Axon’s Automotive Anorak: Why are we struggling to see out of our cars?

One of the more relevant and impressive new models I tried out for size was the latest fourth-generation 2019 Mazda 3; a real-world Golf/Focus competitor that left a very favourable impression overall for its high quality and interesting design, both internally and externally.

One aspect of the new Mazda that left a less-than-positive first impression though was the dismal rearward visibility through the back window and rear-view mirror. Though it has a sizeable glazed panel overall, a large proportion of the new Mazda hatchback’s rear window is taken up by a heavy black border, some of which is used to hide the gubbins for the heated window element, rear wash and wiper, and third high-level brake light, but also much of which seems to serve no purpose whatsoever, beyond a possible aesthetic benefit.

The latest Mazda 3 isn’t the only new model to be afflicted with the limited rear visibility of a letter box. The all-new Renault Clio and Peugeot 208 suffer a similar plight, as do many recent hatchback and estate cars models, from the Alfa Romeo Stelvio to the Volvo XC40, the latter also saddled with unfeasibly thick and high C-pillars, making over-the-shoulder rear ¾ vision potentially dangerous in some cases.

The rear glazing of modern cars is increasingly more deeply angled and narrow, with wider A-, B- and C-pillars that can obstruct major sections of the road. Lower bonnets lines and more exaggerated frontal curves are increasingly eliminating useful sight lines, which are needed to improve safety and aerodynamics, not that the latter has been usefully improved.  

With increasingly thick A-pillars (arguably better for rollover protection, but…), plus yet more thick black windscreen framing encroaching on forward visibility (hiding rain sensors, internal aerials and auto-sensing rear view mirrors), the view out of modern motor cars is now far more restrictive than it has been since cars of the early 1950s.

In a recent North American Consumer Report, for example, the current Porsche 718 Boxster was once again found to be the new car having the poorest overall outward visibility rating, its findingsnoting that “smaller drivers will struggle the most for a clear view out [of] a Boxster”. However, drivers of any height will have trouble seeing when the roof is up due to blind spots created by the soft top materials. Other hazards include the high boot lid position as well as the windscreen and roll hoops. Even if you stand over six feet tall, be wary of what’s behind you and at your sides when driving a Boxster’, the Consumer Report concluded.

Granted, many of today’s cars are equipped with parking sensors, reversing cameras, ariel view scans, cornering cameras, vehicle detection door mirrors, and so on, all making maneuvering considerably easier. However, none of these are suitable substitutes for the human eye, reading the road and making safe judgements.

The contrast of the slimly glazed new Mazda, Clio, Peugeot and other cars at the Geneva Salon were in sharp contrast to a far-sighted 1950s motoring vision of the future, making its Geneva debut on the Quattroroute magazine stand; the highly-advanced ‘Linea Diamante’, first revealed in 1953, and only becoming a physical reality more than 65 years later.

The Linea Diamante (Diamond Line) was created by the influential Italian architect and industrial designer Giò Ponti (1891-1979), the creator of iconic 32-storey Pirelli Tower in Milan – acknowledged as one of the world’s most ‘elegant’ skyscrapers – and the famous Superleggera chair, plus the co-founder of the respected design and architecture magazine Domus in 1928.

In an era when car design was characterised by large, swollen shapes, small windows and dark, claustrophobic interiors (the contemporary Standard Vanguard, Ford Zodiac, Simca Aronde, BMW 501, and so on), the sharp-edged Linea Diamante began with an aerodynamic teardrop shape and soon developed into the more angular and futuristic Diamond Line with flat-form body panels and a generous glass area to flood the cabin with light.

The airy car’s dimensions allowed a generously-proportioned interior and a spacious, pioneering ‘hatchback’ boot, with a profile that was later mimicked by Pininfarina’s influential BMC 1800-based Aerodinamica concept almost 15 years on. That then went on to inspire the Lancia Beta and Gamma Berlinas, Citroen GS and CX, Rover SD1, Chrysler Alpine and two-box saloons in the 1970s.

Had Ponti’s ‘right idea at the wrong time’ automotive vision been accepted and built in the early 1950s, imagine what the cars we are driving today might have looked like. They could have had spacious interiors, and light, airy cabins that could be safely seen out of, without the need for electronic devices to aid vehicle maneuverability!