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All cars of a certain genre have the same shape as other cars of that genre. Has ALWAYS been that way. Sedans, coupes, convertibles, pickup trucks, hatchbacks; once you have a role, the shape is then dictated by the era and by the regulations of that era. Here's an example of sedans:
The grilles and headlights are different, and the occasional trunkline is different, but since they are sedans of the same era, they all look the same except for color. You have to KNOW the details to know which is which.
'60s cars look different than '50s cars or '40s cars, but within their eras they tend to look a lot like each other with shared styling and regulatory cues. Enough that even if you don't know what exact car it is you're looking at, you can instantly tell which era it's from. It's really only in the details that you can tell the differences, and you only pay attention to the differences in the eras you are interested in.
Cool graphic, including nameplates I'd never heard of... and they were mostly similar, yes.
I'd say bold auto design really flowered from the mid-1950s into the 1960s, then declined again
(with some notable exceptions in the 80s/90s from Ford -- the T-Bird and Taurus).
Personally I love the looks of cars from the 30’s-70’s and I’m a young guy.
The question should be what cars look the most stylish, attractive, impressive and detailed?
Sure the argument could be that every car today and in the past had similar shapes and design, but what vehicles looked the best? And IMHO the peak of American car design with the most impressive styling characteristics and quality had to be cars from the 30’s-60’s.
Let’s be honest if one was to put a mint condition 58-64 Chevy Impala next to a 2014-19 models or ones from just 20 years ago, what would most people rather drive and ride in?
I’m sure everyone would rather drive the classics hands down. Why do think certain old cars are so expensive to buy? They are highly desirable cars that appreciate in value.
Of course not all old classics are stylish or impressive to look at, but for the most part, cars from the 50’s and 60’s were very extravagant, very cool and different especially if one was to order their car with all the options and trim colors that were available. Unlike new vehicles today that only give you trim packages instead of individual options to choose from.
I would have loved to grow up in the 50’s, the golden era of automobile design and styling.
I'm a product of the 50s/60s, and I generally love those cars, especially from the mid-50s. But the question of which I'd rather ride/drive is nonsensical. The newer the better!
My first personal cars were a '54 Chevy and a '56 Chevy, and later in life a '57 Buick Century convertible. These were all cool cars, imho, but I wouldn't trade my Prius for any of them for driving. No way! My kids were ages 7-10 when I first bought the Buick. I only took them on one short "trip" the whole time I owned it (until after my kids were grown). I just didn't want to subject them to the dangers inherent in those old cars. (No seat belts, no roll bars, not much safety built in at all.) And the handling? Ugh! The ride wasn't bad, but the handling was horrible compared to cars 30 years later, and even more so today.
Cars are now more different from each other than they've ever been. The problem I have with modern styling is so many cars are overdesigned and aggressive
All cars of a certain genre have the same shape as other cars of that genre. Has ALWAYS been that way. Sedans, coupes, convertibles, pickup trucks, hatchbacks; once you have a role, the shape is then dictated by the era and by the regulations of that era. Here's an example of sedans:
The grilles and headlights are different, and the occasional trunkline is different, but since they are sedans of the same era, they all look the same except for color. You have to KNOW the details to know which is which.
'60s cars look different than '50s cars or '40s cars, but within their eras they tend to look a lot like each other with shared styling and regulatory cues. Enough that even if you don't know what exact car it is you're looking at, you can instantly tell which era it's from. It's really only in the details that you can tell the differences, and you only pay attention to the differences in the eras you are interested in.
There it is again. The most durable drawing in CD history. How many miles does it have on it by now? Must be well over a million....by three separate posters that I know of. Well, three separate user names, anyway.
It's irrelevancy is secured and guarded by the fact that it is a drawing and that it is of an era outside the range of comparison used by the vast majority of people today. People who have lived and seen many decades of car design changes and thus know that it is nonsense to contend that today's cars are no more similar to each other than cars of the 50s and 60s were.
I believe that the reason why todays cars have weird looking grills is due to all the computer aided driving doo hickeys
I had the suspicion Toyota was (is) trying to push hydrogen, and the Mirai needs an outrageously large grille to keep the fuel cell stack cool. So, Toyota tried to normalize that look across their cars.
Plus there's all of the trucks trying to look hyper-aggressive, and dragging the rest of the auto industry along with them.
Not to say that what you said isn't true. It's much harder to hide a bunch of sensors on molded and painted plastic than behind a black plastic grille.
Personally I love the looks of cars from the 30’s-70’s and I’m a young guy.
The question should be what cars look the most stylish, attractive, impressive and detailed?
Sure the argument could be that every car today and in the past had similar shapes and design, but what vehicles looked the best? And IMHO the peak of American car design with the most impressive styling characteristics and quality had to be cars from the 30’s-60’s.
Let’s be honest if one was to put a mint condition 58-64 Chevy Impala next to a 2014-19 models or ones from just 20 years ago, what would most people rather drive and ride in?
I’m sure everyone would rather drive the classics hands down. Why do think certain old cars are so expensive to buy? They are highly desirable cars that appreciate in value.
Of course not all old classics are stylish or impressive to look at, but for the most part, cars from the 50’s and 60’s were very extravagant, very cool and different especially if one was to order their car with all the options and trim colors that were available. Unlike new vehicles today that only give you trim packages instead of individual options to choose from.
I would have loved to grow up in the 50’s, the golden era of automobile design and styling.
Being honest, if a 58-64 Impala was one choice and a 2014-19 was the other, unless the 58-64 impala had custom suspension work, improved engine and tranny I'll take the 2014-19 model.
I've driven stock 1950s land yachts and the term land yacht is not just a term in regards to their boat like appearance, but they handle like a waterbed, spend days accelerating to speed and braking from speed, and steer by suggestion.
Sure they look pretty, I'd love a 58 Bel Air or 61 Bubbleback with a modern engine, suspension and tranny, but it's not really a 58 or 61 Impala, and to buy a vintage, replace everything but chassis, subframe and body, it's completely cost prohibitive, particularly as the body would probably need a complete rebuild unless it's been sitting in a good barn in AZ or NM since 1965.
The reason classics like 58 Bel Airs and 67 Stingrays are so expensive is two fold. If its mint original, it's like hens teeth, most were junked from terminal failures or car wrecks by the 80s. If it's not original, because someone sunk $100k into a rebuild with modern everything but styling.
A spin off on the whatever happened to car colors thread.
What happened to car design? The American automobiles used to be works of design art.
I'm a big fan of the old black and white Perry Mason TV show. Filmed in the late 1050's, it is noticeable how beautiful the cars were. I suspect that the gorgeous new cars were "product placement" but even the background cars were well designed with balanced lines that flowed together.
Now, all the new cars look so much alike, I can't tell one brand of another and a big design breakthrough is a small change in the shape of the grill, and often not for the better.
American made cars used to be the dream car all over the world because of the outstanding design (and power).
I know what happened to the power, but seriously? All the best and brightest designers can't come up with a car that doesn't look like a box on wheels that looks like every other box on wheels?
Agree and not only that, a lot of cars don't have what model they are on the car. I also can't tell the logos apart these days either except for a few. Tired of seeing all the same with all the same colors...
What happened was... everyone wanted to look like a BMW 3-Series... LOL!
All kidding aside, it does seem the BMW sport sedan became the template for the majority of the passenger cars out there.
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There it is again. The most durable drawing in CD history. How many miles does it have on it by now? Must be well over a million....by three separate posters that I know of. Well, three separate user names, anyway. 
