I am still struck by how much the Jaguar XK8 and the new Maserati V-8 Coupe look like the FD. Especially from the side.

Mazda really DID get it all right with the styling, didn't they?

 

hey thats why i love this car so much cuase it looks like a super car and it is really a super car.

 

It probably looks like a Jag, as that the FD designer is a Jaguar aficionado:

http://www.cardesignerart.com/CDA/artists/chin.html

 

"Other than performance, the RX-7`s strong point is styling. Takaharu Kobayakawa, program manager in charge of bringing the new car from concept in 1988 toreality for 1993, said the design intent was ``to make the car look like its muscles were showing through the skin."- The car is quite a designing milestone. The jaguar may look like an FD because Jag and Mazda are owned by Ford.

 

Either way, I personally like how the FD can still hold up it's looks after all these years. I'm glad they didn't go for any of the fads that were around back then as they would have looked retarded by now..

 

Yeah it's a great looking vehicle. Looks like a Panoz.

 

more like the FD looks like a jag.

check out the old E-class Jags.

bee-U-ti-ful

 

Who cares which one came first in the style of the FD? It's a beautiful car and takes it's cues from several of the classic sports cars before it. That's why the car looks great to this day and will continue to look like a "classic" years from now.

 

it goes all the way back to the C-type Jaguar.
http://www.revivalmotorsport.com/dtypestory.html
It has all been done before.
Charlie

 

The lead designer for the FD, this man, was a huge aficionado of classic European sports cars, especially Jaguar. While I think that the FD is truly a distinctive, original and timeless design, you can definitely see some influence from those old Jags and Maseratis.

 

There's a pic of him in an E-type Jaguar on p.174 of the Yamaguchi book. The FD's design was heavily influenced by the E-type. I'd wager Jaguar wanted to capture some of that E-type spirit when they designed the XK8.
If you guys don't have the Yamaguchi book get it. The design evolution of the 3rd gen is pretty intresting...

 

ok this is retarded. You can say any car is a copy of another car. IT doesnt matter what car it is. Even when the first cars were being developed, im sure someone peaked over someone elses shoulder and took a little tid bit of their idea, so in a sense there is no orignal car. maybe a few, but I mean come on. The FD is amazingly beautiful. It is one of a kind, regardless of what it looks SOMEWHAT simillar(sp?)to ,it is one amazing car.