Photo: Unnecessary automobile nose swaps on Facebook
No matter how hard manufacturers are trying (and we all know they are), SUVs don't really go hand in hand with sportiness. You can make big cars go fast and, with a little bit of magic, you can even get decent times on a race track, but people will still look at you weird if you start referring to them as "sporty" (even though the word "sport" is literally part of the SUV acronym).
One major part in this mismatch is played by the exterior appearance of these vehicles. No matter how many hoops the people designing them jump through, they can't escape the bulky, two-box shape that has a lot more in common with a wagon than any kind of sports car. As for coupe SUVs, that's like putting a wig on a pig and entering it into a beauty pageant - way too little to disguise the reality.
So, is there a way to find some common ground between these two parts of the automotive world that seemingly live on its opposite ends? Well, judging by the manufacturers' insistence, you'd say there has to be, but we think there's been pretty little proof so far. This rendering from the aptly-named Facebook page "Unnecessary automobile nose swaps" suggests the reason behind that might be because they've been going about it the wrong way so far.
Instead of making SUVs sportier, they should be making sports cars more SUV-ish. "Wait," you'll say, "doesn't that mean tainting one of the industry's last bastions with the SUV scourge?" Well, we hope you know us well enough by now to realize we would never suggest that. However, it looks like the person behind this page has stumbled across a great example in support of this method.
Have you ever seen the face of an SUV (alright, crossover, or even baby pickup truck if you think about the Santa Cruz) looking so good on the silhouette of a sports car? Probably not. And it's not just that it's visually appealing, but it also seems quite feasible. If Hyundai showed us this picture and told us we were looking at the next Tiburon, the worst we could respond would be "not bad". We've definitely seen worst original designs than this.
If anything, you could even say the Tucson/Santa Cruz front was always destined for greater things. When Hyundai decided to use the design on a crossover, it robbed it of its chance to enter history. Sure, it will reach more customers since the market for SUVs seems to be expanding quicker than the Universe itself, but everyone seems to forget all about them once the following generation is out. Sports cars are a lot more memorable, especially if they look as good as this Hyundai 911 Turbo S.
So, is there a way to find some common ground between these two parts of the automotive world that seemingly live on its opposite ends? Well, judging by the manufacturers' insistence, you'd say there has to be, but we think there's been pretty little proof so far. This rendering from the aptly-named Facebook page "Unnecessary automobile nose swaps" suggests the reason behind that might be because they've been going about it the wrong way so far.
Instead of making SUVs sportier, they should be making sports cars more SUV-ish. "Wait," you'll say, "doesn't that mean tainting one of the industry's last bastions with the SUV scourge?" Well, we hope you know us well enough by now to realize we would never suggest that. However, it looks like the person behind this page has stumbled across a great example in support of this method.
Have you ever seen the face of an SUV (alright, crossover, or even baby pickup truck if you think about the Santa Cruz) looking so good on the silhouette of a sports car? Probably not. And it's not just that it's visually appealing, but it also seems quite feasible. If Hyundai showed us this picture and told us we were looking at the next Tiburon, the worst we could respond would be "not bad". We've definitely seen worst original designs than this.
If anything, you could even say the Tucson/Santa Cruz front was always destined for greater things. When Hyundai decided to use the design on a crossover, it robbed it of its chance to enter history. Sure, it will reach more customers since the market for SUVs seems to be expanding quicker than the Universe itself, but everyone seems to forget all about them once the following generation is out. Sports cars are a lot more memorable, especially if they look as good as this Hyundai 911 Turbo S.
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