Why are modern cars so ugly

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I don't the issue is with "cars" as much as it is the Generic mini van/CUV/crossover things that all look the same.

I would actually say crossovers are ruining the industry most make a lowered Pontiac Aztec look beautiful.


If you have trouble identifying your favorite model here is a graph of them.

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That Vette is WAY overcooked.

Ill take the C8

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Camry ain't no fun to drive.

I'll Take my '65 Buick or a '63 Galaxie 500 any day.

Kids these days!
 
Originally Posted by Miller88
To me, all 40s, 50s and early 60s cars look the same. A 1949 Ford, Chrysler, Chevrolet sedan all look identical to me. If there was no badging, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart.

Au contraire (excluding trucks — sorta). Look up a '49 Ford and a '49 Chev. The Ford isn't called a shoebox for nothing. Or a '59 Ford and a '59 Chev. They're polar opposites. It would be hard to confuse a '57 Chrysler Anything, with fins shorting out power lines, to a '57 Ford Anything or '57 GM Anything.

Even pre-war-design '48 Fords, Dodges and Chevs. The Ford (one of the ugliest cars ever made, IMO) stands out as a pregnant Volkswagen bug. The Dodge and Chev are as different as chalk and cheese.
 
White cars have become popular (#1 choice globally now) because white tends to hide the eyesore lines and creases in the sheetmetal...That's my theory.

I particularly like: "I want you to feel like I hate you personally...Because I do". That defines postmodernism.

Note to car makers - If a "Designer" shows up for the interview wearing all black and/or has a bad haircut on purpose...Don't hire them!
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Yeah, GM should have taken the crayons away from the Corvette Designers a little sooner but the look is not a deal-breaker.
 
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Originally Posted by ChemLabNL
White cars have become popular (#1 choice globally now) because white tends to hide the eyesore lines and creases in the sheetmetal...That's my theory.


It a good thought and I wish it was true, but the "popularity" of white and monochrome vehicles is simply a function of cost control. The jewel tone color pigments are way more expensive than white. I read up on this years ago, but you will have to take my word for it because I don't want to go back and do the search. Here is one quick snippet I found:

Compare $10 to $20 for a pound of dry earth color like yellow ochre, to $60 to $150 per pound for cadmium red, compared to $2000 to $4000 dollars for a pound of pure powdered lapis lazuli blue pigment. You get the idea.

White / monochrome is "popular" because thats what generally available on lots. lf there are 10X or 20X more white cars on the lot than blue ones for example, white ones will obviously sell many more.
 
I happen to love white vehicles, they just seem "clean" to me. My other choice is that Sunburst orange that Dodge had for awhile, or B5 blue. What I can't stand is the primer gray colors, Destroyer grey, Stealth grey... it's clear coated primer!
 
Originally Posted by gfh77665
Originally Posted by ChemLabNL
White cars have become popular (#1 choice globally now) because white tends to hide the eyesore lines and creases in the sheetmetal...That's my theory.


It a good thought and I wish it was true, but the "popularity" of white and monochrome vehicles is simply a function of cost control. The jewel tone color pigments are way more expensive than white. I read up on this years ago, but you will have to take my word for it because I don't want to go back and do the search. Here is one quick snippet I found:

Compare $10 to $20 for a pound of dry earth color like yellow ochre, to $60 to $150 per pound for cadmium red, compared to $2000 to $4000 dollars for a pound of pure powdered lapis lazuli blue pigment. You get the idea.

White / monochrome is "popular" because thats what generally available on lots. lf there are 10X or 20X more white cars on the lot than blue ones for example, white ones will obviously sell many more.


It's an interesting theory, but it's basically the dealers that end up ordering the cars and they order the colors that will sell. When I look at the build sheets, all the colors basically cost the same, there's an extra surcharge for a few designo colors.

White has also been considered a safe color, it's the most visible.
 
Its not a theory. What I read about the move to almost all white and monochrome was purely a cost control measure for the auto makers. What would make the buying public suddenly want all white/monochrome after choosing from a spectrum of popular auto colors for many decades? At a time when todays culture is all about individuality?

Again, if 90% are all white/monochrome, then by definition, thats what will inevitibly have to sell.
 
Originally Posted by gfh77665
Its not a theory. What I read about the move to almost all white and monochrome was purely a cost control measure for the auto makers. What would make the buying public suddenly want all white/monochrome after choosing from a spectrum of popular auto colors for many decades? At a time when todays culture is all about individuality?

Again, if 90% are all white/monochrome, then by definition, thats what will inevitibly have to sell.


Well don't forget to include black in that. That seems even more popular than white. I don't mind white, but I hate black, too hot. But there's lots of black cars out there with black interiors. I always get a lot of comments about how light colors show dirt more. But I have light color interiors and its' easy to keep them clean, they don't really get dirty, I just wipe them down every few months. Basically I get the feeling that they're just too lazy to clean the car once in a while.

Oh here's a reason for you. There's a reason that a certain red color is called arrest me red. Stands out too much so people don't want to stand out that much. Look at the murdered look. That's only a factory option because there's demand for it. The automakers will make whatever the demand is. Very few people custom order cars anymore so it's really the dealers that are ordering what they think will sell.
 
Because white, silver, and black tends to be less offensive and you can sell it faster, instead of having to wait for the right buyer. I would never buy a pale green car or a brown car with red interior, unless it is $7k off the usual price.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359

Well don't forget to include black in that.


I didn't. Black is part of the "white / monochrome" I described, as is grey and silver.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359

Very few people custom order cars anymore so it's really the dealers that are ordering what they think will sell.


Dealers get the inventory the manufacturer sends to them, with few exceptions. Dealers might specify "more pickups in TX, Prius in CA, and small cars in NY" but they don't pick out colors vehicle by vehicle.
 
Originally Posted by gfh77665
Originally Posted by Wolf359

Very few people custom order cars anymore so it's really the dealers that are ordering what they think will sell.


Dealers get the inventory the manufacturer sends to them, with few exceptions. Dealers might specify "more pickups in TX, Prius in CA, and small cars in NY" but they don't pick out colors vehicle by vehicle.



I know my dealer tends to order what he thinks will sell. So everything on the lot has a particular suite of options that, based on his experience, most buyers are looking for. When I custom ordered my 2020 I omitted two of those options:
1. The pano moonroof
2. The centre console CD Player

Both of which my 2016 had because it was a demo and he had ordered it to sell. My wife's truck was spec'd in a similar manner, for example, he NEVER orders 2WD trucks, because nobody wants them. He'll order a mix of limited slip with 3.92's (my wife's truck) and highway gears without the limited slip option. Some will have the 8.4" UConnect screen, others get the big double height one. They ALL get the pano sunroof and some will get the trailer tow mirrors (usually the ones with the 3.92's) and some won't (highway gear trucks).

When he orders Chargers, Challengers...etc he again always tries to make them attractive to potential buyers and always has a Hellcat or similar that he's custom spec'd in the showroom, which somebody always ends up buying. That's how I ended up with my 2014 for example.

AFAIK, he gets to pick and choose what he gets as inventory, FCA doesn't just send him stuff.
 
Originally Posted by Jimkobb
Why are modern drivers so ugly?
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I was much prettier when I was younger.
 
I can't say much, as I have parked in my garage a fine example of British engineering that was a basically a Minor(in itself an attractive car, but not terribly distinctive compared to other small 50s/60s cars) stetched out a bit and fitted with a "boxy" 70s body style...then given the pretext of being "sporting" by omitting two doors and kind of sort of making it a hatchback looking car that's not really a hatchback. To add to the overall look, it has massive blocky rubber/chrome Federal-spec bumpers. It is at least a nice pretty blue color, though
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By and large, though, the desire for aerodynamics and fuel efficiency has made modern designs on the whole bland to me. There's still some manufacturer-specific features that stand out, but to my eye a lot of cars started losing their individual identity sometime in the early 2000s. This has ebbed and flowed, though, as the distinctive 50s and 60s designs gave way to box, bland 70s and 80s designs(with a few stand-outs) that then again started getting a lot more identifiable in the 90s and 2000s.
 
Originally Posted by Jimkobb
Why are modern drivers so ugly?
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Because about half of them are overweight and the millennial have no interest in cars so you just get old people as drivers mostly.
 
I don't think they're all ugly, but I do think pedestrian safety regulations and the quest for aerodynamics has taken a toll on some of them (Uh hem, Nissan).

IMO, the Camry has come a long way, looks-wise. The last time I liked the looks was gen 4, when it was almost indistinguishable from a Maxima, from a distance. But this current generation, while a little overwrought (I'm not a lover of fake vents) looks good. I'd actually own one, if looks alone was enough.

The modern cars that hurt my eyes are the thankfully-departed Nissan cube, Scion xB, Nissan Juke and Honda Element. They appeared deliberately ugly, as if visually offensive was the goal. I don't think aerodynamics can be blamed for these, as they were all rolling boxes, except the insect-looking Juke.

The last time I truly loved the looks of an Accord was 1993. They caught my eye again in 2015, but by 2018, they'd uglified it again when they joined the blunt-nose, huge grille trend.

My favorite design right now belongs to BMW's 8 coupe, which surprises me, because I haven't liked the looks of any BMW in a very long time.

There's beauty to be had out there, but most of it carries a steep price tag.
 
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