RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted July 8, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 8, 2016 Most cars seen so far have been exotics, so do we conclude that mainstream vehicles are bland or ugly? Brian. Most are. There are exceptions, though they are 'eye of the beholder' stuff - the Mini, Morris Minor, Beetle, MGB (and other MGs) all have style, as did the Triumph Stag, and all were commonplace enough to be mainstream. But there's little today that looks good. Even the BMW Z3 is no longer made but does just about manage to look good enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted July 8, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 8, 2016 Just finished reading the Brooklands Road Test book on the Ford GT40 and about to order the one on Lolas! (note to self, must track down and purchase the Tamiya T70 kit one day). Another lovely looking and rare piece of exotica here, only ever seen two in the flesh, both parked up in Kensington in the early '80s a couple of days apart - Monteverdi 375... 71LonMonteverdi375L.jpg And a cheeky / gratuitous Miura pic, as if an excuse were ever needed... Lamborghini Miura brochure #2.jpg Edit : just remembered - there's a yellow Lola T70 in the collection at Coventry Transport Museum. Monteverdis were good cars in Ace Trumps Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold stovepipe Posted July 8, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 8, 2016 Most cars seen so far have been exotics, so do we conclude that mainstream vehicles are bland or ugly? Brian 'Familiarity breeds contempt' as the saying goes. But there is always a chance that when the commonplace slips into history, those that remain can get a style rehabilitation to a certain extent. Maybe an Alfasud would qualify as an example? Or some '80s Mercs? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted July 8, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 8, 2016 Mainstream cars can be innovative and stylish, I think the problem is that familiarity tends to breed indifference whereas the rarity and exclusivity of exotica creates something of a mystique. I thought the Ford Focus Mk.1 was a very well styled car with superb driving dynamics but few are going to get so excited about a Ford Focus. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted July 8, 2016 Author Share Posted July 8, 2016 Most cars seen so far have been exotics, so do we conclude that mainstream vehicles are bland or ugly? Brian. Anything you like Brian, old new, classic, modern, exotic or otherwise whatever fits the thread! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted July 8, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 8, 2016 Oh, that Tatra is in the wrong thread for me! I do like Maseratis though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted July 8, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 8, 2016 At the Indy 500 museum Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNER4479 Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 Seen in the car park at Gletsch, at the foot of the Furka pass, Switzerland a week ago: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted July 8, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 8, 2016 Having sat through practice for the first 4 plateaux of the LM Classic, and the first few laps of plateau 5, I have watched, inter alia : 2 Porsche 917s, as well as a 908 langheck and numerous 904s, 906s and 910s. About a dozen GT40s, including one looking exactly like the third place car in the 1966 win. 10 or so Lola T70 Mk lllbs, including the David Piper lurid green one, and a Lola Mk Vl GT 6 or so Chevron B16s, which look like a sort of junior T70 Several Ferraris, including the Breadvan and a 312P A couple of Maserati T61 Birdcages Not a bad score. Over the weekend I would hope to see most of these at close hand in the paddock, too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted July 8, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 8, 2016 WEB Aston Martin.jpg Wow! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
runs as required Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 ...this Panhard 24CT Bit off beaten track but I've always liked them. steve I agree; I first saw one at a Silverstone Club meeting with a huge crowd around it. It seems it was the first design to express a strong horizontal lip around between top and bottom suggesting separate 'clip together' components. NSU, the early 1960s BMW 700 Coupe, the belt drive DAF, the Imp and the infamous Chevvy Corvair all adopted a similar look. dh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted July 8, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 8, 2016 WEB Aston Martin.jpg Price of coaches is going up again then!!!! Lovely car. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 I'm not so much one for road cars (though I won't discount all of them). Racecars, particularly LM machines, are more to my taking. Given roadcars, even if they are designed for a purpose, are still designed to a 'blank canvas' concept where there are few limitations to the external design, I find beauty in racecars more fascinating - how Rulebooks have been had to be negotiated, yet the outcome is wonderful.To this end, I nominate the 1970-spec Porsche 917K (interesting story behind the design of this car as well) The '71 spec K with the tail-fins isn't half bad either...Regards, Matt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 Had a Scalextric one of those.......in the same colours too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
runs as required Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 Good looking rather than beautiful were these first Audi TTs. I really liked them because they looked to me to be inspired by the classic pre-war German toy Schuco car. Well-to-do kids had futuristic Schuco tinplate clockwork cars that never ran off the table edge, they just spun around and set off back again. Schucos had dramatically slit like windows, were very compact, yet felt surprisingly mechanically dense when picked up to rewind. I always envied kids with these. Later TTs lost that very characterful look as they were gradually sleeked back to looking like most other bland small coupes. dh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 His TR6 is quite a looker, too. It's not bad but, personally, I don't feel that it holds up against the TR4/4A/5 styling terribly well, so I'm a bit prejudiced against it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 There are many beautiful cars listed here - I agree with the choices of many of the people who have posted so far.However, I think my personal favourite, which I think still looks modern even now (apart from the old-style bumpers!), is the Jensen Interceptor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 two from me one was the car of my dreams one was the car i obtained in my teens first of my pride and joy Ethel the XR3 and the car of my dreams the super sexy curvy Ferrari 250 gto Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Most cars seen so far have been exotics, so do we conclude that mainstream vehicles are bland or ugly? Brian. think its more that modern mainstream cars have to comply with saftey regs particulaly thos as regards colision with pedestrains so they are all beginging to look pretty much the same front end wise which effects the styling of the rest of the car no way would something like the mk1 Manta get through those regs now with that low shark like front end .cars from all across the VAG group are starting to look very very similar no matter what the badge .onlt citreon seem to be trying to do something with style anymore/;. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
runs as required Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 For sheer Beauty I've always rated the Fiat Dino spyder by Farina very highly. What is astonishing is it is about as massively tanklike as my battered old Mondeos yet looks so small and understated. Until recently they were cheap and unregarded Fiats until the tifosi woke up to the fact they'd been built in the Ferrari factory alongside the 246. The originals had 1969-70s plasticky interiors; now they get over-restored, their Fiat badges replaced so as to appear to be Ferrari Dinos and prices have rocketed. My son tracked one down in High Wycombe about 25 years ago and it slumbered tucked up in our garage for about 10 years. Whenever he came home it got a blow through over the moorland roads of NW Durham scaring the hell out of me. dh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcm@gwr Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Michelotti didn't do the TR6, he was too busy at the time! I believe it was Karmen who did that one, which is why it looks so different to the others. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
runs as required Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 ...only Citroen seem to be trying to do something with style anymore;. and that looks more to do with superficial graphic design than their Gallic original thinking. dh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium njee20 Posted July 9, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 9, 2016 onlt citreon seem to be trying to do something with style anymore/;.In the case of the the Cactus and the DS3 I wish they'd stop, hideous! there are plenty of 'normal' cars I think look great, but because they're so common they lose some allure. I think for most of us there's a strong link between aspiration and appeal - most of the cars linked to are models that the poster hasn't owned I suspect. I think the mk6 Golf GTI is a fantastic looking car: But I won't stop and look at one in the street or take a photo of one (like I might for an R8, or a McLaren 650s etc), because there's one on my driveway for me to go and drive whenever I want to! One gets a bit blasé about things to the point they verge on mundane. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45568 Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 One of these, (in this colour!), was my personal transport for 18 months before I left the UK in November 1974. I worked at Rover Lode Lane!! Cheers from Oz, Peter C. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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