From the Juke to the Multipla, "I'm not beautiful, I like" – Auto World

Nissan, first tests for the new Juke

"I am not beautiful, I like" is perhaps the most famous phrase of Jerry Cala, (…) A phrase that, if they could speak, would also say some cars, capable of conquering the public without being "beautiful", at least in the most classic of the term. The most recent example is the Nissan Juke, (…) the one that in 2010 invented the concept of compact crossover with a style that to define original is a euphemism. Massive wheel arches, headlights like bulging eyes and a general lack of balance that, absurdly, can conquer the hearts. The result is in numbers: one million units sold in a market segment that simply did not exist.

There Renault Twingo has been able to do even better. Founded to replace the legendary R4, it immediately caused a sensation at the 1992 Paris Motor Show. Part of the audience was disoriented by those lines from small people carriers, from non-existent overhangs and simple design up to the essentials. But another part had already understood the intelligence of such a rational design, which at the height of internal volume combined good road holding. A good 2,240 people were instantly seduced by the Twingo, so much so that they ordered the small French woman already inside the Fair. They were joined by another two and a half million customers in the following fifteen years (…)

There Fiat Multipla arrived on the market a few years after Twingo, precisely in 1998. Fiat itself launched the model with an ironic advertising campaign, accompanied by slogans such as "You will be beautiful you". The step that connected the windshield to the bonnet is too bold, an element never seen before. (…) The truth is that the Multipla was a smart car: in 3.99 meters it offered 6 comfortable seats and a 430 liter boot. 120 thousand copies were sold, then in 2004 a restyling normalized the line, depriving it even of part of its character. The Smart Roadster, finally, lived only from 2003 to 2007, but the 37,522 units sold are not few, considering the kind of car. In his case the appearance outside the box was an advantage. If only he had a change a little less slow and a more perky engine, he probably would have been even more successful.

Alessandro Vai, La Stampa