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50 Worst Cars of All Time

405 messages,  Last post on Apr 05, 2010 at 1:57 PM

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What is this discussion about? Automotive News, Classic Cars, Coupe, Convertible, Truck, Sedan, Wagon

Messages Page 41 of 41

#396 of 405 Re: well.... [euphonium] by texases

Apr 04, 2010 (6:23 pm)

Replying to: euphonium (Apr 04, 2010 5:55 pm)
I like the new Jags too, finally looking ahead rather than to the past.

#397 of 405 Re: well.... [Mr_Shiftright] by berri

Apr 04, 2010 (8:26 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Apr 04, 2010 12:02 pm)
Always get a kick out of your wording Mr. S! I pretty much agree with your historical chronology. I think the 60's was the high point of postwar design and the mid to late 50's the most expressive. The difference between the first and second golden age was that the second one was about vehicles for the masses while the first was more cars for the rich and famous. I'm a little nervous that the near future is going to bring a return of the mid 70's with new regulations and restrictions putting a choke hold on design just as it is getting a bit more expressive recently.

#398 of 405 Re: well.... [texases] by berri

Apr 04, 2010 (8:36 pm)

Replying to: texases (Apr 04, 2010 3:39 pm)
I'm thinking the US tends to be the design leader. The Europeans have kind of flat lined lately. I think Audi has kind of gone about as far as they can with their look, BMW and MB have improved a bit, but still have some cheap trim for their prices. Jag, Volvo, et. al. - their new designs are a mixed bag. The Asians tend to not be style leaders, although Korea is taking some chances lately. Honda/Acura has gone downhill and Toyo tends to get weird when they veer from their conservative roots. If Chrysler survives and gets its verve back, maybe combining with the Italians will lead to some neat stuff.

#399 of 405 Re: well.... [berri] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Apr 04, 2010 (10:51 pm)

Replying to: berri (Apr 04, 2010 8:36 pm)
Very interesting comments.
 
It is true that it's hard for a truly lovely car to be a "worst car". As with lovely people, they can say the stupidest things and still be constantly forgiven.
 
Also interesting what you said about the 1st and 2nd Golden Age, how one was for the wealthy and the 2nd for the masses. That's quite correct. Maybe that's why we know so little of the faults of the wealthy persons' cars made back then. Their myth might be way better than their reality.
 
Japanese styling has always been also-ran, IMO. They are like the Microsoft of car design. The Italians are like Apple. Ferrari doesn't ask a focus group what they want---Ferrari *tells* you what you want.
 
German design is pretty good now. Audi really lit the spark for them in the mid 90s. The TT was a ground-breaker. Germans are very conservative designers. They have techno-pride, not so much beauty-pride.
 
But yeah, American cars aren't like....startlingly new or anything, but they have some vitality at least, once again. You can at least look forward to what might be next year's models. You don't have to cringe anymore. I give credit to Chrysler for that, goofy as some of their cars were these last ten years.

#402 of 405 Re: well.... [Mr_Shiftright] by euphonium

Apr 05, 2010 (10:36 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Apr 04, 2010 10:51 pm)
we know so little of the faults of the wealthy persons' cars made back then. Their myth might be way better than their reality.
 
The Packards, Cads, Roadmasters, Lincolns were built of higher quality. Even into the 90's Lincoln's Wixom plant issued 33 Town Cars an hour while the Mark VIII's were given more detailed attention at the rate of 11 an hour.
 
In the last 15 years our Town Car has surpassed our T Bird in quality and lower frequency of repairs. Both have the same 4.6L V8 and other similar components, but the Linc is a better vehicle.

#403 of 405 Re: well.... [euphonium] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Apr 05, 2010 (1:04 pm)

Replying to: euphonium (Apr 05, 2010 10:36 am)
they certainly had been built of better materials but it's hard to say if they ran any better or longer than a Model A Ford. Many luxury cars of the 30s were quite fussy automobiles in their own fashion. A few had serious weaknesses. Coach-built (hand built) bodies were generally rattle-traps once they got loosened up on the road.

#404 of 405 Re: well.... [Mr_Shiftright] by fintail

Apr 05, 2010 (1:10 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Apr 05, 2010 1:04 pm)
Kind of like today...even a pink of perfection Lexus is going to age more poorly than a Camry just because of complexity.

#405 of 405 Re: well.... [fintail] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Apr 05, 2010 (1:57 pm)

Replying to: fintail (Apr 05, 2010 1:10 pm)
Dealer technicians are often just one page ahead of us in the workshop manual. It's getting hard to keep up.
 
Wasn't there some kind of singularity theory which suggested that as technology speeds up and up, that one day we'll buy a computer at Best Buy, or a music player, or a video device, and by the time we get it home, they'll have a new model on the shelves with a completely new storage system and it won't read any of our data on our "new" one?

Messages Page 41 of 41

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