Chevrolet Corsica and Beretta: Disguised Siblings

I use the word "disguise" in this post's title because, although Chevrolet's Corsica sedan and Beretta coupe (1987-1996) were built on the same platform, their appearances differed more than might be expected for four-door and two-door versions of essentially the same car.  That distinction was intentional because Chevrolet product planners and marketers took care to give the models different names as well as letting stylists give the cars different detailing.

Given that General Motors was in its Roger Smith era downwards slide, I question the wisdom of spending the money to make the Beretta look more different from the Corsica than necessary.  In further hindsight, as this Wikipedia entry mentions, Beretta sales declined from year to year following its launch.  For more about the Corsica, click here.

Below are paired images juxtaposing the designs, Corsicas above, Berettas below.

Gallery

The main shared exterior elements seen in these photos include the windshield, cowling and bumper.  Front fender panels have the same basis, but different detailing; the Corsica has a simple wheel opening and character line crease whereas the Beretta lacks the crease and has a curved flange around the opening.  The hoods are nearly identical, with a slight difference discussed in the following pairing.

Corsica's interface with its grille - headlamp assembly is a straight, horizontal line, whereas the Beretta's features a slight kink.  The Beretta's grille has more vertical bars than the Corsica's.

Astern of a point located at the Corsica's B-pillar, the cars are completely different even though they have the same wheelbase (ignore that the Corsica shown here is a sedan and the Beretta is a coupe).  It's hard to tell from these photos, but it's possible that the cars share some structure near the top of the backlight.