*** HB Misc Topic bullsh#t Thread ***

Ok, so we went through a pair of oil crises in the 1970s leading into the 1980s...

So why were cars in the 1980s the biggest, least aerodynamic, boxiest, ugliest behemoths that the roads of the world had ever seen? Did we not discover "fuel economy" until the mid-1990s or what? Did we look at all the gorgeous cars of the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s and just gouge our eyes out with spoons and say "f#*k it?"

I owned one of these for a couple of years.

Oldsmobile_Delta_88_1985.jpeg


The life vests were under the seats, and it had an unfortunate scratch all the way down the starboard side. It had a freaking 5.0L V-8 and got about 8mpg in town (I actually calculated this for myself). But most of the popular mid and full-size cars looked similar to this, and many that i've seen were unfortunate shades of gray/sage/light blue/brown. What in the world happened in the 80s???

 
tschu said:
Ok, so we went through a pair of oil crises in the 1970s leading into the 1980s...

So why were cars in the 1980s the biggest, least aerodynamic, boxiest, ugliest behemoths that the roads of the world had ever seen? Did we not discover "fuel economy" until the mid-1990s or what? Did we look at all the gorgeous cars of the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s and just gouge our eyes out with spoons and say "f#*k it?"

I owned one of these for a couple of years.

Oldsmobile_Delta_88_1985.jpeg
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You're neglecting a whole crap-load of little lame cars from that decade man. I remember most cars being smaller.

http://www.complex.com/sports/2013/02/the-50-worst-cars-of-the-80s/oldsmobile-firenza

 
Smaller...and equally boxy and ugly!

Cool link. I scrolled through and counted 6 cars that incorporated a curve of any type into its body design. 3 of those 6 were supercars and an additional 1 of them was a Mercedes. The rest...well...

 
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tschu said:
Smaller...and equally boxy and ugly!
Click to expand...
Yes. I started driving with a 1983 chevy cavalier. It were a piece of sh#t and didn't even have a mirror on the passenger side apparently cause that was too much money to add. I'm proud that my vehicle made the top 10 of shitiness.

 
I won't lie...my boat was ridiculously awesomely bad. It was so heavy and the suspension so terrible that you could just glide right over any speed bump or obstacle with no disturbance at all. Even if it was "sage green" and used up half of the US petroleum reserves I enjoyed having a car that I could treat like utter garbage (cuz that's what it was) with almost no consequences. It's probably living a second life as a demolition derby car right now.

 
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tschu said:
I won't lie...my boat was ridiculously awesomely bad. It was so heavy and the suspension so terrible that you could just glide right over any speed bump or obstacle with no disturbance at all. Even if it was "sage green" and used up half of the US petroleum reserves I enjoyed having a car that I could treat like utter garbage (cuz that's what it was) with almost no consequences. It's probably living a second life as a demolition derby car right now.
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Those big cars drive nice on gravel roads as well.

Just thought I'd add: Nothing says you've given up on your dreams like driving a Ford Tempo. Just the sight of that car makes me sad. I just want to hug the owner and tell them that everything is going to be okay.

 
I feel like the toyota corolla is the modern equivalent - although not as terrible. Out of all the options, you chose the corolla? Please, don't make any decisions ever again.

 
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tschu said:
Smaller...and equally boxy and ugly!

Cool link. I scrolled through and counted 6 cars that incorporated a curve of any type into its body design. 3 of those 6 were supercars and an additional 1 of them was a Mercedes. The rest...well...
Click to expand...
1973-chevrolet-monte-carlo-side.jpg


Plenty of curves on this baby. This is what I drove in high school. Except mine had a black landau top. It got around 12 mpg, as I recall. Good times!
default_laugh.png


 
Tschu the answer to your question is simply, the Japanese.

It's ironic that from the mid 90s on it was the opposite of the 80s. Everything was rounded and there wasn't an angle to be found.

 
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I know right?

Look at like a 2001 Ford Taurus or an '04 Corolla... they look like Jelly Beans with wheels

Honestly I find the evolution of automobile design to be pretty fascinating. Design in general is pretty fascinating actually.

 
tschu said:
I know right?

Look at like a 2001 Ford Taurus or an '04 Corolla... they look like Jelly Beans with wheels

Honestly I find the evolution of automobile design to be pretty fascinating. Design in general is pretty fascinating actually.
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As do I. I absolutely love cars, and styling fascinates me. I always wanted to be a designer, but I never thought I could draw well enough to do that. Hoping someday I'll get to work on design in an engineering roll though.

A couple years ago I thought we were going to see a revival of great styling, maybe the silver age, but it hasn't panned out quiet as well as I thought it would. Don't get me wrong there are some absolutely beautiful cars being made now (Mercedes, Cadillac, BMW, Audii, even Chevy has stepped it up.), but there's so much copy and pasting going on it's gross. Ford's line up it atrocious. The Mustang, while nice, just looks like a hodge podge to me.

 
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Ford has basically mailed it in for two decades on the Mustang.

This is like completely bizarre and backwards, but Chevy and Cadillac have outstanding lineups right now. It's absurd how those two have turned around. Ford has nose-dived outside of the F150 (lol trucks).

Oh, and Top Gear is the greatest show of all time

 
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