Why Are Cars So Ugly Today? - The Death of The Unique Cars

Looking around the streets these days more cars resemble bubble wrap bubbles that actual cars. Taking a look back at the cars from the 60s-80s era they looked original and ground breaking for the designs of the time. Nowadays because of our throw-away-culture its easier to pay the designer less money and get away with making an uglier car that the consumer is only going to use for about 2-5 years then end up buying a new one.

Sedans

One can argue that today's cars are still beautiful and unique like the new Lamborghini Hurracan or Mclaren P1 and I would fully agree with that statement, but these cars are way out of the price range for the everyday common person. Cars like the Volvo 240 or Mercedes W123 are icons and any petrol-head instantly knows what automobile you are talking about when you mention those cars. They were simple and elegant and therefor you still see them sometimes on the road today because they are relatively simple to fix. It's just you and the Machine, no computer to hack into, no AI driving assistant, no car FOB key, no 'spaceship' start buttons.

The general trend since the mid to late 90s was to start making cars bulkier and bigger to keep up with updating safety regulations and it is easy to pin all of this on those darn safety regulations but the consumers share equal blame to what cars have become today. Drivers wanted bigger and faster cars as if having a bigger car made it better let alone faster.

Mercedes W123 production years 1976 - 1985

Volvo 240 production years 1974 - 1993

Muscle Cars

The original idea of the muscle car was to have an affordable car that could go incredibly fast and even in some cases faster than a car that was marked at double or triple its price tag. The classic Mustangs all had an understated look to them which made them look like underdogs that would kick your but in a race if you ever made the mistake of challenging them to one in the first place. Unfortunately, today I personally don't see that being the case anymore, Muscle cars like all other cars look like they've been pumped up on steroids and resemble Hot Wheels more than cars in through my eyes. There's a saying if there is nothing wrong or nothing in need of change then why change it? I couldn't agree more with that saying, but today's automobile consumer wants something different and something better each year.

Trucks

This is where arguably all of this began, by the mid 90s is when the whole pick-up truck craze that made this car synonymous with the USA began. Pick-up trucks before that were seen more as a utility vehicle rather than an everyday driver like today. They were understated an didn't boast about more than what they were. By the 1997 Ford released its F250 Diesel line that had a noticeable face-lift from the earlier models, the front looked more like battering ram than a what the earlier models had. People instantly fell in-love with it and started buying them as their everyday drivers because it resembled a normal car in the front. Think of this like the 2 in 1 package deal, it you wanted to drive it everyday you very well could, you could seat 3 in the back and 2 in the front and if you needed to haul some materials you had plenty of space in the back ramp to do so.

I hope in the future consumers buy cars that lean back into the direction of the unique and beautiful simple stream lined concept of the 20th century, I say all of this from personal preference of course! Please leave a comment on whether you agree with me or disagree with me, I would love to hear your opinions on this matter.

Sincerely,
@Pryce