American car styling ... where's your line in the sand?

A conversation with AC today got me thinking about this.  I have multiple lines in the sand dealing with the styling of American cars.

First I love pod headlights.

I hate humpbacks.

I love narrow grills.

I love single headlights.

I hate grafted on dual headlights.

I love vertical headlights.

I'm semi neutral on horizontal headlights.

But number one above all, a wrap around windshield is better than a flat one.

The 1965 Buick Riviera is the American automotive styling pinnacle. Everything after is a steady decline.

Truth be told I don't really like most American cars; the styling leaves me flat.

I have warmed up to 40-60s Cadillacs.

We once had a 65 Galaxy as a tow car. Note I thought it was a nice looking car but I wasn't crazy about it.

I don't get muscle cars at all.

I think most of it is down to I really don't like big cars.

In reply to Appleseed :

I'm sorry but you're 8 years too late.

1957 Cadillac Eldorado Seville

More of a time line for me.  With some exceptions I'm not very interested in most US cars after around 1977.

I note the exception of the Mopars in the photos above. Some of the ugliest cars ever in my opinion were the late 50s Chrysler line-up. Largely styled by an Italian, Luigi Segre, who did some spectacular show cars while with Ghia, including a bunch of Mopars. When productionized for American tastes they spoiled them with chrome, so no better than italianized GMs. Really only '53 Studebakers and Apleseed's Riviera look good enough to have been inflicted upon our eyes.

American car styling?  The golden age of concept cars.

Can't really discuss American car styling without mentioning the (Studebaker) Avanti.

And Corvettes.  C1 and C2 are classic.  C3 have become a little dated looking.  Did anyone really ever like the C4?  C5 and C6 are currently my favorites.  C7 just doesn't cut it for me, too choppy looking.  C8 is OK but it's a different animal.

In reply to bludroptop :

As a kid, I really thought that one day we’d have shopping carts that fit right into our cars. Guess that concept left a mark. 

TurnerX19 said:

I note the exception of the Mopars in the photos above. Some of the ugliest cars ever in my opinion were the late 50s Chrysler line-up. Largely styled by an Italian, Luigi Segre, who did some spectacular show cars while with Ghia, including a bunch of Mopars. When productionized for American tastes they spoiled them with chrome, so no better than italianized GMs. Really only '53 Studebakers and Apleseed's Riviera look good enough to have been inflicted upon our eyes.

I saw this 1957 DeSoto on Saturday.  Every option in the book including a hemi engine, air conditioning and the super rare under dash record player.

The transition from Slab Sided to Round. To me, that would be somewhere in the early to mid 90s for most US cars. So the line ends up around the Fox body, 3rd gen F body, pre-aero Panther, G body, pre-aero B body. A few later hold outs with big slabs being the trucks lasted until 97 for Ford and 2000(ish) for GM where Dodges had jumped ship in 94. This change being true around the same time period in imports too. I'll always prefer the W124 to the W210 and later, the e34/36 to the e39/46, the FC and MKIII to the FD and MKIV et cetera.

Appleseed said:

The 1965 Buick Riviera is the American automotive styling pinnacle. Everything after is a steady decline.

I am not a fan of bloat-mobiles in general, but once in awhile a design does look right and I agree that is one of them.

Looking at the new American cars I sometimes despair of the breed - maybe not quite as bad as Japanese styling (with a few exceptions - 240Z, Toyota 2000 GT, maybe the original Accura NSX) but it has a long way to go to match the Italian or even British styling (XKE, D type, Aston DB4 and - OK, I am prejudiced because I own one - Jensen Interceptor)

Growing up, my folks drove small cars. Corvairs, BMW 1600-2, Audi 100LS, Subaru, Saab...you get the idea. So large American cars I kind of regarded as bloated excess. Most were just good engine donors for Camaros and Mustangs when I entered my teen driving years.

After becoming addicted to Adam's Rare Classic Cars YouTube channel I've developed a strong respect for cars I once dismissed as dinosaurs. And darned if I don't even lust for a couple. The Riviera posted above and the original Toronado are two such cars.

Styling-wise I think cars peaked in the early 1970s, then did a downward spiral into gimmicky opera lights and Corinthian leather. This was supplanted by the 'egg' shape that began with the Taurus/Audi 5000 and continues to this day. Slaves to the wind tunnel and safety regulations. The only cars that I'm even remotely interested in now are 'retro' designs. 

I really think the pinnacle of American cars was the mid-1960s. Gone were the excesses of the late fifties, combined with highway competent drivelines and chassis we can still enjoy as daily drivers today.  Easy to work on prior to the arrival of two miles of vacuum lines that started in the 1980s.  But styling became bloated in the mid 1970s at the same time engines began gasping for air.

The '63 Corvette was a high-water mark:

The '57's with their single headlamps definitely looked better than the 58, 59, 60's with their duals.

I've always been enamoured with the '66 Toronado:

I'm going to say 1963-1969 was the high water mark of American cars - any manufacturer, any size.

Perhaps it is because my birth date falls roughly in the middle of that '63-'69 range, but I never really liked the late-'50s American cars that everyone is supposed to love.  Generic NPCs love the 1957 Bel Air because they've been told to, but the 1955 210 is superior in every way.  A '56 or '63 Cadillac is leagues better than a '59-'61.

The less said about 1975-1979, the better, on pretty much every design front.  A return to content-shy styling excess, minus even any shred of elegance the late '50s might have offered.

Not enough time to elaborate now cause I'm at work but this is a touchy and dear to my heart topic as my senior research paper in college was a look at 100 years of American automobile styling. It's a topic I have some strong opinions on, but I'm not so closed minded to think I'm more right than anyone else. Well, except for Robert Cumberford who did design and style critiques for Automobile magazine among others. I cannot get behind most of what he talks about. Especially when, at the time, his daily driver was a Dodge Diplomat. No style at all. Gotta go. I'll be back.

Oh, one other thing, Bill Mitchell was a god!

Appleseed said:

The 1965 Buick Riviera is the American automotive styling pinnacle. Everything after is a steady decline.

Quoting because after reading the OP this was the car that I was going to post up.  

Duke said:

I'm going to say 1963-1969 was the high water mark of American cars - any manufacturer, any size.

I think GM designers were killing it from 1961 to 1967 or so.  In '61 they downsized from the excess of the late 1950s, and even the full size cars had a trim, athletic look.  I am biased as I've been a long time owner of 1961 Pontiacs.  There's no way they could still build cars with such minimal A and C pillars, you have nearly 360 degrees of visibility. 

stuart in mn said:

Duke said:

I'm going to say 1963-1969 was the high water mark of American cars - any manufacturer, any size.

I think GM designers were killing it from 1961 to 1967 or so.  In '61 they downsized from the excess of the late 1950s, and even the full size cars had a trim, athletic look.  I am biased as I've been a long time owner of 1961 Pontiacs.  There's no way they could still build cars with such minimal A and C pillars, you have nearly 360 degrees of visibility. 

 

That is hot.

In reply to Duke :

I forgot about some of the Pontiacs..............they made some weird ones; naturally I liked them.

You all keep bringing up cars of the Bill Mitchell era. Harley Earl was a showman. His cars were all slathered with chrome and excess. Virgil Exner did some neat stuff. Shinoda and Yates too. Raymond Loewy.

Appleseed said:

The 1965 Buick Riviera is the American automotive styling pinnacle. Everything after is a steady decline.

I agree this is the best looking American car ever. 

Appleseed said:

The 1965 Buick Riviera is the American automotive styling pinnacle. Everything after is a steady decline.

I hate to play favorites, but I also can’t find much fault with that statement.