Growing accustomed to its face

The Musso: have its lines mellowed with age?

When it first arrived in New Zealand I thought the SsangYong Musso was one of the most godawful-looking vehicles on- or off the road. Even stranger than its lines was that its designer, the well known British vehicle stylist Ken Greenley, had excellent credentials. Surely he should have known better. It further amazed me that the thing won several styling awards; what a bunch of idiots – or were they? Fast-forward to now and the Musso's wacky lines don't bother me any more – they seem to have blended quite nicely into the 21st century. Perhaps the design was simply well ahead of its time and nowadays many vehicles incorporate aspects of the Musso's pioneering lines. I guess it might be an automotive version of the cliche, "you're not getting older, you're getting better." Or at least, to borrow from the musical, "we've grown accustomed to your face."  For trivia collectors, the Musso went into production in 1993 and was built in Korea, Russia, Vietnam and Iran.