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#1219101 2015-07-27 6:56 PM
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...do "retro" or "classic" versions of old cars with new mechanicals, etc.?

What I'm thinking about is, for example, something like the 1964 Ford Mustang.

Most everyone loves the look of that car. I understand it doesn't have all the required mechanicals of the modern era, but why couldn't Ford design a new mustang that looks more or less just like it on the outside? Wouldn't that sell as big, if not bigger, than the modern designs?

The closet to the big companies doing something like this would be the Ford Thunderbird remake about 10 years (which didn't look all that much like the 1950s version) or the new Beetles. You might also throw the Mini Cooper into the mix.

And not just Ford. Why doesn't GM bring back an early 60s era 'Vette design or a mid-70s Camaro look? Or a Cadillac with those big 'effin batmobile style fins?

Is it engineering? A refusal to admit the old stuff sometimes just looks better?

Any thoughts?

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Dodge released some "classic trim" models of their cars. Says the guy who owns a modern Charger.


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Would this affect people who collect vintage cars?


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 Originally Posted By: Son of Mxy
Would this affect people who collect vintage cars?


Probably a little but car companies don't make money on sales of classic (read: used) cars. They would on sales of new cars.

As such, I suppose they'd care care about impacting the value of vintage cars as much as Marvel or DC care about whether trade paperbacks and other reprints might devalue the collector market.

 Originally Posted By: PCG342
Dodge released some "classic trim" models of their cars. Says the guy who owns a modern Charger.


Even those are more "modernized" than I was thinking, however.

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I expect that the cost would outgrow the financial reward of retooling a factory to make an exterior using materials and processes that are no longer industry standard. I also believe that they also license out this kind of niche manufacturing to other companies. I know that the Ford GT body and parts were licensed to another company so that they could keep building them for interested buyers after Ford ended their limited run.


whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules.
It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness.
This is true both in politics and on the internet."

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 Originally Posted By: thedoctor
I expect that the cost would outgrow the financial reward of retooling a factory to make an exterior using materials and processes that are no longer industry standard. I also believe that they also license out this kind of niche manufacturing to other companies. I know that the Ford GT body and parts were licensed to another company so that they could keep building them for interested buyers after Ford ended their limited run.


Thats a good point, but I was thinking less of a niche product and more along the lines of why (to keep using Ford for an example) they don't just announce that the next generation of Mustang is going to look exactly like (to keep using my prior example) the beloved 64 Mustang.

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Have you not been paying attention to muscle cars in the past decade? The Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger all use the older, popular versions as their baseline. You're not going to get a car built exactly like the older ones because modern manufacturing relies less on steel than they did then. They have to be lighter to meet federal MPG requirements and include all modern safety regulations.


whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules.
It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness.
This is true both in politics and on the internet."

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 Originally Posted By: thedoctor
Have you not been paying attention to muscle cars in the past decade? The Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger all use the older, popular versions as their baseline.


I addressed this in passing above:

 Originally Posted By: the G-man

Most everyone loves the look of that car. I understand it doesn't have all the required mechanicals of the modern era, but why couldn't Ford design a new mustang that looks more or less just like it on the outside?


 Originally Posted By: PCG342
Dodge released some "classic trim" models of their cars. Says the guy who owns a modern Charger.


 Originally Posted By: the G-man
Even those are more "modernized" than I was thinking, however.


Yes, understand some of these cars take some design cues from older cars and I also understand that some changes would need to be made for safety, fuel economy or other reasons. But it would seem to me that at least some of the classic cars could be "cloned" to the extent that they would look more identical than not.

Again, to use the 64 Mustang: Take the same basic body. Mold it in fiberglass or whatever they're using instead of steel these days. Upgrade the wipers, headlights (don't change the look, just change the mechanicals), add the NHS required "dole light" on the back, recess the door handles. Upgrade the mechanicals in the convertable. Make the interior comply with all the stuff we/the government expects inside a car these days (air bags, gadgets, etc.). Stick a modern engine in it.

Basically, I think we're discussing a matter of degree here. The car companies are going similar and I'm closer to identical.

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it's not just weight, it's aerodynamics. you'll see styling cues inspired by the classic models, but the actual body designs are all about fuel economy. those old-school fins aren't coming back because they have a horrendous impact on any car's drag coefficient; same thing applies to the aggressive looking flat grille or headlamps. CAD and wind tunnels (for those who still even use physical wind tunnels rather than digital models) will continue to reshape cars into soap bars because every tiny little improvement in aerodynamic performance that yields maybe a 0.1MPG improvement in fuel efficiency will go farther to sell an automobile today than exactly replicating the look of what was a popular car forty or fifty years ago.


go.

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G-man's just wishing that cars still had wooden tires on them like they did when he began to drive.


whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules.
It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness.
This is true both in politics and on the internet."

Our Friendly Neighborhood Ray-man said: "no, the doctor's right. besides, he has seniority."
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Hah. That's where you're wrong. The tires were metal!

But, seriously, you both make good points about the engineering aspects. I just wish they'd try harder to make cars look less bulbous.

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 Originally Posted By: the G-man
I just wish they'd try harder to make cars look less bulbous.


I hear ya. I've said it before here that older cars (from the very early 70's back to the 30's) had personality and style. You can still get that, but it's mostly on the high end market like Ferrari. I think that's why the restomod craze is so big now, to get exactly what you first described. Which is why if I had money, I'd blow it on something like this:



whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules.
It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness.
This is true both in politics and on the internet."

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I'm just glad my vintage car still retains its value.



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In India that'd be a family car for a house of 20.


whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules.
It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness.
This is true both in politics and on the internet."

Our Friendly Neighborhood Ray-man said: "no, the doctor's right. besides, he has seniority."

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