I agree. It's what I hate so much about many cars made by Pontiac and Ford. Everything is plastic-looking. And it's always some ugly charcoal or black plastic. It took MB to wake Chrysler up. I think a lot of what has happened is that you have high performance cars under $28k now so they have to put crappy interiors just to save a buck thanks to the cost of the engine and power train. It's affecting foreign as well as domestic cars. But then most people don't seem to mind, so who can blame them?
At least it's not cheap-looking plastic. All-plastic interiors are all right, if done tastefully. But tasteful and Pontiac are two words that are mutually exclusive. And it's a shame because Pontiac once had cool looking interiors, like the old Firebirds like mine. Bring back the polished aluminum!
Which interior looks better: this one: or this one: btw ...the Grand Am/Grand Prix interiors are kind of bland plastic looking ...but that Bonneville interior ...thats schweet!!!!
I'll take the Nissan one. Yea, it may have a cheap appearance to it, but Honda/Acura always have so many damn buttons and controls that it takes a good WHILE to figure out what and where everything is.
The Bonnie's interior, Codell, no offense, is busier than Houston traffic. I'm with Manny on this one -- car interiors should be KISS first. THe first time I drove my Armada, I didn't have to think very hard about how to the turn up the AC, use the Nav system or switch CD's. It all fell to hand and that to me -egronomics- is the most important measure of an interior.
Well, im a "doo-dad" and gadget type of guy. I love buttons and knobs. The more the better. Makes me feel like im a pilot instead of a driver.
Man. To each their own, but to me that is the most schlocky, plasticky, gaudy, overloaded interior I've ever seen. Gimme Nissan's understatement & refinement over this any day...
Same here, brother! I love busy interiors, in fact, if I ever see a car that is, say, Honda-like simplicity I would never buy it. I want people to jump into my car and tell me, "Damn! How many buttons on this thing? It looks like an airplane cocpit" Anyways, tastes do difinitely differ, and that is why thank God for all the choices we have in the market today
Mostly I think the crap look comes from that 1983 era shifter... Also, what some of you don't realize is that while ALL cars, from Pontiac to Bentley, use plastic all over the interior they use different kinds/quality of plastic. Trust me, Land Rover doesn't use the same low grade of plastic in their trucks as Chevy does. They also fit it together differently. Every GM vehicle I have had had the plastic console coming apart at the seam after a few years. NEVER happened with any foreign made car I owned.
And you think Ford uses the same grade of parts in its GT, or in its Lincoln Towncars as it does in the Escort or Taurus? Just b/c the larger conglomerates now own some lux brands dopesn't mean that they build the cars all out of the same bin now. Trust me, the Chrysler 300C doesn't have the same wood or plastic or design budget that the M Benz S class does.
We thought we might see at this year’s NAIAS a new Toyota Supra concept. We’d heard Toyota was contemplating bringing back the model name and the timing seemed right this year for a sneak peak. Well, we sort of saw it. But it was named the Lexus LF-A. And if produced, it will sticker for some $100,000. Oh well. Lexus declared that the LF-A is almost certain for production and they compared its performance to a Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Gallardo and a Porsche 911 Turbo. Nice company, indeed. The LF-A’s rear-mounted radiators with exposed fans seemed a strange choice, especially for a front-engine design, but they were certainly interesting touches and allowed for a very clean, grille-less, uncluttered front end. The headlights are absolute jewelry, though not overly flashy or complicated. The interior is airy, simple and restrained by supercar standards as is the over all exterior design.
BTW, there is an article in "Car and Driver" (January 2005 edition, page 36) with pictures (more of drawings really) of the Toyota Supra. It looks incredibly hot! I can't believe non of you guys picked up on this http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=29&article_id=8940&page_number=1