In biology it's called "convergent evolution" -- unrelated organisms separately evolve the same trait.
Birds and bats both have wings, for example, but they evolved from very different lineages. Like humans and other primates, Wall Street bankers have 10 fingers and toes, even though they evolved from disgusting, invertebrate slugs.
In the last couple of years, BMW, Porsche, Honda and VW/Audi have all separately arrived at a wagon/coupe/crossover solution because they are all dealing with the same retail ecology. For one thing, many buyers are maturing out of their cretinous SUVs and crossovers. They want something sporty and coupe-like but they still want the commanding outward view and some modicum of utility.
For another: Product development systems are now so streamlined that carmakers are able to cheaply riff off established chassis, offering subspecies of vehicles to make sure they have something in the showroom for everybody. BMW, for instance, has grafted a fastback rear end to its 5-series sedan to make the 5-series GT. To me it looks like the car has developed an egg sac.
The latest and, I assert, the greatest of these efforts is the Acura ZDX, a ferociously dynamic, red-in-tooth-and-claw styling exercise from Acura's Torrance design studio.
If only this major-league body didn't have a minor-league chassis to go with it.
This is the first Acura designed, engineered and being built in North America (Alliston, Ontario. That's Canada. Can you smell the bacon?).
The ZDX's Yankee designers -- all trained at Art Center in Pasadena -- have managed to transcend the dictates of the marketing weenies to make what I think is a lasting contribution to the designed world. Forget the modernism of the Tokyo skyline. The more you look at this thing the more you expect it to have a license plate from Alpha Centauri.
Based loosely on the mechanicals of the MDX, the ZDX's roofline is 6 inches lower, its ultra-rakish coupe profile limned in a dark-tinted glass canopy that stretches from the hood all the way to the taillamp assembly. The sides of the greenhouse taper inward dramatically to the rear, creating outrageous rear haunches that might as well have been lifted from a Paris-Dakar Porsche. The side window daylight opening (the DLO in industry parlance) is sports-car narrow, slitted and menacing -- the effect you'd get if you spit in Clint Eastwood's eye. To further de-emphasize the four doors, the rear door handles are hidden in the corner of the DLO.
