Of Hondas and THE Benz..

Honda is an excellent car maker, I give it to them. Notwithstanding the innumerable Hondas that you can spot in the Silicon Valley, I admire the auto-maker. I never wanted to buy a Honda (or a Toyota for that matter) but ended up with an Accord. Such is thy power!

Anyway, I thought they made a BIG design mistake when they brought in the ELEMENT. It looks stupid at best with its bread-box design (I am sorry if you own a Honda Element, but I have a right to my opinion). With some ill turn of fate that car actually became a hit (I still don't get how). Spurred on by the success of the unusual design of the Element Honda seems to have gotten inspired. My my! And just look at the good-old Civics and the Accords these days. They look, well, zappy at best.

Good so far. But why should a mid-size sedan (Civic) and a full/premium-size family car (Accord) look Zappy? I never get it. They are supposed to be sedans keep them that way (I am a puritan ahem ahem). Why turn them into looking like half-baked sports cars. Tch..tch..tch...

And the worst part of this whole Honda design frenzy is that Scion thinks that Element is beautiful, yuck, yuck! And actually went ahead and designed one of their own cars (I never bothered to find out the series name) like the Element. So much for leading by inspiration! Guys, those cars look ugly. That is it. Bad taste and loads of ugliness!!

Speaking of designs, the new Sebring seems to have done something novel (AND nice) with its bonnet. Ridges and all. I like the Sebring (even though its made by Chrysler.) I think its the only well designed car US automakers have ever made (except some models of the Mustang). I would never buy it, but I like its design all the same. Ahh the death of Auto for me was when Chrysler went and merged with Daimler-Benz, yuck! I almost gave up thoughts of buying a Mercedes that day..but the wish is now re-kindled...and maybe I will put my name on a Benz yet..