[Tugboatcap]

"Big boobs they are, touch them I must!"

[Cris_H]

If I had the money I would like a Duesenberg circa 1935 or so. No kiddies, it was built in Indiana, not Germany.

Another car I've always been partial to is the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible with the 472 cubic inch engine. If there ever was a more excessive car in weight, chrome, fins, missiles and torpedoes through out its body I've never heard of it. It had in the front bumper a set of tits that would make Chelsea proud. That car by itself supported the South African chromium mines for years and after it all subsequent Caddys toned down the look.

I'm gonna guess those who've spoken about preferring the 30s & 40s cars already knew that Duesies were American cars. 

I too, have always loved the '59 Caddy (the 50s were my favorite era for cars).  I remember a beautiful yellow convertible for sale in my home town when I was in high school.  My friend and I would sigh about that car, but at $6,000 back in the late 70s, it was waaaaaaaaay out of even our dream range.  It's funny to think that the car was less than 20 years old, but it sure felt antique to me at the time.  A few years later I was to buy a nice '59, but not a Cadillac.  I'd never seen one before, at the time, but when I laid my eyes on the white Imperial LeBaron Southhampton hardtop, I was in love!  For $2,000 I bought a car that was in fairly decent condition (still not quite an antique in 1982 while I was in college) and that most people couldn't quite figure out what it was.  All late 50s Mopars had huge tailfins, of course, and the Imperial (it's own marque in those days) had 'em as high as the best of 'em.  More integral with the body than a Caddy from the same year, the fins also had bullets for taillights, but not the dual tiny ones on the narrow Caddy fins.  Instead, the Imperial had a single large bullet for a light for each fin.  A great design, in my opinion.  Here's a link to a page about the '57 - '59 Imperials with a nice pic of the version that I owned, except that mine was white.  I loved the grille on that car, along with the fins.  It barely fit in my mother's garage, with just a mere 2 inches from the rear bumper to the garage door. 

Despite my love affair with Virgil Exner's '59 Imperial, I think my favorite was the '61 Imperial because it was so anachronistic.  Never owned a '61, but I can dream of it if I hit Powerball. 
As you can see in the linked photo of a convertible version, HERE, it was really odd with headlights on stalks and taillights hanging down on stalks from the fins (flip through some of the pix on the site when you get there for great views of the inside & outside).  The fins got sheared the next year, but the headlights remained on stalks for the next two years.  Delightfully crazy. 

[solvegas]

I think I know why I love a lot of these older cars. They were unique compared to today where so many cars today, regardless of where they are made, look the same. Aerodynamics being the same in Detroit, Tokyo and Dusseldorf, cars have this melted butter look. When I was a kid a Caddy was different from a Buick which was different from a Oldsmobile which didn't look like a Pontiac or a Chevy. And Opel might as well be from the Moon even though all these brands were/are General Motors brands. The Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac had 455 cu/in engines but they were distinct and parts were not shared with the exception they all had the same Rochester 4 Barrel carburators. Of course, Chevrolet had the 454 big block and Cadillac had a 500 cu/in monster. So today cars are much, much better in quality, fuel economy, etc, etc but they are mostly rolling appliances that seldomly, if ever, stir the soul. They don't have the panache, pizzaz, confidence and soul of those old cars. They leave me mostly cold and uninterested. When I was young I was subscribed to Motor Trend and several other car magazines and I could not wait to see the new model year cars to see what styling and technical changes they did to cars. Now, they essentially run the same model car  for about 5 years or even longer before they change anything. How boring. I guess it saves money but it leaves me cold. My $0.02. 

[Eliza D]

I remember hearing stories about dealerships papering their glass windows when the new models came in each year so that no one could see the new cars until the official unveiling.  Every year there was a significant model change, as you say, solvegas, although in Europe, that didn't really apply.

However, what strikes me most about going back and looking at old cars prior to the 1970s is that each car company (or marque, may be a better word) basically ONLY SOLD ONE CAR.  Sure, they're were different models, but to my eyes, one 1955 Buick model looked pretty much the same as all of the others.  Can I tell one model of say, a 1938 Studebaker from another?     Not me!  There were different chassis and motors and body shells varied slightly to accommodate the different chassis, but aside from the 'Vette, all the other 1957 Chevys look the same to me (even the station wagons kept the same look in the front).  As the 60s and 70s rolled around and manufacturers began introducing really different models to compete, like the Mustang & Falcon or Chevy II, their costs were probably a lot more.  Look at Chevrolet's line-up today: Spark, Sonic, Cruze, Volt, Malibu, Impala, Camaro & Covette & the truck lines!  There's no way they could substantially change each model every year and remain afloat.

Personally, I feel that car design has woken up a bit in the past decade or two.  The cars from the 80s were generic boxes with no character.  Some interesting lines began to get reintroduced in the 90s, but I think a lot of cars have quite a bit of character today compared to those decades.  That character pales next to cars of the 50 & 60s, but I think there's some nice design flair going on these days.  Just look at the new Ford Fusion, new Mazda 6, Dodge Charger or Cadillac ATS.  Cars from the 80s just put me to **82**.

Oh, and to my eyes, cars from the 20s, 30s & 40s all look the same for any given year.  Just thought I'd mention it. 

[pedonbio]

 There were different chassis and motors and body shells varied slightly to accommodate the different chassis...

Personally, I feel that car design has woken up a bit in the past decade or two.  The cars from the 80s were generic boxes with no character.  

Old geezers always have new ways of being boring, Eliza, but I have to say that you've noticed something true. The process you describe is called "rebadging" and came about in the mid-1970s and reached the pinnacle of awfulness in the early 1980s when you could pay $12,000 for a Cadillac Cimmaron, or you could pay $6,000 for EXACTLY THE SAME CAR with a Chevrolet Citation nameplate on it. Needless to say, the Cimmaron didn't sell nearly so well as the Citation.

And here is a less cutting-edge Duesenberg:

[solvegas]

If I remember correctly, the Cimmaron shared with the Cavalier, not the Citation which was called a mid-size in those days while the Cavalier/Cimmaron was a compact. Regardless, they were disasters which stained GM for at least a couple generations. Even Though the Vega was amazingly bad. One car I remember I wish I'd been able to get was my mother's 1971 Monte Carlo. Perhaps one of the great styling jobs ever from any manufacturer. She actually got it as a gift from my dad as we had just moved to the States in 1970 and it was so snazzy. Red in Color with a black vinyl top, black interior with AC, power steering, power brakes and powered windows  . It also had a AM / FM radio and a dashboard clock  . This was big stuff then. My parents divorced in 1972 and my mom kept the Monte Carlo while my dad was stuck with the Vega. The judge really ass fucked the ol' man. Anyways, we moved from California and went to live in mom's native Texas during the oil boom era of the 1970's in Houston. She got a Realtors license and put a shitload of miles in that car. I joined the Navy in 75 and I had returned from a deployment in 1984 when I found out my mother had traded the Monte Carlo for a goddamn **29**. I asked her how much for a trade in they gave her and she said .... $500.  I told mom I would have given her a lot more if she had waited for me. That car had a 350 small block with a 4 barrel carburator and that long hood and short tail like that Duesenberg Pedonbio posted. Such a pretty car. I would have kept it running even today because drivetrain parts would be easy to get and the car had no computer nothing. Just thinking about it depresess me  . They certaintly don't make 'em like that no more. 

[Eliza D]

Old geezers always have new ways of being boring, Eliza, but I have to say that you've noticed something true. The process you describe is called "rebadging" and came about in the mid-1970s and reached the pinnacle of awfulness in the early 1980s when you could pay $12,000 for a Cadillac Cimmaron, or you could pay $6,000 for EXACTLY THE SAME CAR with a Chevrolet Citation nameplate on it. Needless to say, the Cimmaron didn't sell nearly so well as the Citation.

Yeah, Mercurys spent most of their lives, for the most part, being simply rebadged Fords.  Liked the Ford Maverick but wanted to spend more on a slightly less attractive version?  Well, then, you're in luck because we have a Mercury Comet for you.  There were plenty others and all of the Big Three were guilty of it (and even the Japanese to a lesser degree).  

Oh, Chevy Cavalier is the car you meant to say, not Citation.  The Citation was the next size up, if I recall.  

(edit to note that solvegas beat me to the correction )

[solvegas]

Eliza, do you realize how hot it is that not only do you have a great superstructure, to use a naval term, but that you can talk about cars with a bunch of gearheads ? Chris is a lucky dog. 

[Eliza D]

^You bet your boots, he is!  

And thanks for the complement! 

My current favorite car is the Fisker Karma and I'm really bummed to hear that they just laid-off 160 of their staff of 200.  That car is so damn hot.  The paint looks different depending on the angle and it's electric.  To overcome the possibility of injury to an unsuspecting pedestrian, who may not hear it's approach, the car has speakers to create a false sound so that it sounds like a spaceship or something.  It's very cool, but it looks like it may die a premature death.  Have only seen one on the road and now I know why.  Their battery supplier went out of business and then Fisker, himself, resigned from the company last month, I think.  Doesn't look good.

[Palomine]

That color shifting paint has been around for well over a decade, and was even available by special order on some fairly mundane models from original manufacturers. It was a passing fad more or less... the only time I see it now is on some ratty 12-year-old Mustang or on a custom car in the aftermarket hall at the auto show, where there's so much over-the-top paint, chrome and bondo that retina burns are a distinct possibility. Purple/orange and blue/green seem to be the predominant combinations from a limited palette. If you drive south between LA and San Diego, there's a Disney building on the west side of the freeway that's been painted with the blue/green color shifting paint... it actually works better on a building than a car (IMO, especially since most who see that particular building are driving past it in a straight line at a fixed rate of speed). I googled for a pic of the building (briefly) but didn't find one... then I remembered that I took one myself years ago (it's attached, but being a still it doesn't really show the shifting effect... but you get the idea).

I see Fisker Karmas around now and then (here in LA, where you see pretty much everything at some point) but I see far more Tesla Model S(es) ...I've actually seen 3 or 4 in a single afternoon, though it's possible two of them were the same car spotted at different times. That huge 17" vertically-oriented LCD screen in the middle of the dash seems like it'd be a helluva distraction, but I'm not in their target demo.

The Karma was generally pretty severely dissed by many reviewers in terms of function and ergonomics (no one denies that it's beautiful though). The Model S gets much better reviews generally, but has had some hiccups too (Elon Musk is currently suing the NY Times over it's less-than-stellar review of the Tesla).

The Karma is 'electric' in much the same way the Chevy Volt is electric: electric motors drive the wheels, but power from the battery pack is supplemented by a small, raspy gas engine/generator (which I believe comes from GM as it happens, and is the source of some of the criticism the Karma's received). The Model S is a 'pure' electric like the Nissan Leaf or Tesla's earlier roadster: nothing but batteries. I'm not saying one is better than the other, merely pointing out that the Fisker (and the Volt, and the upcoming Cadillac-badged version of the Volt to be called the ELR) all burn gas at some point even if the driver never exceeds the electric-only range and plugs the car into the grid at night.

I haven't yet had a chance to drive either the Fisker or a Tesla (I'd have to get a haircut to talk a salesman into letting me test drive either of them, and that seems too high a price to pay ). However, I've driven both the Volt and Leaf and they both drove fine: plenty of acceleration and decently usable as cars without making allowances for their power trains. I also drove the EV1 and RAV-4 EV and a few other early electrics years ago too.

I really like cars and have been meaning to reply to this thread earlier w/a list of cars I've yet to know in the Biblical sense but haven't had a chance to sit down and compile a list yet. There are all kinds of old Mercurys and Fords and Auto Union cars that I've lusted for of course, but there are plenty of desirable and interesting cars being made today too (IMO). At some point, I'll make a list.
  

[luvdemwhoppers]

 First car I bought for cash(used)  was a 1963 Impala SS 327 convertible 4 speed.
Not fast, but u got that "boulevard ride." Never owned a Vette, but if I could, it would be the L454
in this color scheme, pumpkin/dark brown interior.

[pedonbio]

First car I bought for cash(used)  was a 1963 Impala SS 327 convertible 4 speed.
Not fast, but u got that "boulevard ride." Never owned a Vette, but if I could, it would be the L454
in this color scheme, pumpkin/dark brown interior.

To each his own, but any time you get to a convention of criminal defense lawyers or psychologists who work with court-ordered felons, mention a client who owns a 'Vette, and you'll get a lot of diagnoses.

[pedonbio]

At some point I should throw into this conversation the name of a now-forgotten American auto dude, E.L. Cord. He was responsible for almost all the spectacular styling in U.S. cars. He owned Auburn Motors, and in 1926 bought the always-financially-shaky Duesenberg company from the brothers (German immigrants) who had founded the company. The Duesenbergs, by the way, didn't patent their various inventions, including hydraulic brakes, because they wanted everybody to be able to work with the inventions.

E.L. was, of course, responsible for the Cord. They were pretty advanced for the mid-1930s:

[solvegas]

That's a gorgeous piece of rolling art. So advanced for its time. I wish I had some real money ..... 

[pedonbio]

That's a gorgeous piece of rolling art. So advanced for its time. I wish I had some real money ..... 

Me, too. It's what Jay Leno does with NBC's money.