Anyone miss the good ol' days

"Alfalfa" (alfalfa-romeo) 07/24/2018 at 11:20 • Filed to: Pepperidge farm remembers, Slideshow

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When automakers weren’t copying each other’s designs?

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2Fast2Furious: Rotary Powered > Alfalfa 07/24/2018 at 11:30

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Mx6 tho

fintail > Alfalfa 07/24/2018 at 11:30

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These still look a lot different than some modern copycat stuff, more differentiating small details . And no DLO fail nor faux floating C-pillar, so they have that going for them, which is nice.

jimz > Alfalfa 07/24/2018 at 11:32

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RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Alfalfa 07/24/2018 at 11:33

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There’s a photo pair I saw once made to expound on this. It was something like 30 1939 model cars from behind/side and from the front. From behind, it was all a sea of non-descriptness, but up front, a whole bunch of wild variation on a theme.

One of the major reasons for it back in the late ‘20s -early ‘40s was that Budd provided process support for the move to steel bodies to basically everybody all over, and Budd’s processes, the earlier the simpler, tended to encourage a level of homogeneity, or even nearly the same pressings.

The “Ruxton”, which came out at the same time as the Cord and was also FWD - expensive, luxurious, and revolutionary in its own right - was actually made with leftover Budd dies for Wolseleys that were widened. I shit you not.

Alfalfa > fintail 07/24/2018 at 11:38

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Yeah, I'm gonna have to heavily disagree with you there. I can't think of 2 modern cars that look nearly as similar as half the cars in that slideshow

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Alfalfa 07/24/2018 at 11:39

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Not only have they always copied each other, they used to actually brag about having done so.

Gerry197 > Alfalfa 07/24/2018 at 11:42

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When were they not trying to copy each other’s designs?

Alfalfa > Gerry197 07/24/2018 at 11:45

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Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > jimz 07/24/2018 at 11:52

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I love these cars, and I still struggle to be able to identify them.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Alfalfa 07/24/2018 at 11:53

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Here’s a fun one I ran across a while back. 1965 El Camino:

1968 Ranchero:

fintail > Alfalfa 07/24/2018 at 11:53

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I think back in the day, there was a design language that almost everyone used, be it two boxes, crude streamlining, torpedo bodies, etc.  These were differentiated by small details.

Today we have different design languages, but designers aping each other.

And so on

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > fintail 07/24/2018 at 11:55

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The bits between the wheels are indistinguishable from each other.

Alfalfa > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 07/24/2018 at 12:05

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This one nearly made it in the slideshow, but I already had 2 comparisons from that era and only one from any others.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > fintail 07/24/2018 at 12:09

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Yep. Also, a lot of it lies in what differences the eye is trained to look for. When I was playing LA Noire for the first time, it took about a day to get past the “sea of ‘40s-shaped insect cars” to the point of noticing what set models apart.

fintail > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 07/24/2018 at 12:11

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I think that’s it, the eye or mind becomes accustomed to different things. The ba sic shape of those old cars is indeed very similar, but some proportions, and especially the trim and grilles, differentiate them.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > fintail 07/24/2018 at 12:15

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One of the principal differences from the rear ends up being the shape of the corners of the rear windows, and another is bumper style - another still is where the mating line of the rear fenders is, and another is the degree of protrusion of the trunk. Different manufacturers had *drastically* different bustleback designs, but nobody is used to seeing anything like any of them anymore, so...

fintail > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 07/24/2018 at 13:22

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Windows are a key that many overlook, I think. Window corners/angles/shapes in general, and window to roof proportions are helpful to differentiate these old cars when a grille isn’t visible.  The trunk and fenders help too, as you mention.  I don’t find the old cars more identical or difficult than modern cars.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > fintail 07/24/2018 at 13:36

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For a time here on Oppo we had old photos coming up on a regular basis from the 20s and 30s and even teens, so I daresay I have spent a lot of time digging out the necessary cues. Given that I managed to ID ttyymmnn’s Armstrong Siddeley last week, I don’t think I’m doing too badly. One of the first ones I really threw out a lot of time on was a Dodge.

Mind you, that extremely small manufacturer roadster in the snow accident in New York ttyymmnn posted a couple months ago had me flummoxed for a time. I only got it from getting lucky.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > fintail 07/24/2018 at 13:44

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Nobody wants to be original. If they do and it sells well, then everyone copies them.

It’s the same thing that happens with Apple products. They added the notch to the X, which sold like hotcakes, and now literally every manufacturer is making phones in the exact same size with a notch.

Companies tend to be very risk-averse, so they’ll hedge their bets on a “safe” design rather than actually try something different and risk a loss.

fintail > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 07/24/2018 at 13:45

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I can do 30s cars pretty well, I think, 20s cars also aren’t bad if you have a grille (or they are a Model T, those stick out). This all might be because I liked the cars when I was a kid, and studied them.

Small makers, or some foreign cars, can be really tough.

fintail > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 07/24/2018 at 13:49

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I think there’s a lot more copycat-ism today than in the past. There’s no shame in it, and if it sells, why not?  Toyota can be a bit out there, and few Toyolex designs will be considered timeless in 30 years, but they sell.

Sadly, much original design today is bad, and some of it will sell, just because of the badge.  

As an aside, the notch bugs me, but I am not in that cult anyway.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > fintail 07/24/2018 at 13:55

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There’s a few standouts in just general design - Ford with the Flex and Transit Connect being relatively unique in a world of Lifted Hatchbacks(tm), but everything still looks the same, just with a different nose. Looks like the TConnect sells fine, but the Flex, not so much - I think the issue with the Flex is that it’s just aimed way too high in the market, and should have been aimed at a lower price band to help steal sales away from the Pacifica and other “large” minivans.

True - brand loyalty seems to be the biggest thing in this case. I’m in a family that doesn’t have too much brand loyalty, but my extended family is diehard “GM or die”. I guess that’s why they can get away with trying to copy a shape to a T and just dropping their design language onto it.  

I do not like the notch. I am still a sucker for the traditional slide-out keyboard. My Brightside had a nice keyboard that despite its membrane nature had some really nice tactility. It’s too bad it was hampered by Brew Mobile.

fintail > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 07/24/2018 at 22:01

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I agree with the Flex - it is definitely unique, and would be hard to imitate, at least profitably. The vans too, probably - things like that really need to be “world cars” to run in the black.

I just want a good camera with my phone, and I like a large screen.  Not into the Apple universe, so I will keep away.