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I think there is a certain time in one's life that sets your sense of style.  That can apply to clothes, cars, etc.  If that time is late teens, my style sense was formed about 1963.  Not surprisingly, my epitome of car style revolves around the 1950's or early '60's.  Porsche, Jag, Healey, MG, Maserati, Aston Martin, Mercedes, AC for street cars, and some track cars, all with smooth, flowing lines.

 

Today's auto engineers create aerodynamic shapes that are not visually appealing to someone my age.  Sharp edges, exaggerated airfoils and their ilk may produce better ground effects and more down force, which equates to better tire grip, but it looks like a high school science project gone wrong.

 

I think it's just one more tiny fact that proves my irrelevance to the marketing gurus.  Younger guys seem to love the new designs, and they're the guys buying the products. 

Last edited by Jim Kelly
Jim well said, I was telling a friend and my son that there really was not one car for sale right now that I am really excited about.
Sure they technologically advanced when I drive a new one they are nice but that is about it.
I am not excited and I find it really funny when I drive my IM around. The shape makes most other cars pale and they don't hold a candle to Sabrina even the really exotic cars.

It's a funny thing.

Ray

Those of us Boomer generation were influenced by the shapes of the Thirties Bauhaus school "Form follows function" which was the basis of the Beetle, the 64 K10 Berlin racer and eventually the 356 Porsche. Hitler advised Porsche that "Nature provides the most efficient aerodynamics" At least he was right about one thing! LoL

I came of age in the early '80s, so I'm a pup compared to some of you. I guarantee I'm as old-school as anybody here in my personal taste in automotive design.

 

Cold-war cars of nearly any ilk make me weak in the knees. Muscle cars, giant domestic 4 drs (Kennedy Lincolns, etc.), ridiculous little micro-cars, Aston Martins of nearly any vintage before 1970, Ferrarris from when Enzo was still around, Ferry-approved Porsches, etc. I have a hard time finding one I don't like.

 

However, I pine not at all for the super-cars (such as they were) of my own youth. The post-'74 C3s, Testerrosas, etc. do very little for me. Consider the "Mustang 2" and Fox-bodied Mustangs as a sort of reference point for how bad a car could look (and be). I thank the Lord for the motorcycles of the '80s, which pretty much singlehandedly kept internal combustion development alive (the Yamaha 5-valve motors particularly). It was a long time before the car companies decided they wanted to play again.

 

So, I don't suppose I'll ever get used to tacking, bolting, bonding, or welding flares to an otherwise perfect body to sort-of accommodate wider rubber if I haven't already (since that was de rigueur for fast cars in the late '70s and '80s). Whale-tails, no matter how functional, always looked like a stray "TV tray" from my great-aunt's house, sitting right there on the deck-lid. Maybe it's just an over-reaction to the cars of my youth, but the entire effect (for me, at least) always seemed a bit like painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa.

 

This dude takes perfectly adequate 911s, and makes them look like an animated version of a fast car. It's like the '80s all over again. I'm not a fan.

This dude takes perfectly adequate 911s, and makes them look like an animated version of a fast car. It's like the '80s all over again. I'm not a fan.

 

Yes, the "Bolt-on" fender boosters are a little tacky, cheap, 70's, Pep Boys-ish, etc., but I love having BIG, WIDE rubber on the rear no matter what it takes.  For me, the California Wide Body 356 is my passion.  I settled for a CMC wide body with 245/50-15's on the rear feet.  

 

And by the way, Will, I'm not old yet, I'm only 63.

Originally Posted by craig:

I love having BIG, WIDE rubber on the rear no matter what it takes.  For me, the California Wide Body 356 is my passion.  I settled for a CMC wide body with 245/50-15's on the rear feet.

I totally get that. If a thing is cool to you, it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. There are no shortage of guys that agree. It's a big tent, and we're all a bit loopy over here anyhow (or we'd all be driving new ZO6s or GT350s).

 

Back to this car: I'd happily drive the 911 in question with haste and malice. I would not however, be inclined to sit on the garage floor and stare longingly at it while I smoked my filterless Camels and admire the 6" high spray-can lettering I just stenciled on the back, while heroic music plays in the background. I just couldn't. I could love it for what it was, but never for how it looked.

"The Force" runs deep in my family - I remember helping my older brother 'Glass some gentle (2-1/2") fender flares onto his BMW 1600 so he could run wider rims and tires to make it corner even better (than what, I don't know - it was pretty good to start with).  

 

And as far as the "Older Music".....Show me anything produced as a "Pop Hit" since the 1980's that can hold a candle to the '60's.  It used to be that the performers could even sing and hold pitch.  Now, that's all done for them with software.

Craig, I stand, wait-I'm getting tired (going to sit down) corrected. You can't be an old man, you're a year younger than me (since last Wednesday).

 

Gordon, I grew up with a Model A nut of a father. He taught mechanical engineering (fancy words to describe drawing) at Cal Poly and moonlighted at the S.L.O. city engineers office as draftsman almost every evening for a few hours so he could raise 4 kids and own 8, yes 8 Model A's in various forms of resurrection in our side yard, driveway and garages (x2).

 

Dad ended up with 2 restored, a very rare '31 A-400 (think convertible sedan) and an equally rare '29 roadster. When he passed they both went to a collector in Japan.

 

The Madness runs deep in me as well.

Last edited by Will Hesch

I'm around Stan's age as well. And I agree with him completely. Always loved the older stuff. But had my share of modern stuff I could afford. Two Sciroccos, one Jetta, a new G60 Corrado, a couple Audis, a couple Subarus(9-2X Saab and Leggy GT)

 

Nothing gets me going better than 1950-1970s though. Ur-Quattro coupe, yes,Lancia Stratos, hell yeah! Any Porsche, even the water cooled ones! But I do lean towards Europe, away from the American cars. Don't know why, it just is.

I can't improve on what Stan has said. Coming of age in the early '80s as a car person was a real trial. Leaded gas phase out,* 150-hp Corvettes, Oldsmobile V8s rated at 120 hp. 

 

And the damn whale tales on Porsches, and those stupid, stupid, ubiquitous Countach posters.

 

Friggin' Knight Rider.

 

Just about everything sucked balls. 

 

Don Johnson was cool and drove a cool car on TV. Turns out it was a fake version of a late '60s, early '70s Ferrari. Everything desirable automotive lead backwards at least a decade in those years, until the Buick Grand National came along. 

 

*which turned out to be a really good, and long overdue thing, I found out much later. But at the time it was just minus-2 octane.

Argh.. Terrible.

Visible bolts/with holes on bolt on fenders are for four wheelers not Porsches.

Can't believe they actually say it's like the factory installed it.

Nothing worse than a Ricky road racer rear spoiler that only gives downforce at 120 but on a road car..

Targeting nouveau riche punks for sure.. for the kid who comes into cash and buys a Rolex thinking it's the best watch made.. LOL

Last edited by Dennis Linkletter
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