3 Jaw-Dropping Animal-Inspired Vehicle Designs

Vehicles designed with animals as their motif
Looking at the top three models

Image association is an essential element in vehicle design. Through design, different image associations come together to create the final image of the vehicle. Accordingly, some manufacturers use this process more strategically during the design stage. Currently, it is said that the most induced images are animal images.

This time, we will look at three types of vehicles designed with the image of a specific animal as a motif. In addition, we will look at a type of vehicle that is misunderstood, even though it does not have an animal image as a motif. What kind of vehicles were designed with animal images as a motif? Let’s find out together.

The Beetle, designed with a beetle motif
Viper with a viper motif

The Volkswagen Beetle is the most representative vehicle designed with an animal motif. As revealed in the model name, the design of the Beetle was conceived from a beetle. This vehicle, with its well-emphasized curves, symbolizes the Volkswagen brand along with the Golf and is the brand’s best-selling model in name and reality. The Beetle, chosen by numerous consumers worldwide for its excellent performance, is introduced as the first vehicle designed with an animal motif.

Dodge’s Viper is also one of the vehicles designed with an animal motif. Like the Beetle, its motif is evident from the model name. Viper’s motif is none other than a viper. As it is based on a viper, the design looks somewhat fierce. In addition, its performance resembles that of a viper. The Viper’s incredible cornering ability makes it look like a snake moving quickly.

A combination of a tiger and an iguana
Volkswagen’s flagship SUV, the Tiguan

The Volkswagen Tiguan is famous for being the world’s best-selling SUV. It is also designed with an animal motif based on two animals: a tiger and an iguana. It may be considered an unexpected combination, but the Tiguan is also said to be a vehicle that clearly displays the motif in its model name. Tiguan is said to be a compound word of tiger and iguana.

The Tiguan uses tiger and iguana as its motif for two reasons. The first is performance-related, meaning an SUV as powerful as a tiger off-road and agile as an iguana in the city. The second is related to design, as the headlamp was developed with the motif of a tiger’s eyes, and the tail lamp was developed with the motif of an iguana’s eyes.

BMW also has a vehicle with an animal motif?
This turned out not to be true

Some consumers misunderstand that BMW vehicles are also designed with animals as a motif. The reason is that the kidney grille, known as BMW’s symbol, has a similar appearance to the teeth of a particular animal. But this is not true. As we can see from the name, this grill is designed with a kidney as a motif and is unrelated to any specific animal.

This misunderstanding is most noticeable in the current BMW 4 Series. The sleek roofline and dark-edged design emphasize a sporty and strong image, but the vertically elongated kidney grille creates some incongruity. Regarding this design, a BMW official said, “I don’t think there are any more ugly designs, and most cars look similar, so it doesn’t feel like a great design.”