The super cool 2006 Toyota FJ Cruiser’s roof was usually painted a different color than the body. The color dropped down the C-pillar a little below the tops of the side windows, perhaps inaugurating the modern era of floating roofs. Nissan riffed on that idea by floating body-color roofs at the C- or D-pillar by inserting a sliver of black, which visually severed the roof from the body. This looked innovative on the third-gen 2015 Murano and just looked like a legitimate family resemblance when it next appeared on the eighth-gen 2016 Maxima. Now everybody’s gotta float their roofs. We counted at least eight variations on this increasingly tiresome theme on the show floor in Detroit.
Chevrolet Bolt EV
This might be the most Murano-y floater on the floor. Hey, at least Chevy’s electron-burner didn’t copy anything from Nissan’s Leaf.
GMC Terrain
We can imagine that the Chevy design team might have conceived its floating roof before the Murano broke cover, but it’s hard to believe GMC’s Terrain designers never saw a Bolt.
Toyota C-HR
Toyota took the high road, placing its roof-floating sliver of black way up by the drip rail.
Honda Odyssey
Honda takes the low road, aligning its floatation device down at shoulder level.
Lexus LC 500
Et tu, Lexus? We suppose you’ll claim you’re not channeling Nissan but rather Aston Martin. (The DB11 floats its roof, as well, but Aston no longer displays in Detroit.)
Toyota Prius
OK, this fourth-gen Prius is just here for completeness, but it gets a pass on the grounds that it first appeared in 2016 and was hence clearly designed before the Murano broke cover.
Toyota Camry XSE
These last two differ from the others in not featuring body-color roofs. Come to think of it, as shown in white with black roofs, they both rather resemble the Faraday Future FF 91—or rather, it resembles them.
GAC Trumpchi GE3
Last but by no means least likely to copy a design trend is China’s Trumpchi brand, which makes us wonder, “Is this the comb-over of roof designs?”
The post 2017 Detroit Auto Show Design Cliché of the Year appeared first on Motor Trend.
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