One of the most important things when it comes to the automotive industry is design. Millions of dollars and tons of hours are spent fine-tuning and perfecting the design of a car, no matter which automaker is doing it, leading to some automotive designers being well-known for their incredible work on some cars. Not only is the exterior design important for sales figures, but it also perfectly illustrates to the consumer what type of car they're buying.
Sometimes, the design team does their job incredibly well, and not only are they able to produce cars that look fantastic and modern, but ones that still look modern years and years after they originally debut. Other times, they end up designing machines that looked outdated within months, or sometimes immediately.
10 Still Looks Modern - Acura TSX
When it comes to Honda and Acura project cars, the TSX is one of the cornerstones, alongside the Integras and RSXs. Many experts consider the TSX to be one of, if not the best normal Acura model ever sold in the United States. It was even available as a wagon.
Despite using the Japanese automaker's luxury badge in the States, both generations of the TSX were rebadged versions of the European spec Honda Accord. With both generations, however, one thing is for sure; they look fantastic. The exterior styling is perfectly balanced, and they still look good, even by today's standards.
9 Outdated When New - Ford Thunderbird
After a decade-long hiatus, Ford revived the iconic Thunderbird name in 2002 for a brand new, retro-styled luxury convertible. Its exterior styling was very faithful to the original Thunderbird from 1955, but that was really all the merit that it received.
Underneath the fancy styling, the Thunderbird was just a Lincoln LS, which itself shared various components with the Jaguar X-Type, including the engine. The Thunderbird used the same Jaguar V8, and the interior from the LS was carried over as well. The retro styling quickly became a laughingstock by the end of the T-Bird's run in 2005, and the cheap interior didn't help matters.
8 Still Looks Modern - Volkswagen Phaeton (Facelift)
Volkswagen knew that it was a total gamble trying to steal some of the S-Class' clout in the early 2000s, but they gave it a shot anyway. The Phaeton was a big luxury limo, and it had all the items one could expect from a luxury limo (and more). All of it was let down by the badge on the front, though.
While the earlier Phaeton models are starting to look a little outdated today, the Phaeton soldiered on in Europe and received quite a few updates, the most intensive one being in 2011, when the Phaeton received VW's new corporate face. It also featured an updated cabin and infotainment system, and even though it's long gone, it still looks pretty modern today.
7 Outdated When New - Chrysler PT Cruiser
The Internet's favorite car to make fun of, the PT Cruiser, came along at a time when retro styling was considered cool, and it enjoyed so much success during its first outing that it even won Motor Trend's Car of The Year for 2001. Sadly, the problems began shortly thereafter.
Within a year or so, consumers started to oppose the idea of retro styling, and the PT Cruiser was immediately deemed uncool and embarrassing. As if that wasn't bad enough, being a Chrysler product from the 2000s, reliability issues soon started to appear. The GT version tried to inject some of the cool factor back into the PT Cruiser, without much success. And the less said about the convertible model, the better. It's considered one of the worst American cars of all time for a reason.
6 Still Looks Modern - Cadillac XLR
After the failure of the Allante as Cadillac's flagship luxury convertible, designed to compete with the Mercedes SL, the GM subsidiary decided to give it another try. Previewed by the Evoq concept, the XLR went on sale in 2003.
Underneath the svelte, sharp styled body was the Corvette platform, which was a good start. However, the XLR was slower, less powerful, and significantly heavier than the Corvette. Not only that, but it was also saddled with the laughingstock of General Motors' engines; the Northstar V8. Poor sales led Cadillac to ax the XLR in 2009, with just under 15,500 units sold.
5 Outdated When New - Chevrolet HHR
After seeing the waves the PT Cruiser made in the automotive scene due to its retro styling, General Motors decided they wanted a piece of the pie with their own retro-styled compact car. The most interesting thing about that is the way they went about getting it.
Chevy actually hired the man who designed the PT Cruiser, tasking him to design a similar car for them. The result was the Chevrolet HHR, and it was dead on arrival. By the time the HHR arrived i 2005, retro styling was way past its sell-by date, and it was considered uncool and unsightly. Still, that didn't stop Chevy from making a performance model and a panel van version.
4 Still Looks Modern - Range Rover
The quintessential luxury SUV will always be the Range Rover for a lot of people. 2012 saw the release of a brand new Range Rover that brought some truly significant changes. It was built on an all-new platform, was a fair bit lighter than the outgoing one due to the extensive use of aluminum, and it was still just as capable and luxurious as ever.
Even though this generation Rover debuted in 2012, it still looks modern today. Even if it isn't the 2017 facelift, it still looks like a brand-new SUV, and still packs all the tech and luxury that one would expect in an SUV like this. Not to mention, early models are getting cheaper by the minute.
3 Outdated When New - Jeep Liberty
Even though it was a gamble at first, the original Jeep Cherokee was a resounding success for the American SUV giant, and the final XJ is starting to garner somewhat of a cult following among car enthusiasts and off-roading enthusiasts. In the early 2000s, however, things started to change.
Jeep decided to thoroughly revamp and modernize the Cherokee, eventually resulting in an entirely new model taking its place in the lineup. The new model, dubbed the Liberty, was billed as a more affordable and economical mid-size offering, while still offering all the capability. Unfortunately, the Liberty fell flat on its face when it was new, and reliability issues that started cropping up later didn't help matters.
2 Still Looks Modern - Honda Civic Hatch (FN)
2006 saw the arrival of the eighth generation Honda Civic. Whereas the United States was saddled with a rather conventional model, the rest of the world got this awesome futuristic hatchback. It was also one of a handful of cars in history to feature light bars both front and back.
Between the angular styling, futuristic profile, design cues that were ahead of their time, and the forward-thinking interior, the FN Civic hatch was definitely ahead of the curve. Honda was well aware of their excellent design work here, as the following generation Civic bore more than a passing resemblance to this one.
1 Outdated When New - Chevrolet Impala
50 years ago, the Chevy Impala was synonymous with big, brash luxury transportation, and a car that pretty soon became the poster child for the lowrider culture. Once the 2000s arrived, however, things took a turn for the worse.
The Impala was transformed into a dull, undesirable, FWD full-size sedan that was little to write home about. Aside from the absence of a V8 engine, the Impala was uninspiring to drive and the interior looked outdated even when it was new. The following generation improved things significantly, but it eventually reached Chevy's cutting room floor.