The automobile has lost it's character... perception or reality?
 

This may be a dumb topic, but I just wonder how many other people feel the same way I do. It seems that most modern cars, with a few (usually expensive) exceptions, are completely dull, unimaginitive things. They're all slight variations on same plain, cookie-cutter designs with different badging.

This effect seemed to spawn in the late seventies, and though their look has obviously changed over time, most cars from any particular year since then seem to look alike. And not in a good way, but in a dull, lifeless, uninteresting way. It's as if in streamlining the automobile, they removed all of the interesting and beautiful parts in the name of aerodynamics.

Yes, many people might say "It's a car, who cares what it looks like?" Apparently not you... and that's fine. But I personally feel that the landscape loses something in having ugly cars parked upon it.

Think of photos you've seen from the forties, fifties, and sixties with cars in them... a café, a drive-in theater, a family vacation photo... the cars often contribute to the photograph, archoring it in its period and placing the subjects of the photo (if any) in a nice, "everyday life" context. But speaking personally, when I take photographs of people nowadays, I go to great efforts to prevent any cars from appearing in the background, they detract from the photo... they seem unappealing to the eye more often than not. Car commercials utterly fail to make me want to buy cars.

Is it just me? If not, do you think it's really because cars are more boring, or an artifact of the appeal of "retro?"

For the record, I've had a few cars which I found to be non-boring-looking, old and new:

1970 Dodge Challenger... "Vitamin C" orange, 383 cubic inches, manual everything, pistol-grip 4-speed shifter.... a beautiful car. Funner than hell. Too bad I couldn't afford to hold onto it for more than about a year.

1972 Dodge Charger... BIG car (the hood stretched to the horizon when you were sitting at the wheel), but it had character.

1996 Camaro Z28... I liked the Camaros after 1994, it seemed they were some of the first good-looking affordable cars to appear in a long while, and they performed well.

2000 Camaro SS... I loved my '96, but the black paint, functional hood scoop, and 6-speed manual of this SS were enough to get me to trade in. I may have to sell it soon, since marraige + house + sports car = very little spare money. Still undecided.

Ok, I'm done.

Cars With Character
 

http://www.bmw.com/generic/com/en/pr.../z4/index.html

http://www.fordvehicles.com/fordgt/index.asp?bhcp=1

http://www.dodge.com/viper/?context=cars&type=viperImg

Or did you mean cars that mortal beings can afford?

Re: The automobile has lost it's character... perception or reality?
 

Emphasis mine.... but then again, so was the original text. Crazy.

The whole fossil fuel send money to the enemies of mankind internal combustion thing is getting old. Fun and cars is over for me.

I gotta hand it to her, the s2b-ex can really pick a great car.

http://cellar.org/2003/auditt.jpg

Car doesn't always equal fossil fuel... particularly not in looking ahead. Hydrogen fuel cells are a good idea with some huge hurdles (like, how to produce hydrogen without polluting as much as just sticking with fossil fuels), but one day they may be the answer.

We'll probably always have personal transportation vehicles in some capacity, so why not make them beautiful?

i always liked the gremlin...who made that? wish they were still around:)

MOST cars have sucked lately, but i think the worm is turning. styling has eclipsed safety as the most important deciding factor in deciding which car to buy. As all cars are similar in safety, performance, and economy, the big difference is the styling. hence the advent of more specialized vehicle types.

ex:
pt cruiser - definately not the way i'd go, but people paid 3-5k over list for them when they came out

mini cooper - awesome looks, ridiculous cargo capacity, and selling like hotcakes

escalade- all about the bling bling

know what im sayin?

My station insists I embrace "character" in dynamic rust patches , inconsistent yet dramatic rattling, and increasingly stiff hand-cranked windows. (And an engine that will not give up in the darkest winter.) Good little car.

I think there are definitely some reasonably-priced sharp-looking cars out there (under $25K):

--Chevrolet Cavalier/Pontiac Sunfire
--Oldsmobile Alero
--Toyota Corolla
--Chevrolet Monte Carlo
--Toyota Camry
--Nissan Altima

I mourn the death of the Camaro...I loved that car.

Most new cars just look the same to me. I can't fathom getting one and having to make payments on it, plus pay higher insurance (even if I did have money).

I like the new Mini Coopers, but I still like the old ones better (the old ones are a bit of an obsession).

I like most of the cars I've had, especially my old '84 Nissan pickup, my '83 Saab 900 and '86 Saab 900. Now I drive an Isuzu Trooper - a '91, the newest car I've ever had. It's fun, but it was a really bad choice for fuel economy. Whenever I can afford to switch cars, I will probably get another old Saab.

I really liked the 1992 and up 300ZX's. Very sexy. I knew there was one last test that would determine whether or not I'd get one; I'm 6'4". I took my pile of cash to a car dealership and was eyeballing a nice, silver 1992 model with low miles. The dealer handed me the faceplate for the 10 disk CD changer *sweet!*, and I sat down in it and adjusted the seats back as far as they would go, and leaned them back. My head was about at the B pillar. This wasn't looking good. I closed the door and tried to work the pedals. Curse you, O size 14 feet! I wouldn't be able to operate the pedals in any safe manner.

So, my friend took it for a test drive, and I whimpered and pawed at the dash.

for me.

Paint them all black and try to guess which is which at 150 yards.:(

I could...they all have distinctive looks to them, at least to me.

AMC

They also made the Hornet and the Eagle (which was a 4WD station wagon built on the Hornet hatchback frame).

I had a Hornet Hatch. Best friend's family had the Hornet sedan, and yet another friend had the Eagle.

I think a lot of it has to do with the design methods. With the advent of computer modeling the designers can't feel a clay model in their hands and simply add a swoosh or tweak a tailfin into existence.

This isn't mine, but I'm currently restoring a truck of the same make and model as this. http://www.sweptsides.com/main58.htm

I dunno why nobody mentioned the Chrysler 300M or the Concorde.

I personaly own a 2001 Chrysler Concorde LXi and love it.

Compared to the other cars I'd driven it's nothing ground breaking, but then it's got character. Thats a lot more than I could say about the Toytoa Camry which felt like it had 2 cylinders, the Honda Accord which just seemed so generic that I wanted to cry, the Honda CRV which drove great, had awesome traction, and felt dull even when going 90 in a 25 zone. Nissan Maxima seemed like something designed by marketing using the latest ricer trends not a real engineer, Mercury Sable had some nice features but overall the styling (bubble car) was not one bit impressive.

Other cars I like. Lincoln Continental. Lincoln LS. Infinity FX. Chrysler Pacifica, Upcoming Dodge SRT-8.

The Lincolns don't look very special, but you GOT to drive them. After that you'll see why you'd want to buy a car that depreciates faster than a failed .com stock and eats more gas than a 18 wheeler. Infinity FX, despite the visible ricer trends manages to maintain style and drive great. Pacifica looks very very nice imo. Dodge SRT-8 also looks great, I love the futuristic agressive stuff.

I have a Mazda Miata and a Subaru Outback wagon. Neither looks like every other car out there, though the Outback isn't distinctive in a good way, it's mostly only because there's few other wagons (though there's no shortage of Outbacks). Neither is extraordinarily expensive.

Even if they did it would be pared off in the wind tunnel. CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) has dictated the wind resistance must be minimized so they all gravitate toward the optimum shape for a low coefficient of drag (cd). Hence they start to look alike.:(

i just loves my grand cherokee

and i like to drive a wrangler every summer for a demo....great to take the top down and blare the radio

driving a sebring right now...nice enough, but a little vanilla

going to take a Liberty next....they're cool

i traded my truck in around 2 years ago when my son was born. the ex and i both had trucks and i felt the urbanization tugging on my leg so i bought a used '95 volvo 960. worst mistake i ever made. don't get me wrong, volvo makes a great car. the car handles extreemly well, is comfortable, and sporty but a pain in the ass to fix and finally, doesn't fit my lifestyle anymore. i can't wait to get back into a truck! can you picture an "off-road volvo"? i have to go to the farm a lot more now to help my dad out and it's just tearing that poor car up!

by the way, that ford GT is SWEET:thumb:

Well, for $150,000 it should be, although Car & Driver gave it the nod over the $200,000 Ferrari. But not the $600,000 Ferrari, heh, heh, heh. :D

Hello, my name is Dar and I drive a mini-van.

67 Galaxie 500

390 Cu In. 2V, (315 HP!) (Mine..all mine!) Mine was Blue
or
427 Cu In. 4V (415 HP!)
or
PI 427 Cu In. 4VX2 (425 HP!)


Of course, They were great cars *after* the gas tank was replaced.

Very classy Scope. In 1972 I worked with a guy that wanted to sell a 1965 Mercury 4 door barge. I was looking for something that would carry my 350cc Yamaha on the rear bumper. It was that light blue metallic that faded and peeled but mechanically perfect with only 100k miles. He had taken it to the Mercury dealer twice a year for state inspection and gotten raped but they replaced everything, needed of not. The beast would seat 4 abreast comfortably and more for concert runs. He said $50 and I hemed and hawed while I frantically searched my pockets for cash before he could get away. The day before he turned it over his wife got rearended by a truck by starting off at a light then stopping quick, so he said $25 because the trunk wouldn't open. I wrapped a chain around a pole and yanked the bumper out enough to open the trunk and I was cruisin'. That monster with a 390 two barrel didn't even notice the 350 lbs on the back bumper.

i was 2

Punk.

I was 9

I was divorced.

I wasn't even thought of yet.

that's "Mr. Punk" to you, grandpa.

Ummm, no...that's "Dirty Ol' Man".

Earthlings had landed on the moon when I was 5 months old.:cool:

Oh, yeah. My first car was a '72 Ford Gran Torino with a 351 Cleveland. That was in '86. I drove it for several months, and the day I got my license, the transmission gave out.

It couldn't handle your exuberance, huh.:D

My first car was a 70 something VW rabbit , i don't rember the exact year BUT it was the second year that rabbits were made
( and YES that did mater , there was 3 different clutch cables , 4 different starters , 3 different starter solonoids , 2 different sets of piston rings , etc... , it all depended what month of what year the car was made ) , origanly bought in Germany by an airforce officer , brought to the states , federlized ( made leagle to drive in the US ) , and given to his little brother , this kid drove it for a while and when he went to collage his parents sold it off . I was home on leave from the USMC , i was going to be stationed in Cali , i snaggen this little car for $750 , thought well it will get me to Cali ( hopefully ) and a month or 2 later it will kick its little wheels up and die .
How WRONG i was !!!! This little car got me from Memphis Tn. to Camp Pen. Cali . ALL over southern CA , to Vegas , to ensanda Mex ( a few times ) , to west yellow stone MT ( over the contentinal devide ) , back thru Kansas , back to memphis , and i drove it for about 2-3 years after that . MANY MANY MANY adventures were had in that little car . My wife talked me into selling it off . DAMN I WISH I STILL HAD IT !!!!!

So, were you driving the car by yourself before getting your license? If so, it would seem that it was karma. :)

That would have been 1976... the Rabbit debuted in 1975 and people forget how revolutionary it was as a car.

My 95 GTI is the modern grandchild of it and is starting to show its age. But I think if I get a new car I will keep the GTI. It's got a lot of utility about it for a car.

The problem with the 70s Rabbits was rust, which would eventually eat the whole thing. Supposedly VW finally figured out their rust problems in the early 80s. My 95 has a 2" rust spot near the back window for the last year, and I keep forgetting about it and not dealing with it.

Ut you nailed it !!!!:D
It was made in Oct of 76 .
4 cly with a 2 barrle holley carb ( i took a vette off the line on the sunset strip once , just the hole shot , after 10 feet he passed me at about 80mph) , front wheel drive , could seat 4 marines reasonably comfortably ( though i did stack 14 in it at one point ) , i riped out ALL the emmition control stuff ( the CHP HATED this car , but there was nothing they could do about it , i was in the millatary stationed there from another state !!!)

Sweet!

I still love veedubs but these days they aren't making one I'd want... but the Audi people, that's another story, oh baby.

Yeppers Audi are cool .
I have my eye on a VW Thing under a tarp in a neibors back yard . I think they are moveing soon and may try and snaggit .
That or i have sighted an old Land rover sitting in a drive way not far from here . It hasen't moved in 5+years that a friend knows of , that sounds like a challange to me !!!

There can be no substitute for BIG STEEL!

An original un-rusted-out Thing would be the coolest vehicle to own in the world. Except that it probably has no floorboards left and might run on a 6v system and have no heat and thin little tires and you would instantly die in an accident. But it would be cool as hell.

I also would love a Thing.

There was one up by West Chester in the early 80s. It bore a vanity license plate that read "THING."

One of my sad memories is of getting onto 202 heading for the Denny's and seeing a VW Rabbit with the "THING" license plate on it. :(

What I really want is an Opel Manta. Four Speed. Any model year from 1972 to 1974, although I'd prefer the '72, and the RallySport paint job.

I verry seriously doubt i could find one that is 100% orignal( but ya never know ) Hell the first thing i would do is put a roll bar on it !!!! No heat and no AC no problem , it would be for bopping around in the summer any way . I would like it if i could figuer out how to make it 4wd with a porche engine though . May be i need to to look about for an old german staff car that the thing was based off of :confused:

Merry Xmas, Wolf. It doesn't have the rally sport paint job, but I hope you enjoy your Manta. :)

Big is right! I loaned it to my buddy a couple times and ragged on him each time for leaving empty beer cans on the back seat floor. The next time I got it back from him the back seat was full of cans. I mean full up to the top of the front seat back. It took almost a dozen big trash bags to hold all those cans. I'd have kicked his ass if I could have stopped laughing long enough. I watched that car go through 2 more owners and another 100k miles before I lost track of it.:)

Didn't the Thing have a gasoline-powered heater?

Here's a Manta ad, showing the Rally Sport paintjob. The hood is painted black as well.