A few weeks ago we looked at several current Toyota and Lexus models that had at best some questionable styling elements. As evidence that those models weren’t outliers, allow me to introduce you to the current Toyota Alphard…
The Alphard is one of Toyota’s larger non-commercial JDM minivans, and is marketed here in Japan typically as a luxury model. The interior is actually quite nice, and an up-market model is making in-roads in the “Executive” sedan segment previously ruled by Toyota’s Century – a little easier to enter and exit, and more room inside for those older, less limber CEO’s and VP’s.
But as with the black moldings we discussed in the previous post, the Alphard’s styling tends towards the bizarre. One wonders what the Head of Toyota Styling was thinking when he grafted on this large “belt buckle” grille. Maybe he’s a WWF fan…
The Alphard has a sister model called the Vellfire that looks a little better, though still a little too much chrome for my taste.
To each his own but as nice as the inside is, I just couldn’t park an Alphard in my driveway – not with that schnoz…
What do you think?
Japanese Designers are so derivative- they’ve just reinvented the 1934 Chrysler Airflow!
The white one like it’s drooling. But those bug-eye fog lights in its jowls are bizarre.
The Airflow looks better…
I would also take the Airflow over these 2 minivans. Know this airflow quite well. Belongs to a member of the Saskatoon Antique Auto Club that I am a member of as well.
The Vellfire “looks a little better”. Hard to disagree, but that name!
“I am the God of Vellfire, and I bring you Fire!”
I concur; ‘ALPHARD’ is an absolutely horrible name. I would be curious to know who thought it up and then OK’ed it as the model name. Yucko! I think the vehicle is ugly, but the name is worse. Inside looks rather inviting, however.
I remember wondering how the Japanese pronounced it. Was is “Alp Hard” or “Alfard”? Turns out it’s the latter, though it sounds a bit like “Arfaaad” when they say it. It’s a stinker of a name for all these reasons (ambiguous spelling + hard to pronounce for JDM).
I agree the interior is nice. Having ridden in a couple, I can attest that they are a very comfortable means of transport. The added bonus when you’re inside is that you don’t have to look at the atrocious exterior styling.
Toyota appears to be overreacting to opinions their styling previously appeared generic. Expect their next generation design to be toned down, as a further reaction.
A man is crawling in the desert so dehydrated he can barely move or speak. He comes to an oasis and there sits a gentleman reading a book and enjoying a glass of something. The thirsty man raises his hand and with a crackling voice says: “Water! Water!” The gentleman makes a face similar to the Alphard’s and says: “No! That’s Champaign!”
The ‘Vellfire’ tail light assembly would probably have worked better as the front ‘grille’ on either design.
The recent rash of SUVs and minivans look like angry blobs of plastic and sheet metal. Ugh!!
Piggy McPigface
And to think: The Edsel was once though of as ugly.
Bugly!
Is it really any worse that this?
Keep in mind that these are JDM market vehicles; Toyota would not bring this to America, where folks have such refined taste.
+1
Automotive marketing departments know the full-sized truck market loves overt macho bravado in their grille design. As the 1994 Dodge truck demonstrated. Why else make a pickup truck grille look like an 18 wheeler design? It was a marketing success, thanks largely to a grille design that looked more masculine. Plus marketers know many truck owners enjoy glorifying their brand allegiance. So, the overt truck grilles, that lack simplicity/elegance over making a brash (often tacky) statement, are popular with that market. While it also almost shows a degree of contempt for that market. Similar to the way Detroit used to try to sell flashy chrome, bloated cars, and hood ornaments, as what people wanted/needed. And for a while it worked.
Many would not have expected this sort of ‘contempt’ for their market from Toyota. It appears less authentic. For many years, Toyota built cars that still looked good 10 years later, helping ensure great resale value. These designs are very faddish and polarizing. Trendy, faddish designs have always proven to age quickly. It was Detroit selling excess styling (and poor taste), that turned many people to foreign cars and their cleaner, more elegant, and timeless design.
Overwrought design has a very short shelf life.
Funny you should mention the Dodge pickups with their “big rig” styling overtones. A Google Images search produces several newer Freightliner trucks (the heavy duty tractors) with a front end treatment/grille that looks very similar to that of the Alphard.
If I knew how to post pictures here, I would include an example.
I’ll do it for you.
I see more Peterbilt 579 in the front grille than Cascadia 2.0 When you need cooling for a 11-16L engine it makes sense, in this application it’s just goofy IMHO.
Toyota built cars that still looked good 10 years later, helping ensure great resale value. These designs are very faddish and polarizing.
I realize it’s a generalization, but you do realize that the Japanese have an exceptionally strong affinity to new fads? We’ve covered a number of these JDM vehicles over the years, like the WiLL below.
Also keep in mind that the Japanese are well known not to keep their cars for not very long at all, and that they then typically get sold off to other countries.
My point is that I suspect Toyota may possibly know more about its domestic customers’ taste than we do. But of course I might be wrong, maybe you know it better. Meanwhile, Toyota is doing very well in its home market.
I can assure you that Europeans roll their eyes at our trucks just as much as we’re rolling our eyes at this.
I say this not because I personally like this Alphard front end, but having watched the JDM market for decades, I’ve long stopped trying to judge what goes on there through the filter of my preferences. And in the process, I’ve learned to have more of a sense of humor about cars like this and so many others over the decades that strike us as odd.
Which may be precisely the point: perhaps Japanese look at cars like this with a different perspective? One that perhaps doesn’t take it so seriously, and sees it as a shiny vehicular trinket, knowing that in a few years, there will be another, perhaps shinier, or perhaps altogether different, as newness is valued within a segment of the JDM market.
No question, the JDM is a very unique and trendy. But these are just overwrought designs, that reflect poorly on the brand in general. As I learned in design school: elegance, cleanliness and purity in design can be almost universal. Though I didn’t experience the 1950s, it reminds me of what Detroit was selling to the public as good taste. When it appears to showing limited respect for what their market expects in good taste.
Perhaps it’s most reflective of a restrictive society looking for most any means of self expression and uniqueness. Even if it tends towards garish and overdone.
I really like the Toyota WiLL pictured. It looks like the designers mashed together a Citroen 2CV with an Ami. Fetching indeed.
I’d say the Vellfire is on par with that, but the Alphard has 34 more chrome bars in it’s grill than the Ford
Yes the Toyota van is worse, that truck didn’t steal the pillars off a Chevy Lumina van.
Not to mention that goofy grille trucks sell quite well.
We have huge numbers of the Nissan version here lots of chrome up front they seem to be either turbo diesel or have the 3.5V6 which are quite fast for what they are only a matter of time till the newer Alphards start showing up plenty of the earlier models around.
That Ford pickup is one of the sedate-looking models, one that doesn’t have “FORD” or “RAM” lettering taking up 2/3 of the grille opening.
That’s just as ugly, yes…but to be fair that’s an attempt to somewhat obscure the fact that it’s a facelift on a 20 year old design. The new one is still not exactly my taste but much more cohesive.
No, it really isn’t any worse. But that’s pretty low bar.
No, that’s real ugly, too. It can join the Alphard in the yucky-looking vehicle Lot.
That’s the main reason I like so many U.S. cars of the 1960s: They look like works of vehicular art to me.
Never seen a cow pusher on a car before. Vellfire starts a new trend? No worse than all the other gaping mouth monstrosities, I guess.
After seeing these, and what was featured in Part 1, it appears to me that Toyota is quite shrewd in yet another arena.
Their cars are boring in appearance. People talk about it. Their cars then become a visual assault. People talk about it.
In both cases Toyota has put themselves in the collective conscious. That’s a pretty smart way of doing business.
For the past 30 years, Toyotas have been some of the most intelligent cars people could buy. They are already foremost in most people’s thoughts for the best value in a car purchase. They and Honda are already in the collective conscious.
Why resort to trendy, polarizing styling that will possibly look significantly out of style in a few years? Affecting resale value and reputation. It reminds me more of the old planned obsolescence of domestic cars, and their annual styling changes. As your three year old car was out of style compared to your neighbour’s car.
I guess there’s no reason Toyota shouldn’t push consumption/consumerism less so than any other manufacturer. It does appear to be a different approach. I suspect the public won’t care if Toyota maintains its reputation of long term quality, and excellent engineering.
See my comment further up.
Toyotas have almost always been “trendy”, as have almost all cars. You think the original Prius wasn’t polarizing? Or all of their WiLL cars? I could name many more.
The point is that what is acceptable to the JDM market has always been different than what has been acceptable to the US market. And these vans are not sold here.
You do realize that you’re sounding like an old man? And I don’t mean that in a derogatory way, but just that it’s the natural tendency to become conservative in our taste as we age.
Fashion is always targeted to the young, and the old either get used to it, hate on it, or ignore it.
Let me guess; there were things you liked when you were young that your parents didn’t?
As I replied above, I suspect it is a reflection of the very unique Japanese culture. That embraces elements of culture, we in the west would consider bizarre.
It’s not a young/old issue Paul. When I was 16, I would have *known* these designs were overwrought. Tacky and over designed.
I think it’s because the Japanese crave extreme forms of expression and individuality.
I thought that the original Prius looked a lot like an Echo, could you mean the 2nd generation?
Otherwise, I agree with nearly everything you’ve said so far.
I remember reading car magazines in the 70s when one of the biggest criticisms of Japanese cars was that they were very overdecorated. Oddly, those critics forgot about many American cars of the 50s and 60s. The Japanese manufacturers must have been listening to those critics as their cars got better looking (well, most of them) in the late 70s-early 80s. Now, folks think that Japanese cars have gotten gaudy again. My theory? The Japanese have just decided to stop listening to the critics, and are “doing their own thing”.
Paul, when old people talk about how much better things were in the “good old days” what they really mean is that they are angry at being old. Fifty years ago, when I was a young man, life was sweet. Life is not so sweet when you are in your seventies and every move is an ordeal. But I have been lucky enough to survive into my retirement years and lucky enough to have landed in a place where I can actually live on a retirement income. Would I like to go back and do it all again, yes of course I would. But life does not work like that. So now I am happy with my wife of over fifty years and my friends and enjoying what life I have left in a small village in the mountains of Mexico. One advantage of living here is that the Mexican people respect the aged as being wise because of their experiences. By the way, all old people do not get more conservative as they age. I certainly did not.
Thanks for your wise comment. As I’m getting ready to turn 65 shortly, I can relate. And I’m working quite hard at not getting more conservative either. Although I am interested in the past, and run this old-car website, the focus of my personal interest and attention is increasingly on what’s new, fresh, and what’s next to come down the pike. And I generally enjoy hanging out with younger people.
I’m glad to hear about your life in a Mexican village. That appeals on several levels, except that my life is still deeply rooted here for now. Maybe in 5 or 10 years. Or at least for part of the year.
We’ll be celebrating our 40th very soon, and yes, life keeps getting better in very many ways, despite some parts not working quite as well.
Thank you for replying, Paul. Your site is one of the auto sites that I visit every day. Mexico is very nice as a retirement destination. Except we are being overwhelmed by American and Canadian expats moving into the area. It is still a great place to live.
“Say anything you want about Ford cars, as long as you say it four times an hour!” –Henry Ford (probably not, but it sounds good and makes the point)
The white thing looks like a nose hair trimmer…
My first thought was “road-going locomotive.” Are buyers really this far off the tracks, in their heads ? Wow . . .
Maybe — looking at the body-side sculpting — it’s more like something from a ‘forties sci-fi comic book ?
Stay on top, and create new business, with styling that is confident, beautiful and timeless. While already having a leading reputation for long term durability and quality.
Similar to the styling renaissance at Chrysler in the mid 1990s. Without the botched quality and durability.
These designs make me think of mid 1970s Datsun. Perhaps less shameless.
Styling has almost never been “timeless”, except for those looking back through rose-colored glasses. FWIW, those Chrysler cars from their “styling renaissance” never did much for me at the time, and aged very poorly. I thought they were overwrought and gimmicky. Trendy, in other words. YMMV.
These are just overdone designs. Trendy, or otherwise. You always express outstanding design analysis, but these are the 1958 Oldsmobiles of our times.
I disagree. The Olds was over-sized in every direction, had terrible space utilization, handled atrociously, was a gas hog, and had styling gimmicks slathered all over it from head to tail. It’s whole being was was over-wrought, not just its chrome trim. Is there anyway to make a ’58 Olds look “timelessly elegant”? There’s more to design than chrome trim, right?
These are highly functional, space-efficient, fuel-efficient, vans, whose styling (except the grille) is not anything out of the ordinary at all. Except for the grille, it looks like so many other contemporary compact vans.
The basic flat-nosed design of the front end is a consequence of pedestrian safety regs, aerodynamics and common general styling trend of the times.
The grille and details of the front end is what I assume everyone is focusing on. It’s essentially a slab of plasti-chrome to give it some very bold character to stand out on the streets of Tokyo, which are clogged with millions of look-alike small vans/kei vans and other blocky vehicles that are so common there.
Note that there’s an alternative version available (Vellfire). Is it more acceptable? And if this doesn’t play well in Tokyo, it’s dirt cheap to change the grille, right?
My point is that unless you live in Tokyo and are Japanese, your assessment of this van will be from that of an outsider.
Having said all of that, I’ve never said I “like it”, or it reflects my personal sense of aesthetics. But car companies are in the business of selling cars, not meeting your or my aesthetic sensibilities. If this is what the market wants, then Toyota is doing its business of selling vans to the Japanese. And undoubtedly doesn’t give a damn about what we think of it.
Sorry Paul, I was just talking in the respect of overdone styling. Period.
Otherwise, I am a huge Toyota fan. I simply find the styling over designed.
When I get old, I will never try to sound like a young man. These are simply over styled as many of the cars of my youth unfortunately were.
Those seats make up for many sins. What forbidden JDM accessories lie in your console? Can I tow an AE86 to Mount Akina with it?
I actually don’t mind the grille that much. It’s a logical extension of the “Audi look.” But what the hell is that weird logo on the one in the first pic?
The Alphard grille appears to be replicating the International Lone Star, which isn’t a good look for a small van. The whole Toyota line seems to be going for angry and derivative, like the C-HR small crossover which looks like a Nissan Juke crossed with a Kill-O-Zap ray.
Is that what that is! Thank you. From time to time—I wish it were oftener—I see one of these on the highway and rejoice that at least in some small measure we can have things that look like this today.
Big grilles, the bombshizzle!
I can’t see one of these without thinking of Maximum Overdrive.
As far as current Toyotas go, I think the GT 86 and C-HR are interesting. The rest are bizarre, to varying degrees. I don’t think it’s just a Japanese thing, they just employed a stylist smoking the wrong stuff. Ford had the same problem around 20 years ago – did they try to call it ” new edge” ?
They guy who made Mazdas look so good is now working for Renault. As a Mazda fan who wouldn’t touch a Renault, I’m very sad about that.
GT86 is not Toyota product, is from Subaru. I am sure the shape was penned by Subaru team. The vehicle has great expectation but fail in market due to lack of fan base like Mazda MX5.
As for current Alphard, I can know what Toyota design team was thinking, this vehicle is widely used by Super riches in Hong Kong as an alternative vehicle for thier Rolls Royce, Bentley and Maybach, the look should be better. The shape also remind me some of Chinese cars.
The GT86 is very much a Toyota product, to start with. They initiated the design and concept, and later invited Subaru to join them. Subaru did some development work for it, but the basic body design was already locked in, and its design was based substantially on the Toyota FT-HS concept from 2007.
Correct; nobody notices how much the 86 side profile mimics the classic 2000GT? Pure Toyota.
The current GT86 is nothing to do with the concept model in yr2007 you mentioned. This is purely Subaru engineered product BRZ is sold as original form with Subaru box engine. and GT86 is badge engineering product. I recall the chief engineer for BRZ even claimed Toyota did not know how to design a sporty car like BRZ.
Sorry Tygerleo, but you’re out-voted. the GT86 is very much a Toyota, except for the Subaru engine which Toyota have modified.
Not sure if Toyota took a financial stake in Subaru in order to get their hands on that engine or if it was always part of their plan.
Thiis! This just made the stacked headlights look soooo much better!
As one of the few JDM fanatics on this site, I’d like to point out a few things. First off, the Alphard/Velfire twins are not small vans by any means- they are narrow compared to minivans in the US, but these are only about 6 inches shorter than the Honda Odyssey, yet have a longer wheelbase. Because of this, they are essentially an alternative to a luxury sedan for most buyers. That front end mimics the Toyota Crown for this very reason. The Alphard is parallel to a Crown Royal buyer (conservative) as the Velfire would be to the Crown Athlete (masculine).
Now, if you look at luxury vans in Japan as a whole, they are intentionally bold. This is to specifically stand out from cheaper models, as vans are a very popular segment. As a result, buyers in this part of the market want these distinctive looks. The Nissan Elgrand is the Alphard’s direct rival; is the front of this van any less brash?
You beat me to it. These are indeed rather large vans. This generation has started to appear as a grey import here. Those import lots seem to do a good trade with these plush Japanese vans. I can see the appeal.
The front is a bit overdone but I really like the sides.
Frankly, I don’t find these a very objectionable design, unlike last week’s featured Toyota.
I’m with you William, I rather like the styling of these.
Last article’s Sienta isn’t that bad to me either. In the context of the design brief Toyota had for them, I think it’s rather smart; they are supposed to mimic the look of a running shoe. Active lifestyle and all that, I suppose.
Me too. For my own taste, the grille could be toned down a bit, but overall I rather like it. Vans have a huge future in transportation; when autonomous cars become more common, vans will likely too, as who cares what it looks like on the outside. It’s going to all be about maximum interior space and comfort, and it’s impossible to beat a van.
And it appears these are already a precursor, in terms of being a maximum luxury (space) vehicle.
My wife and I were looking at cars online last night, I kept finding ones that I like the styling of and her first question was “what does it look like inside?”
I think you are on the mark regarding the future when it comes to who cares what it looks like on the outside. I do but she has the power of Veto! So if its a dud to her on the inside, she’s throwing the veto down. BTW I think she would love the interior of the Alphard.
Exterior-wise, I would likely buy an an Alphard OR Vellfire (preferably a Vellfire) over ANY minivan still produced today if Toyota sold them in the United States, AND of course if I had the budget for it. They kind of remind me of how the Aerostar might look nowadays if Ford had been able to keep making it after 1997. I definitely see a side profile resemblance, especially in the windows.
I’ve seen a few Elgrands on the road. The styling is much more cohesive than Toyota’s Alphard.
Those Aphards are us3d for transfers by hotels in Hong Kong and China. They do look horrible but at least when you are in it the window tinting is so dark no one can see you!
To me, the front end styling can only be explained one way. Imagine a 58 Olds in one of those fun house mirrors that makes everything taller.
No, no and no. This is another example of Toyota’s strange new line and to me it (just like the new (EU) Honda Civic hatch) falls flat on its ugly face. When I first saw the picture, I honestly thought Paul managed to find another obscure Chinese mark to laugh at. It may work in the far east, but Toyota’s and Honda’s European sales do tell a tale (yes, I know those vans are only sold in Japan, but this styling has now found its way into all models). Here in Austria Toyota’s (and again, Honda’s) sales are pitiful; Nissan’s and Mazda’s (never mind the Koreans’) are not, and styling has a lot to do with it.
Toyota Haphazard?
I thought the Nissan Quest was an overwrought design, then I went to Japan and saw the Elgrand, on which the Quest was based, along with all the other JDM maxivans. When you’ve got a certain set of dimensions to work with, styling has to play second fiddle.
These are pretty common in RHD countries in Asia. The previous generation is fairly innocuous, but the current one is (like many present-day Toyotas) very strange and aggressive in its styling choices.
If you see it within the Japanese automobile context, the Alphard looks much less weird. Acres of plastichrome and angry faces are a yen a dozen in JDM cars. But the back end is about as bad as the front. The rear light clusters, chromed liftgate handle and license plate recess combine to make a sort of horned face, which is another thing you see in other JDM cars.
I personally blame this on the current generation of designers in Japan, who were brought up on ’70s/’80s robot-themed manga. The recurrent “horns” on many of these manga characters is an offshoot of Edo era samurai armours. And now these are on Japanese cars. At least, that’s my theory.