By now you’ve probably seen images of the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe, the latest and perhaps most strongly-worded reminder to date that Hyundai’s design department has long since run out of fucks. Try to recall to memory every Santa Fe before this. As of 24 hours ago, you can’t anymore. Nobody can; you have to go to Wikipedia to remind yourself. It’s an astonishing phenomenon. But it got us thinking about other radical redesigns of cars from generation to generation that blew our socks clean off. That’s what today’s Question Of The Day is all about.
Present company excluded, what else comes to mind? Sure, nameplates evolve over their lifespans. Models experience glow ups (and downs), and that isn’t unusual. But what makes the Santa Fe’s redesign so shocking is that prior to this, it was the very archetype of the forgettable midsize crossover. Not a bad car, but one staunchly determined to offend no one and be ignored by everyone. It succeeded.
The outgoing Santa Fe was also decidedly more “crossover” than “SUV” in vibe, for whatever that’s worth, which you certainly wouldn’t say about the new one. With its octagonal wheel arches, rising razor-sharp beltline and a fascia that asks onlookers “how many rectangles do you see in this picture” like some kind of Facebook MENSA test, the 2024 Santa Fe commits even harder to the boxy bit than the Defender.
Is that a good thing? I’m not here to argue one way or the other. But it does get your attention, which is a victory for a Santa Fe. What other cars’ redesigns pulled off a similar feat? Leave your responses in the comments, and we’ll compile a bunch for an Answer Of The Day on Friday.