I’m shocked and honored by the warm reception the Vellum Venom series has earned from TTAC’s B&B. Your comments are read, digested and will influence the series, but some comments move quicker than others. To wit: Josh Howard’s photochop of my Chevy Cruze image.
“You were so right about the smoothing out of the Cruze front end and getting rid of the small fake DLO plastic piece in front. This car looks WAYYYY different and more Toyota-like with some of the changes you suggested. – JH”
Now imagine Josh’s changes with a bow tie in the center and we are done. This “Vellum Venom Cruze” looks Acura-like, a bit more BMW E36-like and much like any other classically proportioned sports sedan from the modern era. But wait, we aren’t done re-designing this little hit from the big General. Hit the jump for another rendering of Epic Win.
Damn, son! Aside from the possible lack of widening(?), that’s the exact grille I wanted!
This submission was from TTAC’s own sinistermisterman. Note the softer edges in this grille’s rendering–compared to Josh–and the crossbar added at a lower position, allowing for a smooth hood cut line and parity with the headlights. Parity! And while Mr. Sinister didn’t incorporate a re-think of the DLO fail, it’s pretty clear that both members of the B&B understand what I regularly demand: proportion and ATD (Attention to Detail) über alles.
What do you think of both “Vellum Venom Cruze” concepts, Best and Brightest?
And of course, here’s the original photo for comparison.
I think this latest generation of Ford and Chevy cars are beautiful.
The problem with the second picture (photo shop job with bow tie) is the lack of connection or flow with the headlights and the bar. Gives a very “tacked on” look to the grill. Sort of the same thing that makes the front end of the Silverado more attractive then the current Suburban. On the subject of headlights, I do not get the obsession with the long headlights that’s in vogue with cars aimed at the US market, to ad insult to injury this implementation of the idea looks even cheaper then usual with the last 6inches (guestimate) being black and looking very much like an after thought. The whole headlights looks a little like a ford connect with a “böser blick” hood fitted.
this thing with the headlights going halfway up to the A pillar has to stop (at the a-pillar lol?)
i do like the TTAC refreshed Cruze however it does not generic and sanitised.. i do like conservative cars but i reckon this may not fly since GM may not way to build another Civic
I do like the second photo. My issue is that I like full-width grilles. I didn’t hate the early Pontiac Gran Prix or the original Monte Carlo, but the full grille treatment widens and can optically lower the appearance, especially now, since all cars simply look fat.
Perhaps my favorite example of this would be the 1972 Chevelle “Heavy Chevy” and the SS with most of the grille blacked out except for bright surround and center SS emblem.
Whatever you do, however, DO NOT make it look like a Toyota! Sacrilege!
Now if only GM is watching…hmmm…
It does kinda look like a Corolla with those changes. Subliminal messaging?
Funny.. I did this yesterday in MS paint and said “Damn he’s right!”. I almost sent it in but didn’t need to. I agree, looks way better this way. I wonder if the designers considered this but perhaps nixed it as it wouldn’t work across the whole line.
I wonder if they couldn’t…as the Daewoo’s grille has the same hood cutline, so perhaps they had to go with the flow. Would GM make a new hood just for this little detail?
It’s possible that doing the hood this way allows sloppier assembly and lower tolerances—and that’s fine, but the way, as the seventh-generation Accord’s hood exemplifies the wrong way—but it doesn’t work so well withe bisecting bar on the grille as it would with an Opel/Vauxhall/Daewoo logo smack in the centre.
Betcha it would have looked just fine with a Pontiac V smack in the middle.
Pontiac had a trademark grill that worked (even if the cars didn’t) as does BMW’s, but Chevy needs to give their’s up already. The crossbar is only there to hold up that ginormous bowtie the size of a Texas pro rodeo belt buckle, so stylistically, there’s no reason for it. Just put a tiny, 2″ across, bowtie on the hood edge and done. Classy. That would be a front end I could live with. Otherwise Chevy needs to pay me to advertise.
“Just put a tiny, 2″ across, bowtie on the hood edge and done. Classy. That would be a front end I could live with. Otherwise Chevy needs to pay me to advertise.”
Holy cow! Why didn’t I think of that? Hear, hear!
Notice to all OEMs: Your logos are getting much too large with Toyota being the chief offender.
As much as I LOVE the Chevy bowtie, as large as you are displaying it on your cars, Chevy, it’s large enough to have fallen off Ronald McDonald’s costume! Oh, it should be blue, too, not gold…
they could do with a much smaller grille… the real opening is actually much smaller and its all about having the big GM cheesegrater
It looks great! I can see why they wouldn’t didn’t do it, compare the upper grill shape to the ATS/CTS/DTS. They would be encroaching on Cadillac a little too much.
I have a feeling that with GM changing the corporate “face” of Chevrolet in the next couple years (see 2014 Impala and Traverse), that the Cruze will follow suit.
That being said, I really love these edits. I recently rented a Cruze LT and found that it simply blew the Cobalt (and basically all the small American-market GM forebears) out of the water with regards to its intended purpose. Would like to see it in more body styles (particularly the wagon) stateside.
Pic #3 reminds me a lot of the early Lexus IS200 front end only better. Looks Great
Pic #2 looks too much like a 2003 / 2004 Cavalier. Too traditional.
Either way, both renderings look better than the current “Uni-Brow” theme.
I prefer Josh Howard’s front end since it is without the red crossbar holding up the bow tie. However, without the bow tie it looks like an aftermarket mod so the chevy symbol clearly needs to be incorporated somehow.
It seems that these designs must have been studied at some point in the process. The optional designs are just too obvious to have been overlooked. It would be very interesting to find out the justification for the approved finish design.
That cross-bar has always looked “forced” to me. I would like the black grille with a gold (or red for sports versions) Chevy bowtie.
You guys are wasting too much time on a grill that is going away after the 1st gen. Chevy is moving away from the “Chevron-logo” split grille. The 2013 Malibu will be the last Chevy with the split grille. The new corporate grille is the one you see on the 2013 Traverse and 2014 Impala.
Speaking of chops, what do think of this Cruze Coupe render?
http://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/files/2/4/3/5/monoblock_copy_896789.jpg
Imagine the above car with Buick Regal’s 2.0T, 6 SPD Stick, 270-hp and 295 lb.-ft of torque
Re: Cruze Coupe… I would pay money for something like that. Especially the specs you laid out.
But that would overshadow about half of the Buick line…
Too bad there’s no way to get a Pontiac dart on it…
Very, very nice. I don’t notice the DLO difference as much as the hood adjustment (maybe the rear DLO would make a bigger difference). But it’s nice: it reminds me of a Volvo S40.
And the hood is a massive, massive improvement. Chevy should just do it now.
Subtle changes, but a huge improvement. The Cruze isn’t a bad looking car, but a few nips and tucks here and there could make it a great looking car.
Aside from the better proportioned new grille, the only other changes I could see would be chopping off the “wings” on the headlights that cut back into the fenders, and ditching the rear plastic triangle – even leaving the c-pillar as-is and just painting it would look better.
Am I the only one that does not really care what the grill looks like? I get excited about reliability and seat comfort.
BOO! You need to drive more exciting cars. No offense…as my daily driver is still a Ford Ranger, ya know.
The thing is though, all modern cars are reliable, and in a given segment, most of their seats will be very similar in comfort or discomfort, so you might as well try to get a bit of style while you’re at it.
No matter what, keep photoshopping!
Interesting reading peoples feedback. I quite like Josh’s flat grill without interruptions from the crossbar, and having read some of the other comments, I agree that the logo is just too flippin’ big. So I give you my second attempt. A wider grill, no crossbar and a small logo.
http://tinypic.com/r/2en9fdc/6
Great job. Just black out the gold emblem and put a red outline on it and it would be a winner
Coupe render looks awesome!
As for the photoshop mods in the article, fake DLO trianges at the front window tend not to bother me so much, maybe because they are typically small (one exception being the redesigned Civic, the older one with a small window in front of the mirror looked much better). And while the way the grill on the Cruze bumps up above the level of the headlights has alway struck me as odd, with the modded grill the face looks much less aggressive, so I am surprised that I prefer the original in this case. Perhaps the best would be the original size grill (with the bump in the hoodline), but the bar a little lower so the upper and lower openings would be closer in size. Sorry I don’t photoshop, or I’d try to render that.