Right, let’s talk about something known to generate a little bit of wonder — cars that actually look like they have faces. See, humans love to anthropomorphize things, and if headlights look like eyes and a grille looks like a mouth, it’s pretty easy for our brains to piece two and two together and perceive an expression. However, in an age of split headlight treatments and bizarre grills, it feels like the number of cars with a face is dwindling. So, which do you reckon was the last one that nailed it?
Mazda’s early-2010s styling language will likely immediately jump to mind, with smiley faces on the fronts of Mazda 3 compact cars, MX-5 sports cars, Mazda 2 subcompacts, CX-7 and CX-9 crossovers, and even Mazda 5 mini-minivans. It was a joyful time, one where a range of cars smiled back at us, seemingly ecstatic to simply be cars. Good stuff.
Of course, there’s also the mustached face of the Fisker Karma, pictured at the top of this article, to consider. Alright, so its grilles didn’t go full Dali, but they weren’t that far off, two whiskers that substantially influenced how the front fascia of this ill-fated hybrid was anthropomorphized. Not only did they give the Karma character, how many production cars came with a mustache?
Now, if we’re talking candidates for the most recent car to look like it has a face, I’m going to throw the BMW 4 Series into the mix, because it looks like a robotic naked mole-rat. It’s not a human face, but it’s a face, one that’s distinctive yet rather difficult to look at. Those chrome kidney grilles form a pair of elongated teeth that run into the lower lip created by the bumper’s lower edge. I hope it’s not just me who thinks this.
Of course, there have been a number of cars in the past decade with front ends described as faces. The “hey kid, wanna try drugs?” Kubrick smile of the McLaren P1. The almost porcine grin of the Fiat 500e. The slack-jawed, retainer-equipped horror of the Nissan Z. However, I want to know what you think the last car with an honest-to-goodness face is. There has to be something newer than say, Blinky the Safety Car, right?
(Photo credits: Mazda, Fisker, BMW)
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BMW 7 Series. It has a gopping mouth!
That 4 looks like a very upset pig. Ham for Christmas? Not if he can help it!
The OG Multipla looks a bit like Wallace (of Wallace and Gromit fame).
I always considered the license plate to be the mouth. Which is why I can’t really see the mole teeth on the BMW. It just shows that everyone sees different things.
Thank you for putting this out there. I made the case that cars no longer have faces to my wife about a month ago (like all my diatribes, she nods a lot and says, “Hmmm . . .” until I finish.) Faces, and actual names – instead of a jumble of letters and numbers – give that cars “character”. Almost every design nowadays feels like a semi-aerodynamic refrigerator with four tires. Boring.
The current Golf looks like it knows your darkest secret
Just got a grey GTI. My wife’s coworker said it looked like a shark. It’s now named Bruce…
It’s not new at all, but my first thought is when Jerry Seinfeld drove Miranda Sings around in a bug eye Sprite like this one: https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/1959_austin-healey_bug-eye_sprite_15935533577dff9f98764da1959_austin-healey_bug-eye_sprite_1593553356f9f98764da85554a23-707f-41b6-8082-cb9a72426877-Ur4NiK-scaled.jpg?fit=940%2C627blob:https://www.theautopian.com/2025b374-09e8-4a27-8552-3f32ab7e2c74
😀
First time I saw a new Hyundai Kona in my rearview I swore it was an Iron Man mask.
I kind of feel the BMW’s have gone completely down the “Snorty McPig” rabbit hole. I almost burst out laughing when one of the new X5’s in a kind of piggy pinkish brown went by on my walk yesterday. Must be a German thing. I guess cartoony pig faces cheer them up in the winter.
Separated at birth: The outgoing Toyota 4Runner & Lemmy from Motörhead
I’ve always thought Hulk Hogan, especially in the specs with the chrome trim around the grill.
The Volkswagen ID Buzz always makes me think of clone troopers.