My 1972 Chevelle Malibu, baby is currently in surgery getting some new engine parts.
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The car whose design you like the most?
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My 1972 Chevelle Malibu, baby is currently in surgery getting some new engine parts.
My aunt had a gold '72 Chevelle Malibu ... she gave it to my brother when she gave up her driver's license back in the day... it was a great car until he wrapped it around a tree.
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Ouch, such was the fate of many muscle cars. A good friend of mine wrapped a '69 Chevelle around a utility pole. Whenever we saw the car we just stood in silence because you would never think someone could survive a crash resulting in the car looking like it did, miraculously he was not hurt badly.
My mother's 1969 Pontiac GTO with vinyl roof looked so much different. My first car, a 1967 Firebird, had a similar look, except for the urethane bumper cover.![1975-Renault-Alpine-A110-1300VC-front-left-view.jpg]()
As a general rule I much prefer European standards of styling and handling. There are exceptions of course, because there have been some truly beautiful American cars, but a tiny little thing like the Alpine, that's what I prefer (both to look at, and to drive). You would probably be shocked at how small that car is; it made the Porsches of the era (911 and 912) look large and cumbersome, especially in action. That's saying a lot, because of course the Porsches of that era are already small and extremely nimble, but Alpine's make them look like (small) whales. Watch some old rally vids of these thing. Glorious.
This is like one of the first cars I ever helped wash. It was also one of the biggest cars I'd ever known. My mother had to take her driving test in another like this. The testing person had her parking it on a circle, as though he wanted her to fail.
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You're gonna get mad but my favorite design is the Cybertruck. (I'm serious, I love how it looks)
What about a Lotus Europa with the slit for a rear window? That was one of my favourites.
No one can be upset about such a personal opinion. It's just a matter of taste.
I can't find a decent picture (probably because the car was uncommon) so I will have to use an actual picture of the car itself…
1980 Datsun 210.
My father bought this car from Jack Feely Volkswagen in 1983 in Redlands Ca, The dealership I guess is no longer there. It was built in November 1979 as a 1980 model. It was given to me to drive at 16 (September 1986) when I earned my driver's license. I took my driving test on it. I was nervous, so I took off with the parking brake on. That cost me three points, which meant I got only a 97% on the test.
5spd manual. My mother taught me how to drive stick - on hills. This particular 210 was a higher end hatchback model that had the A14 engine (1397cc), bucket seats and a racing style steering wheel. Also, it had aluminum wheels with dustcaps.
It has forever annoyed me that supposed 'mechanics' could never figure out that I was speaking to them about a 210. They almost ALWAYS assumed I was talking about a B210. Two DIFFERENT models!
This was my car up until 1997 when my parents bought a '97 Accord. At that time, I got the '85 Accord and my dad sold the 210 to my wife for $1. We drove the 210 up until it finally started having issues we couldn't afford to fix. Had to get rid of it in 2018 when we moved.
PS. The '97 Accord my parents bought has been mine since 2007. It's burning coolant now so there's no way it's going to pass emissions.
Always been a fan of the early 80's Vette. Never driven one, or been in one, but the design is just fantastic. That hood looks like it goes on forever, but the humps over the wheel wells sculpt that massive front end into something sexy. The darker colors show the expanse of the front end better, but looking for a good picture I kinda like this two tone.
the mighty Datto!I can't find a decent picture (probably because the car was uncommon) so I will have to use an actual picture of the car itself…
1980 Datsun 210.
View attachment 2346027
My father bought this car from Jack Feely Volkswagen in 1983 in Redlands Ca, The dealership I guess is no longer there. It was built in November 1979 as a 1980 model. It was given to me to drive at 16 (September 1986) when I earned my driver's license. I took my driving test on it. I was nervous, so I took off with the parking brake on. That cost me three points, which meant I got only a 97% on the test.
5spd manual. My mother taught me how to drive stick - on hills. This particular 210 was a higher end hatchback model that had the A14 engine (1397cc), bucket seats and a racing style steering wheel. Also, it had aluminum wheels with dustcaps.
It has forever annoyed me that supposed 'mechanics' could never figure out that I was speaking to them about a 210. They almost ALWAYS assumed I was talking about a B210. Two DIFFERENT models!
This was my car up until 1997 when my parents bought a '97 Accord. At that time, I got the '85 Accord and my dad sold the 210 to my wife for $1. We drove the 210 up until it finally started having issues we couldn't afford to fix. Had to get rid of it in 2018 when we moved.
PS. The '97 Accord my parents bought has been mine since 2007. It's burning coolant now so there's no way it's going to pass emissions.
Aerodynamics be damned. The knew how to design beautiful cars in the 50's.
To me, it's both beautiful and disturbing. With a few tweaks, they could have made it slip through the wind better.
When we moved from California to Indiana, my father was stationed aboard ship in the Mediterranean Sea. My mother looked like a single woman with a foreign child and a very expensive car. It probably irked her father that she had a nicer car than he did.
As it was very expensive to fuel and maintain, we eventually ended up with a 1964 Rambler station wagon, which looked quite nice with a simpler design and two-tone paint.
It was still a Nissan Sunny, but the 210 and 310 (Cherry) suffered from the two-committee design where the front didn't seem to match the back. Kia and Hyundai have also used such designs.I can't find a decent picture (probably because the car was uncommon) so I will have to use an actual picture of the car itself…
1980 Datsun 210.
View attachment 2346027
My father bought this car from Jack Feely Volkswagen in 1983 in Redlands Ca, The dealership I guess is no longer there. It was built in November 1979 as a 1980 model. It was given to me to drive at 16 (September 1986) when I earned my driver's license. I took my driving test on it. I was nervous, so I took off with the parking brake on. That cost me three points, which meant I got only a 97% on the test.
5spd manual. My mother taught me how to drive stick - on hills. This particular 210 was a higher end hatchback model that had the A14 engine (1397cc), bucket seats and a racing style steering wheel. Also, it had aluminum wheels with dustcaps.
It has forever annoyed me that supposed 'mechanics' could never figure out that I was speaking to them about a 210. They almost ALWAYS assumed I was talking about a B210. Two DIFFERENT models!
This was my car up until 1997 when my parents bought a '97 Accord. At that time, I got the '85 Accord and my dad sold the 210 to my wife for $1. We drove the 210 up until it finally started having issues we couldn't afford to fix. Had to get rid of it in 2018 when we moved.
PS. The '97 Accord my parents bought has been mine since 2007. It's burning coolant now so there's no way it's going to pass emissions.
"Everyone Loves Sunny" was a slogan I used to see in Japanese magazines.
I guess I can only "like" designs I'm most familiar with, and for me it was my first "nice" car (just made 1st Lieutenant and had my 25th birthday (after which the insurance rates deflated significantly)): the 1986 Saab 900 Turbo.
![Saab.jpeg]( "Saab.jpeg")
I'd already put down a deposit on a Honda Prelude, the guy sitting next to me on a flight back from SF noticed I had a Car & Driver and we started chatting. He ran a dealership in Columbus OH that sold Mazdas, MB, Maseratis, and Saabs, and I said, "You must drive a Maserati!" "Nope, I drive a Saab. So does my wife, and my parents". We chatted all the way back to Dayton, and he made me promise to try out a Saab before my Prelude came in. I cancelled my deposit the next weekend.
Saab's approach to safety nearly equalled Volvo's, their cross-nation rival. Turbos were rare in those days, and that 2.0-litre turbo got 32 mpg on the highway and smoked just about every kid who challenged me (and I was able to hit 123 mph at a spot in western NM, shhhh...). Popping the hood, it slid forward and then tipped forward, so at night the headlights illuminated the engine compartment, neat! The fusebox, instead of being mounted behind the dash, barely reachable, a la Ford, was mounted on top of the front wheel well, just pop the hood, and spare fuses of all sizes were already clipped into the center for your use! The headlights had rearward-facing backup lights, so you could see your garage walls/tools as you backed up.
Heated seats, first of their kind, that automatically warmed up once the ambient temp got below a certain point (can't remember), and then shut off once warmed (Saab considered it a safety feature, so you're not all hunched-up while driving). My absolute favorite feature was a setting on the climate control where heat poured out of all the vents, except the top center, which drew cold air in directly from outside. This kept your body and the cabin warm, but flowed cold air to your face, keeping you awake and not drying out your eyes; so fantastic for long, late-night winter driving (my last two Saabs didn't have that feature anymore, a huge mistake). Best seats I've ever experienced, and I've driven a plethora of rental cars from most different brands; no seats could match the Saab's.
This was also one of the very first hatchbacks, with a perfectly level door opening that extended 7' in if you laid down both rear seats. I hauled a full-size refrigerator in it, and bought 8 railroad ties and hauled them too (after I loaded the sixth one, I noticed my suspension springs had bottomed out, so I unloaded two, then made two trips (slowly) to get the 8 ties home). How many here have hauled a refrigerator and railroad ties in their sport coupe?!? Damn I loved that car! Was destroyed by a red-light runner in Indiana; 230,000 miles.
I followed up, eventually, with a used '88 900 Turbo convertible, but it was badly cared for and cost me a lot of money (163,000 miles when sold). Then a '91 Saab 9-3 convertible, which I took to 210,000 before selling (was getting hard to find parts for anymore). Had to take a downgrade to an '18 Audi convertible, okay car but too many electronics screaming at me all the time, it's like I'm married or something, uggh.
But that first Saab, dayam what a great design!!
I'd already put down a deposit on a Honda Prelude, the guy sitting next to me on a flight back from SF noticed I had a Car & Driver and we started chatting. He ran a dealership in Columbus OH that sold Mazdas, MB, Maseratis, and Saabs, and I said, "You must drive a Maserati!" "Nope, I drive a Saab. So does my wife, and my parents". We chatted all the way back to Dayton, and he made me promise to try out a Saab before my Prelude came in. I cancelled my deposit the next weekend.
Saab's approach to safety nearly equalled Volvo's, their cross-nation rival. Turbos were rare in those days, and that 2.0-litre turbo got 32 mpg on the highway and smoked just about every kid who challenged me (and I was able to hit 123 mph at a spot in western NM, shhhh...). Popping the hood, it slid forward and then tipped forward, so at night the headlights illuminated the engine compartment, neat! The fusebox, instead of being mounted behind the dash, barely reachable, a la Ford, was mounted on top of the front wheel well, just pop the hood, and spare fuses of all sizes were already clipped into the center for your use! The headlights had rearward-facing backup lights, so you could see your garage walls/tools as you backed up.
Heated seats, first of their kind, that automatically warmed up once the ambient temp got below a certain point (can't remember), and then shut off once warmed (Saab considered it a safety feature, so you're not all hunched-up while driving). My absolute favorite feature was a setting on the climate control where heat poured out of all the vents, except the top center, which drew cold air in directly from outside. This kept your body and the cabin warm, but flowed cold air to your face, keeping you awake and not drying out your eyes; so fantastic for long, late-night winter driving (my last two Saabs didn't have that feature anymore, a huge mistake). Best seats I've ever experienced, and I've driven a plethora of rental cars from most different brands; no seats could match the Saab's.
This was also one of the very first hatchbacks, with a perfectly level door opening that extended 7' in if you laid down both rear seats. I hauled a full-size refrigerator in it, and bought 8 railroad ties and hauled them too (after I loaded the sixth one, I noticed my suspension springs had bottomed out, so I unloaded two, then made two trips (slowly) to get the 8 ties home). How many here have hauled a refrigerator and railroad ties in their sport coupe?!? Damn I loved that car! Was destroyed by a red-light runner in Indiana; 230,000 miles.
I followed up, eventually, with a used '88 900 Turbo convertible, but it was badly cared for and cost me a lot of money (163,000 miles when sold). Then a '91 Saab 9-3 convertible, which I took to 210,000 before selling (was getting hard to find parts for anymore). Had to take a downgrade to an '18 Audi convertible, okay car but too many electronics screaming at me all the time, it's like I'm married or something, uggh.
But that first Saab, dayam what a great design!!
Yup, the SW20 is often referred to as the "poor man's Ferrari" because of the 348, and some compare the SW20 to the NSX.
I love the look of the 348. There are body 348 conversion kits for the SW20, but I personally wouldn't ever do that to mine.
Not really design, but an interesting fact about the SW20's performance compared to the 348 that it often is compared to, the Rev3 GTS Turbo has a better quarter mile time than the Ferrari 348, and it was a fraction of the price.
Of course the MR2 is no Ferrari, but true to the name of "poor man's Ferrari", the SW20 MR2 is still a great car, and I would bet a much more reliable daily driver than the 348, all while being competitive with it when it comes to performance.
Mazda - who once were known for making light bulbs - made a pretty decent faux sports car back in the day.
the venerable MX5.
![Screenshot 2024-02-06 at 16.29.42.png]( "Screenshot 2024-02-06 at 16.29.42.png")
the venerable MX5.
that was indeed a strange design.
almost like a baggage tray behind rear ‘window'