Cars That Surprised You In the Flesh

  • Thread starter Thread starter Slash
  • 78 comments
  • 3,889 views
peobryant
I thought the new Jeep looked hideous in the pictures I saw here but after seeing quite a few out on the roads I don't think they look bad at all.
Click to expand...
I've seen one and yeah it's not as bad, but it's still hard to look at IMO.

mustang fanatic
I've seen a modern zl1 convertible and a Hot Wheels Camaro in person. I guess they didn't look too bad.
Click to expand...
I've seen ZL1's, they are ok. Can't comment on the other one though, never seen one.
 
The first one I thought of is the A80 Toyota Supra. It looks like kind of a fat cow in media, but it's actually a rather small car.
 
Chevrolet Cruze. It's still ugly, but it's better in person than in photos. Could be the paint comes across better in person - one occasionally shows up in the parking lot at work and the paint, while not a color I'd take, was just about custom quality. Lutz was right about that in his book, GM's paint is top level now.
 
Nissan GT-R - I saw one back in 2008 when I went to the Biltmore Manor. At the time, it was available in the US for about a month and to see one that quickly was awesome.

Ford GT - Presence, that car has it in spades.

White & Nerdy
Chevrolet Cruze.
Click to expand...

picard-facepalm-o.gif
 
spitfire_2.jpg


I was surprised when I saw one just how tiny these things are. I knew that they're not big, but I was taken aback the first time I stood next to one.
 
Azure Flare
picard-facepalm-o.gif
Click to expand...

I really do think it's an ugly car. The arrangement of the grille and headlights actually somewhat resembles that of the Pontiac Aztek, and since that was one of the contributing features to the Aztek's ugliness that's not exactly a good thing. But I guess good paint makes up for a lot. It also looks a lot less bloated IRL than it does from some pictures. Looking at it in person you'd never guess it weighs over 3000 lbs!
 
It's not like anyone here (or anyone for that matter) thinks it looks good.

Although, RML builds the ones that race in WTCC. It's still ugly, but it is a very successful car, it has brought GM the constructors championship from 2010-2012. The Cruze LT had won 13 races, the 1.6T has a record 55 race victories.

Now only if the road version was half as good...
 
The new Jeep Renegade is one that looks a great deal better in the metal than it does in photos - it's actually larger than I expected it'd be, and its proportions work better. I reckon they'll look pretty good out on the road.
 
I'll add a couple more. Classic Lamborghinis are arguably pretty generic cars. Never being anything super spectacular like more exclusive or later Lambos........ Except when you see one in person. Somehow, in person, they stand out beautifully, even against other Italian rarities sitting right next to them. In particular the 350GT, 400GT, and Espada are quite astonishing in person, yet don't photo very well. It's really hard to explain just how awesome they look in person.

67_Lamborghini_400GT_BY-06-GW_010.jpg


68-Lamborghini-Espada-DV-12-Ci-01.jpg
 
Jaguar F-Type

Good lord is it ugly. I hated every press release and photograph I saw of it. It looked ridiculous, something straight out of Gran Turismo: Concept but they'd forgotten to add aesthetics. An utter monstrosity.

Then, I saw one drive past me the other day and it looked a lot better. I found that I could only appreciate this car's looks in the flesh and the F-Type is the first car I have experienced which, to me, photographs terribly but looks great in person.
 
The small Lotus Elan (last gen) is way wider than I thought! I mean in pictures it looks small and cute but in person the thing is wide! It's as wide as it is long.
Thriumph Spitfire. Surprised me not by the size but the suspension. Is way lower than you would expect and the difference between front and rear height is way larger than I expected
The Rolls Royce Silver Shadow is much smaller than I expected. They all look like 300m long but actually is no longer than a Jaguar XJS, which BTW is much more appealing in person.
 
Mclaren 12C: Seeing some of the pictures, it seemed to look quite good, then I saw one at the Scottish Motorshow at Knockhill a couple of years ago and I was actually quite disappointed in the styling. It just looked really boring compared to a 458.

Alfa Romeo 8C: Something about the styling just didn't appeal to me when I first saw the coupe at the Knockhill motorshow. It looked as though Alfa messed up trying to make something beautiful. The Spider that was alongside it looked even worse in the flesh.
 
Recently saw Aston Martin Rapide. It was way smaller than what I thought. Also, after seeing a S2 Elise here, I think even tiny little me (5'5) would feel claustrophobic in it.
 
Corvette C7 Lothed the design when I saw it online but now after seeing a few in town I LOVE IT.
 
Leonidae@MFT
Recently saw Aston Martin Rapide. It was way smaller than what I thought. Also, after seeing a S2 Elise here, I think even tiny little me (5'5) would feel claustrophobic in it.
Click to expand...
Elise isn't actually too bad once you've squeezed in. I'm 5'8" ish and fit in my friend's Elise fine. You sit so low there's actually more space than it appears.
 
GTTurtle
spitfire_2.jpg


I was surprised when I saw one just how tiny these things are. I knew that they're not big, but I was taken aback the first time I stood next to one.
Click to expand...

Fully agree. I was shocked the first time I stood next to one, in fact it was so small it looked damn near uncomfortable!

Elise's are pretty small as well but they weren't as small as I thought they'd be...I was expected it to be more Miata sized but it appears to be much bigger.
 
MR-S

Looks much bigger in photos, the thing is tiny.
 
2013-audi-r8-photo-497383-s-1280x782.jpg


I always thought these were good looking but nothing amazing in to me. But oh the curves when you see one in person, they look so much better!
 
I really think those things look pretty big in person honestly.
 
Another car that I always hated in photos was the Ferrari 458. Then I saw one in person, and I wouldn't call it beautiful, it's certainly way better in the flesh than in photos.

Also, the Toyota FJ Cruisers interior is absolutely MASSIVE. It doesn't look particularly large from the outside, but the inside is just absurdly large. It's also fairly difficult to see out of. I still want one though. :p
 
When Jeremy Clarkson says the 2005/2006 Ford GT is extremely wide, HE WASN'T KIDDING. I was shocked the first time I saw one.
 
Before I first saw LMP1 cars I thought they were huge, when i first saw them (2009) they look really small, even though they were the V12 diesel big bruisers.
 
There are a few I could list, but the first car to really do so was the old Lotus Esprit. As a 10 year old, I could have theoretically parked my backside on the roof with little effort since the roofline was so damn low.

I can say something similar about the DeLorean (it's only an inch taller than the Esprit with the doors closed), though I was more surprised at how much wider it was than any of the nearby cars. It may be roughly the same width as an S1 Esprit, but having regular traffic to compare scale does make you realise how unique the proportions really are.
 
1970-dodge-challenger-pic-16805.jpeg


First thought: Holy 🤬, that car is wide as hell.
 
01-2014-porsche-panamera-e-hybrid-fd-opt.jpg


suprisingly enough it's the panamera for me, thought it looked pretty bad in pictures but when I saw it irl it's actually kinda good looking :O
 
Really? I thought it was ugly as hell in person.
 
yep, I wouldn't call it beautiful but it sure was impressive in the flesh
 
Back