2009 Ford Fiesta; Another Prius Body Clone

Ok, first the pictures:

http://priuschat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13637&stc=1&d=1237078139

http://priuschat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13638&stc=1&d=1237078186

There was hoopla made here over the similarity of the appearance of
the new Honda Insight and the Gen II Prius.

To my eye there is also basic similarities between the Gen II and the
2009 Ford Fiesta. Sure, the tires appear smaller, and the wheel are
pushed even farther toards the ends, but there is more than a little
Prius there. You could say that the Ford designers made only just
enough changes to make a claim of new and different... but clearly
derivative.

More on the 2009 Fiesta here:

2009 Ford Fiesta first drive - Motor Trend

I'm reminded a lot of my 1994 Honda Civic. Still to my regret, I sold it as part of a settlement with my wife to agree buying our Prius.

Or, perhaps, aerodynamic design is the great equalizer...

I would agree with Bill.

I think there are very few revolutionary car designs, and almost all car design is derivative.

I've always thought that the Gen II Prius design was derivative of one generation of the Chevy Malibu Hatchback and some Citroens from the 60s and 70s.

To my eye, I think the new Fiesta is more derivative of the prior generation of the Ford Focus Hatchback and Toyota Matrix than the Gen II Prius.

The Fiesta is attractive, but it doesn't say "Prius" to me. It's interesting that the Mercedes C180 Blue Efficiency and the 2010 Prius both have a drag coefficient of 0.25, yet look nothing alike. This for me is proof that you can make cars aerodynamic without them all looking alike. The Insight though is another story. Many people mistake it for a Prius first time.

Perhaps, just perhaps, manufacturers are trying to grab onto the green aura of the Prius by giving their cars Prius-esque styling? The styling of the Gen2 Prius is certainly very sexy and here is SA were there are very few Prii it certainly turns heads. The "copying" in my humble opinion has more to do with looks than aerodynamics.

PS, does anyone have a picture of a Gen 2 and Gen 3 Prius in the windtunnel? I'd love to see how the airflow goes.

Wow! I did not know about the Audi A2 since we never got it in the US. Very interesting...

Audi A2....You know that face one pull when you taste something very sour? That's the face I pull when I see that car.

You must have mixed up who copied who and really need to extend your focus beyond the US. You mentioned the 3rd Generation Ford Focus. This is the 2nd generation Ford Focus sold in the rest of the world from 2004 to Present:

2004 UK Ford Focus:


2008 Australian Ford Focus:


2004 Citroen C4 Coupe

2004 Citroen C4 Sedan


2000 Honda Insight


The Audi A2 was first produced in 1999.


The Honda CRX was produced in 1984


1974 Citroen CX


1958 Saab GT750

1949 Saab 92


The Kamm Effect was first discovered by Wunibald Kamm in the 1930's as has been used on cars ever since. [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kammback]Kammback - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Typical Americal Automaker ingenuity! They aren't able to engineer something on their own so they copy an existing, very efficient desgin.

The G2 Prius reminds me of a short Pontiac Aztek.

So what we are getting to here, is the fact that different groups of engineers came to basically the same conclusion. Imagine that.

It's probably got very little to do with plagiarism, as much as some of you want it to.

Thanks JSH. I've always said that the Gen II Prius design, no matter how beautiful I think it is, was derivative of other cars like the old Citroens. I think you've put together a nice photo collection of cars that the Prius channels. I think the Gen II Prius looks most like a Chevy Malibu Hatchback from around 10 years ago, but I haven't been able to find a picture of it.

The Chevy Malibu Maxx (2004-2008)


The Prius does have a bit of Aztek to it too.

I was thinking of an older Malibu or Chevelle Hatchback where the rear was more egg shaped.

EDIT: I may have been thinking of the 1980-85 Chevy Citation 5 door hatchback:

[imglink]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Chevrolet_Citation_II_front.jpg/800px-Chevrolet_Citation_II_front.jpg[/imglink]

1980 Motor Trend Car of the Year!
My roommate in college had a Citation. We called it the golf ball because it was white and was covered with quarter size dents from hail damage. It was at least 10 years old by then but still ran fine.

I had a 1991 Cavalier Wagon I had inherited from my grandfather. I absolutely hated that car but now realize it was a great car for me. (I wanted a Ford Probe) It simply refused to break even with me jumping it over a railroad track every day on the way to work. (70 mph, all 4 wheels off the ground) I drove it 100,000 miles in 4 years before a oil change shop only put 2 of 4 quarts of oil in and the engine seized. My father rebuilt the engine and a family friend is still driving it today.