There was a time when cars looked different

Sorry but that is nonsense.


Ok Who makes Jaguar, Landrover, TATA, check the rest they make
Sorry but that is nonsense.


REALLY !!!!!

.

It is fact that there is design cross over between cars, the Kuga is a re bodied Focus :) :) :)

The old joke of the MGBGT being a re bodied Morris Oxford ;)


Volkswagen Group: Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen.
Toyota: Toyota, Daihatsu, Lexus.
Ford Motor Company: Ford, Lincoln, Troller.
General Motors: Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet, Holden.
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance: Renault, Nissan, Infiniti, Dacia, Datsun, Samsung Renault, Lada, Mitsubishi.
Hyundai Motor Group: Hyundai, KIA.
Daimler AG: Mercedes-Benz, Smart, AMG.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: Alfa Romeo, Dodge, Lancia, Maserati, Chrysler, Fiat, Jeep, Ram.
Honda: Honda, Acura.
BMW: BMW, Mini, Rolls Royce.
Suzuki: Suzuki, Maruti Suzuki.
Groupe PSA: Peugeot, DS Automobiles, Opel, Citroen, Vauxhall.
Tata Motors: Tata, Jaguar, Land Rover.
Geely: Lotus, Proton, Volvo.
Independent: Ferrari, Aston Martin, Subaru, Mazda, Tesla, McLaren.
 
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So some things have got better yes, but not everything.
The standard of driving on our roads. That has certainly got worse and I'm the one that has to apply for a new licence next year. Disgusting. :mad: ;)
 
There's a general downward curve of the surviving number of any model of car; as they become rarer more effort is expended on preserving the survivors.
Until Cortinas and Sierras became sufficiently rare, they were being scrapped in their droves.

I had a 1963 Ford Classic (which I was drawn to because of its unique style), in 1985 it was 22 years old and needed a full restoration, too much for my skills at the time.
The current Ford I have is a quite a rare one from around 2000, (and very different looking than anything else Ford or otherwise), and is not far off new in look and feel.

Having randomly stood and looked at a Ford C-Max and a Nissan Note parked adjacent, my observations are that all cars have a similar number and position of component panels regardless of style (though I was struck how similar the two mentioned are), obviously asides from instantaneous fashion, their similarities are brought about by tight legal requirements (type approval), safety requirements, and I believe, vehicle worker interactions.
By that I mean:
Assembly line, including how the robots work and are programmed (eg. the Fiat 500 and Ford Ka being produced in Fiat's plant in Poland), although the cars are similar the production line has to be capable to switch between them not necessarily after long batch runs but potentially between consecutive cars;
Then service mechanics and bodywork specialist; making cars conform to common construction techniques simplifies the training for anyone working on in-life cars;
And breakers, cars at end-of-life need to be recycled, and again common construction and materials simplifies that task.

Ford US used to make several similar cars on the same 'platform' look quite different - the Mercury range was badge-engineered to an extent but often used substantial body parts that differed from the Ford sharing the production line - even to differing in important dimensions like wheelbase.
But when you look at the list posted above by @CanNik , and compare Vauxhall, Citroen and Peogeot models, or Audi, Skoda and Seat - externally they're little more different than the badge, accepted Audis might have better specifications than the Seats that - look identical.
 
A great deal of 80s cars had trouble getting to 100k without major work.


100%

I remember going to work in my Mk 3 Cortina, you took the occasional non staring for granted, my engine died at 60,000 needed a new one, Ford main dealers in Staines fitted the WRONG engine
 
Ok Who makes Jaguar, Landrover, TATA, check the rest they make



REALLY !!!!!

.

It is fact that there is design cross over between cars, the Kuga is a re bodied Focus :) :) :)

The old joke of the MGBGT being a re bodied Morris Oxford ;)


Volkswagen Group: Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen.
Toyota: Toyota, Daihatsu, Lexus.
Ford Motor Company: Ford, Lincoln, Troller.
General Motors: Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet, Holden.
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance: Renault, Nissan, Infiniti, Dacia, Datsun, Samsung Renault, Lada, Mitsubishi.
Hyundai Motor Group: Hyundai, KIA.
Daimler AG: Mercedes-Benz, Smart, AMG.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: Alfa Romeo, Dodge, Lancia, Maserati, Chrysler, Fiat, Jeep, Ram.
Honda: Honda, Acura.
BMW: BMW, Mini, Rolls Royce.
Suzuki: Suzuki, Maruti Suzuki.
Groupe PSA: Peugeot, DS Automobiles, Opel, Citroen, Vauxhall.
Tata Motors: Tata, Jaguar, Land Rover.
Geely: Lotus, Proton, Volvo.
Independent: Ferrari, Aston Martin, Subaru, Mazda, Tesla, McLaren.

Not sure what any of that has to do with anything I said.
Does it matter if one manufacturer has many brands?

The simple fact is that cars last significantly longer today than they did in the 80s.
They also do not look identical. There are some truly great cars today and the engine technology is top notch.
 
Most new cars are ugly anyway. Cheap plastics, hideous grills, fake chrome, fake leather, boring colours, etc.
 
Most new cars are ugly anyway. Cheap plastics, hideous grills, fake chrome, fake leather, boring colours, etc.

At least piano black plastic is finally falling out of fashion, that stuff was hideous even before it got scratched up.
 
Safety standards and the need to get the lowest drag coefficient possible mean that there is far more 'design by numbers' rather than 'design' in new cars. Once you layer on platform sharing and then same factory / assembly line sharing (see VAG and Renault/Nissan) you find that increasingly lots of different models start to become incredibly similar because they literally share the same underlying elements (if they use the same engine, the layout needs to pretty much match exactly for everything from the transmission through to the exhaust) - although still with distinct elements.

Electric cars are probably worse still - most manufacturers have (sensibly) decided the battery should be in the 'floor' and run the entire spine of the car. You thus get this 'jacked up car' look.

But just as with computer cases which largely adopt the same layout and standards, there's still lots of variation.

But mostly importantly interiors are still quite different between different auto groups - and as a driver that's what matters to me far more than if the car looks the same as the one beside me from the exterior!
 
Further up mentioned comparing the new bmw one series to a mini, they are exactly the same car, bmw has turned into vw. One platform, multiple cars. X1, x2, 1,2 grand coupe, minis..... All the same car, same engine, same parts, same rubbish that can't make a month old without an engine light coming on. I also have to agree that this small engine large turbo cars are not destined to last very long. Bmw has a life cycle of 7 years. As for reliability and new cars doing 100k, Google n47 timing chain issues. My dad had a 93 citroen zx that did 240k!!!I've worked for bmw for 19 years, starting in 2001 with the e39, 53,38 all of these were super reliable, super comfortable and in no way aimed at a traveling sales men. Now days everything is built to cost, aimed at the sales rep and at every day people. Yes the in car tech is amazing, bower and wilkens system is amazing, bang and olsen on earlier cars had a speaker in the dash that rose with the ignition. everything else around it unfortunately isn't. Cars looking the same... 2020 Bmw 118i msport and 2020 focus St.. Same colours, same wheels, same spoiler!!!! 😂
 
I've worked for bmw for 19 years, starting in 2001 with the e39, 53,38 all of these were super reliable, super comfortable and in no way aimed at a traveling sales men.

That’s some rose tinted specs! 2001 and German manufacturers in particular were at the height of account cost cutting and low, for them, quality. Also they were most definitely aimed at sales men and middle managers then, before then and ever since. Who do you think ‘buys’ most of them?
 
That’s some rose tinted specs! 2001 and German manufacturers in particular were at the height of account cost cutting and low, for them, quality. Also they were most definitely aimed at sales men and middle managers then, before then and ever since. Who do you think ‘buys’ most of them?

It is widely agreed that BMWs from 2000-ish had the best build quality. That is the E39, E46, etc. The only down side was / is rust.
 
That’s some rose tinted specs! 2001 and German manufacturers in particular were at the height of account cost cutting and low, for them, quality. Also they were most definitely aimed at sales men and middle managers then, before then and ever since. Who do you think ‘buys’ most of them?
Not really, like I say, I've worked for them for 19 years. Yes the higher bmws were had by upper management, however the salesmen were in vectras, mondeo etc, there wasn't any salesmen in e46 3 series, diesel was a swear word. Now everyone including their dog has a 320d and bmw even admit that it's aimed at the salesmen not family's. It's also obvious in the way the dealerships operate now. It's all about budget budget budget. How many hours can a tech sell, how many cars can salesmen sell. It then trickles down to something like servicing. 1998-2001era large service was a few hours, now its an hour. A basic service is 30 minutes now.
 
Looks pretty similar to me:
2020-volvo-xc40-png.1355167

View attachment 1355294
Yes. They both have a black tyre in each corner. But the Volvo XC90 is the most unreliable car sold in the UK (Which? magazine).
 
It is widely agreed that BMWs from 2000-ish had the best build quality. That is the E39, E46, etc. The only down side was / is rust.
Best cars ever, proven by rising prices and the amount of specialist catering for them. Yeah rusty arches and boot lids seem to be a problem....
 
I miss the days of the 1990s when I specialised in turning saloons into convertibles.
 
The earlier comment about "but the thing I have noted looking for a new car is they all look the same". is not so far from the truth in most peoples eyes and especially from the eyes of someone that has little or no interest in cars.
Most of the current everyday cars are variations on the 'half of an egg' notion that pursues the aerodynamics of that egg but the frontal treatments are a bit like the boiled egg that has been attacked with the spoon just prior to devouring the contents.
The rear end treatments vary as though they have been reversed into a concrete block and tidied up before taking it back home to daddy in the hope that he doesn't notice the cosmetic revision.

Looking at the various car shapes in silhouette will give a better idea of what they look like.
I have always been a fan of the estate car variants of the family car and also of some of the specialist built offerings from the likes of the Jaguar Lynx Eventer and the Reliant Scimitar SE 6.

I have myself have had Ford Cortina Mk1,2,3,4 and 5 Estates,Ford Granada Mk2 Ghia X Estates along with a Ford Scorpio (Frog Eye) 2.3 Ultima Estate and more recently a BMW 330i Touring all of which have been automatic.
2001 BMW 330i Touring Automatic 002.JPG
media 330i Auto (8).jpg
 
Nice E46 but ruined by that shitty auto box. 6 speed manual is far better.
 
Best cars ever, proven by rising prices and the amount of specialist catering for them. Yeah rusty arches and boot lids seem to be a problem....

Yup, had both front wings replaced under BMW warranty and had the rears booked in for new metal before my car was written off in an accident.
 
Yup, had both front wings replaced under BMW warranty and had the rears booked in for new metal before my car was written off in an accident.
Sorry for your loss!!!! 😂 That e46 above is lovely. Remember when bmw did a proper "individual" range. Oh those were the days. Haha
 
Sorry for your loss!!!! 😂 That e46 above is lovely. Remember when bmw did a proper "individual" range. Oh those were the days. Haha

Yup, 330d Individual Saloon in Estoril blue, black leather, 6 speed manual, xeons, auto lights. Pretty rare.
 

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