308 facelift

[FarmerPug]

the start of the ugly bug was 1998, it grabbed a hold of peugoet and gained complete control in 2004 when they stopped making the 406, unless you consider the peugeot partner van, it was for a while their best looking car. Having said that the new partner is ugly. The berlingo looks different from the current partner and perhaps citroen is the good looking side of the company at the moment.

[highlander]

The stock 206 isn't a bad-looking car (once the chavs / Barry Boys get hold of it though ...) - it was very popular, and praised for its appearance.

I actually like the looks of the 607 - it looks like a very nice luxury car. It only failed in the UK market because people don't associate the Peugeot brand with premium / luxury, and so they depreciate like stones. Only the HDi-powered Peugeots retain some of their value these days because of the damned fuel prices.

[sirwiggum]

People are sheep who wont go near any exec car that is not German.

206 looked ok, the pointy lights suited it. 607 looks ok but I feel the D9 and even the 605 have a more elegant front end styling.

It went downhill with the 307 and 308.

[Doggy]

It's simpler than that, 406 = good, not 406 = bad.

[highlander]

I do kinda like the look of the 508, and I really hope that Peugeot pass one over to Pininfarina and ask them for a Coupe version.

[FarmerPug]

not everything breathed upon by pinifarina is beautiful remember the hyundai matrix.
Ital design also have not always made beautiful cars, the morris ital for example.

[steve_earwig]

It probably depends how much they spent with the designer and what the design brief was - Hianddie - "we'll pay you 1€ per car if we can put your name on them", Ital - "We want you to facelift our old piece of crap based on the Morris Minor, here's 50p"

[highlander]

not everything breathed upon by pinifarina is beautiful remember the hyundai matrix.

When Hyundai goes to Pininfarina and says "design an MPV for us", then Pininfarina will try to design a practical vehicle, with lots of functionality and space, and will try to make the interior quite nice to be in.

If Hyundai went to Pininfarina and said "design a sports coupe for us" then they would come up with a sleek and sporty car, and would probably have done a better job than Hyundai themselves did with the Hyundai Coupe (aka Hyundai Tiburon). Not that their Coupe is a bad-looking car - but it's not one of those designs you could really say will be appreciated in years to come.

Ital design also have not always made beautiful cars, the morris ital for example.

The Ital was first launched on 1 July 1980. It took its name from Giorgetto Giugiaro's ItalDesign studio, who had been employed by BL to manage the re-engineering of Morris Marina, a car which had been produced by the company since 1971. Although the redesigned car was named Ital after the design studio, it was actually Harris Mann who was responsible for the car's new look. BL's advertising, however, emphasised the car's connection with the Italian styling house Italdesign, who had in fact merely productionised the design.

[sirwiggum]

The mk1 Coupe was a nice looking car. They ruined it with the spiders eyes headlights. The new one (of the last 5 years or so) is back to an attractive coupe. About the only Hyundai I would be happy to own.

Speaking of Hyundai, the Stellar was designed by Italdesign. Advertised as the replacement for the Cortina for those who don't like the shape of the Sierra.

[FarmerPug]

i was in a hyundai coupe once, where do they get them materials, the plastics were like something them little tykes cars are made off, no wait the little tykes plastics are of better quality, and the leather in this thing was definatley not leather.

[highlander]

My colleague had a Hyundai Coupe SIII V6 for a few weeks (he got rid quickly because it must have been involved in an accident which had damaged the rear quarter-panel on the left side; rust kept bubbling up through the paint).

I had a ride in it once or twice; the interior was cramped and uncomfortable, you wouldn't wish the rear seats on anybody who actually had legs, the side windows are high up compared to the low, low seats so you don't get a good view out of them, everything rattled, and it was very noisy. Plus, for a 2.7 litre V6 engine, 173 BHP isn't much (the ES9 J4S used in PSA cars gets 210 HP from a 3.0 litre V6). And the Hyundai Coupe is very thirsty, to boot.

So the range is poor, the engine isn't particularly powerful (with an ECU remap, my 2.2 I4 would get more power than their 2.7 V6 does), it's made of crap materials, and it doesn't look very pretty.

[FarmerPug]

it's made of crap materials, and it doesn't look very pretty.

sums up all hyundais ive ever had the misfortune of being inside.