NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/rec/autos/27788

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-24 | 1.7 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Michael Wolf)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Styling (was Mazda scraps Amati)
Date: 23 Nov 1992 19:53:12 -0800
Organization: Hyperion, Mountain View, CA, USA
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[e-mail] (Fengxi Zhou) writes:

>Think I read this some time ago: the chief stylist in Mazda wanted to break
>the "Japanese mould" and make the cars sexy, literally.  So he ordered his
>staff to go to the local bars with one sole mission: watch the girls' hips.
>THe reason? When driving, you get a better look at a car just passing by
>than a car about to brush through.  Any one can confirm this?  They
>certainly got some real nice looking rear quaters.  IMHO, 929 looks better
>from the rear (better looking than the current Jaguar XJ-6?)

I remember reading (can't remember where) that Japanese car companies focus
on how a car looks from the front, and that print ads in Japan tend to have
more front views than side views.  In the US, cars tend to be seen from the
side in ads, and the manufactures focus on looks from the side.  Apparently
some of the US design shops had difficulty making the Japanese executives
happy, because the US shops weren't used to making "happy" fronts of cars.
The article said that Japanese tend to think of the lights/grill on the
car as a "face".

Anyone know more about the different approaches design shops take when
coming up with new cars?

Michael Wolf