Design Details: Clamshell Trunk, Hidden Taillight

[amoore100]

This design detail has been on my mind ever since Toyota’s Crown crossover was shown with a snazzy two-tone paint job that would seemingly imply a clamshell trunk:

However, that’s apparently too much to ask for so the Crown has a horrible, boring little trunk opening like any normal sedan:

To be fair, I’m not sure if I would have had that expectation had the (admittedly much more expensive) Lucid Air showcased something like that upon release in 2021:

In that photo the Lucid showcases one of the hallmarks of the clamshell trunk; by having such a large opening which encompasses the entire rear, the manufacturer has to come up with supplemental lighting to ensure that running lights and hazard lights are visible with the trunk open (i.e. for spare tire removal) since every non clamshell trunk accomplishes this by simply keeping these vital units on either side of the trunk opening.

Opel under the last few years of GM was a big purveyor of this style, applying it famously on the Cascada as well as on the Insignia SportsTourer, necessitating additional lighting units under the trunklid in both cases:

This method is largely in the minority; for the most part, the manufacturers that use this style instead go for bumper-mounted supplemental lights that can also house vital reflector components as Audi has done for years on its Q CUVs:

It seems insane that in light of this requirement stylists would still choose to go for a clamshell and effectively double (well, to some degree) the lighting budget, but I suppose there are other fun uses for these supplemental lighting units. On the latest Q7, the supplemental lighting units that are situated in the bumper are used as the primary lighting units on the Dallara Stradale making for some very slick taillights indeed:

Audi’s usage of clamshell trunks with supplemental bumper lamps on CUVs seems to have spurred a string of imitators, two Western examples being Lincoln with the MKC and PSA with the DS 7:

Perhaps it’s unfair to claim that PSA’s DS 7 is a copy of the Q5 (even though it is) since the French also used this technique on Citroën’s last Picasso, the C4:

For whatever reason, clamshell trunks have also become a bit of a phenomenon with B-segment EVs. BMW’s i3 was a design icon in its own right, while Chevy’s Bolt has become a bit of a design failure, never using the tailgate mounted lamps for braking ever, even with the tailgate closed (why GM, WHY?).

As with every interesting design choice, if it’s been done in the West, it’s been done in China. Our token example today of a Chinese clamshell trunk is Baojun’s 730 MPV, also sold in ASEAN markets as the Wuling Cortez:

Finally, a historic example that deserves mention. Apparently even (especially?) in communist East Germany it was worth the stylistic benefit of having a cavernous boot opening at the expense of necessitating additional internal taillights, so that’s what we see here on the Wartburg 353’s rear (maybe they should have just imported 245s instead? )

As an aside, my XC70 kind of splits the difference. The upper brake lights are incorporated with the trunklid, so it has software to use the side taillamps as brake lights when the trunk is open (and illuminates them when the trunk is open even with the engine off, because Volvo safety).

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Anyways, what do you say? Are clamshell trunks worth all the extra effort of designing auxiliary lighting? Or is a standard trunk opening better anyway with fixed external lamps?

[EssExTee]

This post is deleted!

[Demon Xanth]

@amoore100
The real reason for the lighting requirement:

[amoore100]

@Demon-Xanth No different from pickups, really. Even the Santa Cruz's full-width taillights mainly use the outer extremities:

The segments on the bed are just styling extras with no legal function.

[ibRAD]

@Demon-Xanth said in Design Details: Clamshell Trunk, Hidden Taillight:

@amoore100
The real reason for the lighting requirement:

If they'd thought this through a bit better, they could have just bought a bicycle.

[Qaaaaa]

@amoore100 said in Design Details: Clamshell Trunk, Hidden Taillight:

Are clamshell trunks worth all the extra effort of designing auxiliary lighting? Or is a standard trunk opening better anyway with fixed external lamps?

Standard trunk is better because a clamshell is going to be waaaaay too hard for me to fix properly when I buy one of these used on Copart for $1200 in fifteen years...

[WBizarre]

@amoore100

[gertman2000]

@WBizarre I remember when I first noticed this on one of the rebadged Buick Opels.

I think the Lincoln with clamshell design just ended up looking like a total hack of the Audi Q5/ Q7.

It really is just a matter of where the body cut-lines end up being but I totally agree, with the new Toyota Crown is does look like it's going to be a clamshell design until you look closely at the cut-lines. I guess it would have looked slightly nicer with the clamshell design, but just like you said MUCH more expensive do to a larger stamped part and extra lights PLUS increased repair cost.

On a side note, I am VERY impressed with all the examples you have shown, very nicely written!

[flatisflat]

@WBizarre I'll take it.

[flatisflat]

@amoore100 Barn doors with lamp cutouts. Obvs.

[KITT222]

@amoore100 The "extra" taillamps are one of my favorite stupid little automotive fun facts. I'm not fond of the Audi style clamshell gate at all, and think splitting the lamps would yield the same opening.

[HFV_Junkyardin]

@amoore100 The new "Crown" just just a steaming pile of bad design.
It has not one single redeeming feature. Functionally or aesthetically.

[WBizarre]

@amoore100 (dis)honorable mention: BMW iX

[amoore100]

@WBizarre Oh dear! I had missed that one, good call! It's hard to see why they went for the clamshell when the rest of the car is such a dog's breakfast that it seems entirely frivolous.

[amoore100]

@flatisflat said in Design Details: Clamshell Trunk, Hidden Taillight:

The Lynk & Co 03+??

[ranwhenparked]

@amoore100 God, how stupid is that Lynk & Co brand name? Reminds me of either a generic fast fashion mall store, or a 3rd tier Vegas Strip hotel

[amoore100]

@ranwhenparked Agreed, though 'Zeekr' and 'Radar' seem equally poor names for brands. Just another reminder that to Chinese OEMs brands are meaningless and simply a front for them to sell more of their products through another avenue, which, let's be honest, is no different from GM or Stellantis these days, their brands just happen to have historic names.

[ranwhenparked]

@amoore100 Could at least pick names from Chinese historical figures, or something. Call it Zheng He or Qin Shi Huang, or whatever.

[flatisflat]

@amoore100 said in Design Details: Clamshell Trunk, Hidden Taillight:

The Lynk & Co 03+??

Oddly accurate! If only it had more of an older Renault Megane shelf butt. It'd be sooooo good!

[amoore100]

@ranwhenparked I figure they want to find names that are Western style, lest they get a repeat of their flagship 'Hong-Qi' brand being called 'honkee' by Americans.

[ranwhenparked]

@amoore100 yeah, there's no good way around that one, even translating to English, since it isn't like "Red Flag" doesn't have other connotations

[WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4]

@ibRAD said in Design Details: Clamshell Trunk, Hidden Taillight:

If they'd thought this through a bit better, they could have just bought a bicycle.

Or found a staircase.

[amoore100]

@ranwhenparked said in Design Details: Clamshell Trunk, Hidden Taillight:

it isn't like "Red Flag" doesn't have other connotations

at least it would be very obvious and apropos!

[Old Busted Hotness]

@ranwhenparked said in Design Details: Clamshell Trunk, Hidden Taillight:

@amoore100 Could at least pick names from Chinese historical figures, or something. Call it Zheng He or Qin Shi Huang, or whatever.

General Tso's SUV?

[Nauraushaun]

Hello again.
I don't like relocating lights to the bumper, when there's a fake light cluster in the centre. But I don't have a better solution to meet the absurd requirement of lights that are visible with the trunk open. Having a second set of lights also seems daft. Your Volvo's solution is neat, but it can't really be applied to all designs.

Ps. That tidbit about the Dallara is gold, a good example of making the best of a bad situation