Momentum is growing in the motor industry to produce cars that are fast becoming throwaway fashion statements. We should regard it with caution, argues Daniel Attwood.
The days when motorists could order their car in any colour, so long as it was black, may have passed into history. But there was an honesty and value in Henry Ford's all-black Model T - one of design, function and practicality - that is now being lost to a fashion-driven car market being promoted by profit-driven manufacturers.
Car buyers today are now faced with a plethora of needless fashion options, and the list is growing. Manufacturers say this new chance to personalise cars gives their customers a freedom they have never had before.
Peugeot has already announced its intention to introduce a personalised car - the 1007 - by mid-2005. "The possibility of interior personalisation on mainstream vehicles is usually limited by decisions made by the manufacturer", the company says. "The 1007 changes this by providing customers with the possibility of choosing an individual interior for their car".
But buyer beware: Peugeot peppers its literature with worrying words like "striking", "vivid", "invigorating", "contrasting" and "bold". Words that may well excite a young, fashionable buyer, but will also strike dread into a second-hand car buyer. Today's strikingly beautiful could well be tomorrow's fashion faux pas.
Smart, the loss-making innovative marque of DaimlerChrysler, has gone one step further, and now offers cars with interchangeable exterior panels. The company recently launched its latest and most practical model - the forfour - here. This car, with four seats and four doors, takes the brand into the mainstream for the first time.
However, the company remains inseparably linked to the fashion industry and the fashion conscious buyer. To reinforce this, Smart used the forfour to chauffeur international models around at London Fashion Week. Jeremy Simpson, head of Smart in Britain and Ireland, said the promotional stunt "underlines the brand's street cred".
Insisting that fashion-following buyers want to individualise their cars, Smart now gives customers the option to alter their car's exterior appearance to suit latest fashions. As well as the interchangeable panels, the company also offers a collection of images, such as zebra stripes, cheetah spots or even a great white shark.
The images are printed on heavy-duty vinyl that is then wrapped and stuck on removable body panels. "We have come up with a number of designs, but Smart drivers don't have to let their imagination stop there. If they have a suitable image we can put anything on the cars," enthused Smart's Robin Smart. "The beauty of Smart means if you get bored with bright red tomatoes or your favourite tartan, you can swap the vinyl or the whole panel for something else."
Following today's fashions, however, is not a wise choice when buying a car that is designed to last for years, if not decades. But even that notion must now be reconsidered. From first design sketch to first car off the production line, the industry norm was, until recently, seven years. It now takes GM just 36 months to turn out a new car in the US.
European manufacturers are following suit. Sales fall as models age, so the trick, say the manufacturers, is to quicken the introduction of new models to every three years. This concept fits snugly with the idea of making a car a fashion statement, something "of the minute" that is replaced as soon as it becomes dated. Buyers, however, should consider the quality of parts that are designed for a few months' lifecycle rather than a few years.
Fashion, of course, does have a place in car design. Alfa Romeo and the Italian National Chamber of Fashion have had a partnership for years. "A profitable collaboration", says Alfa. "Because a car, just like an item of clothing, is bought with the heart".
This is a philosophy that has served Alfa well, but the Italians have stepped back, so far, from allowing fashion to be the driving force behind its vehicles. Mercedes-Benz has also joined forces with the fashion industry. One hundred CLKs were given the styling touches of fashion guru, Giorgio Armani. The exclusive colours and materials employed by Armani include a special paint finish in a shade of sand, one assumes to blend in with the beaches of St Tropez.
Personalising a vehicle used to be the preserve of the prestige marques and the boy racer, and that's where it should remain.
Maybach customers are able to decide the interior colour scheme of their Maybach in a personal discussion with designers. Of course they are. But they are unlikely to stop the spiralling resale value of their monster - which is just 38 per cent of its value after three years.
Rolls-Royce buyers will also do little to halt the astronomical depreciation of their new Phantom (worth just 44 per cent after three years) by specifying that the steering wheel spokes, instrument panel and rear air vent surround have a wood veneer matching the feature grain selected for the dashboard.
And nor will a boy racer gain by adding twin exhausts to his Micra. But the millions of motorists who have a tick list that starts with practicality, affordability and economy should think twice about specifying an alien image for the exterior of their new car to match the luminous interior.
A great vehicle design will stand on its own merits and will stand the tests of time. Classics like Jaguar's E-Type and Porsche's 911 have brushed aside decades of fleeting fashion fads. Modern interpretations have added to classic designs: BMW's Mini is a testament to Alec Issigonis' bold '50s design.
Then there are modern design classics, such as the Audi TT, that are stunning through stunning design; or practical vehicles, such as Land Rover's Defender, where function has dictated form.
The one thing all these superbly designed vehicles have in common is that there is not a day-glow swappable body panel or luminous air vent in sight and let's hope there never will be.