Car O'Clock

Once upon a time…

 At the beginning of the 20th century, cars were required to have very large radiators to help prevent them from overheating. Then manufacturers began to cover these radiators with what became known as radiator grilles, usually displaying a badge unique to the marque.

This was what we now call branding – a way to distinguish one car from another. While actual styling departments didn’t exist until General Motors created such a thing in the 1930s, it soon became apparent that a unique radiator grille was a desirable sales asset. Looking back, it’s amazing how some of those early attempts have continued to be used to some 100 plus years later.

To name just a few, Rolls Royce, Bugatti, Mercedes Benz, and Renault still display a contemporary version of their early front grille design or badge that has helped to set them apart from their contemporaries. And many marques have used these assets to become recognised and respected by car buyers across the globe.

Interestingly, the advent of rear-engined and mid-engined cars hasn’t lead to anonymous cars because other design elements have helped to create a road presence. Even without a large grille up front, nobody could mistake an Alpine-Renault, Porsche, or VW Beetle for another marque.

So, for many years, it was easy for everyone to know what car was what, without having to examine them up close. Then it all went horribly wrong. First came international safety design rules that dictated how a car should crash into a concrete block or bump into a pedestrian without slicing then into two. And then, as the car market became ever more competitive, manufacturers from around the world became desperate to set their models apart from the rest.

Goodbye beauty, hello marketing

 At the beginning of the 21st century, there began a ‘mine’s bigger than yours’ competition in which the largest grille or most attention-grabbing frontal aspect was deemed essential to create ‘brand identity.’

A few classic grille shapes seem to translate quite well in the modern era, Alfa Romeo, Volvo, Jeep, Renault, and others continue to display a restrained elegance in the face of a brute force offensive from carmakers who you might have expected to more from, like Rolls Royce, for example.

This look-at-me approach seems to have emanated in Germany and has now, sadly, been embraced by car manufacturers the world over. Like some unstoppable facial disease, the influence of marketing and brand-power over design has produced many aesthetic horrors that are defacing the roads. It began with prestige brands and has spread across the entire automotive landscape. 

We now have mainstream Fords imitating Aston Martins, BMWs looking as restrained as old Cadillacs and Toyotas resembling terrifying monsters from a horror movie. As for the Bentley concept car at the head of the page, I just hope they never plan to actually build it. Well, not with that gobsmackingly ugly front end anyway.

Open wide and say, ‘argh!’

 The general public seems to have accepted these big-mouth frontal aspects, perhaps because they too want more brand recognition from their friends and neighbours. After all, how do tell one SUV from another without checking out the large chromium orifice at the front first?

 However, perhaps the emergence of electric cars will bring about a new, cleaner look. After all, the one thing they don’t need is a radiator or a huge, gaping mouth to let us know who the manufacturer might be. Although, curiously, the recent Tesla 3 has a blank front panel that looks like someone stole the grille that was meant to be there. Weird.

Meanwhile, here are just a few examples of cars that would look far more attractive if their grilles were less excessively large – do you have to try so hard to be noticed Bentley and Zagato? And, beneath them, a few cars both old and new that demonstrate a massive grille isn’t necessary to look distinctive. What’s more, every one of them has a front-engine that requires cooling. Proof that good design manages to speak eloquently rather than shout loudly.

Recent ‘big mouth’ cars

And, how it should be done