Ever pondered the disappointing abundance of new vehicles that look suspiciously more alike? We may have found definitive proof that your dismay is not misplaced and that your fondness of the Honda e – for merely being different – is entirely understandable. Leasing company Hippo has created “the car of all cars”, calling it the Omnia Novus.
Using 750 images of 250 of the most popular new cars on the market, then layering them up from all angles to define the average outline, the Omnia Novus is a brutally benign-looking concept car, neither hugely appealing nor easily dismissed. It’s no surprise that the Novus sports an SUV body shape and red body colour, both popular choices in today’s UK car market.
The Hippo team looked to fancy Latin to pick Omnia, as its brand, and ‘Novus’, as the model name. Translating roughly as ‘everything new’, it also used the same layered-image approach to create an ‘Omnia’ badge from 32 manufacturers’ existing car badges. We can totally pick out the Toyota influence (what else can you see?), but this fun exercise demonstrates why some manufacturers (BMW and Hyundai, we’re looking at you) are taking grille shapes and angular body lines to a whole other level.
Entirely indistinguishable, the Omnia Novus is so beige, metaphorically speaking, that it’s a wonder Tesla – with its passion for inoffensive cars that last forever via software updates – didn’t fancy a similar approach for its next design.
Keyword: The 'Omnia Novus' is a mash-up of 250 modern cars