Were we deprived of an entire generation of shite? Serious automotive history debate invited

[martc]

As suggested by Louise2CV

 

[Eddie Honda]

 

It looks like a Mk 2 Astra that's been left too close to a fire.

That's an old picture as that's my Maxi behind it!

[vulgalour]

That model of Princess was an option, literally.  It's a base model with optional halogen headlights.  Actually, maybe two options since it has a radio aerial present.

 

Personally I think it's an economic thing.  Car design from the 30s to 50s didn't move very far because of the war, the economy wasn't great, people were cautious with their money.  The only places you saw innovation in design was with luxury brands, as a rule.  When the 50s came around, America was pretty much the only place with money and the easiest way to make your domestic models look new, without being new, was to bolt extra bits on old designs to give them a few more years.  It took until the 60s for the economy to recover when we started to see new design properly with slab sides and straight lines taking over from curves and dumplings.  Another economic slump in the 70s stunted things again and started the warming over of design.  People didn't want to buy a new car unless it was noticeably cheaper than their existing one to run, especially with the price of fuel doing what it was doing to the cost of living as well.

 

So these big swish 70s designs ended up stuck.  They couldn't easily be tacked onto the existing models like chrome and fins could be tacked onto a 40s car.  Companies were likely not willing to take the risk on a big investment to produce something people wouldn't buy.  So run of the mill cars stayed much the same with facelifts and minor changes keeping them going until the economy started to pick up again in the 80s with new lines of credit and world stability as the cold war came to an end..  By that point it was too late to introduce these 70s designs which by now were looking dated, the only people using anything from them were likely nationalised companies and obscure small outfits producing low volumes.

 

By the time you get to the 90s, car design is pretty much global.  Very, very few cars stand out as being a car from a certain country.  There's less need to experiment visually, more need to do so technologically.  There's another design slump as the 90s come to an end and the 2000s begin by which point cars are very much seen as a commonplace household item rather than a luxury and it takes until the early 2010s before we see individuality in design creeping in again.  People now understand most cars are much of a muchness technologically - just like in the 50s, really - so we see manufacturers trying to stand out with design - again, like in the 50s - so people can brag about their new Hyundovrolet Whizzbang XC-420Q being better than their neighbour's Fordolvo Matrix 44... just like in the 50s.