Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and when you've run out of ideas while designing a car there is always someone you can flatter. Here are the ten cars Jalopnik readers have picked out as the most obvious examples of automotive plagiarism.
(Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers.)
10.) NATS GT-K
Suggested By: Demon Xanth
Why: For the man that wants a Nissan GT-R but isn't of ample means, there is the NATS GT-K. A Kei car version of the GT-R, it undoubtedly has some horsepower and can possibly do handling.
9.) Dongfeng EQ2050
Suggested By: Senna MP4
Why: So you want a Hummer but you can't afford a Hummer? Then the Dongfeng EQ2050 is the car for you. If it looks like an H1, it better have the firepower to back it up. And thankfully, there is a Cummins turbodiesel that you can get.
Also, you can get a gun turret, which must be good for getting rid of the lower classes with ease.
8.) Kia K9
Suggested By: Tohru-Rokuno
Why:When a BMW 5-Series GT and a BMW 7-Series take a nice vacation together in South Korea this is what happens: They give birth to a Kia sedan that apes almost every feature of those cars. All Kia have to do is connect the middle of the grill and it'll be a full fledged Bimmer.
7.) Great Wall Coolbear
Suggested By: Pancho VIlleneuve
Why: Great Wall might be the only company to see the Scion xB and say, "yes, we need to make our own version of that. It's what the kids will want."
It literally looks like Great Wall engineers snuck into a Scion factory at night, stole the molds, and put their own logo on the cars instead. What a ripoff.
6.) Lifan 320
Suggested By: Telemektar
Why: It's understandable why someone would copy the Mini Cooper. It's a cool bar that inspired a generation of automotive enthusiasm.
But the Lifan 320 looks like the Mini sort of. As Jeremy Clarkson said "It looks like someone had described the mini to someone else, on the telephone." We'll add that the person on the phone may also have been legally blind.
5.) Kia Amanti
Suggested By: Leadhead
Why: Kia, Kia, Kia. The Amanti. If a Jaguar S-Type and Mercedes E-Class got really drunk one night, this is kind of what would result.
The proportions are all wrong. It's tall, it's narrow, the grill is gaping. It takes all the elements of upper class luxury and puts them together as if someone vomited all over the car.
4.) JAC 4R3
Suggested By: Zombie Wagon
Why:The Ford F150 is one of the best selling vehicles of all time. China wants to get on that list.
So badda bing badda boom, we have the JAC 4R3, a nearly exact ripoff of the latest F150. Ford - are you missing molds for the F150 from River Rouge? Because we think they're in China.
3.) Mitsuoka Viewt
Suggested By: Mikeado, Proud of ROTARY
Why: The first thing we should say is that we love Mitsuoka. The Orochi is one of the coolest looking cars on the road, ever.
But the Viewt is retro styled in a way that is more direct ripoff than retro, but also scaled down. It looks awkward and forced, like the designers said "old looking cars sell, lets just steal one of them and then profit." The Jaaaaag Series 2 is rolling over in its grave right now.
2.) BYD F8/S8
Suggested By: E.T.'s Bicycle
Why: We blame Mercedes for making oval headlights the trademark of luxury cars in the early 21st Century.
But what BYD did here is a sin. It looks like they actually cut the front off of a few C-Classes and then made their own cars. They just didn't do a very good job.
1.) Geely Roller
Suggested By: In_Sweden
Why: But the worst offender of them all would have to be Geely. Their fake Rolls Royce Phantom is exactly the same as the original in nearly every way... except mostly all of them.
Big garish grill? Check. High roofline? Check? Luxurious appointments? Eh...semi check. But it's all done so poorly that it's more a joke than a real car.