The New Toyota Avalon Is Basically A Grille On Wheels

TopSpeed

By Jonathan Lopez

Published Jan 17, 2018

Would you like some car with that front end?

I remember when Lexus first came out with its enormous “spindle grille” feature, thinking to myself “well, that won't last very long.” Now, here we are some seven years later, and the ginormous intake hasn't receded in the slightest. In fact, it's actually growing, and not just in size, either. The rest of Toyota's lineup seems to be infected with enlarged grille syndrome, as is evidenced by the recently debuted 2019 Avalon that just dropped at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show.

This grille is simply massive. It stretches between the ends of the bumper like one of those giant rubber dam things that dentists use for root canals. The whole front end of the car is basically grille. Don't get me wrong – I'll take a strikingly assertive, arguably ugly design over something boring any day of the week. But I can't help but take a step back and shake my head when I see this thing, like I just walked into the world's biggest ball of twine or something. I mean, what the hell is the point.

Granted, the styling actually does its job, as it certainly makes the Toyota stand out from the crowd. Indeed, just one glance is more than enough to confirm the car's origin. However, I'm worried scientists will start pointing their telescopes at it thinking they just discovered a new black hole.

What do you think of the new front end on the 2019 Toyota Avalon? Let us know in the comments.