It is the computer design and drag coefficients that seem to dictate styling
today more than other elements. That is why so many cars look the same. When
it
didn't matter how aerodynamic the car was, but how different it looked, then
cars looked "different"> However, it seems hard to tell many early to mid
'30s cars apart from a distance.
A 32 Model A Ford is not all that different from a Chevy of that same era
untill you get up close.
But the 50-60s ear cars had styling. Harley Earl at GM knew what to do with
a car design and
other companies followed suit. Morgans may be an anachronism, but they have
style. Remember when we used wait for the new model year cars to be
introduced, so we could see the changes? How often
can we say that today? And it's true, how often do kids today look forward
to seeing what next year's
car will look like? Prowlers look different but they're aimed at an older,
richer nostalgic generation, not
GenXers. What does a Miata look like? Can you say Lotus? Low-tus.......
Bang on fellow Morgan drivers! Many of us showed up at the Rheinbeck, NY
aerodrome Saturday along
with some MGs, 2 XKE's and a Porshe 911 (that didn't want to start after the
show...The Morgans [trikes
included] all fired up! Hooray.
----- Original Message -----
From: Vandergraaf, Chuck <vandergraaft@aecl.ca>
To: <LSelz@aol.com>
Cc: <alevisen@gdhscats.org>; <morgans@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 10:04 PM
Subject: RE: Road Trip
> Lannis,
>
> My response to your question/comment "DFL'ers - Are the highways
> more homogenized and colorless than they were, say, in the 50's or 60's?
> Was there more variety then, or did it just seem like it to us? We used
to
> love looking for fastback 49 Chevies, Volkswagens, and suicide-door
> Lincolns. I'm afraid my kids can't tell a Toyota from a Saturn from a
Lexus
> from a Honda, and neither can I. They could care less about modern cars;
my
> 14-year-old is starting to get interested in the non-running MG in my
> shop......." is a definite YES! Sure, there may be more variety in that
we
> now have vans, station wagons, SUVs, roadsters, sedans, etc., but there is
a
> lot of look alike iron out there. Back in the 50s, I used to be able to
> identify a car from quite some distance but ever since the manufacturers
> started to jump on whatever bandwagon that gets them to more sales, it's
> very near impossible to tell one car from another, unless it is a Prowler,
a
> VW bug or a Viper. I also agree with your observation about kids. One of
> our kids doesn't really care what car he drives, as long as it has a good
> stereo system in it. Some years ago I asked my daughter (she was about 14
> at the time) what car one of her classmate's mother had picked her up in.
> Answer: "a blue one." Mind you, once boyfriends-who-like-cars enter the
> scene, it becomes another matter altogether.
> With the homogenizing of cars, no wonder we hang onto Morgans and
> other LBCs. Let's face it, for most of us who need a car to get from
Point
> A to Point B and back, a car has become an appliance, just like a fridge.
> Plug it in or switch it on, it had better perform or we get something
else.
> How many of us have the luxury to rely on a car that needs more than gas
in
> one end and an occasional squirt of oil, antifreeze, and water in the
other?
>
>
> Chuck Vandergraaf
> Pinawa, MB
>
>
>
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