Bangles' BMW Butt

I've never been a car guy in any regular sense (hot rodding teenage years, shadetree mechanic adulthood, crazy about NASCAR, etc.). But I do have an aesthetic appreciation for a well turned out automobile and follow the auto industry both from a design-engineering and market perspective.

I drove VWs and then Volvos for years because of their practicality and reliability. But from a design perspective, no other automaker was ever inclined to steal the VW's noseline or Volvo's boxy profile to adhese to spiff up its own product line. Then I took up with Audis because of their practicality, reliability and marvelous Quattro all-wheel drive system. It was then that I noticed that other automakers were nipping and tucking some of their own offerings with Audi touches.

This has prompted an interest in the often subtle evolution of design themes from one car to another, which leads me to an interesting recent New York Times article on Chris Bangle, BMW's chief of design and the most influential -- and controversial -- designer of his generation.

The focus of the article was on Bangle's BMW Butt, as I will call it.

I refer to Bangle's introduction in the redesign of the 2002 7-Series of a trunk lid that rose above the rear fenders, as opposed to the typical rounded off design. Over the years, Bangle has crafted this butt onto the entire BMW product line, although it has been a bit toned down in recent years. The metamorphosis is now complete with the introduction of the new Z4 coupe (pictured above).

I don't care for Bangle's BMW Butt. I find it ungainly, and familiarity has not warmed me to it as it has other designs that I disdained at first such as the Lexus RX or radical recent Cadillac redesigns.

But other automakers have taken notice, and Bangle's BMW Butt is oft imitated on many Japanese and Korean models and now even (gasp!) the new Mercedes flagship -- the S-Class.

I'm not sure what all this proves. Other than once again imitation is the severest form of flattery.