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50 Years of Ugly Cars --You Be The Judge! - READ ONLY

54 messages,  Last post on Nov 10, 2010 at 6:09 PM

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What is this discussion about? Car Buying, Automotive News, Classic Cars, Coupe, Convertible

Messages Page 6 of 6

#46 of 54 Re: So Ugly They're Cool! [uplanderguy] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Nov 10, 2010 (9:37 am)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Nov 10, 2010 9:26 am)
Young people seem to like the sense of the "ironic" and the grotesque. I often see them buying these cheaper old cars because they are so weird. I surmised that it's all about the urge to be different within the very conformist culture that we live in--by that I mean mass marketing is selling all of us the same things. How else could you explain the enormous automotive aftermarket for customization?
 
So yeah, you can't get much weirder than a '61 Ambassador, or buying some other ugly duckling and showing it off---because you'll be one of the few people to have one.
 
It's a kind of cheap celebrity, really.
 
Some people dress like Elvis. Some try to win the Ugly Dog Contest. It's like that.

#47 of 54 Still think that it's tough to get uglier than this by gsemike

Nov 10, 2010 (11:14 am)

http://www.tbirdranch.com/1970.JPG

#48 of 54 Re: Still think that it's tough to get uglier than this [gsemike] by andre1969

Nov 10, 2010 (11:28 am)

Replying to: gsemike (Nov 10, 2010 11:14 am)
Yeah, those beak-nosed '70-71 T-birds were pretty grotesque up front. Shame, because I thought the '67-69 models were pretty nice. I never really cared for the big, overblown '72-76 T-bird either. The '72 was kind of ugly, but after that, it just sort of morphed into what looked like an overgrown intermediate Torino. The Mark IV was so much more tasteful looking I thought, and by that time, probably didn't cost a whole lot more than a T-bird, so I'd imagine most buyers just bought it instead.

#49 of 54 Re: So Ugly They're Cool! [Mr_Shiftright] by fintail

Nov 10, 2010 (3:20 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Nov 10, 2010 9:37 am)
Speaking of a young people trend, I have noticed hipster types in my area gravitating towards old Darts and Valiants - slant 6 cars. Likely due to low price, durability, and a little funkiness. But it's cool in a way to see the under 30-something crowd wanting plain old cars.

#50 of 54 Re: So Ugly They're Cool! [fintail] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Nov 10, 2010 (3:41 pm)

Replying to: fintail (Nov 10, 2010 3:20 pm)
Well for one thing they are a lot easier, and far less expensive, to fix than just about any other "old" American car. I mean, a big old 60s Cadillac 4-door for $6000 bucks might seem like a really cool surf car or "art" car to drive to Burning Man or some such, but finding parts, working on those huge yachts, and buying the gas for them is not something many 20-somethings are prepared to do.
 
A Dodge Dart you can fix with parts you buy from Home Depot.

#51 of 54 Re: So Ugly They're Cool! [Mr_Shiftright] by fintail

Nov 10, 2010 (4:44 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Nov 10, 2010 3:41 pm)
I suppose a 71 Valiant is pretty much the automotive equivalent of a fixie bicycle too.

#52 of 54 Re: Buick, Oldmobile [lemko] by xrunner2

Nov 10, 2010 (5:44 pm)

Replying to: lemko (Nov 10, 2010 7:13 am)
OK. I see the photo of the garish, grotesque Buick and I think back to a saying years ago: "It is so FAR OUT that it is IN." With that qualification, the 58 Buick is a very "IN" car. If someone had one in my area and brought it to car shows, everyone would be gawking at it. Teens, twenty-thirty somethings would say, what the heck is that?

#53 of 54 Size of the trunk by xrunner2

Nov 10, 2010 (5:48 pm)

and just learned that the Limited was actually 8" longer than the Roadmaster...227.1" versus 219.1". I guess all that extra length was in the rear deck?
 
 
Yeah. And that was a very important specification back in the 50's-60's in the Chicago area. The size of the trunk.

#54 of 54 Plenty ugly from Japan by sda

Nov 10, 2010 (6:09 pm)

A few come to mind. My sister had a 1973 Subaru 1300 GT. Dreadful looking. The Datsun F-10, B-210 and 1977 240SX none too pretty either.

Messages Page 6 of 6

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