Movie night in Eastern MA, German Car Day in Boston

[Alex Kowalski]

I can see your point about the Mustang not being a "forward-looking" design
but for my tastes, that's what I wanted in a Mustang for once -- a clearer
attempt to evoke the original.  I haven't liked the Mustang's styling *at
all* through any of its recent iterations and in this case, the "back to the
past" lines really work on the car, at least for me.  It's the first Mustang
built during my lifetime that I can honestly say I'd want to buy and be seen
in because of the styling.  I felt the same way when Chevy brough back some
of the "whip" into the lines of the new Corvette seen in profile -- they
brought back the curves, which had been banished to slabs and plinths!
Sharks are not made out of plywood!

In any case, that's where I stand on the New "Old" Mustang.  But you're
dead-on about the Chrysler products.  Neat stuff.

Alex


On 6/1/06, Taka Mizutani <t44tqtro at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Ti-
> You forgot the VW New Beetle- the car is a blatant copy of an old design,
> at least stylistically, with major compromises in mechanical design because
> of the styling. Furthermore, the New Beetle really is nothing special other
> than the styling (having one in the driveway). :-)
>
>
> Taka
>
>
>
> On 6/1/06, Ti Kan <ti at amb.org> wrote:
> >
> > Taka Mizutani writes:
> > > I seriously disagree with your statement that the current Mustang is
> > the
> > > nicest Ford in 20 years. :-)
> >
> > I guess "nice" is in the eye of the beholder... :)
> >
> > My opinion of the new Mustang is that there is a serious lack of
> > creativity.  The car is a virtual caricature of the 1960/70s models,
> > with just a bit of modern lines thrown in.  It's as if Ford has
> > run out of ideas.  The GT40 design also suffers from the same problem.
> >
> > A few styling cues to reflect past heritage is one thing, but
> > I'm more interested in forward-looking designs, not those that
> > just bask in the long-lost past.
> >
> > Ford is not the only company to do this, of course.  Lots of examples
> > of this from many companies, including the recent Dodge Charger concept
> > and the Lamborghini Miura concept.
> >
> > Chrysler's 300/Dodge Magnum and others are an interesting bunch.  They
> > are heavily retro in a very in-your-face kind of way, but not a
> > straight clone of a bygone car.  The extroverted styling had caught
> > on very big with those who like to convert them into rolling
> > pimp-mobiles,
> > though.
> >
> > My opinion is of course contrary to much of the buying public, because
> > they just seem to love these cars.  But then most people don't
> > share the same critical eye and philosphy of car design as I do...
> >
> > At least none of the German companies had fallen into this trap -- Audi,
> > BMW, Mercedes, VW all make models with small retro touches (the TT and
> > BMW Z8 being the most so, but still quite restrained), and nothing that
> > looks like a blatant copy of an old model.
> >
> > -Ti
> >
> >
>