The other day I was chatting with a friend about the current trend to massive grilles. You can see them on the Chrysler 300, Audi, Cadillac, Volvo and Mitsubishi, and others on the way. All have split grilles with the larger portion above and the smaller below, giving an impression of one huge air intake interrupted by a bumper. My design-savvy friend and I both agreed that these things are ugly and totally unnecessary. Just a few years ago cars featured sloping hoods with small air intakes entirely (or almost) beneath the bumper yet engineers had no difficulty directing adequate air flow to the radiator. Take a look at the 1954 Studebaker Starliner coupe above. It was one of the most elegant production cars ever built in America, with a nicely-sloped hood and a pair of slim, tapered air intakes that were sufficient to give the car an instant identity. The front end designs we're seeing now are a manifestation of marketing's perceived need to be different and like all fads, they'll eventually disappear. Not soon enough as far as I'm concerned.

[Photo Credit: John O'Neill]