Worst era for automotive styling

[Ghoste]

I'm sure most of us here like the supercar era for styling but is there an era you just can't get excited about?  For me it seems to be the jellybean era of the 90's.  There were some great looking cars from that time too but most of the mainstream sellers seemed to go for that rounded off Taurus look and it just seems so bland to me.  Some of the stuff right before and after WWII doesn't do much for me either but I'm not sure what label to put on the styling theme of the period, the austerity styling?  Brass era is great, coachbuilding classics from the 20s are great, I love the art deco stuff from the 30's, the glitzy 50's stuff (hmm, a natural reaction to the end of the war AND the austerity look?) but I just can't warm up to the jellybeans.

[Dino]

It went downhill in the sixties but plenty great looking cars left.  For me the 70's and 80's produced some of the ugliest cars ever and since then there has not been that much designed that speaks to me.

[bakerhillpins]

Yea, I have to agree with Dino on that one..   In general I think the 80s were a style nightmare, and that is coming from someone who isn't a huge plad fan.

[cdr]

now

[bobs66440]

The mid-late 70's 

[Mike DC]

                 

If we're judging on pure styling alone, and we're not giving automatic extra credit to old cars just for having more steel & less plastic? 


Then I'll take '82 or '92 over 1962.  

Everything in the early 1960s that looked tolerable was either a carryover from the tailfin era, or foreshadowing the muscle era.  Nothing uniquely 1961-63 looks decent to me.

 

[Robert96]

Ever since the end of the seventies things have been kinda blah. There are some exceptions though.

[Ghoste]

Oh yeah, exceptions from each era for good and bad.  I'm talking about the predominant themes that were fashionable during each era though.

[Dino]

                 

If we're judging on pure styling alone, and we're not giving automatic extra credit to old cars just for having more steel & less plastic? 


Then I'll take '82 or '92 over 1962.  

Everything in the early 1960s that looked tolerable was either a carryover from the tailfin era, or foreshadowing the muscle era.  Nothing uniquely 1961-63 looks decent to me.

 

I totally agree, that's why I said it started in the sixties.  Just compare any brand from the late 50's with the early 60's models.  

'82 brought the Delorean here so points for that.  

[Mytur Binsdirti]

For me the 70's and 80's produced some of the ugliest cars ever and since then there has not been that much designed that speaks to me.

I'll agree with that, but I'd also say that most of the cars from the 40's through the early 60's were bulbously hideous.

[Indygenerallee]

late 70's-mid 80's

[Cooter]

IMO, it all began downhill when the headlights became part of the hoods. Fenders were "Sculpted" to look like there was some "Design" when in fact, there was little.

Like around 1994 or so. Ever since, they have been going downhill. Like those hideously designed "Boxes" from the Import world, WTF??

[Lennard]

Yea, I have to agree with Dino on that one..   In general I think the 80s were a style nightmare, and that is coming from someone who isn't a huge plad fan.

Here's my 80's style nightmare and I love it! 466 big block with 500+ hp.

[b5blue]

Late 50's-early 60's, 73 up book shelf bumper-smog motor and anything hamster turd shaped. The ugly award goes hands down to mid 70's Chevelle in my book! 

[F8-4life]

Ugly is relative, but here are my thoughts..

Lots of good cars throughout the 1930s, 40's and 50's. Styling in a decade is roughly split into two "eras" - the first half  resembles the last half of the previous decade. Meaning cars in the early 1950's resemble the ones in late 1940s. There are some exceptions to this.

In 1955 everything was changing and by '57 the dealers had rocketships on the lot! The era of the tailfin is by far one of the best hands down.  Lasted roughly 10 years, only in full swing 4 years sadly.

the '61-63 point is so spot on its funny, the early 1960s seemed a bit lost, almost like they were trying to find were to go next after the tailfin late 50's excess styling era. The compact cars dont help. Weirdly '64 Doesnt seem lumped up in that group maybe because of the new mustangs and chevelles.

1965-75 Had some of the greats no more needs said on that!

Speaking very generally the mid 1970's and 1980's still had things of value, as far as styling. But one could argue that anything good in that era was just the leftover runoff from the greatness of the earlier (glory) decades of the 1950's and 60's I mean you cant go from a 1970 chevelle straight to a 1990 taurus...Of course the 70s and 80s had plenty of sour designs but even some of those still had good lines.

In the late 1980's all the good looking (reletivly, remember it the 80's) body styles were getting dated and once things turned rounded and plastic the soul of the car was lost in a matter of speak. In other words there are cars, and then their are "cars".  There was also a important shift in american society.... the american car as a machine of "fun", now turns into to a machine of nescessity. I could go on but I'm rambling

[Fred]

I'm thinking now. For the simple reason that everything looks the same, you can hardly tell one from the other.

[Alaskan_TA]

Now.

[stripedelete]

IMO, the the k-car through the x-car was the bottom, followed by the late 40's - early 50's.  

Styling in the late 80's - early 90's was carried by the imports until the pickups and suv's got in the game. (IMO)  

[myk]

Anything before the 60's...

[A383Wing]

I say the 90's...everything then kinda looked like a used bar of soap

Bryan

[TheGhost]

late 70's-mid 80's

Yup

[Scaregrabber]

80's. 74 Challenger and Charger were okay, Pontiac T/A was okay, actually the Dodge Magnum was an okay looking car. But in the 80's everything was bad. In the 90's things started coming around again a bit.

Sheldon

[hatersaurusrex]

You can't be serious.  Early 60's?

Listen, the 80's easily had the squarest and most boring cars, but square and boring isn't anywhere near as bad as the exquisite tackiness that was late 70's.  Every car from Detroit looked like a 350 lb painted whore wearing shoulder pads and smoking a camel non-filter.  Easily the tackiest era for cars ever.   Oddly, overseas some of the best cars are from that era (Datsun's finest hour)

Seriously, how can you say the early 60's was worse?  The 62 Continental, the Corvair (hate if you want, but those cars were slick), and a few others are  some of the best looking cars ever.   I challenge you to find me anything American from 75-80 that anyone would call sexy.  I think part of your hate for the early 60's is that you guys have laser focus on Chrysler, and Mopars were maybe at their peak of disgusting.   '62 Dodge?  Yeah.   I quit right there.

My vote for tackiest bodystyle ever? The '77 Thunderbird.    You can't tell me those early 60's cars or any swoopy 40's and 50's mobile comes close to rivaling this thing in terms of 'how fast it makes me puke':

[Steve P.]

Hey,,,,,, I had that exact car.... White with red top and red leather interior.. Very nice and comfortable car... FREE made it that much better!!!!!    Ok, I put a motor in it, but I got that in trade for a trailer I was going to sell dirt cheap!! So almost free..... 

My .02 is, after 1974, WHAT STYLE??  Especially today. I guess there is style, but every car on the road that costs less than a LAMBO, looks the same to me...

[hatersaurusrex]

Oh, and by 'anything' I'm not counting things designed in a previous era like the '68-81 'Vette'.   It has to be something that was like 'NEW FOR 1976 - THE SUPER DISGUSTING MONTE CARLO - YOU HATE IT NOW, BUT WAIT TILL YOU DRIVE IT!!!!'

[hatersaurusrex]

Hey,,,,,, I had that exact car.... White with red top and red leather interior.. Very nice and comfortable car... FREE made it that much better!!!!!    Ok, I put a motor in it, but I got that in trade for a trailer I was going to sell dirt cheap!! So almost free..... 

My .02 is, after 1974, WHAT STYLE??  Especially today. I guess there is style, but every car on the road that costs less than a LAMBO, looks the same to me...

Beggars can't be choosers, man.   I got a 94 Buick Regal for free once, in teal green.   Boring/Ugly? Yes.  3.8 V6 with 140K miles and still reliable as a mofro, also yes.  Solid car, but nothing to write home about unless you're writing home to say 'Wow, GM's dashes have more plastic in them than Joan Rivers' face'

[hatersaurusrex]

And even being Mopar guys, don't tell me this doesn't make you cringe:

[Lennard]

  1976 Ford Mustang II ?

[bobs66440]

For me, it just simply does not get worse than this....

[TheGhost]

77 trans am is a damn fine looking car.  So is the 80 trans am.  The warlock and little red express also looked good.

[Cooter]

Take a look at a 1961 Pug Nosed Dodge and compare....

[twodko]

I think all eras had winners and turkeys. 

[Lennard]

I think all eras had winners and turkeys. 

[Ghoste]

Ah, but do either of you feel that a specific era had way more than their fair share of turkeys?

[TruckDriver]

And even being Mopar guys, don't tell me this doesn't make you cringe:

I actually LOVE this body style Mustang. It looks more like a Mustang then the Fox body cars and un til 2004 cars.

I'd say the 1990's were the worst ever so far.

[Steve P.]

Is that a 75' Pintang???   

[Brock Samson]

I don't care myself for post WWII cars till '55, then they start getting better right up till 72, when everything took a nose dive. For me, after that it's a hit and miss proposition.. I just posted these few pics to show some early (and hated on) '60s Mopes i've come across since i haven't recently posted up.  BTW: Love me a Chrysler 300 F! 

[BrianShaughnessy]

It's mostly anything now...  somebody mentioned gumdrop design... when did it ever go away?

I can't tell any of the JDM things apart and apart from Chrysler,   none of the others look any different to me either.   

There were some ugly cars in the past,  but at least there was something different to choose from.   Designs were a product of their times and the engineering and technology to build them during those times....   not thinking why didn't they do things we consider commonplace today back then. 

[sixpack70]

Pretty much 80's to the early 2000s. There are few cars that are still cool from those eras, but for the most part they suck. I really hate the jelly bean look of most cars. I think this is a similar offshoot to another thread talking about how people view cars as an appliance and not so much something to be fun. Some of the car companies have tried to induce some excitement into their lineups, but for the most part have failed. Cars today look more like bean counters designed them rather than real car designers. Pre 80's cars look like they have a heart and soul infused into them. Even the cheaper cars have a look that the cheap cars of today can't match.

[Larry523]

The "jellybean" era was certainly bad. But the current era seems worse to me. All the cars today, domestic and import, look like boxes with rounded edges. I can't tell one make and model from another! There are a few exceptions of course, like the Challenger, the 'Vette, maybe the 'Stang, but even it's starting to morph from the neoclassic design into modern blandness. Cookie-cutter cars, all!

[Robert96]

They are getting hard to tell apart. I've been a car guy since the 60's and I'm embarrassed sometimes when my daughter asks and I honestly don't know what it is were looking at. Maybe old age isn't helping either.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

The "jellybean" era was certainly bad. But the current era seems worse to me. All the cars today, domestic and import, look like boxes with rounded edges. I can't tell one make and model from another! There are a few exceptions of course, like the Challenger, the 'Vette, maybe the 'Stang, but even it's starting to morph from the neoclassic design into modern blandness. Cookie-cutter cars, all!

Yup, I'll agree; most new cars are very generic looking. However, you do have to admit that new cars really do last. Back in the 60's & 70's no one had a car with 100,000 miles on it; now, everyone does. My first car was a 69 318 Charger that I bought in 1975 for $675.00 with 67,000 miles. Every body panel had major rot holes and the front seats were torn beyond repair. Back then, cars with over 85,000 miles were eyed cautiously as they were one step away from going to the junk yard.

Look at the power that they are squeezing out of cars today, plus you can't beat the economy, and they are comfortable! No need to get a Poineer super tuner and a pair of 6X9 Jensons as the factory stereos are great. A/C, p. windows, ps, pdb are all standard today. New cars handle better, brake better and even a lowly V6 will have better power than a stock 340. When's the last time you heard of a new car needing a valve job or bearings changed?

Today's cars are great in every aspect, except for styling and I don't know why that is.

[Ghoste]

And with how much bigger a committment is required to purchase a new car, they HAVE to last 100k miles or the thing would be junk long before your six year payment plan was up.

[Silver R/T]

Yea, I have to agree with Dino on that one..   In general I think the 80s were a style nightmare, and that is coming from someone who isn't a huge plad fan.

Here's my 80's style nightmare and I love it! 466 big block with 500+ hp.

That's a sharp looking Vette, I don't like most 80s cars but Vettes are exception

[Mike DC]

    
     
Modern bodystyle designers are basically painted into a corner by the demands put on them.  

Crashworthiness, aero, stiffness, weight, cheap/easy assembly, etc.  Everything comes out looking alike because this current look is where the efficiency lies.  Moving the car's appearance in any other direction from here will cost more money or compromise something else.  



And if they did compromise anything else to make the car look cooler again, guys like us would be complaining as loudly as anyone.  We would be saying "it's 2012 and a crappy Toyota delivers better _____ than this thing.  Detroit owes me at least that much in my new Chally/Charger/etc."

         

[Kern Dog]

late 70's-mid 80's

I agree. The cars were getting heavier and slower, then with gas prices nearly doubling in the late 70s, the automakers ditched the fat cars and built tons of FRONT wheel drive shitboxes. By the mid to late 80s, these front wheelers were restyled with aerodynamics in mind, and they looked like rounded blobs of steel and plastic.
The decline gained steam when chrome bumpers faded away.

[A383Wing]

My mid 70's & late 80's cars below.

I think each decade had good designs & bad

Bryan