I’m not exactly sure what it is about pointing out that cars of the same general category tend to have some basic visual similarities. Whatever it is, it’s apparently appealing for the sorts of people you like to keep at the other side of the room from you at parties. Remember late last year and that dumb meme of all the white SUVs? That was a big hit among all those people who don’t know a Corolla from a cruller, and now it’s effectively returned, with another stupid meme, this time comparing a Ferrari Purosangue and a Mazda MX-30. Let’s take a moment to shit all over this stupid meme, shall we?
First, in case you’ve somehow missed this thing which has been all over the damn place, mazel tov, and I’m envious and sorry I’m about to ruin your streak:
Okay, so, yes, both of these red, generally sportily-designed SUVs have sorta similar rooflines and four largeish wheels sorta-similar side windows and if you look at them through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars or through a wet t-shirt or after a fistful of pills you found in a ziplock bag by the creek, then, sure, they look kinda similar.
Also, Mazda obviously spent many millions developing the MX-30 (a typical vehicle program can cost $1 Billion), but that’s not the point, here. You know what is a valid point? That’s not even an MX-30. It’s a Mazda CX-30. This is an MX-30:
That really doesn’t look like the Purosangue. But whatever, we’ll keep with the CX-30 and pretend like completely misidentifying the car doesn’t already tell us what we need to know about this meme, even though it does.
You know what else looks kinda similar to other things that aren’t really that first thing? All kinds of things. If you’re willing to ignore important visual details like proportion or shape or contour or pattern or any of those clearly insignificant things, then all kinds of shit looks like all kinds of other shit. Here, look:
Do you mix up apples and tomatoes or handsome big cats for Ron Perlman? If so, then yeah, you might try to drive off in a Mazda CX-30 when you own a Ferrari Purosangue because you think that’s your car, you big inattentive dummy.
Let’s just take another look at these two cars, just for funsies, why not?
Aside from being generally SUV-shaped, these two vehicles don’t really look the same, I mean not if you’re someone who actually gives a brace of BMs about cars in any way at all. The stance is completely different, the shape of the windows isn’t actually the same, and the proportion of those windows to the rest of the body is different. The beltline on the Ferrari kicks up far earlier and at a very different angle, the lower body sides on the Ferrari have a dramatic pinch, and the fenders are far more dramatically curved and much larger in width.
The Mazda’s front-end treatment is completely different, as is all of the lighting design. All the details – door handles, wheels, that heat exhaust vent on the Ferrari just under the A-pillar, the hood contours, everything, it’s all different, sometimes dramatically. If you were in front of these two cars, even in exactly the same color, and you still couldn’t tell them apart, I’m taking your keys away, because you would be in no condition to drive.
I asked our own Professional Cranky British Car Designer about this, Adrian Clarke, and he had some very relevant thoughts to add:
“It’s like saying you and me are identical because we both have two eyes, two legs and no foreskin.”
While I haven’t confirmed Adrian’s circumcision, everything else checks out, and he’s right. Nobody would mistake us for each other. If we stand next to each other, we look like Frodo and Gandalf, if Frodo stopped caring about what he wore and if Gandalf was a little more punk. I asked Adrian if he could elaborate, using the full power of his Royal College of Art automotive design training and education, and he did not disappoint:
Think all SUVs look the same? There’s a 14 car challenge in this week’s @Autocar magazine – kudos to anyone who gets them all… but I suspect rather more will reaffirm their belief that the jelly mould is being put to good use… pic.twitter.com/jTpBmBD1qv
— Jim Holder (@Jim_Holder) March 1, 2023
Yes, Autocar, you’re geniuses: SUV silhouettes do look alike! Does that mean they all look the same? I don’t know? Do these look the same?
Hey they do! I guess all male-identifying humans look the same, too when you reduce them to a basic silhouette, huh? How cool! Does it matter that one is Idris Elba and one is Mark Zuckerberg? Would you be able to tell them apart if you saw them parked next to each other in a Target parking lot? Probably not, right, because they all look the same! See, I’m cool because I notice these things! Nothing matters!
If you shared that meme, and indulged in a smug little chuckle, then I hope you enjoyed that, because now I and so many other people who are actually able to look at cars think you’re a ninny. Yes, car types have generally similar designs, but if you think that means car design is dead and everything looks the same, that’s because you’re not really looking.
I hope this is the last time we have to talk about these stupid “cars look kinda the same sorta” memes, but I’m not going to hold my breath. Because if I did, I could give myself brain damage and come out thinking all cars look the same.
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https://www.reddit.com/r/mazda3/comments/150g686/mazda3_5door_visual_similarities_to_ferrari_ff/
My question is why is he trying to defend Ferrari so hard ? It’s just a meme/joke. And to bo honest it should be joked about. Because the whole Supercar manufacturers making SUV thing is a meme in itself. Trying to make useless “supercars” more useful by putting their engines in a big chassis… The term “supercar” is no longer have a meaning when Electric Family Sedan can dust them all by half a dragstrip… They are for show but there is nothing left to show… So manufacturers had to somehow sell anything meaningful, so here comes a new toy. A “practical” “supercar” this saved Lamborghini and now Ferrari trying to save themselves in the inevitable doom that is upcoming for these types of manufacturers
I actually have to disagree with your take here. Yes, SUVs in particular tend to look alike and generally share a similar profile and while I absolutely understand the effect that surfacing has on a vehicle there were two things that struck me in the lead image. The first was that they both had a very steeply raked windshield that seemed to push the cabin further back than your typical 2 box cross over and the second was that the Ferrari DRL and black cladding lined up relatively close to the chrome grille trim and cladding of the Mazda. An oversimplification, absolutely, but it did make for a tongue in cheek chuckle.
But that’s not actually the problem in my opinion. For me, the issue is that the Purosangue doesn’t look like anything. Yeah, it has some Ferrari design elements in the head lights and tail lights, but it’s still otherwise generic in my opinion and to me I think that was the point of the meme. You could place a bunch of different sporty manufacturers badges on there and I could believe it.
I just think a lot of these luxury SUVs just miss the mark in their design language or probably more accurately, their design language doesn’t transfer well to an SUV design. This is Ferrari’s first attempt. I think they missed.
In fact, the only company that I believe really nailed it was Rolls Royce with the Cullinan. While I do not particularly think that the Cullinan is pretty, the first time I saw it I went, “that’s a Rolls”.
Lamborghini is next best with the Urus. I can’t figure out if it is just because the concept has been around so long or not but the creases and design of the Urus strikes me as Lambo (though I hate that the c-pillar is the same across all of the SUVs from audi and vw that use the platform). Again, it’s not pretty but it’s a lambo
After those two, I would say Porsche is next best but actually only because of familiarity and time. In the 20ish years since the Cayenne has existed, Porsche has both expanded the line up and refreshed all of their cars making the designs more cohesive.
And that’s really it for the positives.
I think Bentley and Aston Martin are in the same boat as Ferrari. While I admittedly have a soft spot for Aston Martins, the reality is that the DBX and Bentayga are just corporate noses and backs grafted on to an SUV platform. The designs just didn’t transfer well overall. That being said, both of those SUVs seem to be a little more original than the Ferrari in my opinion.
So yeah, was the meme oversimplified? Sure but to me, it hit close enough.
Both times you’ve written about SUV memes Jason i’ve had to admit the memes are right.If manufacturers dont like the comparisons they should make more interesting shapes!
However this latest meme is almost a compliment.Both cars looks kinda good (for SUVs).Well done Mazda, even better done Fauxrari
That’s the problem with Jason and Adrian arguing that these cars look so different from each other. They both are probably the most attractive examples of their segment, and it is the similarities between them that make them both look good, not their differences.
I’ll point out an easy one. It’s a two door vs a four-door.
When your on the inside of something so deep it’s tough to see what is plain to others.
design doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
Those rigs look a lot alike.
Given that Mazda makes gorgeous cars, isn’t this kind of a backhanded compliment?