I spotted a NEW (insert make/model) today!

fintail

If other designers copy it (and they will, as recently the profession is not the most creative), maybe it will normalize. Still kind of iffy though. I see the weird chipmunk cheek Infiniti face is in competition.

I don't mind the Ford, it's an Aston homage. The Avalon is odd on two levels - the big maw, and the fact that it has an upper and lower grille.

tjc78

Saw a new Kia Cadenza on i95 yesterday near Baltimore. It was a metallic brown, not flattering for the car.

Mr_Shiftright

I finished reading this sci-fi book about a cockroach that wakes up one morning and finds himself turned into a human being. So anyway, he moves to Manhattan (where else?) and buys himself a Lincoln 4D in dark brown metallic!

tjc78

Lol! IMO brown cars need to go back to the 70s where they came from.

stever

I liked the khaki Honda Element but it was more of a tan I guess. Pretty "rare" bird. Some of the old brown Volvos weren't too bad.

tjc78

Brown is for UPS trucks! :P

stever

I'm sure some of the old brown Volvo wagons were confused with UPS trucks.

andys120

On Mercedes Pagoda SLs and Porsche 911s. At least it's not just another boring shade of grey/silver.

Two shades of Metallic brown are on the current Porsche configurator. Make mine Mahogany Metallic.

fintail

Brown is also awesome on a MB 6.9, and can work on a W126 (not my first choice, but not my last). I think the E63 wagon is offered in brown, that could be workable.

andys120

Yep, dark brown was popular on 60s and 70s Benzes and went very well with an orangey-brown upholstery (MB-Tex?) they had.

fintail

The old color name was "Havanna Brown", after the early 60s unpleasantness changed to "Tobacco Brown". The "palomino" interior color was popular in the 70s and 80s.

stickguy

My wife likes a lot of the browns (probably more metallic bronze at this point) on some of the new cars available. But, the only option on the RDX we bought was too light.

fintail

Yeah, brown on a modern car needs to be dark to look good. But a nice golden brown can work on a 70s car.

Like a 6.9 - my first choice would be a light silvery blue, but brown is probably my second choice:



For new cars, I drove by the local Lexus dealer and saw about a dozen new IS sitting outside.

berri

I dunno Fin, my wife grew up on a farm and refers to vehicles in that sort of hue as "calve sh.." - just kidding! Seriously though, I'm personally more geared toward a goldish tannish sort of color because it's the brown hue's answer to silver - doesn't show dirt much and inconspicuous to police cruisers. I know; Boring!

bhill2

I'm personally more geared toward a goldish tannish sort of color because it's the brown hue's answer to silver - doesn't show dirt much and inconspicuous to police cruisers.

Yeah, that's the color of my '85 380SE. MB called it 'Champagne'. It's attractive on a Benz but I wouldn't drink champagne that color.

andys120

Yesterday I parked next to a new BMW 5 series GT, the GT is the one with the controversial hatchback. This one didn't look bad from the angles I saw it at (mostly front 3/4) but I get why people don't like it. It's supposed to be 7 Series based but it didn't look much larger than my old (2000) E39 5er parked next to it. White doesn't flatter many cars but this one looked OK to me.

texases

Saw a Benz SLS leaving Lowe's yesterday, followed it a few blocks. Impressive, not what I'd call beautiful...how much fun can somebody have with that in town?

fintail

Most of them are just to show off...so lots of fun on the boulevard.

Saw a 2014 E-class, white.

fintail

A poopy (excuse the expression...or not) brown won't work on a modern car, but it works when such colors were trendy. A friend of mine who mocks 70s cars has different names for each maker's brown - each having to do with doo-doo.

Gold can work sometimes, but can also be kind of beige.

fintail

Not brand new, but saw a W221 S65 today, sounded like a muted WWII fighter plane. If only gas was cheaper. It was cooler than the murdered out current style ML63 I saw soon after.

Local Chevy dealer now has a line of 4-5 new Impalas, one at the end looked like the base model.

sandman_6472

On the way up to and back from Orlando yesterday must've seen a dozen or so new Imapala's so they are starting to really show up now and it's an awesome looking vehicle compared to the rental fleet from 13 and earlier! GM did an exceptional job here and should be commended. Am very excited about getting one in the fall or winter for a trip to Orlando or Tampa...want to get some seat time in one to really see how good the vehicle is. On this same note, I'm not a lover of larger vehicles but the new Tahoe's we've driven lately have been very nice drivers and it's time for GM to do their magic and bring it into the 21st century. And first thing they need to do is get rid of that ridiculously wimpy steering wheel, hell, even the Chrysler 200 has a nicer and meatier wheel to hold on to! A small complaint I know but it's something that has to be used daily and to me, it's those little touches that really make or break a vehicle...that attention to the tiniest detail no matter how inconsequential it may be. I guess that's what puts the luxury brands above the mainstream ones, it's their attention to detail to make even the smallest thing a work of art. I guess there's no one perfect vehicle out there but some of these guys are pretty close! Just hope that on my next vehicle I can get some of that refinement for myself!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

tjc78

Yeah that steering wheel is too thin. I recently drove a Yukon Denali and was stunned at the wheel, in an otherwise really nice vehicle.

fintail

Had time to kill earlier, went car browsing. MB dealer had facelift E coupe cabrio and wagon but no sedans sitting around. No GLK Bluetecs, but did have an ML. Talked to the salesman who sold me my car - he won a company sponsored trip to Germany and got to tour Sindelfingen, visit AMG, etc - he was still excited about it. He's an actual enthusiast - drives a similar Bluetec to mine, also has an old 911S, has had W126 and W116 - I like to see things like that. Lexus dealer had maybe 15x new IS, all but one a non-F-sport, only saw one IS350. BMW had a 7er with a white interior (not creme, not platinum - white), and an M6 Gran Coupe MSRP 126K. Also an active hybrid 3er with MSRP a couple hundred bucks shy of 60K - that's almost the cost of my E. Toyota dealer had an Avalon with zero options, must be unusual - and a metric ton of 4Runners.

stickguy

saw a new MDX in the wild (1 for sure, and I think a 2nd one). Hard to tell from a distance, because it really does look a lot like my RDX, just bigger. Fancy LED headlights though. I think it is going to do well, but 10K more for same basic platform, just a little bigger with a tiny 3rd row and a few toys, is a large premium.

Also a Ford C-maxx. looked smaller than I expected out and about.

andys120

I spotted a new (2011-12?) Spyker-era Saab 9-5, a nice looking vehicle. I also saw a 9-3 station wagon from late in the GM-era and a misbegotten "Saabaru" (an Impreza re-badged as a Saab 9-2X). All of these are rare sights even in Saab-loving New England.

fintail

Saw a 2014 Silverado sitting at the dealer, and an electric RAV4 on the road (ugly nose).

fintail

Saw a white Tesla S in my building's garage today - never seen it before, I assume it was a visitor (no charging stations here).

stickguy

new model must be selling, because I am seeing them all over the place.

fintail

Rode in a co-workers rideshare van today - new Grand Caravan with just a few thousand miles on it. For a base model fleet vehicle, it was surprisingly not bad. Definitely cheap, but it was smooth and quiet enough, dual AC worked well, seemed to be put together just fine. Sliding doors had power windows, which is something not seen back when I was a kid riding in minivans. A very honest vehicle.

I also saw a new Boxster driven by an old couple - looked to be in their 80s anyway. It looked highly optioned, and was a blinding kind of electric blue color. The old guy was watching me as I slowly jogged by (warm day), I think hoping that I would give it a stare, so I obliged and nodded.

stickguy

stopped at the VW dealer, which is right next to the Porsche dealer. Man, did they have some seriously nice stuff parked outside.