Has automotive design reached it's Zenith?

[MX793]

NACar where the FUCK did you get that picture? That might be the most awkward captured image of any Escort in existence!!!!

Looks like it could have been a scene from Napoleon Dynamite

[AutobahnSHO]

Looks like it should could have been a scene from Napoleon Dynamite

[r0tor]

Did the super sexy A5 really get compared to a kia in this thread?!?!? 

[sportyaccordy]

Did the super sexy A5 really get compared to a kia in this thread?!?!? 

They really do have the same taillights and side window shapes

[r0tor]

They really do have the same taillights and side window shapes

and share absolutely nothing else in common....

[sportyaccordy]

and share absolutely nothing else in common....

Well obviously, under the metal they are totally different cars

Youd have to be blind not to see the similarities in the tail lights, c-pillars etc which are both pretty much the only defining characteristics of either car from the 3/4 view

[Byteme]

One problem is there are a limited number of ways to meet the requirements for a new car.  Say you are designing a front wheel drive mid size car (Fusion-Camry size.)  You have similar interior and trunk room requirements to meet the competition and must meet the same government requirements regarding passenger and pedestrian safety.  Plus, you are designing for maximum effeciency at the same time, along with minimizing cost and bulk.  So all the manufacturers come up with the standard three box design.  Give engineers and designers the same swet of constraints and they will conme up with simiplar looking solutions.  Differentiation comes from details.  Stray too far from the mainstream and you risk losing sales.  That's why Camry and Accord are generally rather conservative (bland) looking, better to offend no one than to break new ground.

[Byteme]

Wow, fascinating topic!

Chris V is right.  Cars looking the same is nothing new.  I've read articles going back to the 1920s bemoaning the fact all cars look pretty much the same.  Of course, by the 1920s, nearly the entire automotive world had settled on the formula of putting the engine up front, passengers in the middle and cargo at the back. 
Also, about 50% of the cars in the world were Model Ts so of course they pretty much looked the same.

I think there was more design freedom in the late 50 through about 1970 than any other era in automotive history.  Gas was cheap so economy wasn't nearly the issue it is today., Safety regulations were few and far between until the 1968 model year.  The US love affair with the automobile was in full bloom and the domestics ruled the road and manufacturers were happy to provide an annual model change.

[Nethead]

I think there was more design freedom in the late 50 through about 1970 than any other era in automotive history.  Gas was cheap so economy wasn't nearly the issue it is today., Safety regulations were few and far between until the 1968 model year.  The US love affair with the automobile was in full bloom and the domestics ruled the road and manufacturers were happy to provide an annual model change.

Byteme again sums it up succinctly.

But even within general similarities, some stand out as terrific and some stand out as tragic.  

The terrifics:  The '63 Buick Riviera coupe, the original Studebaker Avanti ('62? '63?), the '68 Dodge Charger, the '65 Mustang fastback (2+2) and GT-350, the '67 Mustang fastback, the '69 Mustang fastback (Sportroof), the '05 Mustang fastback, the '66 Pontiac GTO, the '68 Pontiac GTO, the '63-and-a-half Ford Galaxie 500 fastback, the '68 Mercury Cyclone GT fastback, the '65 Impala Super Sport fastback, the original Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am ('71?) coupe, the Lincoln Continental Mark V, the '61 Lincoln Continental and doubtless a few more would come to mind if I gave it more time...I left off sportscars (the '63 Chevrolet Stingray coupe, the early 'Sixties Jaguar XKE, the Ferrari 250 GTO, the original Lotus Esprit ('74???), yada yada yada) as this thread is not really about sportscars.  Some beautiful sheetmetal has come out of the three-box formula, along with a ton of mundane-to-downright-ugly.

I look back over this partial list and see that the Mustangs were beauty for the bucks, relative to the others there, and Mustangs look like Mustangs--so unmistakeable that in 2006 the Mustang was the second most-recognized manufactured product on Earth, behind the Coke bottle in first place and ahead of the Avtomat Kalashnikov Sorok Sem' (AK-47 assault rifle) in third.  Beginning in 2005, Ford did not put "Mustang" or "Ford" anywhere on the exterior yet the vehicle was recognized the world over as a Mustang.  If product recognition is to be valued, the right three-box looks can be priceless in a Camcordima world.  Today, a cellphone might rank waaayyyy up there, too.  No current Buick is as glamorous as the '63 Riviera (and probably none of them sell as well as the pricey-in-its-day Riviera, either!)--and I think this is cause-and-effect at work. The tragedy is, read that list and see all those famous names that are long, long gone (And don't claim that the Impala is still around--the original Impala morphed into the Caprice, and thus into oblivion.  The current Impala is a characterless rental queen with FWD, disgracing the legendary nameplate of Chevy's stellar full-sizer from The Golden Age of the American Automobile).

Not only does the Nethead here lament the passing of these great vehicles, but I lament the passing of the America that was then.  I was really, really lucky...

[FoMoJo]

I agree that "automotive design reached it's Zenith" in the '50s and '60s.  It's been going downhill ever since.  Small wonder there have been so many retro designs harking back to that era. 

[cawimmer430]

Don't forget this

Whoa! Two child molesters posing with their getaway car! 

[sportyaccordy]

I agree that "automotive design reached it's Zenith" in the '50s and '60s.  It's been going downhill ever since.  Small wonder there have been so many retro designs harking back to that era. 

Perhaps it's due to my not being around back then, but I find cars from that era to just be generally oversized and overstyled. Fundamentally, from a proportions and just overall footprint point of view I think cars peaked in beauty during the 80s and 90s. Low sills, sizing just big enough to be relatively safe and comfortable, interesting details... you'll find this all through that time.

[NomisR]

Well, it doesn't pay off to be different.  Look like how people slam the ZDX.

[Eye of the Tiger]

The design of your face has reach it's Zenith 

[Galaxy]

Here is an example for fresh thinking 206. The BMW hedgehog er LOVOS (Lifestyle Of Voluntary Simplicity).   Designed by a 24 year old student working for BMW.












The girls name is Anne Forschner. Her name needs to be red flagged in all auto design departments.

[Byteme]

Here is an example for fresh thinking 206. The BMW hedgehog er LOVOS (Lifestyle Of Voluntary Simplicity).   Designed by a 24 year old student working for BMW.






The girls name is Anne Forschner. Her name needs to be red flagged in all auto design departments.

Apparently BMW design need to lower that glass ceiling a bit more.   

I'd love to see the CD stats for that design.  I'd guess somewhere north of .50

[Laconian]

What is this? A car for ants? How can people be expected to drive this car... if they can't even fit inside the door?

[FoMoJo]

Perhaps it's due to my not being around back then, but I find cars from that era to just be generally oversized and overstyled. Fundamentally, from a proportions and just overall footprint point of view I think cars peaked in beauty during the 80s and 90s. Low sills, sizing just big enough to be relatively safe and comfortable, interesting details... you'll find this all through that time.

I suppose we form our impressions early on.  The following designs, likely, influenced what I still consider to be a beautiful shape for a car.  For that matter, I still consider the '53s to be the most beautiful of all N.A. designs.

One of the first designs I was taken with were the series of Studebaker Starlight Coupes starting in 1947...


with a facelift in 1950...


evolving into the truly beautiful 1953 Starlight Coupe...


and the equally beautiful 1953 Starliner...


The '54s were almost as beautiful...
Starlight

Starliner

[FoMoJo]

Apparently BMW design need to lower that glass ceiling a bit more.   

I'd love to see the CD stats for that design.  I'd guess somewhere north of .50

It looks like the teleportation machine hiccupped when they beamed it into the showroom .

[hotrodalex]

Holy air-brakes, Batman!

[2o6]

I. Absolutely. Adore. It.

[sportyaccordy]

That BMW seriously looks scary... reminds me of when I cut into salmon the wrong way. Freaks me out actually

[Vinsanity]

What is this? A car for ants? How can people be expected to drive this car... if they can't even fit inside the door?

I knew reciting that line at the Art Center exhibit was a mistake

[Rich]

It's actually a pretty awesome idea.  Not practical, but...

Imagine the active aerodynamics you can get out of it... if it's going around a bend the computer senses the suspension unloading at one corner of the car, and can raise the panels on that corner to force that part of the car down.  

Aero braking would be huge at track speeds

You could set a certain percentage of down force you wanted front and rear, or even side to side before you headed out

I've read that another idea is for those panels to have photovoltaic cells in them, so they could turn to match the angle of sunlight.  I think it'd be cool to see a time lapsed video of the car parked and the panels following it across the sky

[Laconian]

The damage from kids wanging your car in the parking lot would be much more costly.

[NomisR]

The damage from kids wanging your car in the parking lot would be much more costly.

That's why you contain the car in a bubble.

[hotrodalex]

That's why you contain the car in a bubble.

Why get a car then, just roll around in the bubble. You can even go over water.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Why get a car then, just roll around in the bubble. You can even go over water.

Don't give Obama any more ideas 

[sportyaccordy]

Don't give Obama any more ideas 

Obubble

[Vinsanity]

Obubble

I literally heard a rim shot from a drum set as I read that