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Up through the 90s and maybe the 2000's if you got a new car, the entire neighborhood would come out see it. The 2008 Financial Crisis completely changed the industry with the Governments becoming increasingly involved. They are more concerned about meeting Govt regulations that the vehicle has become a checklist item rather than a piece of art. Individual Designers are out, and design by committee has been put in its place.
Individual Designers are out, and design by committee has been put in its place.
Are you SURE about that?
Peter Schreyer and Karim Habib at Kia have been doing excellent work, Ian Callum is still doing good work, as well as others. Laurens van den Acker, Ed Wellburn, etc.
Even the cool cars of yesteryear generally failed in one way or another. Most people, let's face it, set a floor performance level and after Honda Toyota Mazda and Nissan got their act together in the early 80s, the car that spends a lot of time in the shop, or randomly won't start, or requires an engine rebuild at 100,000 miles, no longer met that minimum standard.
Now it's true that the boring Chevy Nova four-door sedan with the straight six and Powerglide was no more reliable than the Hemi Charger or LS6 Chevelle; it wasn't unreliability alone that spelled the end for the "cool cars" of yesteryear. But for a while there in the 80s and 90s, the choice for most people was "cool American car, unreliable, or uncool Japanese car, WILL START EVERY TIME I TURN THE KEY AND I'LL NEVER BE LATE TO WORK AGAIN." After a while the appeal of the cool car just wasn't enough to overcome the reliability of the uncool car; and the long term sustainable market for cool cars largely went away. Look at the retro Thunderbird; or the PT Cruiser; or Chevy HHT trucklet; or Viper. All of these sold well for a few years, then everyone who wanted one had one, and they were discontinued.
But there are SOME cool cars that remain in production - Miata (despite it being supposedly "underpowered"); the Challenger; Mustang; a few others.
Another truth is that cars simply aren't the thing that appeals to young people today. Of course, I know 50 people will now post their favorite unicorn counterexample of their niece or nephew who's a dyed-in-the-wool motorhead at 15; so just spare us. You know the only reason you want to post that is BECAUSE those few people are exceptions. Heck, most of my colleagues' and friends' kids didn't even WANT to get a license at 16, but had to be pushed into it by their parents! Automobiles had a long run as the favored obsession of pre-teen and teens - especially boys - but that's largely over. They're more likely to see a car as an appliance, like the fridge - yes, you need one, but you're not going to draw refrigerators all over your social studies notebook instead of paying attention.
I think those of us who were lucky enough to own our first cars in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s we enjoyed a time in automobile history that will never be seen again.
Cars were easily found for cheap, easy to repair (fuel, spark, ignition) and if you couldn’t repair you had plenty of gear head friends that could. Engine swaps and modifications were pretty simple. No computers, emissions, or complicated operating systems. Cars were freedom to us.
Some of us needed cars for part time jobs in high school which also is becoming a thing of the past.
As an aging Boomer who frequents a few car shows and Cars and Coffee’s I see a lot of classic cars owned by older folks and I wonder where all these beautiful cars will go as the younger generations can’t afford these classics now.
Bottom line the ability for the average Joe or Jane to tinker with their cars mechanically is gone.
Peter Schreyer and Karim Habib at Kia have been doing excellent work, Ian Callum is still doing good work, as well as others. Laurens van den Acker, Ed Wellburn, etc.
And it constantly covers automotive design talent. I'm thinking you're just as wrong about this as everything else you post here.
Good points! The info is out there for anyone who isn't clinging to nostalgic, inaccurate memories.
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