The GREAT Debate: What Is Missing In Today's Cars That Made Classics SO Great?

Nostalgia. That's what's missing in today's cars ;-)

There are still great cars made today, but if you're nostalgic, then you're aching for something from yesteryear. That's not an indication that today's cars are worse. It's just an indication that you're nostalgic.

That's not a jab, by the way!

No - we have just been through our latest retro period - with a T-bird starting it- the Camaro and Mustang (The Mustang is really retro) and the Challenger - Retro is not the answer.

The problem is - there is no individual styling being done - virtually ALL of it is similar to the other guys cars. AS a result - there is no particular reason to buy ONE car based on Styling - as was the case with the original Mustang - or the Chrysler Cordoba - or the second Monte Carlo - or any number of Buick Rivieras - or the Pontiac Grand Prix. WE no longer have that "personal" platform - often a two door although not a requirement - that can be styled more like a concept car - and NO manufacturer want to take that chance anymore. So - we have not gotten the mass market "GOTTA HAVE" car. Even the original Ford Granada - A lot like Mercedes - sold on its looks.

So - while they all might have some grill differences - each brand no longer has a bunch of Styling cues that separate it from the others - with maybe the exception of Cadillac - which has kept its styling for too long as well. ANd worse - if you cannot tell a brand from another one - try telling the different models apart. While Cadillac had styling cues that identified virtually all their cars - you never needed a magnifying glass to tell a Fleetwood from a Seville!


When Chevrolet redid their full size car in the late 70's (1977 I think) - The New Chevrolet - for a mainstream vehicle - sold like Hotcakes - because the styling - at the time - made it look more like a Cadillac Seville - sort of. Note that GM - at the time - controlled more than 50% of the domestic market - too. THAT was the acme of mass market cars. Today - entry level brands are too conservative - example the Alpha based 2nd Camaro - which with a completely new platform - looks almost exactly like the previous generation - why buy a new one?. I am also from the generation where Styling changes happened more frequently - probably because they had fewer models to do it on. That alone drove some people to get a new car every two years - I doubt that would work as well today though.

WHat we need is a new Bill Mitchell or Harley Earl - who can actually lead STYLING - and it is still STYLING that sells cars.

Agree. The only people that care about the "Classics" are people old enough to be classics. There was a time when owning a cool car meant getting a cool chick. Those days are as long gone as the hair on your head.

Oh darn - I prefer to think of it as a reverse Mohawk!

Individuality, style and soul.

Tom is spot on, I'm in the UK and about to replace my Alfa Guilietta (never again) for something similar maybe a bit smaller but everything looks the same, basically they look like moulded overheated fruit sweets, all a non specific blob, take off the badges and can you tell what it is? Looking at cheap end of the market as why pay over the odds for a faceless Vauxhall, VW when you can get a faceless Dacia etc newer and with more goodies. Previously had a Prius (don't laugh) and whilst not as attractive and less characterless than the Alfa, it was more comfortable, easy to drive and didn't keep having things break.

I have to agree with Steve. Nostalgia is strong for us who have aged :). I have terrific memories of my first car, which was a 1963 Impala SS. 327 with Corvette 202 heads, Borg Warner T-10 4 speed with Hurst shifter. Immaculate inside and out.

But it did not have power brakes or steering, and wasn't particularly well handling. If I drove it today I would think it was terrible. But I'll just hang on to my memories and in the meantime drive something modern.

Styling. While fuel mileage and safety have had a huge impact on cars and how they are shaped/styled, it would be much better if the design could be focused on more so that every car / SUV does not resemble and upsidedown bathtub to some extent. Good design should not be only for supercars.

Styling

Many American cars of the 1960s are still quite attractive and that has been replaced with the generic, corporate-face, same-sausage-different-lengths mentality.

Cars were restyled OFTEN.

Many mainstream cars have a 10 year life cycle I'd like to see:

year 1 / new car
year 3 / styling change that can be readily noticed and is fundamentally new to the nose and tail
year 5 / full reskin that is completely different looking
year 7 / styling change that can be readily noticed and is fundamentally new to the nose and tail
year 9 / full replacement that is completely new looking

The "meet the new Audi, same as the old Audi" mentality has to go.

In the 60s (and even older and into the 70s) the sheetmetal was usually updated every year, often substantially. Look at the Impala for the entire decade. Each year was a significant change in styling. Ford and Mopar did the same thing.

You are all missing the point - the one factor that is present in today's cars that was not a condition of cars 20, 30, 40 years ago is the stifling effect of governmental regulations on automobiles.

Basically the "classics" could have originality and beauty designed in (with varying levels of safety, reliabilty, and emissions control.

Now - between pedestrian crash standards, safety standards, efficiency standards etc. - the government (governments - have to include Asia and the Euro Zone too) - all car designs have basically converged to look very similar and very soulless.

The only way to roll back the clock is to roll back the governmental reguluations.

There is only so much latitude with the regs to design the vehicles. Like it or not, Lexus is one of the only "innovators" out there design wise and IMO their cars are ugly but they stand out from the crowd.

I wish I had better news for you all, but it will get worse.

I'm not buying that as an explanation for the 2017 Fusion makeover that is indistinguishable from the 2013 or for that matter the 2019 makeover that is also indistinguishable from the 2013. The shape of the nose cap could EASILY have changed more without ruining the engineering. How about new fenders hood and cap for 2017? That too could have been done without upsetting the apple cart.

Neither am I Buying that one. Cars still have to be STYLED - so why can't they have GOOD styling rather than Boring styling. The 1995 Riviera is an example of a well Styled car that existed with Bumper standards - and emission controls. ANd there are LOTS of others whose styling is better than basic.

The problem is - the car makers are not into making such a gamble - like the Ford Taurus was - anymore. AS a result - we get more of the same - over and over and over again. Saturn - remember them - had a Crossover at the end of their time that actually had some different styling cues that made it a hit - and when Saturn went down - where did that go? (Gm - still owned the tooling - and could have made it a Buick).

And a great example are the ever and ever larger consoles between now standard bucket seats - which are now taking away room from the occupants because of their size. And then there are the InfoTainment systems - what a wonderful idea - lets require a person to hit a touch screen and wait for the next menu three or four times before you can change the Radio channel!!! All this while you are driving too - unless you stop on the side of the road to do it!

cars today are of course amazing technical feats, but they are often missing the "duntov" or "Earle" touch to be really interesting. Back then, coming up with items like a shaker hood, or colors like GoMango made cars something to year for. my weekend driver is an FJ40 and while it can be terrifying, i have so much fun every time i shift. That said, you can still get some fun, out there stuff, (Dodge Demon, ZL1, Raptor??)

My weekend cars lately have been a Jensen Interceptor LS7 and a TVR Tasmin 2.3 Ecoboost. Occasionally I'll throw RMF plates on something RHD, orange, with a STR8 Six and terrorize the Westside Parkway.

excuse my terrible grammar

I miss driving the snot out of a car and not being afraid of it falling into a million pieces. There is such a sense of fragility in today's cars, maybe because of technology to make them lightweight, or smaller displacement engines, or the "automation" or "digitization" of many functions, I don't know.

LOL Been hard charging an Alfa Giulia again?

I actually find modern cars MORE durable.

Yes - but that is because you did not expect your car to have all those gadgets and Gizmos - you cared more for the Engine, Trans, Rear - maybe tires. YOU did not get power windows (I had a car with a power ash tray) - maybe not even power brakes - and in small cars you did not need power steering either.

However - those who bought leading edge car - learned that there was a price to pay for allowing the manufacturers to experiment on you. That is why I still recommend that you not buy a BRAND NEW car - first year of major components on the market. The first year - they change the interior transmission support from Bushings to bearings - they add the brace in the suspension that prevents the car from being crushed from the side. By the second year - they are adding better ribbing to the volume control knob.

Bench seats so your honey can slide over during drive in movies!

I thought bench seats were so that you'd have more cushion of the pushin' (sic).

About 30 years.