineup, it's true, but a strong one. Placing the Mercedes-Benz grille on the Borgward BX7 looks like strapping an Apple logo on an old Nokia phone.
The BMW is considerably less obvious, but it also seems like Theophilus Chin also put some more work into it. There's the BMW hood, the logo on top of the grille and the license plate holder that's missing on the Mercedes - all these together with the scenery make it look more feasible. But that's still one BMW we wouldn't buy.
Take a look through the gallery below and tell us what you think. Which conversion looks the most credible?
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