Streetwiseguy
Streetwiseguy PowerDork
5/7/16 9:06 p.m.

that is more identifiable from a distance than Volvo? That diagonal slash across the grille shows up from a long way off- even further on heavy trucks.

Vertical Jeep grille, maybe, 4 Audi rings, blue ovals...but on my drive this afternoon Volvo is king of distance.

irish44j
irish44j UltimaDork
5/7/16 9:13 p.m.

Crown Vic. During the day and the headlights at night. Gotta know those :)

Or at least used to. Now need to know Tauruses, lol.

bastomatic
bastomatic UltraDork
5/7/16 9:15 p.m.

BMW?

Adrian_Thompson
Adrian_Thompson UltimaDork
5/7/16 9:31 p.m.

Ferrari

codrus
codrus GRM+ Memberand Dork
5/7/16 9:33 p.m.

Maserati. The clouds of blue smoke are a dead giveaway. :)

revrico
revrico GRM+ Memberand Reader
5/7/16 9:34 p.m.

I'll have to second crown vic. Getting harder now though, explorers, escapes, taureses, ford 500s in some cases. too many.

Back in my teen years we used to bet on the headlights behind us or tail lights in the distance. Don't see nearly as many Jbody's and K cars these days.

Nick (LUCAS) Comstock
Nick (LUCAS) Comstock UltimaDork
5/7/16 9:56 p.m.

Volvo and Saab are pretty distinctive as far as mainstream auto makers in the US.

Alfa Romeo is pretty distinctive on the world stage.

Mike
Mike GRM+ Memberand Dork
5/7/16 10:18 p.m.

chiodos
chiodos Dork
5/7/16 10:22 p.m.

Vw, expecially at night you can see the amber glow on the drivers face of the check engine light.

aircooled
aircooled MegaDork
5/8/16 12:25 a.m.

novaderrik
novaderrik UltimaDork
5/8/16 12:54 a.m.

i used to be able to tell Saabs from a distance due to the low belt line and high greenhouse... VW bugs are also easy to spot from a mile away.. square body Caprices and Crown Vics used to really stand out, since most of them had light bars on the roof and spotlights in the A pillars. with very few exceptions, new cars all look the same to me.

Vigo
Vigo PowerDork
5/8/16 2:33 a.m.
Don't see nearly as many Jbody's and K cars these days.

Come to my house. I tried to buy a Cimarron at auction in 2014, havent seen another one since. Plenty of K's though.

petegossett
petegossett GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
5/8/16 7:28 a.m.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: Ferrari

I couldn't begin to recognize one at a distance vs. any other supercar, if it was built with the last ~10 years. Yes, they're awesome cars, I just feel they've lost some identity in their design - but I suppose the wind tunnel had a part in that too.

patgizz
patgizz GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
5/8/16 9:07 a.m.

saab

mad_machine
mad_machine GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
5/8/16 9:38 a.m.

On the world stage, Lancia is pretty distinctive too due to their corporate grill.. just like Saab, Volvo, and BMW all do

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
5/8/16 10:00 a.m.

In reply to Streetwiseguy:

People at junkyards would often confuse my VW for a Volvo. As in, I'd be picking up a transmission or whatever, and the guy comes out the building with the trans on a cart and asks where it's going. "That white wagon over there." "Oh, the Volvo?"

Er, yeah we'll just go with it. It's the only white wagon out of the three vehicles in the parking lot...

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
5/8/16 10:04 a.m.
bastomatic wrote: BMW?

I believe BMW tried to take legal action against Pontiac for some sort of brand identification similarity thing.

No word if Honda sued Mercedes over the C-class coupes that looked just like 5/4 scale Civics.

Brian
Brian MegaDork
5/8/16 10:14 a.m.

In reply to Knurled:

Well, they didn't sue Kia for the forte looking like the civic.

novaderrik
novaderrik UltimaDork
5/8/16 11:50 a.m.
Knurled wrote:
bastomatic wrote: BMW?
I believe BMW tried to take legal action against Pontiac for some sort of brand identification similarity thing. No word if Honda sued Mercedes over the C-class coupes that looked just like 5/4 scale Civics.

i know that every time i have ever seen a first gen Grand Am, i think to myself "hey, look, a weird looking BMW. that guy has got his life figured out"...

NOT

sesto elemento
sesto elemento Dork
5/8/16 2:14 p.m.

Yea, like "that car on the back of the tow truck is definitely a volvo". Lol.

1988RedT2
1988RedT2 PowerDork
5/8/16 4:15 p.m.

Volvo, rivaled only perhaps by BMW. That double kidney bean is very distinctive. Most other cars you're looking for a badge so you know what it is. Unless it's really ugly, then you know it's a Nissan/Infiniti.

WingZombie
WingZombie New Reader
5/8/16 7:29 p.m.

Mini?

captdownshift
captdownshift GRM+ Memberand UberDork
5/8/16 8:32 p.m.

Turboed EJ subarus, as rubbish as they are, I can identify them by sound before even seeing one

mad_machine
mad_machine GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
5/8/16 11:29 p.m.
Knurled wrote:
bastomatic wrote: BMW?
I believe BMW tried to take legal action against Pontiac for some sort of brand identification similarity thing. No word if Honda sued Mercedes over the C-class coupes that looked just like 5/4 scale Civics.

Other way around.. GM tried to sue BMW over their grill.. and LOST big time.. not surprising considering BMW has been using the double grill since the 30s

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