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Family Face – BMW E series saloons and coupes

pjm — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:02:49 +0000

BMW New Series (1962 – 1976)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user dave_7 ]

BMW E3/E9 (1968 – 1977)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Gareth & Rebekah ]

BMW E12 (1972 – 1981)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user sweens308 ]

BMW E21 (1975 – 1983)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user shebab ]

BMW E24 (1976 – 1989)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user DocKeR47 ]

BMW E23 (1977 – 1986)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user jesuspark ]

BMW E26 (1978 – 1981)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Toni P1 ]

BMW E28 (1981 – 1988)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user KillerPM ]

BMW E30 (1982 – 1994)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user motoyen ]

BMW E32 (1986 – 1994)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Sherlock77 (James) ]

BMW E34 (1988 – 1996)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user barjack ]

BMW E31 (1989 – 1999)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user volnick1986 ]

BMW E36 (1990 – 2000)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Ham Hock ]

BMW E38 (1994 – 2001)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user timheuer ]

BMW E39 (1995 – 2004)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user the_gorilla ]

BMW E46 (1998 – 2006)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user brigaid ]

BMW E85 (2002 – 2008)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user ]

BMW E65 (2002 – 2008)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user plien ]

BMW E63 (2003 – )

[ creative commons picture from flickr user xrrr ]

BMW E60 (2004 – )

[ creative commons picture from flickr user plien ]

BMW E81/E82 (2004 – 2007)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user wongdood ]

BMW E86 (2006 – 2008)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user rimblas ]

BMW E89 (2009 – )

[ creative commons picture from flickr user k_LAU ]

Family Face – Jeep / Jeep Wrangler

pjm — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:32:03 +0000

This time you’re getting no hints since this makes the Land Rover one look complicated… :)

Jeep CJ-2A (1945-1949)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user MrBigDog2k ]

Jeep CJ-3A (1949-1953)

Jeep CJ-5 (1954-1983)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user jacksnell ]

Jeep CJ-7 (1976-1986)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user dave_7 ]

Jeep Wrangler YJ (1987–1995)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Jim Epler ]

Jeep Wranger TJ (1997–2006)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user H-Y-P-E ]

Jeep Wrangler JK (2007–present)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user SandShoes ]

Family Face – Alfa Romeo

pjm — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:15:22 +0000

Next up, lets take a look at 60 years of Alfa Romeos. We’re looking at the inverted tear drop shape of the grille and the position of the headlights…

Alfa Romeo 1900 (1950–1959)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user HenryFigueroa ]

Alfa Romeo Giulietta (1954–1965)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Count Rushmore ]

Alfa Romeo 2000 (1958–1961)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Count Rushmore ]

Alfa Romeo 2600 (1961–1968)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user daviddaviddaviddaviddavid ]

Alfa Romeo 2000GTV (1971–1977)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user "ANITA.trans - My way of life" ]

Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1976–1980)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Templar1307 ]

Alfa Romeo 75 (1985-1992)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user dave 7 ]

Alfa Romeo 145 (1994–2001)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Pete B Robinson Photography ]

Alfa Romeo 156 (1997–2007)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Ruud Raats ]

Alfa Romeo 147 (2000-present)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Morphey ]

Alfa Romeo 159 (2005-present)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user sgatto ]

Family Face – Peugeot

pjm — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:28:30 +0000

As a kid I always loved the faces that Peugeot gave their cars, with the eyes that changed mood depending on how you saw them. Sometimes they were friendly, sometimes malevolent, and sometimes sleepy. No doubt entertaining small English boys wasn’t top of the list of must-haves that the designers considered, but it has led to an interesting family face to observe…

Peugeot 204 (1965-1976)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user mazdamiata ]

Peugeot 304 (1969–1980)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user mwanasimba ]

Peugeot 505 (1979-1992)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user JosideLusarreta ]

Peugeot 205 (1983—1996)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user DerekL ]

Peugeot 405 (1987–1997)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user DerekL ]

Peugeot 306 (1993–2002)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user goodcatmum ]

Peugeot 406 (1995–2003)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Syl2m ]

Peugeot 206 (1998–present)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Seo2 ]

Peugeot 307 (2001–2008)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user kenjonbro ]

Peugeot 207 (2006–present)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user superciliousness ]

Peugeot 308 (2007–present)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user superciliousness ]

Family Face – Land Rover

pjm — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:24:54 +0000

When my brother first suggested Land Rover for this, I thought it was a bit of a cheat – after all, the thing hasn’t changed in 60 years. But then… isn’t that the point…?

The first version of the Land Rover was designed to replace an ageing Jeep that Rover’s chief designer Maurice Wilks used on his farm in Wales. It was a utilitarian affair designed to use parts that were already lying around the Rover factory. The doors could be removed or halved in height, the roof could come off and the windscreen could be collapsed down…

Land Rover Series I (1948-1958)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Ian Fuller]

Land Rover Series II (1958-1961)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user JohnnyRokkit]

To anticipate the pedants, the photo of the ‘Series II’ is almost certainly a Series IIa model since the owner claims it was built in 1962, however the II and IIa versions were virtually indistinguishable. The model shown below as a IIa is, in fact, a IIa facelift version…

Land Rover Series IIa (1961-1971)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user kenjonbro]

Land Rover Series III (1971-1985)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user FoToGuns]

Land Rover Defender (1990-2007)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user nasebaer]

Land Rover Defender (2007-)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user miki2605]

Family Face – Porsche 911 et al

pjm — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:02:07 +0000

Lets get the off on the right foot, shall we? You can’t buy a new Porsche 911. No, you can’t. The car currently sold as the ’911′ is actually the Porsche 997. This is a round-up of the 911 family tree for my Family Face series…

911 Classic (1964–1975)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user aresauburn]

930 (1975 – 1989)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user CCCPxokkeu]

964 (1989–1993)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user daveoflogic ]

993 (1993–1998)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user daveoflogic]

996 (1998–2004)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user daveoflogic]

997 (2004–present)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Germanspotter]

Finally, a quick look at the current lineup of non-911 type Porsches…

Cayenne

[ creative commons picture from flickr user kenjonbro]

Panamera

[ creative commons picture from flickr user userexfordy ]

Boxster

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Michi1308]

Cayman

[ creative commons picture from flickr user kenjonbro]

Family Face – VW Golf

pjm — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:19:36 +0000

Another interesting progression is the step from one version of the same range to the next. The VW Golf shows an almost natural evolution in its appearance. Darwin would be proud…

The Mark 1 Golf is one of those truly iconic cars for people my age. The GTI was on the scene just as I was starting to realise that it wasn’t just the supercars that were worth drooling over.

[ All images taken from the Wikipedia VW Golf article ]

Mark I (1974-1984)

Mark II (1985-1991)

Mark III (1991-1997)

Mark IV (1997-2003)

Mark V (2003-2009)

Mark VI (2009-)

Family face – Volvo

pjm — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:51:21 +0000

My grandfather was famous for his inability to identify shapes – he was banned from holding a gun during the war because he couldn’t tell the difference between our planes and the German ones. He was delighted by my (incredibly geeky) ability to identify the manufacturer of oncoming cars by the shapes of their grill.

It’s interesting (no, really) to compare the front of certain marques over time…

First up, is 40 years of Volvo…

Volvo 140 series (1966–1974)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Schockwellenreiter ]

Volvo 66 (1975 – 1980)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Schockwellenreiter ]

Volvo 200 series (1974 to 1993)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user dhwright ]

Volvo 300 series (1976–1991)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user dvnijhof ]

Volvo 700 series (1982–1998)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user mirius ]

Volvo 850 (1992–1997)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user masolino ]

Volvo S70 (1997-2000)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user merfam ]

Volvo S40 (2004–present)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Birdfreak.com ]

Volvo C30 (2006–present)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user themullett ]

Volvo S60 Concept (expected 2009)

[ creative commons picture from flickr user Daniel Reversat ]

No-one would tell you that the S60 looks anything like the 140, but hopefully you can see the progression that has gone on here.

What happens in the future is anyone’s guess.

Personally, I would guess that…

those lights will continue to sweep backwards up the wings
the wings themselves are getting smaller and turning into continuations of the hip line that runs down the window sills
the grill will get slightly deeper and drop down more, in the same general look that Audi is using.