Once upon a time, Acura used to make cars with their own unique charms. I miss those days, and that’s what this post is about. Acura dealerships opened their doors in 1986, with two very different cars for sale. Those were the Integra and the Legend, with names and body lines that could not be mistaken for one another. A few years later, the Acura Vigor came out. You know, Acuras with individual identities.
In the mid-1990′s, Acura started to phase out using words as model names and eventually gave them all alphanumeric identifiers. The Vigor became the TL, the Legend became the RL and the Integra became the RSX, In the mid-2000′s, Acura started to phase out originality and eventually gave them all a grille that looks the same. The “Power Plenum Grille” is on every single Acura produced nowadays.
What do Acura fans think of this? Well, I might draw a biased crowd, so I turned to a TempleOfVTEC.net poll to get my answers. I love that website, and other VTEC heads around the country do as well, so I figured it would be a great source to turn to. 3796 people responded and their votes were not really that surprising. Thanks to TempleOfVTEC for the poll results.
Now let’s check out the 2010 Acura lineup.
2010 model lineup Cliffs Notes:
Acura and Honda have always been about parts bin engineering, makings parts that can be used on more than one model to save on R&D costs. (That would be why Civics and Integras are so commonly stolen, but anyways.) I’m just wondering whether all of these grilles have the same part number, because it looks like they may as well. I miss when Acura meant a clean, contemporary and unique design.
I am an Integra girl at heart, so that’s what the examples will be. The Integras below aren’t the same years, but you would know one when you saw one. You wouldn’t have to wonder. These represent a day when Acura made beautiful cars that had a style all their own. Having your choice of things is nice. I mean, some people like blondes, some like redheads and some like brunettes. VIVE LA DIFFÉRENCE!
Thanks to MotiveMag, Generation 2 Integra Club, ITRSport and AutoWP for the pictures!
