Automotive design over the ages

[Submariner]

Today I saw a first generation VW Touareg in a parking lot.  I had to take a second glance because of how good its design has held up.  The Touareg first hit dealers in late 2002 meaning its a nearly 20 year old design.  The paint was flawless (new paint job or a car that's been garaged since purchase?), which undoubtedly added to my thought that this very car could pass for a new vehicle if it was on a VW lot.

This got me thinking - in 2000, almost any vehicle introduced for MY 1982 was positively old looking.  By 1989, the Taurus had completely flipped the design game on its head.  Chrysler did so again with cab forward a few years later.  There were a few holdouts, such as the 1994-2001 Cadillac de Ville and Lincoln Town Car (the Town Car in particular looked ancient the moment it rolled off the assembly line), but every other make and model seemed to take a massive leap forward in language and quality.

Recently I've been digitally restoring old family VHS tapes (cleaning up noise, increasing resolution, etc).  In one video dated September 1992, you can hear me asking my dad "why does grandpa have such an old car".  His dad had a 1991 Buick Century.  My dad had a Taurus at the time.  Maybe I picked up on the styling differences even at that young age.  Who knows.

Am I alone in this?  Do 10-20 year old cars hold up much better than 10-20 year old cars did two decades ago?

[MX793]

The late 1980s was a transformational period in automotive design in the US.  Up until the Taurus, all cars sold in the US were required to use sealed beam headlamps.  This drove a lot of styling decisions.  As a result, there was a very large difference between cars that came out in the late 1970s and 1980s (which would have been designed in the 70s and early 80s) and those designs that immediately followed in the very late 80s and into the 90s (which sported integrated headlamp assemblies and the "aero" look and were more rounded in general).

Along with this, there were significant leaps in computer aided design.  Cars got much curvier than they had been in the 80s, when straight edges, wedges, and boxy designs were trendy.

The result is that cars of the 1980s design school very quickly looked dated because the design language changed so drastically (Lumina vs Celebrity, for example).  We really haven't seen such a large revolutionary shift in a while.  Styles have changed (shift to crossovers and tall cars), but what designers are capable of on the exterior hasn't really seen a huge deal of change in decades.  We've seen refinement and subtle changes ("Altezza" tail lights, bolder grilles, LED lamps), but it's been more evolution than revolution.  Vehicle interior design is an entirely different story.  Look at the interior of an early 00s car compared to a modern one and while the older car's interior may seem handsome enough, it will clearly look "old" compared to a modern vehicle interior.  Old-school stereo head units, crude navi systems, simple LCD displays in the IP...

[CALL_911]

Heh that's funny. I also saw a pre-facelift 2004 Touareg the other day and thought the same thing. What a great design.

[Submariner]

Heh that's funny. I also saw a pre-facelift 2004 Touareg the other day and thought the same thing. What a great design.

Perfectly proportioned.  The interior still looks great too.  The only thing that really dates it is the small, low res navigation HU.

[Laconian]

The Touareg looks decent but the large sedans (Passat and Phaeton) are still very classy and contemporary looking cars. VWAG's cars in the mid aughts weren't very adventurous, but I agree that they did age very well.

I appreciated how they didn't ape the Hoffmeister kink on the Passat or Phaeton. They let the curves breathe.

[Payman]

The '88 Chevy C/K pickup is a pretty timeless design as well.

[Payman]

One car that always impressed me with forward styling is the 1953 Studebaker Hawk. I mean, just compare it with a '53 Chevy...

[CALL_911]

I think these have aged incredibly well, on the topic of mainstreamers:




Funny, because most Nissans age like dogshit imo. I could do without the silly lip/ground effects on this one.

[Submariner]

Yeah, the 1st and 2nd gen G coupe and sedan look great.

[shp4man]

I'll come out and admit it right here and now.  I like the current Korean car designs. This one stands out on the freeway, gold paint shining in the sun:



And you guys thought I would post a '59 Chevy, didn't you? 

[Submariner]

Agreed, the Elantra looks great.  Not crazy about the paint job though.

[AutobahnSHO]

It's funny to me how Porsche tries to hold on to their low his raised headlight look, when there's zero need for it anymore.

BMW has been all over the map, without the kidneys they'd be unrecognizable. I like most Mercedes from almost any year- they're just handsome.

[Morris Minor]

The current fad for front gaping maws and fairground-lighting LED day running lights will not age well.

[Morris Minor]

I think these have aged incredibly well, on the topic of mainstreamers:


Funny, because most Nissans age like dogshit imo. I could do without the silly lip/ground effects on this one.

I had one of these, a 6MT. Looked great.

[CALL_911]

Agreed, the Elantra looks great.  Not crazy about the paint job though.

I think it's gonna look like ass in a few years. I do, however, dig the yellow

[veeman]

I find the Saab 900 as one of the greatest designs for a mass market car.  Even with the ugly bumpers of the era, it still looks so good.


https://www.classicandsportscar.com/features/buyers-guide-saab-900-turbo