Almost cartoonish phatitide here: slightly too much, in fact...

Witness the Phatness


It occurred to us whilst discussing the finer points of car design recently that if you had do define one thing that appealed to you about a certain sort of car and had to ascribe an adjective to it, that adjective would be ‘Phatness’. Despite the term’s irritating neo hip-hop connotations, we believe it is indeed the perfect description of cars that are, well, phat.

Break it down for a moment. Phatness is basically an aerodynamically efficient, ground-hugging aspect. Its elements are gaping, ground hoovering mouths formed by air intakes, dark deep eye sockets that house the lighting gear. Look from the back and it might be the flared arches or wide, deep dished rims and diffusers that do the aesthetic job of creating the vaguely menacing look that we are ascribing it to.

However you define it, you know when you see it. Here are some of our favourite examples of automotive amplitude.