Separated Twins: 2013 Ford Escape and Toyota RAV4

I recently decided that it was about time to replace my 2009 Toyota RAV4 with a restyled 2013 model.  So I began to pay more attention to the '13s when I was out and about.

But I encountered a problem: Many times when I at first thought I was looking at a 2013 RAV4, I was actually seeing a 2013 Ford Escape, a rival compact SUV.  Hence the subject of this post.

Because both cars were restyled for the 2013 model year, it is unlikely that Toyota stole Ford's theme or vice-versa, because the cars were probably under development around the same time.  What Toyota was doing was taking the theme of the 2008-2012 RAV4 design and making it more in line with the current fashion for sharp-edged, somewhat baroque shapes.  Ford, on the other hand, had a rather plain, boxy-looking Escape line for 2008-2012 and wanted to make it more in line with the current fashion for sharp-edged, somewhat baroque shapes.  But Ford seems to have borrowed a number of styling cues from the popular 2008-2012 RAV4 as the basis for its restyling.  In short, both firms were independently trying to do essentially the same thing (update the RAV4 design), so there's little wonder that the resulting designs seem so similar.

Let's take a look.

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Here is a 2008 RAV4 for reference.  Key design features include (1) a fender line that rises towards the rear, (2) a reverse-slant to the back edge of the the rear side windows, (3) vertical paneling on large wheel opening lips, and (4) a strong character line and indentation along the lower edge of the doors.  Other details such as windshield rake and the slope of the top are conventional responses to wind tunnel derived aerodynamic data.

Here we compare front three-quarter view of the 2013 RAV4 (top) and the 2013 Escape.  The RAV is nearly nine inches (4.5 cm) longer than the Escape, and its wheelbase is only about an inch (3 cm) more, but these differences have little effect on appearance.  Aerodynamically-influenced features aside, similarities include: (1) rising fender lines, (2) strong wheel opening lips, (3) strong character lines on the lower door area, (4) a "shoulder" level character line a little below the side window sills, and (5) wraparound, sharp-cornered headlamp and tail light housings.

Rear three-quarter views show fewer similarities, though both cars follow current fashion in the form of sharp, fussy tail light shapes.  The Escape's rear styling is busier, offering a more baroque appearance than the RAV.

First G.M. Fenders Over the Front Door

The 1930s and 40s were a period of automobile styling evolution, as I explain in my book on the subject.  During that period, General Motors was both sales and style leader of the American automobile industry.  Styling director Harley Earl famously asserted that he wanted GM's cars to either become lower and longer or at least give the appearance of being so.  He was careful not to push his design goal in large leaps, favoring smaller steps.

One example of this is the fender line.  Earl's goal here, as it was for many other stylists, was to merge fenders into the overall body shape, having them extend from front to rear rather than being discrete elements.  The first step he took was to have his stylists change the basic front fender from a "teardrop" curved shape to a more squared-off "suitcase" form.  The following step was to move the rear of the suitcase fender from in front of the front door opening to a point over the door itself.  This took some engineering work on body panels and door hinging, but by the late 1930s these problems had been solved and extended fenders could now appear on General Motors production cars.

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1938 Buick Y-Job concept car
That's Harley Earl himself in the driver's seat of GM's first true concept car, the Buick Y-Job of 1938.  The over-the-door front fender is clearly visible.

1941 Cadillac Sixty Special
American buyers first encountered production extended front fenders of the Y-Job variety on the 1941 Cadillac Sixty Special.  The body dates from the 1938 model year and had been extensively facelifted by 1941.

1942 Oldsmobile B-44
The 1942 model year saw this fender concept throughout the rest of GM's line, though some Buick models featured front fenders that extended so far that they touched the rear fenders.

1942 Pontiac
Another example of extended fenders.  Surely another case where American cars took the styling lead in those days.

1939 Opel Kapitän publicity material
Actually, no.  Earl's extended fenders first appeared in production on General Motors' 1939 Opel Kapitän.  This might have been intended as a trial run by GM management.  In any case, Earl is known to have sent Frank Hershey, one of his ace stylists, over to Germany and Opel, perhaps with this fender styling concept in mind.

Opel Kapitän
Here is a photo of a 1939 Kapitän showing what the car really looked like, because the publicity illustrations above are clearly distorted.

The Semi-Porsche 914

The Porsche 914, alias VW-Porsche 914 (as it was called in Europe) was marketed 1969-1974.  At the time, both Volkswagen and Porsche featured rear-mounted air-cooled motors, but the 914's air-cooled motor (borrowed from the Vokswagen 411 or Series 4) was mounted racing car style, in the middle, ahead of the rear axle.

The Wikipedia entry on the 914 is here and a fairly detailed history can be linked here.  The latter reminds us that mid-mounted engines work well for racers, but are problematical for passenger cars.  This design decision certainly forced the 914's planners to come up with creative spatial arrangement solutions.  For example, the car had two trunks, one at each end.  The rear trunk was sized and shaped to house the car's detachable Targa roof.  This was held in place by four clips that, when released, allowed one person to lift the roof off and place it in the rear trunk with the side effect of somewhat reduced storage capacity.  In any case, these dimensional requirements affected the car's proportions and styling.

As for the interior, the passenger seat's back was fixed against the engine firewall; a movable footrest was provided to aid comfort.  The driver's seat was adjustable.  The seating position in both was very close to the ground, legs being stretched out.  Nevertheless, this was comfortable for long-distance driving.

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Shown above is Ferry Porsche next to what might be a 916 (the 6-cylinder Porsche engined version of the 914) or even perhaps an experimental 8-cylinder version.

This is the European version of the 914.  Note that the hub caps have the VW symbol; cars sent to North America had Porsche markings.  Entry level 914s lacked the chrome bumpers and vinyl cladding on the Targa bar.

This 914 has the painted bumper.

A profile view. Here you can compare the length of the top and rear trunk. which begins just aft of the Targa bar.

As can be seen in this view, the rear window is essentially vertical.  It was fixed, not able to be rolled down.  The dark area between it and the trunk is the air intake for the air-cooled motor.

The 914's headlights rotated up when turned on.  This did nothing for its aerodynamic efficiency.

I include this image because it provides a sense as to how small and low 914s were.

Another view providing scale.

You might be wondering why all the 914s shown above are painted that orange-gold color or something similar.  That's because orange-gold was the color of my 1971 model 914.

Due to the requirements of its mid-placement of the motor and roof storage, 914's began with a proportional handicap that created difficulties for stylists.  I consider it awkward, rather than ugly.  I also think a few detail changes might have improved it looks a bit, though beauty was probably doomed from the start.

The Flat-Roof 1957 Plymouth

When American car makers made the transition from composite car bodies with wood framing and steel panels to all-steel bodies around 1936, the result was noticeably rounded shapes.  Some of this might have been due to the streamline styling fashion of the time, but the most important factor was the state of metal forming technology.  Basically, it was easier and cheaper to stamp "large radius" curves than tight curves.

By the late 1940s the technology had improved, but car tops remained comparatively rounded because of a perceived marketing need to accommodate passengers wearing hats.  Continued use of flat panes of glass for side windows meant that doors had to have fairly straight profiles above the car's belt line.  This also might have influenced the need for curved tops because a smooth transition between the surfaces was probably considered desirable.

But automobile design is largely fashion-driven, and too long a stretch of one style usually brings on a reaction.  So it was for the 1957 model year in America.  That year General Motors introduced new bodies for Buick, Oldsmobile and Cadillac, and these featured tops that were even more rounded than those of the previous bodies introduced for 1954.  Ford featured a roof that was slightly flatter on top than those of its 1955 facelift.  But it was Chrysler Corporation's 1957 redesign that had noticeably thinner, flatter roofs along with other interesting styling features.  Thin, flat roofs became popular and were the dominant theme for that part of a car until the 1980s when wind tunnel based aerodynamics began to seriously influence the shape of automobiles.

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Oldsmobile brochure spread - 1957
The 1957 Oldsmobile re-design actually wasn't bad, given that American styling was into one of its baroque periods, one where comparatively complicated metal shaping and dramatic two-color paint schemes were very popular with buyers.  The problem for Oldsmobile and Buick was that their 1957 designs struck few potential customers are being an advance over 1954-56 styling.   Worse, the rounded tops made the cars seem heavy -- doubtless an effect intended by GM styling head Harley Earl.   Worst of all for General Motors was the appearance of the 1957 Chrysler re-design which instantly made GM cars seem out of date and created panic in the corporation's styling department.

Plymouth advertisement introducing the 1957 line
"Suddenly, it's 1960" was a powerful advertising theme, not so much because it suggested that 1957 Plymouths were years ahead of the competition, but mostly because Plymouth's styling validated the claim.  The thin, flat roof gave the design a light, airy look -- something missing in the Oldsmobiles shown above.  Plus, the cars were lower than previous models, and this was emphasized in advertising images where the cars were often posed with people behind them to lend scale and further validation of the futuristic appearance.

Although Plymouths had tail fins, for many years now consider a styling joke, they actually enhanced the appearance of Plymouth hardtop convertibles such as the one seen in the ad.  That's because the position and shape of the fin's curve visually nests the "greenhouse" area, making the car seem even more low than it is.

Plymouth brochure spread - 1957
The Plymouths shown here are practical sedans rather than sporty hardtops.  The images are artist renderings that were often subject to distortion, though these seem essentially correct.  My sense is that the roofs of sedans might have been a bit more rounded that those for hardtops.  The door pillars and window framing also add some visual bulk.  Even so, those Plymouths look more lithe than the 1957 Oldsmobiles.

Bristol 401 to 403: Postwar Streamlining

I have a soft spot for late-1940s streamlined sports cars such as the Fiat 8V that I wrote about here.  Another is the (to me) classic Bristol -- the 401, 402 and 403 series, built 1948-1955.  The Wikipedia entry on the 401/402 is here, and that for the 403 here.

The first link suggests that the Bristol's styling was inspired by the work of the Italian coachbuilder Touring, and might have meant the car pictured below.

There is only this photo being turned up by a Google search, and several sources identify the car as a 1938 "Lancia Aprilia Touring," where it is not clear from the Web sites whether the word "Touring" refers to the carrozzeria or just to a type of car, though the former interpretation is more likely.  Regardless, the Bristols shown below bear a strong resemblance to this Lancia, and it's quite possible that Touring had a hand in their design.
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Here is what seems to be a factory publicity photo of a Bristol 403.

These are photos I found on the Web with other views of the design.

My main criticism is that the side windows are slightly too large.  Raising the belt line at the bottom of the windows an inch (about 2cm) or so might work.  Otherwise, I would lower the top about twice as much, if possible.  Another change that I think would improve the design would be to have the front fender fade fall off more to the rear rather than being largely horizontal.

These so-called defects are most apparent in the side view photo.  From other angles, the car looks good.