Carliverance

Such is the incestuous nature of our auto industry.

With very few exceptions, just about every manufacturer you can name is somehow related to another one. And without sounding too much like I’m into that sort of behaviour, it’s one of the major factors that makes the car game so interesting.

Car design is very similar, most recently noticed in the first images of the long awaited Porsche Panamera. At carsguide HQ, it wasn’t long before we had pics of the new Porsche and Volvo’s C30 lined up bum to bum – not in that way – and couldn’t help but gaze at the striking similarities.

It wasn’t too much of a stretch to cast our minds back to more instances of sameness in the recent past.

Squint and you’ll think the back of the German designed Hyundai i30 is actually a one series Bimmer hatch.

Still on rear ends and you won’t be shot down for mistaking the new Jaguar XF for an Aston Martin DB9, the latest Camry for an Accord Euro, or that the new Citroen C5 has an Audi A4 butt.

The latest Jeep Cherokee is almost a mirror image of the Dodge Nitro and the Toyota Camry could almost pass for a Honda Accord.

Then there are the ridiculous cases where affiliated brands simply swap badges and celebrate the arrival of an ‘all new’ car. The Ford Laser/Mazda 323 combo of few years back springs to mind in the same thought bubble as the Holden Commodore/Toyota Lexcen exchange. The latter rather ironic really considering the secrecy and uniqueness surrounding 1983’s Americas Cup winning yacht, Australia II, and its Lexcen designed ‘winged keel’.

I know, I know, this has been happening forever but it would be nice too see more unique, fresh metal on the roads these days wouldn’t it?

Which cars can you think of that bear a striking resemblance to others?