In the tuning world it is not uncommon to equip a car with the nose of another model. However, there are also models that are born with such a deviation, even in 2020.
Depending on the generation, it is simple to fairly easy to equip a Golf with the nose of a Jetta, Vento or Bora. With the exchange of grille, headlights and perhaps bumper, front screens and bonnet, your hatchback from Wolfsburg suddenly has a unique appearance, although this joke has been played thousands of times.
This phenomenon also occurs in the Japanese corner. A well-known example is the S13 generation Nissan Silvia, known here as 200SX. In his homeland, the car was available as a three-door ‘fastback’ with pop-up headlights and as a two-door coupé with fixed light clusters. You guessed it: the nose of one is often mounted on the carriage of the other.
Exeo Cabrio
It is not surprising that personalizing a car in this way is done when the nose in question is easy to transfer. Actually, it is remarkable that, as far as is known, no one has built a Seat Exeo Cabrio based on an open Audi A4, which would make us personally very happy. What is surprising is that some car manufacturers choose themselves to screw the nose of one model onto the body of the other.
E90
BMW was the first to be ‘guilty’ of this practice. The M3 sedan of the E90 generation received not only the powertrain, chassis components and bumpers of the M3 coupé and convertible, but also the significantly different headlights that come with the two-door versions (photo 7). That meant that a new hood and front fenders had to be developed especially for this car, because the coupe nose was a bit longer than that of the four-door. Even so, the result is that the sedan at the front is hardly distinguishable from its two-door brothers, while that is emphatically simple with the less powerful versions.
BMW repeated the same trick to much dismay with the latest generation of the M3, which also has the gigantic ‘nostrils’ of the M4. Hard to miss and in any case quite controversial. In the near future, an M3 Touring will also appear for the first time, which will of course be assigned the same nose.
RS6 or RS7?
We find a lesser known example at Audi, also with a sporty top model. The most recent RS6 looks even more brutal than its predecessor. Contrary to what you might expect, this is not only due to the enormously expanded wheel arches, gigantic diffuser in the rear bumper and aggressive front bumper. No, the RS6 shares its terrifying front with the RS7. Pay attention: where a ‘normal’ A6 or S6 has headlights with striking extensions on the underside, the RS6 has straight, flat ones. The LED signature of the light units also differs from that of the A6, and can be found on the A7. The hood is different again. on the A7 and RS7 the cut-out is almost at the ends of the headlights, while the hood on the A6 is a lot narrower.
From left to right: Audi A6, Audi RS6 and Audi RS7. Also pay attention to the cutout of the hood.
Incidentally, there are also examples of cars that got the nose of a successor, in a dastardly attempt to keep a certain body style fresh. The most famous example is the Volkswagen Golf 3 convertible with the nose of a Golf 4, but this was also the case with the Mercedes-Benz CLC (previously C-class Sportcoupé). Anyone who knows another example is of course cordially invited to share this with us.