[porsche_guy]

I wouldn't really call modern supercars ugly and some of them are infact extremely nice looking. However, I do admit that the classics like the Jag E Type, Ferrari F40 and Miura were very enticing too. There are plenty of examples of good looking modern supercars-

• Koenigsegg Agera One:1

This is one brilliant car which is completely mad. With the outside finished in Carbon Fibre with many aero bits, it's anything but ugly to me.

(Image source: Koenigsegg)

• Lamborghini Aventador SV

Oh what a baller this is! This literally looks like a Batmobile on the road! Screams cool! It's even better infact in my favourite spec- Nero Nemesis exterior with red accents and interiors.

(Source: Huracantalk.com)

• Ford GT

A lot has already been said about this car but it deserves more mentions. Its design is brilliant in combining Retro with future. Although I'm a little sad that they couldn't plonk a burly V8 into it.

(Source: Wikipedia Commons)

• Lamborghini Veneno

Yes, I'm going to get a lot of flak for this since it's basically just a dressed up Aventador. But just look at it! It's probably the meanest looking car that also looks like it's going 400kmph even while standing still!

(Source: Wikipedia Commons)

• Ferrari LaFerrari

This is one car that I'll buy just for its looks. The design just clicks with me. There are no really special features but despite that, it comes across as a dream to be able to see this in real life!

(Source: Wikipedia Commons)

These were just some examples. There are many more.

Also, I'd like to highlight that there are ugly classics too like the Aston Martin Lagonda and the Ferrari FZ93 so I think it's more of just perception and our age that makes us think otherwise. It's just that older folks will have a feeling that the cars from their poster-car era were always more beautiful. Don't believe me? Ask any car nut born in 1940s, 1970s and the early 2000s and you'll get to know.

Cheers!

[abhishek46]

Contrary to public opinion here, I feel that modern super cars are not ugly.

They are just, simply put, Modern!

If every thing else (performance, handling etc) is extreme, why would the external appearance be "simple"?

Especially in the context that, aerodynamics today dictates a lot about how the car eventually looks. Extreme aero == Extreme looks.

Anything without an overdose of cuts, creases, holes etc, risks getting the tag of being outdated.

[haldar_siliguri]

To answer your question, yes modern supercars, in the quest to attain the ultimate levels of low drag coefficient, downforce and nordschleife track times have started to show ugly grilles, protrusions and intakes. The clean lines of earlier supercars are almost gone.

However the modern sports car/super car with the best looks is the Aston Martin Vanquish S



In the last decade my favourite was the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione



From the 90s my favourite was the BMW 850CSi (my dream car since childhood)



And from yesteryears it has to be the

1967-72 ASTON MARTIN DBS



and the 1963-64 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso



All of these were not just great lookers, but one of the best drivers cars of their times as well, and continue to be automobile icons to this day.

[mxx]

Actually, I liked all the designs in the first and second post - except the Bugatti. Each design has is own beauty. Although it might not appeal to people who likes only clean designs. Mostly I like clean designs. However, I never felt the new supercars are ugly despite some having very busy designs.

[kovilkalai]

A couple of years back I remarked that Tata Motors' Racemo looked ugly and a whole bunch of people gave me a hard time for it. I wonder if opinions have changed since then

[HKap]

The Lamborghini Reventon and the Murcielago have to be some of the best looking supercars ever. They weren't the best to drive but boy were they bedroom wall material.

Also the Ferrari F430 and the F458 were very pretty too.

I think the modern super cars look pretty good except for a few here and there. It's no different from the cars a few decades ago. They had their share of good and bad looking cars too. Yes, the Senna has way too much going on but the Mclarens I saw at the Toronto auto show were all very pretty.

[COMMUTER]

Any design attracts a person because of three things which are Utility, Exclusivity and Capacity.

The perception of a car's beauty stems mainly from the possibility of its prowess in performance, handling , off-roading and comfort. This perception is eked out of its exterior features rather than the abstract appeal of the car's design in itself. That's why car enthusiasts don't discuss Gold plating, Wooden cladding and Leather seating with even a fraction of zest they show towards performance and utility.

Our perception of performance is being shaped by the design of F1 cars for on-road prowess and Tanks for off-road. That is why potential buyers of these ultra expensive cars favor cars which resemble either an F1 car or a Tank based on their bent of mind.

When spending money with which they could have easily afforded a helicopter or an aircraft on a car, the car owners expect exclusivity to be ensured by the efforts of the car maker.

The makers of these ultra exculsive idols intend to make the onlookers more aware of their offering to the potential buyer to increase the buyer's feeling of being reverered when the buyers parade their possessions down the road.

The design of these ultra-expensive cars are made to make the car stand out to the masses at all costs while keeping the taste or distaste of mortal onlookers overawed by the price.

The need to stand out has forced these car makers to make the onlookers remember the vehicle they advertise as exclusive even by evoking disgust at their design.

[saikarthik]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

Simple answer : wind tunnels.
The speeds that supercars of bygone eras did, sportscars do today. For the ultimate elite clique of cars to be called 'supercars' they should do insane speeds by today's standards. For that, aerodynamics is the only answer. Hence, unlike older times when the car designer was predominantly an artist, who had to incorporate engineering considerations into his design ; today's car designer is predominantly an engineer, and has to box in how much of 'artiness' he can incorporate into limits imposed by aerodynamics.

The definition of aerodynamics has changed a lot in few decades, not just the aerodynamics for the down force,

1. Thermal management -now the super cars with performance in mind, are squeezing every ounce of power from their engines and brakes to achieve that 0.01s/0.1s advantage over competition. This make a lot of air inlets and outlets to be added onto existing ones.

2. Air brakes/ aero flaps & morphing airdams and surfaces for improved handling on track,

So its like when a designer make a clay model with elegant curves and awesome crease, a performance engineer will poke 2 holes/slots into it. Its a design nightmare.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by saikarthik

The definition of aerodynamics has changed a lot in few decades, not just the aerodynamics for the down force,

1. Thermal management -now the super cars with performance in mind, are squeezing every ounce of power from their engines and brakes to achieve that 0.01s/0.1s advantage over competition. This make a lot of air inlets and outlets to be added onto existing ones.

2. Air brakes/ aero flaps & morphing airdams and surfaces for improved handling on track,

So its like when a designer make a clay model with elegant curves and awesome crease, a performance engineer will poke 2 holes/slots into it. Its a design nightmare.

Yes, when I said improved "aerodynamics" to go faster today, I meant not only the drag coefficient, but opposing requirements like downforce and ducting as well. Downforce starts becoming particularly important, with superlight carbon fiber body shells and stiffer springs

[VKumar]

The designs are definitely much balanced these days, in fact if I have to choose; then I will any day choose a current gen Ferrari or a Lambo Aventador as compared to those we had in 70's and 80's.

But yes, the era between 1990-2005 was probably the time best designs were actually produced IMO. You see it, Lamborghini Gallardo was dope, so well balanced design it is. And what about those age old Toyota Supra and Nissan Skyline GT-R R34, they were so balanced and clean designs, but still had an air of sportiness in them. No fake carbon fiber inserts, no edges; only clean super cars or sleepers.

And yes, who can forget that E46 M3 or the NFS most wanted M3, it is such an elegant design.

I ponder at times, where are those designers gone in last 10-15 years who gave the world the designs like these?

Just look at this guys, if 'elegance' was a noun, it probably would have looked like this, and I am sure many will agree too:

[omar]

I agree with the OP, and many may not agree, but designs of the previous generations are definitely better. That I feel, is due to the simple lines of the previous iterations, with the current ones being more eye catching with the cuts and lines, which complicate the looks of the car.

For example, I would prefer the Gallardo/ Murcielago to any Lambo on sale right now, or the older Ferrari's to the current crop, especially the 458/488.

The mass market cars for sale here also have such instances, when strictly speaking about looks. I'd prefer the older Civic, Jazz, Verna and Swift any day!

[aditbelw]

Thus we say "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder"!

No way the modern super cars are ugly in any sense.

As Kids we all have had our poster cars , for me it was the Countach and Testarossa: these were the cars I desired and dreamt about: these were the cars I thought of buying : these were the cars I wanted to study hard for:these were the cars I got plantonically attached to, hence liking the modern supercars would make me feel like a cheater on my own thought process as a kid, hence to convince my self it would be best to say ohh these modern supercars are damn ugly.

[coolmind]

IMHO, its not correct to compare old sports' cars with the modern cars.

See the engine capacities and the speeds achievable today. With increase in speed, the number of creases/grills has gone up. This may not look aesthetic to eyes of few again design is all upto individual's opinion.

[torquecurve]

As someone rightly pointed, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Having said that, there are some designs that are timeless, most of the current super and hypercars, won't stand scrutiny if we look at that aspect.

While a lot of it has to do with rules and regulations, the bigger part is we are losing 'mad' designers. To give you an example - if someone was to design the 'Sagrada Familia' today, he would be called mad and idiotic because there is no symmetry to the design. But when you look at this wonderful piece of architecture, you are blown. I digress, but allow me to explain.

The timeless designs and those cars were made by people with a passion for doing something with the exuberance of a child, where they didn't care how the end result looked or felt, as long as it ticked a few boxes. Look at a Pagani Zonda for example - it is mad in the way it is designed. The Lamborghini Diablo or Countach would have been put down by today's critics for things such as difficult to look out of, no rear view, too little space, too noisy (and as Clarkson would say - Blah!!).

Having driven a Corvette, the mad sounding engine and the heavy steering would have put off any millennial, who would go - well no turbocharger, whats with the speedometer jumping around!.

Sorry for ranting. The point, I was trying to make is that these old beauties were beauties because we had time to make them beautiful without making them conform to societal norms.

[sarathlal]

Originally Posted by porsche_guy

• Lamborghini Veneno

Attachment 1874786
Yes, I'm going to get a lot of flak for this since it's basically just a dressed up Aventador. But just look at it! It's probably the meanest looking car that also looks like it's going 400kmph even while standing still!

(Source: Wikipedia Commons)

Cheers!

I was lucky enough to see it in person once, and man! Its an amazing looking beast in real(Its really huge!). The pictures had left me in two minds when the Veneno was launched, but all changed in its favor that day.

Not to mention the exhaust notes, that too when it was simply idling!