Dubious Doppelgängers: Suspiciously Similar Cars 

the problem isn't that cars always used to look alike, the problem is that cars used to look better.

You completely missed the slew of 70s Japanese cars inspired by the design cues of the 60s muscle cars.

Actually, it's not so much cars look a lot a like. It's more like car manufacturers just trade car designers around like football fans trade football player collector cards.

The most annoying one, to me, is the rear side glass half upsweep on almost every single SUV out there..

I'm 70 yrs old. As a kid, and even today, I have always thought that 20s and 30s cars looked alike, but my dad could tell what kind of car it was at a glance. Maybe not quite the same thing as your video talks about, but the 60 Corvair inspired a ton of look-alikes. Sunbeam/Hillman Imp is probably the closest. There was an Indian car (not a Tata) that looked just like the Corvair. The later Cadillac Escalades have the vertical taillights similar to the Volvo/ Honda CR-V too. I love your videos, Ed! I've been here since your 3rd episode.

I was always finding that Chrysler Cordoba looks like a redrawn Chevy Monte Carlo. "-Can I copy your homework? -Sure, but make changes, so we won't get caught."

I drive a Volvo wagon and my neighbor has a late model CRV. Sure we wave, but we both know who wore it better.

There truly are only so many ways to make a Box That Go Fast™️

I think it's just a case of following trends. You see this a lot in Semi-Trucks, Smartphones, even Appliances. One company sets the trend and everybody follows.

The AE86 Trueno, Silvia S12 and the 80s Honda Integra 3door all are strikingly similar. The 80s had a lot of cars like that.

The awning taillights were a Pontiac treatment in the 60's that followed Shinoda and Knudsen to Ford for the 1970 Thunderbird. Also Ford had the "dog bone" taillight on the Escort and Taurus in the 90's.

0:41 I never knew that the Charger looked so much like that Accord lol

0:05 You remove the wheels and paint all the cars the same color and it's genuinely difficult to tell them apart, it's honestly bizarre. Basically all cars from all eras looked alike, there are only a few cars that dare to design something different from anything else, and often when that happens, the car is a failure. Or considered ugly. Hey Ed, I've had an idea for a while for the "What If..." series: What if Chrysler built a new PT Cruiser?

I try to tell people this all the time when I hear the overly used saying: “all cars look the same today” that saying has kinda always been true, of course there were eras that where better then others in terms of design, but the fact is that car manufacturers have always fallowed each other throughout the decades. It’s only when your start separating the cars from each era that things start looking more interesting and you begin to appreciate car design more. Look back on old historic photos of traffic from any era and you’ll always a road full of similarly looking cars.

I noticed Lexus not being mentioned once. For me the most annoying design trend is having the turn signal be the thinnest or smallest thing ever while being really close to the main headlight or taillight. Especially headlights where the orange light blends in with the low or hi beams.

The Peugeot 404, the Austin with all its cousins Wolseley and so on and also some large Fiats from the same era were all designed by Pininfarina who appears to have used copy paste a lot.

1980s be like: brick or brick with wedge tail

The Westminster and 404 were both designed by Pininfarina. There's a whole bunch of BMC/Peugeot/Fiats that look identical around that time and were all designed by Pinin. A guy called Hubnut did a fantastic video on them.

Surprised you didn't mention the Cadillac Escalade's vertical taillights

This video makes me appreciate the Avantime, Vel Satis and Citroen C6, they are really unique.

Kia Amanti (Opirus) front fascia looked like a mix of a early-2000s Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Jaguar S-Type

I wish Lincoln hadn't followed the horizontal light bar, and done a more vertical light like Chrysler and Cadillac, but with the Lincoln cross on it

I’m so glad you mentioned Honda because they are really the main culprit with how the accord has been looking for the last generations, ESPECIALLY the latest one

If you want to drive something that looks distinctive and is easy to find in a parking lot, just get a 58 Edsel with three-tone paint! I would love to have one.

Oh wow - you have so nailed this! One of my favorite hobbies is comparing car styling when out in traffic and I see so many examples of just what you are talking about in this video. Sometimes I think you could remove the badges and paint some cars the same color and not be able to tell one from the other. Well done!!

The Range Rover kinda looks like a Ford Explorer to me

You're right, similarities in design have been observed throughout the history of the automotive industry

Peugeot 408 and Renault Rafale are quite recent examples that spontaneously came to mind just reading the title. They are not exactly similar in a way you could say one copied the other, but they still are conceptually similar as fastback crossovers somwhere in between compact and midsize segments. Apparently Gilles Vidal joined Renault from Peugeot in 2020, and that makes you think a bit. But could be a coincidence.

This video is SO MUCH BETTER than most "similar design" videos. It was also really nice that you gave credit to the pioneer who did it first, most people would say Hyundai copied Honda, but that's clearly not the case.

But nobody copies the 50s/60s Citroen DS design for the signal lights being on the roof!

The rear end probably looks similar, especially on small cars, in part due to regulations. The rear end must have stop lights, a high-mounted stop light, turn signals, backup lights, an opening as large as possible, and probably a rear window. When the stop lights cannot be on the movable hatch or trunk lid, then the obvious place for them is on the outer edges. Some of these cars I have seen over the years and never noticed how similar they are.

2:44 You appear to have used a picture of the rarely-seen Honda Divid. 😂

3:00 The 1990 GM Dustbuster minivan trio Chevrolet Lumina APV/Pontiac Trans Sport/Oldsmobile Silhouette had vertical tail lights before Volvo. And you didn't add the current Cadillacs (specifically Escalade and XT4) where straight vertical light design is part of their design language.

I have been following this Chanel for a long time, and as any Brazilian I can say I wasn't expecting for the Ford Del rey or for the sinca Esplanada to show up, I checked twice to see it, I really laughed loudly.

One of my favorite designs of the last 20 years is the Suzuki Kizashi, which the Genesis G70 has so tastefully made their own, 15 years later 😂

this is such a well researcged video made with so much love, u deserve more views and i know theyre coming keep up the great work ed!!!!!!!

I'm sure there are some cases of "inspiration" in auto design, but the design process is a lot more nuanced than just, "oh look, that part looks like that part". While there are overarching trends that overlap like you point out, there's a lot of thought that goes into the contouring, texture, and line flow than most people realize. A lot of these have minute differences at a glance, but tweaking a shape slightly or changing concavity can have a bigger impact than some realize. Though, it is always good to push automakers to innovative in creating new ideas in design, it really bothers me when people simply say "oh look, they just copied this" or "look, they just mashed X, Y, and Z cars together. That being said, I hope the trend of massive grilles and overly excessive lines goes away as they definitely will not age well. Elegance is always a good thing in my eyes

1 - I've heard people say the 8th gen Chevy Mailbu pre facelift looks similar to the 4th gen Holden VF Commodore (more the Calais), which kind of does look similar. Then I did some more research, then discovered that the Chinese facelift variant is full on similar to the Series 1 VF Commodore with the grilles, headlights & tail lights & how they're arranged, reflectors, even the body lines, and where you'd find the number plates on the front and rear. Then again, they're both GM products, with the Camaro ZL1 taking 'inspiration' from the VF Commodore with the lower grille and probably some other GM cars that have it and I'm unaware. 2 - The 3rd gen Holden Monaro (2001-2006) and the MG XPower SV (2003-2005). They both look KIND OF similar, with the Monaro being a smooth and elegant Aussie muscle car, and the MG a big and bulky British muscle car. 3 - For the Ford Falcon FG-X, not only does it share similarities to the, Jaguar but the 4th gen Ford Mondeo looks similar as well. There are more similarities for the front ends, with the rear being quite different from one another. The Mondeo is liftback, while the Falcon is not. The only way you won't mistake the two is with the Mondeo Wagon and the Falcon Ute.

I am more capable of recognizing car models and facts about them than anyone I've ever met and even I'm very impressed by this. Really good video man...I just don't get how someone could even look at a modern dinner roll of a car and stave off the urge to vomit long enough to do something like this.

Another fantastic video. Excellent work as ever Ed. Thanks for the consistant quality work. 🙂 Dank je wel

I second your opinion on the HR-V. The first time I ever saw this car, back in 2000, was from the back and my very first thought was that it's a Volvo! There are a lot of similarities! Plus, the Accord/Genesis combo is really hard to be told apart when looking at them from the profile and from the back.

Chrysler 300--Bentley Phantom Ford Fussion--Ashton Martin Rapide I think it's safe to say this has been going on for a very long time. 😂

Caddy was doing the vertical taillights in the 60s and 70s.

Cadillac fins. ~1950’s Cadillac Series 62 had probably the first distinctive vertical tail light feature.

One crazy example is 2012ish VW Jetta and a little older BMW 3 series looks like you could swap almost every panel back and forth. Saw two parked beside each other, and if you covered the badges, you could not tell which one was which from the rear three-quarter angle and side view.

Go back to the model T. Cars have always looked similar to the counterparts on the road.

The fact alone you knew about the Mk1 Honda Hrv made me instantly subscribe! Wooo that’s awesome man 👏

70 Toyota celicas look like small 70 Ford torino

I thought I was the only one. Thanks for proving it.

Damn fine show sir.ya know.,.ive been a truck driver for over three decades and seen a bit of traffic now and then, with all that being said I can kind of appreciate a huge tail lights because a lot of the new cars have tail lights and Blinkers that are so small you can hardly see them flashing. You got some real good content really appreciate your research 👍

This is absolutely incredible. 👏

I was about to comment about the laguna coupe and c-class recemblance, love that you mentioned it

A few I've noticed recently as a Honda mechanic. 2023 Honda Accord - 2024 Ford Mustang (F) 2023 Honda Accord - 2020 Lincoln Aviator (R) 2023 Honda HR-V (ZR-V) - 2021 BMW M4 (R) 2023 Honda HR-V (ZR-V, with HPD body cladding) - 2020 Aston Martin DBX (F) 2022 Honda Civic - 2016 Audi A4 (R) 2023 Acura Integra - 2020 Mercedes-Benz CLA Class (R)

Those full-height vertical taillight started out on the Chevrolet Lumina MPV in the late 1980's

Great start indeed! Carry on! 👍

The Suzuki Kizashi and the facelift W204 have strikingly similar front end designs The 2019-Current Mercedes A Class and the 2014-2017 KIA Cerato have a near identical rear end

Chrysler copying rolls Royce with the 300 comes to mind

2000 Buick Century almost identical in orofile to an S Class Mercedes from the same year. More comfortable too, at 20% if the price, and probably still running 25 years later.

8:12. The Westminster and the 404 were designed by Pininfarina. They also designed the smaller BMC car of the Austin A55-Morris Oxford etc. Also look at The Fiat 2300 (also made by SEAT)

Great video! How about a part 2?

No mention of Cadillac's vertical tail lights?

I'll give you 30' era cars. There were a few standouts like the Airflow and high dollar cars. There's design elements on the rear ends of nearly every newer car on the road that has gotten sickening to see. One is the wrap up plastic that looks like a diaper. The other is a design that curves up from the bottom, goes across to the other side and curves back down. It's so prevalent that it looks like designers just gave up

Another excellent report.

This was perfection! Even more lookalikes than I ever imagined !

This is why I have a CORVETTE in my garage and a honda in the driveway. 😉

While I can see similarities, I feel like it's a bit overstated. You primarily targetted the rear of the vehicle. There are expectations of what a class of vehicle should look like. A hatch back should have a hatch on the back door. The rear lights on a car will have specific rules about what needs to be there and where it should be located. While there may be differences in various regions of the world, companies are going to want implementations that will work in all markets the vehicle will be sold in. I think with the number of permutations of cars out there, you can generalize almost every feature and say it's similar to numerous other models. 4:38 you show a bunch of cars that are "similar" but I think they are quite different. First, they all have a similar type of rear door based on the class of vehicle. The Suziki decided to extend the light into the rear hatch. None of the other examples chose to do this. The Leap extends much further towards the rear passenger door than any of the other examples, and doesn't extend nearly as far up as the other examples. The Volvo and the Mitsubishi are the two closest, but even there, the Mitsubish seems to narrow more at the top, and the light bar goes around the white part with the reverse and I assume direction lights vs the Volvo which is on top. Most of those lights work with other aspects of the design decisions. The line from a crease or the locations for the door handles for example. If you came up with any design that won broad appeal (don't create the next Pontiac Aztek) how hard would it be for someone to find someway to argue that it's actually similar to some other car that already exists on the market. I mean, Jeremy Clarkson has already clearly proven that all Porcshe's are just squashed VW Bug's. If you made something truly unique (and isn't intended to be offensive) in time it expands what is acceptable and will influence other designs.

Very impressive research was required for this episode, and I really appreciate it! Here in the US, I've noticed what I think of as a real lack of design originality (or is it just laziness?) for at least 15 years. I only hope that a lot of automotive designers will see this and take the hint.

Really interesting video gg! 👍

There were some "hand gun robbery" designs through history : Datsun 240z from Jaguar XKE, Mazda Rx- 7 2nd Gen from Porsche 944, and chinese Chery tiggo from 2nd gen Toyota Rav4.

For American cars, the most different styling was between 1955 and 1965. Look at a 57 Chevy then a 57 Ford. Also check a 58 Plymouth to a 58 Buick. Thanks to Ed for his time, work and posting.

Love this, headlights next pleas

Your observations are terrific. I wish you were around when I would bore my friends talking about the elegance of the A pillar of the 1993 Accord 😊

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?

Hey Ed how are you doing today?

Thanks Ed 🎉

The lack of art education is making it's mark. I think it was the singer Bono who asked "where are all the sexy cars?" This focus on tech and the desire of a lot of people who actually don't like cars and driving have damaged the design of cars. Everything in the road is just a cargo box on wheels where the focus is just on interior tech. So sad.

Does the Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe count? Co-developed, I wouldn't call them a rebadge of each other though.

Nice video ♥

3:25 The Honda CRV has ALWAYS had vertical tail lights. It is equally a Volvo thing as it is a CRV thing (Volvo used it first in 1993, Honda did in 1997). Even the newest CRV that was introduced for the 2023 model year uses vertical tail lights.

The taillights are great! the last time I noticed a trend was with the sloped, floating roofs and C pillar swooshes and archers between the axles, but I didnt look at the lights that much. Great Video!👍

The XJ 220 also had Ford dials, Montego/Maestro switch gear and the lethal Metro rally engine. I use to work on one. Very quick! Great video as ever.

Thanks,very entertaining.

I was truly NOT expecting the Del Rey or the Simca here. Amazing.

One I always noticed was the Kia Cee’d estate looked incredibly similar to the Volvo V50 back in the early to mid 2000s. This was a great video Ed - I have said for many years that manufacturers just copy each other!

Very interesting, as usual

We need a part two of this

So glad this video was on my recommendation. Subd

An honorable mention from me, an American: Infiniti M37 and Hyundai Genesis (2012 facelift) have the exact same taillights. I see a lot of the Genesi and always think its an Infiniti.

Great video! Been thinking about the taillights 2nd generation Volvo V70 and Fiat Panda of the same era

Some surprises in here! Little correction though: 7:00 is a Daewoo Evanda, the Epica came slightly later ;)

The “suspiciously” in the title just feels like sizzle to me. While there were a few mentioned that were out around the same time and peculiar, there were many where it’s just clear that a design executed influenced a new design a few years later. That’s always been the case with design. Designer aren’t given blinders to not see other designs in the industry. They study them and find inspiration in them. It is still a very fun discussion to have, just not suspicious in a lot of cases.

Showing how similar the cars from the 1930's look should just remind us that: "The more things change the more they stay the same"

THANKS ED = NOTHING BRITENS ACRUMMY DAY MORE THAN A NEW EAR VID!!!

INCREDIBLE VIDEO

My thumbs up is french and he is for your video ! The first exemple in the video about the red lights on the butt of the cars can be working on my Skoda Fabia, the "all" new since 2023. I wish you a great day so... au revoir monsieur. ;)

Full length tail light were a direct copy of the second generation of the Renault 5. It’s even being used on the Cadillac Escalade lol! Great video!

One I know of is the 1986 Volvo 780 and 1986 Buick LeSabre Coupe. Very similar glass shape, also with the glass going below the beltline to follow the feature line instead, as well as a very similar roof (with the Buick's being a bit more round). Very similar blocky rear end, both with full width taillights. Both even have thicker trim on the bumper cover and behind the rear wheel, compared to the trim in the middle of the car

Ed, very nice to see some of out Brazilian cars! When you showed the Ambassador I immediately associated with the SIMCA Esplanada.

The Mercedes E-Class/C-Class Coupe looking like a Renault Laguna was always very amusing to me. Glad you mentioned it!

That was fun. I know mostly about the cars that we had in the US. When you add in the international cars, it becomes even more obvious.