The well know Acura Advanced Concept Vehicle, from which the RL was forced to wear a Halloween Mask....

http://images.motortrend.com/auto_sh...ept+headon.jpg

And Dave Marek, the Honda / Acura designer responsible for it.

http://www.showrods.com/images/all_o...arek_photo.jpg


Anyone in the mood for a good old fashioned witch hunt and burning?

God as my witness, I will not rest until mullets are banned from auto design.

 

Ohhhhhhh.

That mug shot pretty much explains it. Let's heat the tar and grab the feathers...

 

It gets worse....

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=1

http://flash.revver.com/player/1.0/p...mediaId=680162

Oh my God, Like Dude, I am a Designer.

He is Evil. He MUST be destroyed.

Who' in with me? I can tell you my East Coast conservative values would not prevent me taking a weed wacker to that clown.

 

WOW, just WOW.....I'm totally speechless right now. He looks like those guys that stay at home playing videogames and reading comic books

 

Don't really care who he is.

If he redoes the grille on the RL so that we enthusiasts like it (and we've given some reasonable ideas), all will be forgiven in my book.

 

Softee....

What happened to your pitchfork?

 

If they don't change the grille, my pitchfork is at the ready, in the form of pen and my dollars.

 

Yeah yeah yeah. Just keep threatening Acura with a CTS-V. From what I can see, the more you the greater the floodwaters are in the midwest.

 

Getting happier that I sold my 06 RL and bought an E350. I don't need a BatMobile to call attention to myself!!

The RL was pretty classic design -- where the hell are they headed now or do they know?

 

Why Acura is leading in sales!

 

When I showed the Marek video to my father he said "Well that explains a few things"

 

According to the website Mullets Galore that particular version is known as the "ultimullet."

Check the rest of the site out for much laughter, go straight to the Classification section.

My personal fav is the midgimullet.

 

OMG.................

 

I always enjoy the Guatemullet:

 

 

I was just watching the TSX debut with good ole' Tricky Dick Colliver.

I discovered he reminds me of George Dubbya. Smug tone. Even a similar accent and inflections. And I never new Acura was pronounced 'Ak-Er-Uh'.

With Mareks design, and Colliver's smug assertion we WILL like it, I think I have found the real Axis of Evil.

What has happened to me? All I know is that this all started when I first laid eyes on the face of the 2009 RL.

 

Well, heres a description of the Acura designer.

4. businessmullet a.k.a. safety cut
businessmullet a.k.a. safety cut

These mullets want it all: business in the front, party in the back.

When at work, their mulletude offends and annoys their co-workers, but luckily (and not coincidentally), these mullets are rarely in any position of real power (though they tend to think they are).

Interesting creatures, their hair is short enough not to offend the boss, but long enough to keep their rebellious comrades from becoming suspicious.

* Mulletude: 5
* Aggressiveness: 3
* Hobbies: sexual harassment, taking advantage of intoxicated employees at company gatherings, surfing pr0n on company time (with stiffy)
* Sightings: financial districts, strip clubs
* Favorite Band: Joe Cocker

 

This one reminds me of the '09 RL.
Check out that grill!

 

I wonder if he trolls these boards, and if he realizes that if he hadn't butchered a perfectly good design, that we'd be praising him - or at least, not brutally mocking him?

I hope the front of that car haunts his dreams.

 

http://flash.revver.com/player/1.0/p...mediaId=680162

That was classic! The vocals really complete the experience of the rotating monstrosity.

They apply almost equally to the '09 RL. I can only hope it looks better in person. I'm afraid I'm almost coming more to grips with the front of the '09 RL than the rear. They butchered a pretty cohesive design fore and aft. I've got to wonder what the JDM '09 Legend will look like.

Rob144

 

If they do not follow the lead, you know how all those Honda Legend owners were turning their cars into Acura RL's? I am guessing there will be a whole bunch of US owners considering borrowing JDM Honda Legend design parts for their US RL!

 

Indeed! I do not want my RL associated with it.

I am forming a witness protection program for 2005-2008 RLs.

 

I found this on Winding Road...

It speaks to the fugly concept vehicle not being well recieved and the restyling of the NSX as a result. YAY! FUGLYMASTER TAKE NOTE!!!

And more mention of RWD platforms for Acura, and Acura S2000 and a flagships for flagships.

Honda has been toying with us for a while now about the release date for the next version of the NSX. Originally the car was slated to be revealed at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show, but the bad rap on the Acura Advanced Sports Car concept put the kibosh on that thinking.

New reports are pinning the launch of the new car to the next Tokyo show in 2009, and claiming that the styling of the car has been revised. The new car allegedly sports a new front section with “Chevrolet Corvette undertones,” could go into production by 2010.

http://news.windingroad.com/body-sty...ings/#comments



Honda’s plans for rear-wheel-drive vehicles don’t end with the new NSX however, the car is said to be the first in a line of new RWD rides that will be pitted against the Lexus, Mercedes, and BMW’s of the world. There are said to be plans for an S2000 type Acura sports car, a RWD sedan, and eventually a luxury offering that will be roughly 7-series size.

 

Yea, I've read this info myself in other places this month. They still don't identify their sources for the info. No one ever does on these Blogs and eMags. Sounds great if it's true.

 

There was a dealers' meeting in New Orleans recently where this info was revealed.

 

I can only hope that Acura asks us RL enthusiasts about the FMC RL's looks BEFORE its release to avoid the drubbing it's taken in the press about The Grille . The feature set of the MMC RL is finally spot-on. Even if they give us a V8 option and RWD, if the design is fugly, and there's no marketing, it won't sell. Just give us an exterior design that will bring people over from MB, BMW, and Lexus, and market the $hit out of it.

Here's an idea.....hire Pininfarina. For the love of all that is good, PLEASE hire some people who can actually design an exterior NOT by committee!

 

Makes me wonder what exactly are they doing in their work time at the new Acura Design Center in CA.


I mean they spent millions to separate the design sector from Acura but they are churning out POS after POS (09 RL, 09 TSX, Concept Model).


Although the design came from Honda in Japan, Acura still did not have to use the grill.


End of Rant....

 

I just skimmed through my Car & Driver in the mail today. There is a picture of the 09 TL.

It is not fugly as is the 09 RL. It simply looks like the new Accord with the TSX grille. Not fugly but no where near as exciting, innovative, handsome or assertive as the 3rd Gen TL.

For me is is a strike. It is a step backward from the success of the 3rd gen TL styling. If I was a TL shopper, I would RUN to the dealer and buy NOW while availability and choices are good. Similar with the 08 RL. These designs upset me as to Acura's direction.

Unless the designers are publically flogged and removed from future design, I cannot expect the next gen RL to be on my wish list.

I love my 06 RL, and I expect to hold it a few more years. But my eyes are wandering.

 

It's not the new TL. Just a picture. Check out the TL forums. We've been discussing that picture for a few days now.

 

Yeah, that pic is generally felt to be a Photochop and not the real thing. No worries yet, mate. Reserve judgement until the real thing is released, which (if they do it the same as the 3G TL) will be sometime during the summer. The major auto show season is over, so I doubt we will see it before then.

Still praying to the car gods that it is not fugly.