Parts Sharing by Design

Like a lot of car buyers, I find the grill on the 2010 Fusion an attractive arrangement of the chrome 3-bar design Ford introduced on the "Interceptor" show car in 2007. That similar grill design has been the face of new Fords from the F-150s to the Flex ever since.



Originated by Peter Horbury, the 3-bar grill on the Interceptor was the talk of the Detroit auto show. Now, it appears other car makers have chosen to subjugate the design for themselves without any additional compensation to Mr. Horbury. Have you noticed yourself?



My first exhibit, and most blatant rip-off, is Lexus. Of course, Lexus' reputation for "borrowing" from other designers is now legendary. The very first Lexus LS that debuted in 1989 was a Mercedes clone from stem to stern. 20 years later, their M.O. hasn't changed. The 2010 HS Hybrid model's grill speaks for itself. Have these people no shame? Haven't they learned from history? Marilyn Monroe was the celebrated original, and maintains that status today. Her B-rated clone, Jane Mansfield, is the nobody no one remembers.



You would think one rip-off would be enough in the automotive design universe. But no, along comes Honda with their hideous "CrossTour" and presto, here's the Ford 3-bar grill again, albeit with blackened bars. Of course, Honda has demonstrated their engineering acumen since they arrived in the U.S. 50 years ago, but their design aesthetic is a language nobody speaks. Honda doesn't build beautiful cars today, and never has.

I know how it feels to have one's ideas or artwork appropriated by less creative individuals. But on the broad stage of automotive design, must Toyota and Honda be so fucking brazen about it?

While I think the buyers of the copycats may never conceptually put two and two together, if I were Peter Horbury, I'd be readying an invoice for the two imitators before they move on and cannibalize another competitor's design.