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I loved the 90s Japanese cars. I agree with the early 2000s as well.
Nissan:
Funny that you should post a pic of a 90's 300ZX. I just saw one yesterday morning. I liked them a lot when they came out, now i can't believe how ugly it looks to me. This design just didn't age gracefully.
When I go to the international car show every year in my city, I am so underwhelmed by many new car designs thesedays. Chrysler and Dodge are probably the only American car company that still literally builds and styles their cars in a true classic "American styling" that is aggressive, bold and bad ass.
While the other 2 (Ford, GM) are going for a more softer European approach and influence that will be more admirable and accepted in the global market.
Modern cars lack any really hard angles that give them distinction. Everything has become more "blobby" and "Bloated" in recent years, but you can attach that to cars of the 90's that look just as fat, a good example of this is the 90's era Ford Taurus.
The Japanese cars of the 90's were pretty stylish, same goes for the German rides compared to the 80's, but the majority of American cars were sadly junky and or ugly as sin during this era.
I will even say that the 80's was a better time for American styling like Cadillac and Lincoln than in the 90's.
The biggest issue I feel when I go to these car shows, is how when sitting inside so many new cars, is how similar each one feels to one another. Everything from the materials, to the door panels, to the seat design and construction all look and feel like the same parts company all provided the exact same stuff in the Kia's, Honda's, Fords, Chevys, and so on.. They honestly feel so much alike more than ever before that there is less uniqueness among each automaker besides for styling and performance.
As much as I dislike modern car styling, within the past 5 years, automotive design has gotten much better looking overall than where we were in the 90's, and the horrid early 2000's. My god, just look at Hyundai and Kia for instance?? Look how far they have come in such a short amount of time.
What about Tesla vehicles? What about the introduction of the ultra cool Bentley inspired Chrysler 300? Or the revival of the bad ass Dodge Challenger? The Magnum and Charger? The retro inspired Mustang of the later 2000's?? Styling has improved big time from 2000-2007 IMO.
Cadillac's new CTS looks a million times better compared the first CTS that came out in 2003 which looks convincingly tame and bland.
I wanna forget the 90's-early 2000's altogether. Some gems for sure, but honestly not much worth talking about back in the day. What I do miss though was the whole race inspired designed/performance vehicles of The japanese giants ( Honda Prelude/Acura Integra/NSX, Toyo Supra/Celica, Nissan Skyline GT). Too bad they all have turned into simple cutesy "family sedans" for non car folks that could care less about being "cool".
I'm going to get the new Cayman S, because it's beautiful and my last Cayman was the best car I've ever owned.
The new 911 is beautiful. The new Corvette is looking great. I'm also digging the BRZ/FRS. The Tesla Model S is gorgeous.
Among exotics, the 458 Italia is one of the best looking Ferrari's ever. A neighbor of mine has one and it's stunning. The new McLaren's, Zonda's, etc. are gorgeous examples.
Yes, high end cars are among the only that are interesting and memorable looking these days. But that has been the case for decades.
The "average" car of 20 years ago was seriously ugly. 30 years ago even worse. Yes, the family car is looking slightly anonymous these days, but that's always been the case. At least the design is more dynamic now. American cars didn't have style in the late 70's, 80's, and 90's. That's just one reason they got in trouble. They weren't designing cars people desired. They were ugly, boxy, bubbly commodities.
I think we're living in a golden age of car design not seen since the 60's. And from a performance standpoint, we're living in the peak. I'm not sure if internal combustion will ever see an age like this again.
Really? I think we are re-living the 60's all over again. Look what you can go out and buy off the floor these days. 662 HP Shelby GT500, 638 HP Corvette, 600 HP Cadillac CTS-V, Camaro COPO 427, Challenger SRT8 and still get 100k miles and mpg better than a Toyota p/up. True those are high end cars but there is still plenty of other examples that are way better than the legendary 60's cars. Camrao SS, Mustang GT, Chev SS, Challenger R/T I think in 10 years when the Gov't regulates all of them out of existence, then we'll all have something to complain and reminisce about the good old days of 20teens.
Really? I think we are re-living the 60's all over again. Look what you can go out and buy off the floor these days. 662 HP Shelby GT500, 638 HP Corvette, 600 HP Cadillac CTS-V, Camaro COPO 427, Challenger SRT8 and still get 100k miles and mpg better than a Toyota p/up. True those are high end cars but there is still plenty of other examples that are way better than the legendary 60's cars. Camrao SS, Mustang GT, Chev SS, Challenger R/T I think in 10 years when the Gov't regulates all of them out of existence, then we'll all have something to complain and reminisce about the good old days of 20teens.
But styling took huge steps backwards compared to the 1960s! (IMO.) And with variety... for example, many cars have interior colors of only black, gray and beige. And sometimes the "black" isn't even black, more like dark gray.
Also, I can modify a '60s car because those don't need a smog check where I live.
Does the Cadillac CTS-V have 600 hp now? I thought it was 556? Anyway, I preferred Cadillacs when they had "only" about 375 hp (gross rating) but were 19-21 feet long, could carry 6-9 people, and had long, flowing lines and a very smooth ride. And a choice of over 10 models and over 20 exterior colors.
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