{"id":42448,"date":"2015-05-09T23:49:36","date_gmt":"2015-05-09T23:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owegopennysaver.com\/?p=42448"},"modified":"2015-05-09T23:49:36","modified_gmt":"2015-05-09T23:49:36","slug":"collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/","title":{"rendered":"Collector Car Corner – Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were \u2018more different\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Collector<\/a>

Advertisements for a 1968 Mustang Shelby and a photo of the 2015 Mustang Shelby clearly show similar design cues even though 47 years have passed. Staying close to home on design has made the Ford Mustang\u00a0the most successful \u2018Pony Car\u2019 in the history of auto manufacturing. (Ads\/photos complements of Ford motor Company)<\/p><\/div>\n

Q: Dear Greg, I have long been upset at the people who design the new model cars. All the autos look very much alike, and as a former Lincoln Continental owner, I note the new Lincoln. I think it looks very similar to a Honda, Toyota, Ford, Chevy, etc.<\/p>\n

Why don\u2019t the design engineers look at past models that were most popular and incorporate distinguishing features into the new design?<\/p>\n

Personally, I would like to see a flat hood, not curved, with some old fashioned headlights that have the modern capabilities as to power yet still look like one of their distinguishing models of the past. I want to know when I see a car coming it is a Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz or a Ford. I feel every auto has some excellent design features in the past but few designers take it into account and they all look alike. This is a shame and we are the losers. Sincerely yours, Bill Witthuhn, Coeur\u2019d Alene, Idaho, 13815.<\/p>\n

A: Bill, thanks much for your letter and I\u2019ll let you know up front one of the world\u2019s top auto designers, namely the late Harley Earl, has a grandson (Richard) who reads this column. Maybe he\u2019ll send us his thoughts for us all to enjoy on the subject. (Richard Earl has been featured on these pages before).<\/p>\n

\"Collector<\/a>In my opinion, you are correct that the majority of today\u2019s modern cars are getting close to \u201ccookie cutter\u201d dimensions and design, especially the mid-size and full-size units. Most have very similar design traits and to make matters worse, there are way more foreign manufacturers building cars. This makes it even more difficult to distinguish a vehicle than the days gone by.\u00a0 In 1959, for example, Chevy had a full-size car in three flavors, Impala, Bel Air or Biscayne. Other than trucks and a Corvette to choose from, that was pretty much it. Regardless, you sure knew it was a Chevy coming down the road.\u00a0 Same goes for all the other models from the big three back then, be it Ford Galaxie or Plymouth Belvedere.<\/p>\n

Today, there are a few builders who have done what you say, and are successful. The Ford Mustang, Volkswagen Beetle, Porsche Carrera and Dodge Challenger come quick to mind, as these\u00a0modern vehicles still evoke design cues from the past successfully. I\u2019ve said many times in the past that if Chrysler ever found the tooling for a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere GTX, and then built it like they do the Challenger, I\u2019d\u00a0be the first one at the dealership to order one!<\/p>\n

As for novel modern day expression, foreign manufacturer Nissan (formerly Datsun) had always been ahead of the curve when it came to design that push the envelope. (IE: the Nissan Juke). Nissan has never been afraid to introduce a new design, which certainly costs a lot of money in modern day car building than it did in the past when a \u201cnew design\u2019 meant a hood, grille and fender enhancement on the same chassis. The reality of today is that the electronics, mechanicals and safety offerings probably overrule design budgets more so than we realize.<\/p>\n

Still, I believe as you do that certain popular design traits from the past can be included in modern day design, allowing for more identification properties.\u00a0Perhaps someone reading this column employed in the car design business will give us his or her thoughts on the subject.<\/p>\n

Overall, there are millions of happy Mustang owners that to this day, love the retro styling of the world\u2019s first ever \u201cPony Car.\u201d I know I do. (See photos). Thanks again Bill and have a good day.<\/p>\n

(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader input on old cars, auto nostalgia or old-time motorsports at 303 Roosevelt St., Sayre, Pa. 18840 or email at greg@gregzyla.com)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q: Dear Greg, I have long been upset at the people who design the new model cars. All the autos look very much alike, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":42450,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nCollector Car Corner - Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were \u2018more different\u2019 - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Collector Car Corner - Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were \u2018more different\u2019 - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q: Dear Greg, I have long been upset at the people who design the new model cars. All the autos look very much alike, and...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-09T23:49:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2015\/05\/WGOPCar_Collector21.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1222\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"opennysaver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"opennysaver\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/\",\"name\":\"Collector Car Corner - Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were \u2018more different\u2019 - Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2015\/05\/WGOPCar_Collector21.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-09T23:49:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e90b97e3c9fe75a643c31b3439ed7b15\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2015\/05\/WGOPCar_Collector21.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2015\/05\/WGOPCar_Collector21.jpg\",\"width\":850,\"height\":1222,\"caption\":\"Collector Car Corner - Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were \u2018more different\u2019\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Collector Car Corner – Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were \u2018more different\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\",\"name\":\"Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e90b97e3c9fe75a643c31b3439ed7b15\",\"name\":\"opennysaver\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9bec4be7017247fe88bfa55f4162d3e4f733b538d1e5778a56aec357ba2765b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9bec4be7017247fe88bfa55f4162d3e4f733b538d1e5778a56aec357ba2765b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"opennysaver\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/opennysaver\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Collector Car Corner - Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were \u2018more different\u2019 - Owego Pennysaver Press","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Collector Car Corner - Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were \u2018more different\u2019 - Owego Pennysaver Press","og_description":"Q: Dear Greg, I have long been upset at the people who design the new model cars. All the autos look very much alike, and...","og_url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/","og_site_name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/","article_published_time":"2015-05-09T23:49:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":850,"height":1222,"url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2015\/05\/WGOPCar_Collector21.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"opennysaver","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"opennysaver","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/","name":"Collector Car Corner - Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were \u2018more different\u2019 - Owego Pennysaver Press","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2015\/05\/WGOPCar_Collector21.jpg","datePublished":"2015-05-09T23:49:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e90b97e3c9fe75a643c31b3439ed7b15"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2015\/05\/WGOPCar_Collector21.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2015\/05\/WGOPCar_Collector21.jpg","width":850,"height":1222,"caption":"Collector Car Corner - Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were \u2018more different\u2019"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/05\/09\/collector-car-corner-car-enthusiast-wishes-new-model-designs-were-more-different\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Collector Car Corner – Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were \u2018more different\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/","name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e90b97e3c9fe75a643c31b3439ed7b15","name":"opennysaver","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9bec4be7017247fe88bfa55f4162d3e4f733b538d1e5778a56aec357ba2765b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9bec4be7017247fe88bfa55f4162d3e4f733b538d1e5778a56aec357ba2765b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"opennysaver"},"url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/opennysaver\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}