Terms Which Have Disappeared

[LizzieMaine]

I get really annoyed by the front-end design of cars of the last ten years or so -- the "faces" they put on them look juvenile and stupid. Not everybody wants to drive around in something that looks like it fell out of a Pixar movie. And those faces only have two expressions -- a dopey grin or an "aggressive" scowl. It's gotten so I want to punch every car I see in the face.

 

[Fading Fast]

... It's gotten so I want to punch every car I see in the face.

You can't really be that angry about this - right?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Depends on the time of day and how hungry I am.

 

[Stearmen]

I get really annoyed by the front-end design of cars of the last ten years or so -- the "faces" they put on them look juvenile and stupid. Not everybody wants to drive around in something that looks like it fell out of a Pixar movie. And those faces only have two expressions -- a dopey grin or an "aggressive" scowl. It's gotten so I want to punch every car I see in the face.

Funny, I am opposite way around on new cars. There are several cars I like from the front and three quarters from the front, but then you get to the back and it's like they designed the rear right at quitting time! They go from nice swooping lines to a blunt tail. I know that's for aerodynamics, but it is so ugly.

 

[Zombie_61]

I get really annoyed by the front-end design of cars of the last ten years or so -- the "faces" they put on them look juvenile and stupid. Not everybody wants to drive around in something that looks like it fell out of a Pixar movie. And those faces only have two expressions -- a dopey grin or an "aggressive" scowl. It's gotten so I want to punch every car I see in the face.

My biggest problem with the designs of newer cars stems from the lack of distinctiveness. So many of them look so similar that it's often difficult to tell which car was made by which company. Now, I know this is nothing new, but cars from the 1930s-50s had style; now they all look like an aerodynamically shaped wedge of plastic.

 

[TimeWarpWife]

I can't tell one car from another anymore - they all look so similar. When we got a new car several years ago, the first night I drove it to the store I stood in the parking lot pushing the remote door unlock button for 5 minutes before I finally realized it wasn't my car I was trying to unlock. To me the car I was trying to unlock looked exactly like my car that was parked in the row over. I felt so stupid. I was so excited when Ford brought back the retro-looking Mustang because I could actually differentiate one vehicle from all the others again. Unfortunately, the newest Mustang is barely distinguishable from the others now. Boo Ford for caving in!

 

[Trenchfriend]

I can't tell one car from another anymore - they all look so similar. When we got a new car several years ago, the first night I drove it to the store I stood in the parking lot pushing the remote door unlock button for 5 minutes before I finally realized it wasn't my car I was trying to unlock. To me the car I was trying to unlock looked exactly like my car that was parked in the row over. I felt so stupid. I was so excited when Ford brought back the retro-looking Mustang because I could actually differentiate one vehicle from all the others again. Unfortunately, the newest Mustang is barely distinguishable from the others now. Boo Ford for caving in!

Oh man, now I saw it! The actual Mustang really looks to me like an only little more sporty version of all these same looking GT-limousines all over the world.

 

[BlueTrain]

Most of my dream cars went out of production decades ago, although not before I had actually owned two or three--all from the same company. There have been others since then but they're out of production, too. These days, however, what I want from a car is reliability and relatively low cost maintenance. So I bought a Ford last December, largely based on two things. I had a Ford that I nearly got 200,000 miles out of before someone demolished it when it was parked in the driveway at home. Also, when my previous car, a Volvo V40, was in the shop I rented two different Ford models. So there was no real shopping around. Besides, my wife said I wasn't getting a Mercedes and please don't get a pickup truck. So right away my choices dwindled.

My only regret is that I didn't get to drive a Skoda when I had the chance. But I have driven not one but two different Citroën DS sedans. I'd sort of like to drive a Unimog, too.

 

[Kiko123]

My interest in cars goes in waves, I like the late 30s to early 50s (The 40es look, before the over styled tail fins) mostly for American, the 70s to 2011 for European. I dislike the post-circa 2013 era of car styling.
However, even a modern car is quite pricey for me, so I can never dream to own a real vintage. I think a modern car, styled to look retro could be a nice project, but I cannot find anything in the tuning circles or car forums, only some "rat look" cars looks somewhat vintage, but in that derelict way. I think a Peugeot 307 (I'm European) might look nice with some retro-influenced tuning (like larger wheel arcs), don't you think? To me it looks as bulbous as most 40s cars (ignore the headlights, please! ): http://bestcarmag.com/sites/default/files/9590033peugeot-307.jpg

The vintage community is still mostly furniture/home tech/fashion-based, so I think a retro-tuning style where new cars are made to look as vintage as possible is highly overdue. I think some Russian guys turned a modern BMW into a 50s Volga, but in the Western world for some reason everyone prefers the late 50s and the 60s for cars. I'd love to get modern-day safety with retro 40s looks. I think only the brand new VW Beetle (in the Classic trim) comes close.

 

[LizzieMaine]

You're not alone -- I've never cared for the chrome-coated "Insolent Chariot" era of the fifties and sixties either. They weren't even as popular in their own time as they are with collectors today, and that popularity is largely a generational nostalgia thing: the Boomer kids who grew up with those cars are the ones driving their current popularity. In another twenty years car enthusiasts will have forgotten all about tailfins and chrome and will be enthusing over the unique features of a 1974 Mazda RX-4. "Love the Wankel, baby!"

The closest thing to a real revival of fat-fender era design cues was the Chrysler PT Cruiser of the early 2000s, but everyone I knew who owned one says it was a lousy car.

I owned and drove an original 1960s VW Beetle, and the new Beetle ain't no Beetle to me. It's not a real Beetle unless you can see the generator sparking thru the engine cover louvers when you run it at night, and people flash their lights at you thinking the engine's on fire.

 

[BlueTrain]

I always thought the Peugeot 404 had a nice conservative look to it and they were fairly roomy cars. I once decided to buy either a Peugeot 304 or another Renault 16 the next year at the time. But the following year both models had been discontinued. I was able to buy a newer, although used, Renault 16. None of those models were at all common. Another very interesting and rather sportier car at the time was the BMW 2002, which came in various models. It would have been way too expensive for me but that was before BMWs became yuppie cars, even if they were still performance cars. Some of them today have unattractive styling, which can be said for just about every make of car. Most of this is a theoretical basis because I think I have bought my last car, although not my wife's last car.

 

[Trenchfriend]

The closest thing to a real revival of fat-fender era design cues was the Chrysler PT Cruiser of the early 2000s, but everyone I knew who owned one says it was a lousy car.

Yeah, in Germany, the PT Cruiser was truly sold very good and suddenly, you saw so many of them.

But distrustful, as I am, I thought: Let us see, let us see...

And as fast, as they appeared all around, the disappeared very soon, two or three years later.

 

[tonyb]

Saw a very clean '66 (I think) VW microbus in a Safeway parking lot a few days ago.

A '66 bus was among the VWs I owned back in the 1970s, so of course I gave that survivor a good long look. And then I recalled how underpowered those things are. And how frequently I had to pop out the engine to replace a clutch or do a top-end rebuild. And how uncomfortable it was to drive for more than a couple of hours. And how cold the interior was on a chilly day and how sweltering it was on a hot day. And how the gas mileage, while good, wasn't so extraordinary.

And then I put my groceries in our Toyota Sienna van, with the power side doors and air conditioning and power steering and automatic transmission and six-way adjustable power seats and, and, and ...

The dewy-eyed bride's oldest and bestest friend is visiting for a few days. On Saturday we took a road trip over a high mountain pass to Glenwood Springs and back -- about 350 miles round trip. I recalled trips over mountain pass highways in those old VWs, crawling along in the right lane with the 18 wheelers, or on the shoulder, because even the semis were going faster. In the Toyota I had to be mindful of the maximum speed limit.

And the gas mileage? About the same.

 

[BlueTrain]

I hate to admit it but that also describes the "real" Land-Rover that I owned going on 50 years ago. It was a 1965 short wheelbase "estate-car," or station wagon version, that is. There were lots of good things to say about it but road speed, gas mileage and cold weather comfort were not among them. But it was very reliable and never had any outlandish repair costs while I owned it. It was excellent for off-road or back road use, which was the whole point. Supposedly there were some long wheelbase models with a straight six engine but I never saw one. I did see one with a V-8 a couple of years ago but I believe they were quite rare. I knew two other people with LWB Land-Rovers when I was in college. They had zero insulation and an inadequate heater, so they were not that comfortable in cold weather.

Incredibly, to me, Range Rovers are rather common around here now. It's hard to believe they've been around since the 70s.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And speaking of terms which have disappeared, do kids in the back seat on long trips play "Punch Buggy" anymore?

 

[MisterCairo]

I get really annoyed by the front-end design of cars of the last ten years or so -- the "faces" they put on them look juvenile and stupid. Not everybody wants to drive around in something that looks like it fell out of a Pixar movie. And those faces only have two expressions -- a dopey grin or an "aggressive" scowl. It's gotten so I want to punch every car I see in the face.

My brother in law works the Lexus line in Cambridge, Ontario. Even he is confused by the incredibly aggressive shape of the Lexus grille nowadays.

He builds the RX 350:

http://www.lexus.ca/lexus/en/automobiles/rx

Does that shape have a name? If it does, I suspect the suffix is "-oid".

 

[Stearmen]

And speaking of terms which have disappeared, do kids in the back seat on long trips play "Punch Buggy" anymore?

I know kids were still playing Slug Bug 20 years ago.

 

[Zombie_61]

My brother in law works the Lexus line in Cambridge, Ontario. Even he is confused by the incredibly aggressive shape of the Lexus grille nowadays...Does that shape have a name?

Yes. "Fugly".

 

[BlueTrain]

There can be the slightest difference between beauty and plain and between plain and just plain ugly. That applies to everything. Taste might possibly enter into the matter.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My brother in law works the Lexus line in Cambridge, Ontario. Even he is confused by the incredibly aggressive shape of the Lexus grille nowadays.

He builds the RX 350:

http://www.lexus.ca/lexus/en/automobiles/rx

Does that shape have a name? If it does, I suspect the suffix is "-oid".

What furnishes me a never-ending source of hilarity is seeing all these "aggressive" I OWN THE ROAD SO DIE MILK FACE cars blocked up by road construction jobs on their 20mph way across town to the Shop-n-Save. The Boys understand the post-adolescent power fantasies of the impotent bourgeoisie all too well.