[LOL_FWD]

For me it has to be the Ford Ecosport. I was disappointed when i saw it for the first time. It looked like a car which had a major identity crisis. Looked like an offspring of the Edge and the Fusion.

My friend got one in 2014 and i started seeing it a lot and driving it too. This is when it grew on me.


My friend and his family liked it so much that they got rid of the old one and bought the face lifted one just few months back. IMO, this looks way better than the older gen.

[Turrrb0]

Our 2012 Skoda Yeti, which we lost in the 2015 floods. It was a car whose design I was very iffy about. But finally in 2015, I loved it so much that it felt like we had lost our family pet. RIP.
Unfortunately I don’t have a picture on hand, but will upload one soon.

[psmenon]

For me it would be Skoda Yeti and Suzuki Kizashi. Two cars I never liked whether on a hoarding(when it was released) or on the road. But now its a dream of mine to own anyone or both

[vivek_lm]

I can think of three cars mainly:

1. Fort Ecosport (the 1st gen one) - I hated it when it came out but started developing a liking for it over due course.
2. The first gen WagonR - I hated it initially, but started liking it when the next gen model came out (and starting hating the latter! )
3. Innova Crysta - I hated the rear when i first saw it, but now I'm slowly warming up towards it, not quite there yet though!

[Durango Dude]

For me it's my almost 13.5 year old Hyundai Elantra: has the timeless elegance and proportions.

[GeeTee TSI]

The fifth generation Lexus LS in particular and the current crop of Lexus with their spindle grilles. Though it appeared gawky and overdone at first, the exquisite grille stands out to me now as a work of art.


Similar has been the case of the Audi A8 (D3 generation) of 2002 where the hitherto tepid design started sporting the 'Bavarian Beard' greatly increasing its design appeal

[vigsom]

For me, it was the Swift Dzire 2012 ; found the bonnet long and the boot, chopped. However, the rear side view impressed me with every passing day.

[kushal.b110]

I would say the Skoda Laura facelift (2009). When I first saw the pictures, frankly speaking, I hated the looks and preferred the old design over the new one. As time went by and I saw them on the roads, it grew upon me and I started liking it.

I didn't like the design of the BMW 3 series F30 as well but over time even that grew upon me and now I feel it's a good looking car. But, I'm eagerly waiting for the new 3 series (G20) as I feel that it's better looking than the F30.

[kush812]

I have 2 cars for this topic and both of them are Maruti cars. Here goes my list :

1. Maruti Suzuki Ciaz - when Ciaz initially came out against the established Verna and the newly launched 4th gen Honda City it looked very plain jane and lacked that oomph factor that both those cars had. But after seeing and observing the car closely while test driving I started liking the simple, timeless and elegant design of the car so much so that we bought the Ciaz. And now with the facelift, Maruti has added that extra oomph that the car lacked a bit in terms of design.

2. Maruti Suzuki S-Cross - When S-Cross initially came out in 2015, it looked like a bloated hatchback to me with an ugly face and not at all a Creta rival at that point of time and I hated the design. But with the facelift, everything changed, the ugliest part of the car was given a makeover and because of that the car really started to look the part and I liked the car so much that I almost bought it.

I guess there's something with Maruti's and facelifts.

[unni246]

Nice thread.

For me it's the good ol Suzuki Baleno. Never really liked it especially from the rear, when it was launched in the early 2000s. At the same time the City type 2 easily caught my heart and mind alike which is almost a similar design. Gradually something got in me and I started liking the Baleno, eventually making me purchase a decade old one in 2016!
Still an happy owner and it's going strong, touchwood

[nerd1200]

I agree with BHPians on the Octavia Mk3-FL (I still feel the Mk2-FL or Laura as we know it was the best design) and Yeti 5L (I liked the FL better). Their designs have to "grow on you".

Apart from them, there are two other cars that according to me falls into this category.

1. Fiat Linea.

I guess BHPians would agree that the new one could not match the older one's appeal and understated design.





But, with time the new design really grew on me.

2. Hyundai Elantra (5th Generation)

This was just "too fluidic" for my liking. I just hated the design initially. But again, with time, it appealed to me. However, there is no denying that the Fuidic 2.0 is a much better design language (6th generation Elantra).



But, they've again taken it a bit too far with the Facelift/2019 model. What were they thinking when they finalized the headlamp's design?!!

[HKap]

I hated the Lexus grill initially when it was launched on the Lexus IS. I still think it looks ghastly in the luxury trim. However, I think the F sport grill looks much better on the IS and the LC. I also think the grill in luxury mode on the new ES looks great.

[Hayek]

In my case, only one or arguably two cars fall in this category.

The first is the 1986 Maruti 800, the same car that revolutionised the Indian car industry.



For those who came in late, the original Maruti 800 was launched based on kits from Japan - it was a 4 door with a glass hatch. It was revolutionary, but had a relatively long and proportionate bonnet and so was not seen as being very odd.

When they started manufacturing locally, they decided to do it based on the next generation Alto - which had the aerodynamic shape with a short, sharply raked bonnet that we all became familiar with. I first saw that car when someone had parked one close to my school. I must say I found it incredibly odd - one had not seeing anything like it. I remember some folks asking Maruti if they could get the old model rather than the new one. But over time, and especially once my parents got one, I started loving that model.

The other car that may fall in that category is the Hyundai Santro. I found it very ugly at launch, grew used to it, and actually like the Santro Xing. But the Santro Xing was almost like a different generation of that car - and hence the doubt on whether it really falls in this category.

[Sophomore]

For me it was 1st gen Swift Dzire. Infact the Swift itself was hard to digest. But then those eventually got warmed up.

Also the 1st gen Baleno, but now I think it's design never seems out dated even at this point of time. I don't know, maybe I am biased because we have one at our garage.

[turbowhistle]

In my case, I hated the latest gen Fortuner. Thought it was too Japanese and straight out of Transformers Movies!

But then I started spotting it alot and the design grew up on me. Now prefer it more than the first gen.