Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder, but...

 The whole craze of achieving maximum fuel efficiency has totally taken priority over everything else involved in automobile manufacturing, and rightfully so. With gas and oil prices skyrocketing and how our present day economy is currently situated, it makes perfect sense to develop cars that will conserve fuel and transport you farther on a single tank of gas.

However, there might have been one thing that was left on the back burner for some recently made models that have hit the floor the past two years; did anyone check to see how they looked? And if so, were they seriously satisfied with the appearance?

What I have noticed while driving on the roads the past few months is that I have encountered good amount of “head turners.” No, not drop-dead gorgeous women strutting down the street with their long wavy hair, supermodel-like body, and perfectly symmetric face, but “head turners” as in hideous looking complies of metal on four wheels with a grill and headlights (a car’s face) that honestly only a mother could love.

I am confident that you know what I am talking about and have unfortunately encountered some of these monstrosities while on the road. Some prime culprits are from Nissan with their Juke and Cube, the Mini Countryman, Lincoln MKT, and the Honda Crosstour. There were others that I was reminded of and visualized when trying to narrow down the choices, but these stood out.

So in the interest of column length and not delving into a separate review for each vehicle, here are some quick comments of them:

·      The Nissan Cube, although it exudes practicality and roominess, it is simply self-described by its name. It shows minimal creativity with its design, isn’t symmetric, isn’t aerodynamic, and if in white it looks as if a washing machine is bellowing at you at 40 mph.

    

·      The Mini Countryman. I mean the name alone is darn right confusing. In a Mini you want to feel like you are driving a go-cart; but not one that is massively disproportionate, has two extra doors, and looks like it is on steroids with a raised grill and deep-set headlights. 

    

·      And it seems as though Honda has actually missed its mark with an automobile with its Crosstour. It looks like a mismatch of parts and body panels from SUV’s, wagons, sedans, minivans, and maybe something else too, all molded together to a UFO on four wheels.
 

Had enough yet? Well a briefing seems appropriate for the final two, as they are quite capable of frightening young children based on only their looks.

·      Lincoln’s MKT is something else; it’s 207 inches long and over 5000 pounds of something else. It has lines and swoops in random areas that don’t accentuate each other as shown with the crooked rear end and huge grill. It kind of reminds me that “Tucan Sam” is coming near.

  

·      Now not to pick on Nissan again, but this last one takes the cake. The Juke screams identity crisis. I mean, it’s actually really hard to briefly describe, but I think I’ll call it consistently inconsistent with its appearance. Almost as though it is trying to “juke” out potential buyers.

   

Obviously, people have different tastes when it comes to cars. However, you’ll most certainly notice if you see any of these while hitting the road. They will stick out amongst the countless amount of Camrys, Accords, and F150s. And when that happens, I’m almost positive the words you utter won’t be “wow, that was a stunning car, that Juke/Cube.”