[Racer X 69]

I'd like one, but I can't afford it and sadly the designs are a bit bland. For the money, then need to more whacky.

If they could come up with more interesting design. I mean, the design resources available today far outweigh the tools of yesterday, technical pens and pencils, vellum, straight edges and French curves, and a slide rule.

Today, computational fluid dynamics, 3d parametric design, computers that make a slide rule look like an abacus.

Look at what was created the old fashioned way.


















So maybe, a huge maybe, if they could make something with the style and class of one of these classics, maybe I might be interested.

[lesmore49]

If they could come up with more interesting design. I mean, the design resources available today far outweigh the tools of yesterday, technical pens and pencils, vellum, straight edges and French curves, and a slide rule.

Today, computational fluid dynamics, 3d parametric design, computers that make a slide rule look like an abacus.

Look at what was created the old fashioned way.


















So maybe, a huge maybe, if they could make something with the style and class of one of these classics, maybe I might be interested.

Cars actually had different and in many cases great visuals back then. Now for the most part, no.

[MarkJerling]

If they could come up with more interesting design. I mean, the design resources available today far outweigh the tools of yesterday, technical pens and pencils, vellum, straight edges and French curves, and a slide rule.

Today, computational fluid dynamics, 3d parametric design, computers that make a slide rule look like an abacus.

Look at what was created the old fashioned way.

So maybe, a huge maybe, if they could make something with the style and class of one of these classics, maybe I might be interested.

Thanks to Harley Earl, and GM's Styling department, cars ended being simply means of transport and became inspirational. Somewhere between then an now, the bean counters took over the process and, between that and the need for pedestrian friendly car design, we've morphed into this bland misery that is modern car design. For the most part.

I'd rather be in this:



or this:



(Not my images)

Or this:



At least some manufacturers are not giving us bland misery yet.

[lesmore49]

Thanks to Harley Earl, and GM's Styling department, cars ended being simply means of transport and became inspirational. Somewhere between then an now, the bean counters took over the process and, between that and the need for pedestrian friendly car design, we've morphed into this bland misery that is modern car design. For the most part.

I'd rather be in this:



or this:



(Not my images)

Or this:



At least some manufacturers are not giving us bland misery yet.

Quite true, Mark. I was thinking the same thing with the cars of Harley Earl.

Of the cars you showed...the first one, the Continental is to my mind, one of the most beautiful cars designed....within the top ten of all time. I saw one, in my burg back in either the late '50's, very early '60's. It is a stunningly beautiful car.

[MarkJerling]

Les, 100% agreed. The Continental is without equal. I'd sell a kidney for one.

Ford made no money on each Continental they sold. Every one was sold at a big fat loss. Just the grille alone cost more to make than the price of a brand new full size Ford sedan. They spared no expense on that car.

[savoche]

Square steering wheels haven't entirely gone away – you'll find one in a LaFerrari.




So there you have it, square steering wheels have gone upmarket.

The last time I drove Peugeot it had a squashed steering wheel - not square, but would hardly do a great job as a wheel either...

[savoche]

Look at what was created the old fashioned way.

Pretty, but the wind resistance...

These days all cars look like wind tunnel shaped pieces of soap, and, fair enough, they are all designed in wind tunnels (or simulations thereof). What I don't understand, though, is that when they change a design to make it stand out, they absolutely have to make it ugly

[savoche]

I think they're ahead of the curve with technology in vehicles because traditional vehicles have come to computers in a piecemeal fashion. Basically, every modern car other than Tesla is a car with a whole heap of computers and chips that need to talk to each other and sometimes, they don't talk to each other well. Tesla, on the other hand, is a computer that happens to have wheels. The other car manufacturers have been playing catchup ever since.

True, but from what I see they don't have a stellar track record as far as reliability goes - and they don't really have any old cars on the road. And they have a few strange omissions (at least in Model S), like the lack of cargo bolts in the back, and no height adjustment possibility for the safety belts.

But yeah, they are still head and shoulders above the rest with their tech, especially the auto pilot. The others are gaining momentum, though. The "pilot assist" mode of the Volvo we rented was better than I had expected.

I'd like one, but I can't afford it and sadly the designs are a bit bland. For the money, then need to more whacky.

I think the Model 3 is ok. Nothing spectacular, but at least not butt ugly

Due to the tax breaks for zero emission vehicles they don't cost any/much more than most other family cars here. In 2019 Tesla Model 3 topped the sales charts. Last year it was the Audi eTron - another ugly car.

[savoche]

All done, all looks good. Two polyps removed. Doc said they'll do a biopsy but he doesn't think there's a problem.
Country fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and apple pie down the hatch.
Time for a nice nap.

Good news. Times 3

Rats, it's 9 am and I feel like having a nap, too. Didn't sleep too well last night. No particular reason, it just happens sometimes

[tim60]

Pretty, but the wind resistance...

These days all cars look like wind tunnel shaped pieces of soap, and, fair enough, they are all designed in wind tunnels (or simulations thereof). What I don't understand, though, is that when they change a design to make it stand out, they absolutely have to make it ugly

That is especially true of electric and hybrid models, putting them in the political statement class instead of making them to attract people who may not want to attract attention to themselves.

[StiffLegged]

These days all cars look like wind tunnel shaped pieces of soap, and, fair enough, they are all designed in wind tunnels (or simulations thereof). What I don't understand, though, is that when they change a design to make it stand out, they absolutely have to make it ugly

I used to think car designers had studied under the Mock Turtle, following his list of subjects: Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, leading to the end result: Derision. BMW spoiled the look of some classic designs with that in the Bangle days. Perhaps they expected customers to follow up with Reeling, Writhing and Fainting In Coils.




Some of the credit for ugly cars is also due to regulations requiring space between car bonnet and engine so pedestrians bouncing off your vehicle don’t impact that hot V8 and hurt themselves, as if bouncing off a car by itself didn’t hurt. Tell that to my colleague’s granddaughter run down at the weekend by someone who couldn’t keep eyes on the road.

[MarkJerling]

True, but from what I see they don't have a stellar track record as far as reliability goes - and they don't really have any old cars on the road. And they have a few strange omissions (at least in Model S), like the lack of cargo bolts in the back, and no height adjustment possibility for the safety belts.

But yeah, they are still head and shoulders above the rest with their tech, especially the auto pilot. The others are gaining momentum, though. The "pilot assist" mode of the Volvo we rented was better than I had expected.



I think the Model 3 is ok. Nothing spectacular, but at least not butt ugly

Due to the tax breaks for zero emission vehicles they don't cost any/much more than most other family cars here. In 2019 Tesla Model 3 topped the sales charts. Last year it was the Audi eTron - another ugly car.

I think they have been getting a lot of sometimes undeserved bad press for reliability (mainly because of poor parts availability) but the people I know who have Teslas have not had any issues. The interiors of the cars are OK, but not great and things that annoy is (until recently) few options for towbars etc.
The Model 3 has just come down a lot in price here due to shipping from China rather than the USA and a new electric car rebate by the government which is paid for by taxing large, inefficient petrol and Diesel vehicles. This has caused quite a bit of (rural) backlash as there are no utes available, at this stage, that don't attract this new tax.

[dbs]

Bacon




d

[Racer X 69]

Square steering wheels haven't entirely gone away – you'll find one in a LaFerrari.




So there you have it, square steering wheels have gone upmarket.

I see a P for park.

A Ferarri with an automatic transmission?

Is nothing sacred?

[slartibartfast01]

I see a P for park.



A Ferarri with an automatic transmission?



Is nothing sacred?

Is it just me or is LaFerrari an awful name for a car?